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Worksheet Grade 3 English Language Arts

After the Drain in Cinderport: A Grade 3 Sequence Worksheet

A grade 3 worksheet that follows used water from a kitchen drain to the creek in Cinderport, practicing order words and answers drawn from the text.

Objectives

  1. Students will answer questions about a process passage using details stated in the text.
  2. Students will identify the order words that signal each step of a process.
  3. Students will retell a four-step process in order using linking words.

Vocabulary

Key words: drain, screen, grit, grease, order words

Teacher overview

This worksheet follows the used water from one kitchen sink in the fictional town of Cinderport all the way to Cinder Creek, naming each stop along the way. The passage is built around order words so that students can locate steps and then retell them in sequence. A misconception worth correcting here is the common third-grade belief that water going down a drain is simply gone, or that it runs straight into the nearest creek untouched, which is why the passage ends with a worker testing the water before it leaves.

After the Drain in Cinderport: A Grade 3 Sequence Worksheet — Grade 3 English Language Arts
Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Student Worksheet

After the Drain in Cinderport

When you pull the plug in a sink, the water does not stop at the drain. In the town of Cinderport, it starts a trip across town.

First, the water slides down a pipe under the house. That pipe joins a bigger pipe under the street. The big pipe slopes down a little the whole way, so the water keeps moving without a pump.

Next, the water reaches the cleaning plant at the edge of town. A metal screen sits at the front gate of the plant. The screen catches things that should not be in the pipe, like rags, wipes, and lost toys.

Then the water sits in a wide, round tank. Sand and grit sink to the bottom of the tank. Grease floats to the top. A slow metal arm scrapes both away.

After that, the water moves into a deep tank. A blower pushes air into the bottom of it, and the water rolls with bubbles. The air helps the plant get the last of the waste out of the water.

Finally, the clean water flows out of the plant and into Cinder Creek. A worker tests it before it goes. If a test looks wrong, the water stays at the plant until the crew fixes the problem.

Answer each question. Use the passage.

  1. What does the water do right after it leaves the pipe under the house?
  2. Why does the big pipe under the street slope down a little?
  3. What does the metal screen catch?
  4. What happens to the sand and grit in the round tank?
  5. What happens to the grease in the round tank?
  6. What does the blower push into the deep tank?
  7. Where does the clean water go at the end of the trip?
  8. What does a worker do before the water leaves the plant?
  9. Which word in the passage shows you that a step is the last one?
  10. Tell the trip in four sentences. Use the words first, next, then, and finally.

From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.

Answer Key
  1. Answer: It joins a bigger pipe under the street. The second paragraph says the house pipe joins the big street pipe.
  2. Answer: So the water keeps moving without a pump. The passage gives this reason in the same sentence.
  3. Answer: Things that should not be in the pipe, such as rags, wipes, and lost toys. The third paragraph lists all three.
  4. Answer: It sinks to the bottom of the tank. The fourth paragraph says sand and grit sink.
  5. Answer: It floats to the top, and a slow metal arm scrapes it away. Both details come from the fourth paragraph.
  6. Answer: Air. The passage says the blower pushes air into the bottom of the deep tank so the water rolls with bubbles.
  7. Answer: Into Cinder Creek. The last paragraph names the creek as the end of the trip.
  8. Answer: The worker tests the water. Accept answers that add that the water stays at the plant if a test looks wrong.
  9. Answer: Finally. Students may point to the last paragraph, which begins with that word.
  10. Answer: Answers will vary in wording. A correct retelling keeps the order of the passage: first the water goes down the pipes under the house and street, next a screen catches trash, then a round tank lets grit sink and grease float, and finally air bubbles finish the job and the tested water flows to Cinder Creek.

Differentiation

Support

Give these students a copy of the passage with the five order words circled, and let them cut the paragraphs apart and lay them in order on the desk before answering. Allow item 10 to be told aloud to a partner who writes it down.

Extension

Ask students to write the same trip backward, starting at Cinder Creek and ending at the sink, and to choose the order words that fit a backward retelling. They should mark one place where going backward made a sentence harder to write.

ELL supports

Pre-teach "drain," "screen," "grit," and "grease" with objects: a kitchen strainer, a spoonful of sand, and a photograph of a greasy pan. Post the order words first, next, then, and finally on a strip at each desk. Allow items 1 through 8 to be answered with short phrases.

Extensions

The class can build a hallway timeline of the trip, with one drawing per stop and one order word under each drawing, and then use it to retell the process to a younger class. Retelling to a real audience gives a reason to fix any step that is out of order.