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The Great Hamster Hunt: Starting a Story worksheet preview

Worksheet

The Great Hamster Hunt: Starting a Story

Read a story about a missing class hamster, find the narrator, characters, situation and event order, then plan a story of your own.

Grade 3ELAInteractive · Printable

Aligned toW.3.3.a

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What’s included

  • Single worksheet
  • Auto-graded online
  • 1 Common Core standard
  • Printable answer key
  • 12 questions
  • Classroom-ready

Details

Format
Interactive · Printable
Grade
Grade 3
Subject
ELA
Question types
Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Matching, Circle the answer, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

  • Students identify the narrator, the characters and the situation at the start of a story.
  • Students put story events in an order that unfolds naturally.
  • Students plan a narrator, a situation and a sequence of events for their own story.

How to use

Read the hamster story aloud and talk about how the beginning sets up everything that follows, then have students answer the questions and plan their own story.

Curriculum

Common Core standard covered

W.3.3.a

Establish a situation, introduce a narrator or characters, and organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally.

Preview

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Name Date

The Great Hamster Hunt: Starting a Story

Set up the situation, meet the characters and order the events.

Read the story

Read Priya's story. Notice who tells it and how one event leads to the next.

The Great Hamster Hunt

1My name is Priya, and this week it was my turn to take care of Peanut, our class hamster. On Monday morning, I walked into Room 12 with a bag of fresh carrots. When I got to Peanut's cage, the little door was open. Peanut was gone!

2I ran to tell our teacher, Mr. Bell. He did not panic. "Hamsters like dark, quiet places," he said. "Let's search carefully and keep our voices low."

3My friend Theo and I looked under the reading rug and behind the bookshelf. We found a lost crayon and an old spelling test, but no hamster. Then Theo had an idea. The lost-and-found box was dark and full of soft hats and scarves. He set a carrot on the floor next to it, and the whole class sat very still.

4After a few quiet minutes, a tiny pink nose poked out of the lost-and-found box. Peanut crept over to the carrot and began to nibble. His cheeks puffed up as he stuffed bits of carrot inside.

5Mr. Bell gently scooped Peanut up and carried him back to his cage. This time, he clicked the door shut and checked it twice. Theo and I gave each other a high five, and Peanut went right back to munching.

How the story is built

Answer the questions about Priya's story.

1.
Who is the narrator, the person telling this story?
  • A. Theo, a friend in Room 12
  • B. Mr. Bell, the class teacher
  • C. Priya, who cares for Peanut
  • D. Peanut, the class hamster
2.
Write the name of the character who has an idea in paragraph 3.

The character who sets a carrot next to the lost-and-found box is  .

3.
What problem does Priya find at the start of the story?
  • A. She forgot to bring carrots for Peanut's breakfast.
  • B. The cage door is open, and Peanut is gone.
  • C. Theo does not want to help her clean the cage.
  • D. Mr. Bell is too busy to help her look.
4.
Read paragraph 1 again. Underline the sentence that tells what day it is and where Priya is when the story begins.

My name is Priya, and this week it was my turn to take care of Peanut, our class hamster.On Monday morning, I walked into Room 12 with a bag of fresh carrots.When I got to Peanut's cage, the little door was open.Peanut was gone!

5.
Put the events in the order they happen. Match each place in the order to an event.
  1. 1st
  2. 2nd
  3. 3rd
  4. 4th
  1. A. Theo sets a carrot on the floor.
  2. B. Priya finds the cage door open.
  3. C. Mr. Bell carries Peanut back to his cage.
  4. D. Priya and Theo look behind the bookshelf.
6.
What happens right after the whole class sits very still?
  • A. A tiny nose pokes out of the lost-and-found box.
  • B. Priya runs to tell Mr. Bell that the cage is open.
  • C. Mr. Bell tells the class to keep their voices low.
  • D. Mr. Bell clicks the cage door shut and checks it.

Plan a story

Answer the questions about other stories. Then plan a story of your own.

7.
Which sentence is the best way to begin a story about a school play?
  • A. Then everyone clapped, and the curtain closed for good.
  • B. Next, I forgot my line, but Ben whispered it to me.
  • C. School plays can be about many kinds of things.
  • D. My name is Rosa, and tonight is my first school play.
8.
The events in Wei's story are mixed up.
A. Wei found the book under his bed and returned it just in time.
B. Wei borrowed a book about volcanoes from the school library.
C. The day the book was due, Wei could not find it anywhere.
D. He read a chapter every night before bed.
Which order makes the events unfold naturally?
  • A. B, C, D, A
  • B. B, D, C, A
  • C. D, B, C, A
  • D. B, D, A, C
9.
A good beginning tells who is in the story, where it happens and what is going on. Which beginning tells all three?
  • A. One day, something happened that I will never forget.
  • B. Grandpa is my favorite person in the whole world.
  • C. I helped Grandpa fix his old boat at the dock.
  • D. The old boat had a hole, and it needed fixing.
10.
Narrator and characters: Who will tell your story, and who else is in it? Write each name and one detail about that character.
11.
Situation: Write a first sentence that tells where and when your story happens and what is going on.
12.
Events: List three events for your story in the order they happen.

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