Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary: Class 3 Study Guide
Reading well means understanding. Rich vocabulary helps you understand more and say what you mean.
A comprehension passage is a short text followed by questions. To answer well, read the passage slowly once for the story and again for details. Then read each question carefully and find the answer in the text. Many questions begin with the words who, what, where, when, why and how.
Writing your answer in a full sentence is a good habit: Q. Where did Asha find the kitten? A. Asha found the kitten under the stairs. Notice that the answer reuses words from the question.
Question words
| Question word | Asks about | Example answer |
|---|---|---|
| Who | A person or animal | Asha |
| What | A thing or event | a lost kitten |
| Where | A place | under the stairs |
| When | Time | after school |
| Why | A reason | because it was crying |
| How | The way | by following the sound |
Learning new words
When you meet an unknown word, use context, which means the words around it. The soup was scalding, so Dad waited for it to cool. The word 'cool' tells you scalding means very hot. You can also build vocabulary with synonyms (words with similar meanings: big and large) and antonyms (opposites: hot and cold, begin and end).
| Word | Synonym | Antonym |
|---|---|---|
| happy | glad | sad |
| quick | fast | slow |
| brave | bold | scared |
| begin | start | end |
Steps for answering a passage
Read the title and first lines.
Underline names and key words.
Decide the question word.
Look back in the passage.
Reuse words from the question.
Worked example and common mistakes
Passage: Ravi woke up early on Sunday. He packed a bag with sandwiches and a water bottle and set out with his grandfather to fly kites on the hill. Q. Why did Ravi pack sandwiches? Likely answer: He packed sandwiches for the outing with his grandfather. Common mistakes: copying a whole paragraph instead of the right line, guessing without checking the text, and writing answers that do not match the question word. Keep a small vocabulary notebook for new words with meanings and your own sentence.
Check your understanding: model answers
1. Synonym: high. Antonym: short. 2. It tells you the soup was very hot, because Dad waited for it to cool. 3. Good questions begin with who, what, where, when, why or how and can be answered from the passage.
✨ Key Takeaways
- Read the text twice and underline key words.
- The question word tells you what kind of answer is needed.
- Use context, synonyms and antonyms to understand new words.
- Write answers in complete sentences.
💬 Questions for Discussion & Reflection
- Write a synonym and an antonym for 'tall'.
- What does 'scalding' tell you in the example sentence?
- Choose a short passage from your reader and write three comprehension questions with answers.