Tiny but Mighty Hummingbirds: Grade 3 Reading Passage

About this worksheet

A third grade nonfiction passage about hummingbirds: the tiniest birds, humming wings, flying backward, nectar and the deep sleep called torpor. A free printable 3rd grade nonfiction passage (134 words) with multiple-choice how/why questions, true-or-false sentences, a vocabulary match and a short written answer. Answer key on page 2. Third graders can use it for independent reading practice and to look back in the text for evidence.

On this sheet

Hummingbirds are the smallest birds in the world. The tiniest kind, the bee hummingbird, is only about two inches long, and it weighs less than a penny. These little birds are amazing fliers. Their wings beat so fast, often more than 50 times every second, that they make a humming sound. That is how hummingbirds got their name! They can hover in one spot like a helicopter, and they can even fly backward. Their hearts can beat more than 1,000 times a minute. All that flying takes lots of energy.

Tips for using it

• Before reading, look at the picture and the title together and guess what the passage will be about.
• Ask your child to underline the sentence in the passage that proves each answer.
• Talk about the story afterwards: what was the problem, how was it solved, and what would your child have done?

Printing tips

Download the PDF and print at 100% (or “fit to page” on A4). Page 1 is the worksheet and page 2 is the answer key with the answers in red; print just page 1 if you want to keep the answers for checking. Free for personal, family and classroom use.