Tennessee Worksheet

This Tennessee Worksheet helps students learn about the Volunteer State by reading a short nonfiction text and answering questions about it. Instead of sending children away to look up facts somewhere else, every answer on this Tennessee Worksheet is waiting inside the passage on page one. Students read about the year the state joined the country, the eight states that touch its borders, the Mississippi River along its west side, where the Volunteer State nickname came from, the three main parts of the land from the eastern mountains and waterfalls to the rolling middle farms and the flat western fields, and the music cities of Nashville and Memphis.

The activity begins with a full-color painting of a mountain waterfall pouring into a quiet pool, and a 234-word passage written on grade level. Students then move to the question page, where they fill in the bubble beside the best answer for four multiple choice items and write a longer response using two details from the text. Because the reading and the questions sit on facing pages, children practice going back to the text for evidence, which is exactly what state reading assessments ask them to do. This 3rd grade states worksheet works as a first lesson on the state, as a geography warm-up, or as independent practice.

What’s Included

• A one-page nonfiction passage about the state, with a full-color illustration
• Four fill-in-the-bubble questions drawn from all three paragraphs
• One written response that asks for two details from the passage
• A complete answer key on the final page
• A printable PDF sized for standard letter paper

Three Reasons This Helps Kids

• Every answer is findable. Children learn that good research starts with reading carefully, not guessing.
• Evidence becomes a habit. The written response asks for two details, so students go back to the text instead of relying on memory.
• New words make sense in context. The word volunteer is explained right in the sentence that uses it, so students practice learning vocabulary from the text.

Teacher and Parent Ideas

• Read the passage aloud together first, then let students reread it on their own before answering.
• Have children underline the sentence that proves each answer before they fill in a bubble.
• Pull out a United States map and count the eight states that touch the border together.
• Talk about ways your class could volunteer, and connect the idea to the state nickname.

Related Resources

• Tennessee Word Search Worksheet
• Welcome to Tennessee Reading Comprehension Worksheet
• Alabama Worksheet
• 50 States Song Video