Grade 3 Reading Comprehension Practice Set 2

Name: ______Date: ______

Grade 3 Reading Comprehension Practice Set 2

Use this table to score questions 1-5 after you have completed this reading comprehension practice exercise.

Read the passage. Then answer questions 1 through 5.

A Bit About Buttons

Used with permission by ReadWorks.org

1 Buttons seem to be everywhere: on our shirts, the remote control, our jackets and our phones. (Okay, not so many on the phone anymore!) They can be round or square or spider-shaped, made of wood or plastic, have stickers on them or numbers, but we see them wherever we look. Where did they come from? What were they first made for?

Push and Fasten

2 Let’s examine the history of the word first. “Button” comes from the French verb bouter which means “to push.” But the first time a button was actually pushed through a buttonhole was in the 13th century. The earliest buttons were made of animal parts: bones, horns and leather. Buttons are most commonly used inclothing to hold two pieces of fabric together, but their first uses were as decoration on clothes and jewelry.

3Archaeologists (people who study the past by recovering things like fossil remains and monuments) have found buttons from many ancient civilizations. The Indus Valley people used them, as did the ancient Egyptians and the ancient Chinese.

Useless?

4 Some argue that buttons are useless. For example, Bill Bryson writes, “When buttons came in [...] people couldn't get enough of them, and placed them decoratively on the backs and collars and sleeves of coats, where they didn't actually do anything. One example of this is the short row of pointless buttons that are still placed on the underside of jacket sleeves near the cuff. These are decorative and have never had a purpose…”

5 Buttons aren’t exactly pointless, even if in some cases they just serve a decorative purpose. Do this quick exercise: count the number of buttons on a man’s suit jacket—front, pockets, sleeves and the rest of the jacket. They were placed there not because of their functionality, but because someone, centuries ago, thought they looked good. Hundreds of years later, they are still with us.

“Pearly King of Somers Town”

6 Our friend Bryson might not think too highly of buttons, but some people have taken them very seriously. One such man was a street sweeper in London called Henry Croft. He would wear suits with thousands of white pearly buttons to attract attention towards the cause of local hospitals. He started a tradition of men and women wearing suits and dresses decorated with mother of pearl buttons. These people became known as “Pearly Kings and Queens.” Even today, Pearly Kings and Queens continue to wear pearly clothing and collect money for charity.

Fun Facts about Buttons

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• Did you know that the word button is a relative of the verb “to butt,” which also means “to push”?

• Button collecting is a very popular hobby. The National Button Society was formed in 1939 in Chicago. It has more than 3,000 members!
• Till the 18th century, buttons were very expensive. Only the rich could wear them, and they were a status symbol.
• Special metal buttons were used to hide compasses during the World Wars.
• The Waterbury Button Museum in Waterbury, Connecticut and The Button Room in Gurnee, Illinois have large collections of buttons. The “button room” was an actual room in Elizabeth Hewitt’s house in Gurnee, where she loved telling stories about her collection of buttons.

Write the letter of the correct answer on the line next to each question.

______1.What is this passage mainly about?

1. plastic
2. buttons
3. men’s fashion
4. London

______2.Which of the following best describes theinformation that the author includes in the list at the end of the passage?

1. Information about different button museums
2. Information about the ways ancient Egyptians used buttons.
3. Some fun facts about buttons.
4. An explanation of button collecting as a hobby.

______3.The earliest buttons were made out of all of the following materials EXCEPT . . .

1. bones
2. wood
3. horns
4. leather

______4.What does the word “pointless” mean in the sentence below from paragraph 5?

“Buttons aren’t exactly pointless, even if in some cases they just serve a decorative purpose.”

1. without any use
2. too long
3. not safe for children
4. very cold

______5.What does the word “functionality” mean in the sentence below from paragraph 5?

“They were placed there not because of their functionality, but because someone, centuries ago, thought they looked good.”

1. shape
2. position
3. ability to serve a purpose
4. beauty

Answer question 6 in the space provided below.

ANSWER KEY

Write the letter of the correct answer on the line next to each question.

______1.What is this passage mainly about?

1. plastic
2. buttons
3. men’s fashion
4. London

EXPLANATION: This question requires students to identify the main idea. While all of the answer choices are ideas present in the passage, buttons is the only idea that is present throughout the passage. To help students understand the answer to this question, have them go back to the text and identify the other ideas. If they cannot find the other ideas throughout the text, they cannot be a main idea. Point out to students that buttons are present in all paragraphs of the text, so they must be the main idea.

______2.Which of the following best describes the information that the author includes in the list at the end of the passage?

1. Information about different button museums
2. Information about the ways ancient Egyptians used buttons.
3. Some fun facts about buttons.
4. An explanation of button collecting as a hobby.

EXPLANATION: This question requires students to go back to the text to identify information. It also requires that students have a basic knowledge of textual features. When reviewing this question with students, it is a good opportunity to point out that headings/ sub-headings often tell us a lot about a passage. Have students point to the heading “Fun Facts about Buttons” and explain to them that this provides a summary of what will follow. It may be useful to revisit some of the other headings in the passage and review the content of the paragraphs that follow as well.

______3.The earliest buttons were made out of all of the following materials EXCEPT . . .

1. bones
2. wood
3. horns
4. leather

EXPLANATION: This question requires students to go back to the text and identify details. It also requires a very close reading. Revisit paragraph 2 with students and have students underline all of the materials that early buttons were made of. Then ask students to revisit the answer choices to help them understand why wood is the correct answer.

______4.What does the word “pointless” mean in the sentence below from paragraph 5?

“Buttons aren’t exactly pointless, even if in some cases they just serve a decorative purpose.”

1. without any use
2. too long
3. not safe for children
4. very cold

EXPLANATION: This question requires students to identify the meaning of the word “pointless” in context. In this case, the best context clues are actually present in the paragraph before this sentence appears. Reread paragraph 4 with students and ask students to identify clues that help us understand the meaning of the word pointless. Point out that the word “useless” is a synonym present in paragraph 4. In addition, the author provides an example of a pointless button in paragraph 4. Force students to do the work here by requiring them to underline context clues.

______5.What does the word “functionality” mean in the sentence below from paragraph 5?

“They were placed there not because of their functionality, but because someone, centuries ago, thought they looked good.”

1. shape
2. position
3. ability to serve a purpose
4. beauty

EXPLANATION: This question requires students to identify the meaning of the word “functionality” in context.Revisit paragraph 5 with students. Paragraph 5 explains that buttons on a man’s jacket look good and are in lots of different places. If students know this, it will help them eliminate the other answer choices. You might also have students read the sentence out loud with the different possibilities and determine which one makes the most sense. Finally, this is a good opportunity to review word roots. Point out to students that the word “function” is in the word “functionality,” which will offer them a clue as to what “functionality” means.

Answer question 6 in the space provided below.

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