Omar's Soccer Game (Fiction Passage)

Start with a minute of talk: How do teammates help each other after a hard moment? Then have students read the story on page 1, about 200 words in 5 short paragraphs. Ask them to notice what the characters say, do and feel. On page 2 students circle three answers and write two. Encourage them to go back to the text and underline the words that back up each answer. Check the work with the answer key.

Omar’s Soccer Game gives 3rd grade students a fiction passage of about 200 words about a boy who feels terrible after a mistake at a close soccer game, followed by five questions. The questions practice the theme or lesson of the story, vocabulary in context and cause and effect, and the sheet is aligned to Common Core RL.3.2. An answer key is included.

Omar’s Soccer Game is a fiction passage of about 200 words about a boy who feels terrible after a mistake at a close soccer game. It is written for 3rd grade readers (ages 8-9) and has 5 short paragraphs, so students can read it in one sitting.

Its five questions, three multiple choice and two written, practice the theme or lesson of the story, cause and effect, vocabulary in context and how a character feels. Questions include "What is the theme of this story" and "How did Noah and Coach Reyes help Omar feel better". The sheet is aligned to Common Core RL.3.2, and the answer key is included so you can check responses quickly.

Try this conversation starter: How do teammates help each other after a hard moment? Ask students to read the first paragraph and guess what the problem will be, then finish the story to check their guess.

Most students need about 15 to 20 minutes for the passage and the questions together. The sheet works at a kitchen table with a parent talking through the written answers, or at a reading center as independent work on the theme or lesson of the story and vocabulary in context.