Magnets Reading Comprehension | 3rd 4th 5th Grade Science NGSS 3-PS2-3

Magnets are a natural hook in science, but students need to move past play to explain why magnets attract or repel. This bundle has 3rd graders read a short passage on magnetic force, learn the key words from context, sort attract or repel situations, infer from clue cards, read how a compass works, and finish with a news story about how MRI machines use a giant magnet.

What's Included

• Magnets All Around You - Students read a short passage explaining that magnets pull on iron and steel but not on a penny, paper, or wood, then answer questions such as "What do we call the two ends of a magnet?" and name one thing a magnet will not pull.
• Magnets - Context Clues Activity - Students use the clues in sentences like "Two magnets would not touch... they seemed to repel and slide apart" to choose the meaning of magnet, attract, repel, and poles.
• Magnets: Attract or Repel? - Students read situations like two north poles sliding apart and a fridge magnet holding a photo, mark each Attract or Repel, then sum up the rule for opposite and matching poles.
• Magnets - Inference Activity - Students read clue cards, such as Lena's magnet picking up paper clips but not plastic buttons, circle what they can infer, and underline the words that helped them decide.
• How Do Explorers Find Their Way - Students read how sailors and explorers used a compass, learn that Earth acts like a giant magnet, then answer multiple choice, true or false, and fill-in-the-blank questions such as "A compass needle always points ___."
• How Magnets Help Doctors See Inside You - Students read how an MRI's strong magnet makes pictures inside the body, fill in a cause-and-effect chain, match causes to effects, and finish the sentence "Magnets help doctors because," with a teacher key included.

Skills Covered

• Explain that opposite poles attract and like poles repel
• Identify which materials magnets attract
• Use context clues to define science words such as attract, repel, and poles
• Make inferences from evidence and cite the clue words
• Explain how a compass uses Earth's magnetism
• Connect magnetic forces to real-world uses

How to Use

• Unit launch: read Magnets All Around You together before students handle real magnets
• Vocabulary first: use the context clues page to preview attract, repel, and poles before the sort
• Hands-on follow-up: let students test real magnets, then complete the Attract or Repel sort
• Science and reading link: the inference cards ask students to underline evidence, which fits a reading lesson
• Current events: use How Magnets Help Doctors See Inside You as a short science news read
• Exit ticket: the Sum It Up box on the sort checks whether students can state the pole rule

Print and Digital

• Print the printer-friendly black and white PDF. No prep needed.
• Assign any worksheet online in one click. Students complete the full-color version on a device and it is graded automatically.

At a Glance

• 6 worksheets, 8 pages
• Question types: multiple choice, write-in answers, circle the answer
• Grade: 3rd
• Standards: NGSS 3-PS2-3, RI.3.1