NL Grade 3 Reading cheat sheet

A closed syllable ends in a consonant and has a short vowel sound: cat, ship, jump, splat.

An open syllable ends in a vowel that says its long sound: go, me, hi, ta-ble, ro-bot.

A silent e at the end of a word usually makes the vowel long and the e silent: hop becomes hope, cap becomes cape.

Vowel teams are two vowels working together to make one sound: rain, boat, seed, play, night.

R-controlled vowels change the vowel sound: car, her, bird, fork, fur.

Consonant digraphs are two letters making one new sound: sh, ch, th, wh, ph, ck.

Consonant blends keep both letter sounds audible: bl, gr, st, spr, nd, mp.

A syllable must contain at least one vowel sound; count vowel sounds, not letters, to split a word into syllables.

Common prefixes and suffixes attach to a base word without changing its core meaning: un-, re-, pre-, -ing, -ed, -ful, -less.

Context clues are the words and sentences around an unknown word that hint at its meaning.

Definition clues restate the word's meaning directly, often after 'is' or 'means.'

Example clues give one or more items that belong to the word's category, often after 'such as' or 'like.'

Antonym clues signal an opposite meaning using words such as 'but,' 'unlike,' or 'instead of.'

A prefix changes meaning: un- and non- mean not, re- means again, pre- means before, mis- means wrongly.

A suffix changes meaning or part of speech: -ful means full of, -less means without, -ly often turns a word into an adverb.

Compound words carry meaning from both parts: raincoat, playground, bedtime, notebook.

Homophones sound alike but differ in spelling and meaning: to, too, two; there, their, they're; sea, see.

Shades of meaning differ in strength or feeling: warm, hot, scorching move from mild to intense.

Answers stated directly in the text are literal; the exact sentence can be pointed to and quoted.

A main topic is what the whole passage is about; a key detail supports or explains that topic.

Informational text features carry meaning: headings, captions, bold words, labels, diagrams, maps, and a glossary.

A caption explains a picture; a heading names a section; a bold word is usually defined nearby or in the glossary.

Sequence words such as first, next, then, and finally signal the order of steps or events.

Cause tells why something happened; effect tells what happened as a result.

A fact can be checked and proven; an opinion tells a feeling, belief, or judgment.

When a question asks 'according to the passage,' the answer must come from the text, not from prior knowledge.

Story elements are characters, setting, plot, problem, and solution.

The setting is where and when a story happens; it can change within one story.

The plot is the sequence of events, usually built as beginning, middle, and end.

The problem, or conflict, is what a character must solve or overcome; the solution resolves it.

Dialogue is the words characters speak, shown by quotation marks; the tag tells who is speaking.

A narrator tells the story; first-person narration uses I or we, third-person narration uses he, she, or they.

Character traits are shown by what a character does, says, and thinks, not only by what the text states.

A literal retelling names events in order and uses the characters' and setting's actual names.

An inference combines text evidence with background knowledge; it is not a guess without support.

To support an inference, name the exact detail in the text that led to the conclusion.

Feelings can be inferred from actions, dialogue, and illustrations: a character who slams a door is likely angry.

Predictions use what has already happened plus story patterns to forecast what comes next.

A lesson or moral is a general statement about how people should act, drawn from what a character learns.

Words such as because, so, and since signal a cause-and-effect link readers can use to infer.

When two details conflict, the more specific and repeated detail usually carries the stronger inference.

A conclusion is reasonable only if the text supports it; an idea the text never suggests is not a valid inference.

Author's purpose is usually to inform, to persuade, or to entertain; a text can do more than one.

Informational texts with facts, headings, and diagrams most often aim to inform.

Stories with characters and dialogue most often aim to entertain.

Texts using words like 'should,' 'best,' and 'must' often aim to persuade.

Main idea equals topic plus the most important point the author makes about it.

The main idea is often stated in a topic sentence at the beginning or end of a passage; otherwise it must be summarized.

Sequence, cause-and-effect, compare-and-contrast, and problem-and-solution are common organizational patterns.

Compare-and-contrast texts use signal words such as both, alike, different, and unlike.

A summary names the main idea and only the most important details, leaving out small examples.