Sample Assessment Booklet: New Layout

Grade

3 • L anguage

G
sion

IN
iv i

D
ry D

A
m a
P ri

R E
BOOK
 A1
Section Reading page 2

The In-Line Skating Lesson

Aldo and Farah sat on the steps as Aldo 1

put on his new skates.

“Here is a book called How to In-line 2

Skate,” said Farah. “Lesson one is ‘How
to Fall Down.’”

Aldo laughed. “I don’t want to fall 3

down,” he said. “I want to skate fast.”

He stood up on his new skates. 4

“I’m not getting anywhere,” he said. 5

He wiggled some more. “I’m rolling!” he shouted. He waved his arms 6

in the air.

Aldo wiggled and jiggled to a long, slow slope. “I’ll glide downhill,” 7
he called.

“Lesson number three is ‘How to Stop,’” Farah called. 8

“I don’t want to stop,” Aldo yelled. “I’m having fun.” 9

Aldo skated past bushes, past hydro poles, past houses. 10

“Uh-oh,” Aldo thought. “The sidewalk ends soon. I have to stop or I’ll 11
crash.”

“Farah! Read how to stop!” Aldo yelled. 12

 A1
Section Reading page 3

“What?” Farah called from the step. 13

“How do I stop?” Aldo yelled. 14

“It’s complicated on a hill,” yelled Farah. “Fall down.” 15

Aldo looked at the hard sidewalk ahead. He looked at the soft grass at 16
the side. He wished he had practised lesson number one—how to fall.

Farah put down the book and ran after Aldo. “It says relax, be a wet 17
noodle and fall.”

“I am a wet noodle,” yelled Aldo. 18

He flopped on the grass and rolled—one, two, three rolls. Finally 19

Aldo stopped.

He grinned. 20

“I did it,” he said. “I can 21

Lesson 1
in-line skate, and I can
o
Ho w t stop.”
kate
-line S
How to
In Fall Down
“You were wonderful,” 22
said Farah. She smiled
at her friend.

“ But now let’s read the book,” she said. Aldo took off his skates, 23
and the two friends walked back up the hill.

“And start at the beginning.” 24

GO TO Language A1
ANSWERS
 A2
Section Reading page 4

Two Chains

A dragonfly flew by the pond

To see if he could find a treat.
He landed on a floating leaf
And looked for little bugs to eat.

It didn’t see the frog that sat 5

Upon a mossy rock so still
That thought the dragonfly might make
A very, very tasty meal.

Behind the frog there lay a snake

Who slithered quickly toward his prey 10
And in a tree there stood a hawk
Who thought a snake would make his day.
 A2
Section Reading page 5

Now when a cow that eats just grass

Stepped in the pond to drink that day
A ripple moved the leaf and scared 15
The hungry dragonfly away.

The frog jumped in, the snake crept off,

The mighty hawk took to the sky
And so their chance to have a feast,
Came to an end and passed them by. 20

The cow stepped out to eat more grass,

But never even had a hunch,
That she became the only one
Who got the chance to eat her lunch.

GO TO Language A2
ANSWERS
 B1
Section Reading page 6

Ryan’s Well

Ryan Hreljac sat in his Grade 1 1

classroom in Kemptville, Ontario, and
listened to his teacher, Ms. Prest, talk
about water. She said that people could
get sick if they didn’t have clean water
to drink. She told the class that people
in some countries do not have indoor
sinks and have to walk for hours to get
clean water. There were only nine or
10 steps between Ryan’s classroom
and the drinking fountain.

Ryan wanted to find a way to pay the 2

cost of digging wells near people who
needed them. Wells are holes dug
deep into the ground to provide clean
water. The water comes from rain and
snow that seeps into the ground and is
trapped there.

So Ryan worked for four months doing chores around the house and 3
earned $70. Then he learned that wells cost a lot more, but he was
determined. “I’ll just do more chores,” he said. Ryan’s first well was
built in 1999 in Africa, when he was seven years old.

Ryan’s family is very proud of him. “I’m just your regular, average 4
kid,” Ryan says humbly. He plays basketball and ice hockey. He also
loves playing video games.
 B1
Section Reading page 7

Now a young adult, Ryan visits schools to teach students that, though 5
everyone needs clean water, not everyone has it. He wants to encourage
young people to make a difference in the world. He has visited over
two dozen different countries to tell people about the need for clean
water. Ryan has also told his story on television. He works with the
Global Kidz program, which teaches Canadian Grade 4 students about
building healthy communities worldwide.

GO TO Language B1
ANSWERS
 C1
Section Reading page 8

The Board

My tae kwon do instructor stood in front of me, the board held tightly in 1
his hands.

“Just tell me when you’re ready,” he said. 2

I had to break it. That thought was ringing around inside my head, inside 3
my stomach. “Break it. BREAK IT! You have to break it.”

I stepped back for a practice kick. I got in a good stance, clenched my 4

fists, and then I spun around backwards, doing a complete turn, and
brought my heel up lightly on the edge of the board. Just to make sure
that I was lined up, I practised again.

The thin, old brown carpet was rough on my bare feet as I turned. The 5
fluorescent lights in the ceiling filled the room with light. Everything
was silent, waiting for me. My martial arts classmates sat in a row on the
floor to my left. At the back of the room, my mom and dad sat in chairs.
I could feel everyone’s gaze boring through me like so many tiny lasers.
I had never broken a board before, although I had tried several times.
Even a boy in my tae kwon do class who was two years younger than me
(and a lower rank) had broken one.

My loose white uniform made snapping sounds as I lined myself up 6

once more, but the baggy pants and jacket didn’t keep me from sweating.
I paused to pull tight the knot in my deep-blue belt.

“OK,” I whispered, and with one last deep breath, I swirled around, the 7
room blurring before my eyes. Then I kicked my heel against the hard
wood. I stepped back. The board was still in one piece.
 C1
Section Reading page 9

“You stopped,” my instructor said, smiling. “You have to go through the 8

board. Try it again.”

“Through the board, through the board,” I chanted to myself. I took 9

another practice try and then flew around again, my long, blond hair
swishing around behind me. But again, I couldn’t break the board.
I hadn’t even cracked it! I wouldn’t disappoint everyone by being
a quitter. I wouldn’t disappoint myself.

“Almost,” my instructor told me. “You still stopped. Try it just one more 10
time.”

One more chance. That was all I had. Suddenly, I remembered my 11

instructor once sticking his tongue out and waving his hands by his ears.

“That’s what the board’s doing,” he had said to me. 12

I closed my eyes and pictured myself cracking the board in half. 13

“I’ll show you, Mr. Board. I’ll do it,” I whispered, and the words “I’ll do 14
it” echoed inside me. “I’ll do it. I’ll do it. I’ll do it.”

“OK,” I said quietly. I spun around. My foot 15

snapped out and collided with the board in just the
right spot. I heard a distant CRACK! and then my
foot fell through the board, and my instructor was
holding up the two pieces and grinning.

“Knowing that you can,” he said. “That’s all there is to it.” 16

GO TO Language C1
ANSWERS
 D1
Section Reading page 10

The Eurasian Eagle Owl

Big Bird
The Eurasian eagle owl is one of the
largest owls on the planet. But it can be Tufts of feathers to
hard to spot. Its feathers and body are help blend into the
colours of the forest
covered in splotches and streaks that
help the owl blend in with tree bark
while it spies on its prey.
Big eyes to
spot prey in the
Silent Flyer pitch-black night

This owl spends its days perched high

up in the treetops. When the sun sets,
Soft feathers on
it swoops down to hunt for food. It its wings make for
can capture prey in the dark because quiet, sneaky flights
of its super eyesight and hearing. The
eagle owl flies so quietly that its prey
never knows it’s being hunted. Razor-sharp talons
to capture small prey

Eat It Up
This owl doesn’t chew its food. It
swallows its prey whole, including fur,
feathers, teeth, claws and bones! But
the eagle owl can’t digest these things.
So its stomach muscles squash them
into a ball called an owl pellet. The owl
coughs up the pellet hours later.
 D1
Section Reading page 11

What It Eats

This owl eats everything

from rats and foxes to
lizards and snakes.

Its Size

The Eurasian eagle owl is

about as tall as a German
shepherd (a large dog).

GO TO Language D1
ANSWERS
Permissions and Credits

Section A1: Reading

Adapted from “The Skating Lesson” by Barbara Owen, published in Highlights for Children magazine, volume 55, no. 5, issue 583,
pages 36–37. © 2000 by Highlights for Children, Inc., Columbus, Ohio. Reprinted with permission.

Section A2: Reading

“Two Chains” by Judy Young, from the book R Is for Rhyme: A Poetry Alphabet, published by Sleeping Bear Press, an imprint
of Canpage Learning, 2005. Reprinted with permission.

Section B1: Reading

Adapted from “Ryan’s Story.” Story and photo from the Ryan’s Well Foundation Web site (www.ryanswell.ca). Reprinted with
permission.

Section C1: Reading

Adapted from “The Board” by Ann Pedtke, published in the July/August 2000 issue of Stone Soup. Reprinted with permission
from Stone Soup, the Magazine by Young Writers and Artists. © 2000 by the Children’s Art Foundation.

Section D1: Reading

Adaptation of “Eurasian Eagle Owl,” including the “Fast Facts,” written by Maria Birmingham from the October 2008 issue
of Chickadee magazine. Used with permission of Bayard Presse Canada Inc.

2 Carlton Street, Suite 1200, Toronto ON M5B 2M9

Telephone: 1-888-327-7377 Web site: www.eqao.com

© 2015 Queen’s Printer for Ontario