assigning variable names to a space delimited, new-line separated file with sh's "while"

didn't know sh's "while" could do this...

$ while read firstcolumn secondcolumn thirdcolumn; do
> echo -e "First column is $firstcolumn
> Third is $thirdcolumn \n"
> done << EOF
> i like cats
> and pie too
> baby baby yeah
> EOF
First column is i
Third is cats

First column is and
Third is too

First column is baby
Third is yeah