3rd grade English worksheets

Nouns

• Abstract and concrete nouns Concrete nouns can be seen, heard, or touched: bridge, thunder, pretzel. Abstract nouns are ideas and feelings: courage, luck, patience. The five-senses test tells them apart.
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• Collective nouns A collective noun names a group: a herd of cows, a flock of birds, a litter of puppies.
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• Common and proper nouns A common noun names any one (city, girl, day). A proper noun names a specific one and starts with a capital (Chicago, Maya, Monday).
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• Identifying nouns, newnew A noun names a person, a place, a thing, or an animal.
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• Irregular plural nouns Some nouns don't add -s for the plural. They change: one mouse, two mice; one foot, two feet.
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• Plural noun rules Most nouns add -s. Words ending in x, ch, sh, or s add -es. Words ending in consonant + y change y to -ies.
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• Possessive nouns Add apostrophe-s to show owning: Maya's backpack. If the owners already end in s, the apostrophe goes after: the twins' room.
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Verbs

• Action verbs, newnew An action verb tells what someone or something does.
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• Helping verbs A helping verb works before the main verb: She is running. They have finished. We will visit.
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• Irregular past tense verbs Irregular verbs don't add -ed for the past. They change: go became went, eat became ate.
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• Linking verbs A linking verb connects the subject to a word that describes it: The soup smells wonderful.
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• Past, present, and future verbs Verbs tell time: walked already happened, walks is happening, will walk hasn't happened yet.
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• Subject-verb agreement The verb has to match the subject: one dog barks, two dogs bark.
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Adjectives

• Articles (a, an, the) Use a before a consonant sound and an before a vowel sound: a banana, an apple.
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• Comparative and superlative adjectives Use -er to compare two things and -est to compare three or more: taller of the two, tallest of all.
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• Identifying adjectives An adjective describes a noun. It tells what kind, how many, or which one.
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• This, that, these, and those This and these point to things close by; that and those point to things far away. This and that are for one; these and those are for more.
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Adverbs

• Adjective or adverb? Adjectives describe nouns: a quick fox, the soup smells wonderful. Adverbs describe verbs: she runs quickly, stir gently. Ask what the word is describing.
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• Adverbs of how, when, and where Adverbs answer three questions about an action: how (quietly), when (today), and where (outside).
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• Comparing with adverbs Adverbs compare too: short ones take -er and -est (faster, fastest); -ly ones take more and most (more quickly, most quickly); and well goes better, best.
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• Identifying adverbs An adverb tells how, when, or where something happens.
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Pronouns

• Indefinite pronouns Indefinite pronouns point at no one in particular: everyone, someone, nobody, anything. They let a sentence talk about people and things without naming them.
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• Personal pronouns A pronoun takes the place of a noun: he, she, it, we, they, her, my.
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• Possessive pronouns Possessive pronouns show who owns something: my, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, its, our, ours, their, theirs.
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• Pronoun-antecedent agreement A pronoun has to match the noun it stands for: Maya packed her bag, and the twins packed their bags. In school writing, a team acting as one takes its, and each of the girls takes her.
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• Reflexive pronouns A reflexive pronoun points the action back at the doer: I made it myself; they helped themselves.
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Prepositions

• Identifying prepositions A preposition tells where, when, or how something connects: in, on, under, after, with.
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Conjunctions

• Coordinating conjunctions A conjunction joins ideas: and adds, but shows a difference, or gives a choice, so shows what happens because of it.
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• Subordinating conjunctions Subordinating conjunctions join a helper idea to a main idea and name the link: because (why), although (surprise), until (time), if (condition).
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Mixed parts of speech

• Commonly confused words Some words sound alike but mean different things: their, there, and they're are three different words.
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• Formal or informal? English wears different clothes for different rooms. Formal: Good afternoon; I would appreciate your help. Informal: Hey! Wanna play? Both are correct, in their place.
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• Parts of speech, newnew Ask what the word does in this sentence: a noun names something, a verb shows an action or a state of being, an adjective describes a noun, an adverb tells how, when, where or how often, and a pronoun takes the place of a noun.
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• Combining sentences Two short sentences about the same thing can join into one smoother sentence. Use a joining word, and say repeated words only once.
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• Complex sentences A complex sentence has a part that cannot stand alone, hooked to a part that can. Words like because, when, and although start the hanging part.
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• Expanding sentences A short sentence can grow. Add the words in parentheses where they fit best, and keep the capital and the period.
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• Run-on sentences A run-on squeezes two sentences into one. Find where the first idea ends, then add a period and a capital letter.
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• Sentence fragments A fragment is a piece of a sentence. Find what it is missing: the naming part (subject) or the telling part (predicate).
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• Simple and compound sentences A simple sentence has one who-did-what. A compound sentence is two of them, joined by a comma and a word like and, but, or so.
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• Subject and predicate The subject names who or what the sentence is about. The predicate is everything the sentence says about it, starting with the verb.
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• Types of sentences A statement tells. A question asks. A command orders. An exclamation bursts with feeling.
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• Capitalizing places and holidays Names of places and holidays get capitals on every important word: Main Street, Lake Erie, Thanksgiving. Little joiners like of stay small.
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• Capitalizing titles In a title, capitalize the first word, the last word, and all the important words. Little joiners like a, of, the, and in stay small: The Fox of the Field.
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• Commas in addresses City and state travel with a comma between them, and when the sentence continues, the state takes a comma after it too: We moved to Austin, Texas, last spring.
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• Commas in letters A friendly letter needs two commas: one after the greeting (Dear Grandma,) and one after the closing (Love, Maya).
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• Commas in a series When you list three or more things, put a comma after each one before the last: hats, mittens, and boots.
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• Contractions A contraction squeezes two words into one. The apostrophe sits exactly where letters dropped out: do not becomes don't.
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• Contractions or possessives? It's, you're, they're, and who's are contractions: two words in a trench coat. Its, your, their, and whose show belonging. Expand the contraction and see if the sentence still makes sense.
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• Quotation marks in dialogue Quotation marks hug the exact words someone says, and the comma stays inside the hug: "Let's go," said Maya.
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• Singular vs. plural possessives One owner: apostrophe before the s (the dog's bowl). Many owners: apostrophe after the s (the dogs' bowls). Irregular plurals act like singles: the children's books.
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• Commonly misspelled words Every famous misspelling has a trap: a double letter (really), a letter people double by mistake (until), or a silent sneak (friend). Know your word's trap and you own it.
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• Spelling words Each week has its own list, and most weeks share a secret: the words follow one spelling pattern. Find the pattern and half the list spells itself.
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• The doubling rule A short-vowel word ending in one vowel and one consonant doubles that consonant before an ending that starts with a vowel, like -ing or -ed: run becomes running, hop becomes hopped. X never doubles: fix becomes fixed, box becomes boxing.
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• The drop-e rule A silent e usually steps aside before an ending that starts with a vowel: bake becomes baking, smile becomes smiled. It usually stays before an ending that starts with a consonant: hopeful.
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• The y-to-i rule When a word ends in a consonant plus y, the y changes to i before most endings: cry becomes cried, happy becomes happier. The one ending that never takes the swap is -ing: crying keeps its y.
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• Alphabetical order Alphabetical order means lining words up the way the alphabet goes. Look at the first letter; if two words share it, move one letter deeper and compare again.
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• Consonant-le endings (-le, -el, -al) Words that end in a consonant plus le, el, or al share one final sound: ta-ble, cam-el, med-al. The ending is its own last syllable.
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• Dolch grade 3 sight words Sight words are the words you meet so often that your eyes should know them without sounding out. Say each one, cover it, and write it from memory.
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• Fry instant words Fry words are the words you meet most often in books. Know them on sight and reading speeds up.
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• Multisyllabic words Long words are short chunks in a row. Count the beats: im-por-tant is three, cal-cu-la-tor is four. Chunk it, count it, read it.
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• Sight words Sight words are the little words you see everywhere. Sound out the parts you can, learn the tricky part by heart, and practice until you know the word in a snap.
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• Silent letters (kn, wr, mb) Some letters wrote themselves into words and then stopped talking. K is silent in knee, w in write, b in lamb. You spell them; you never say them.
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• Soft c and soft g C and g usually go soft before e, i, and y: city, giant. Soft c says s; soft g says j. Before other letters they stay hard: cat, go. G breaks the rule in some words, like get and girl, so say the word to check.
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• Syllable division (rab-bit, ti-ger) Big words break into beats. Two consonants in the middle? Split between them: rab-bit. One consonant? First try splitting after the vowel so it says its name (ti-ger). Not a word you know? Split after the consonant instead (lem-on).
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• Syllable types (open, closed, silent e) A closed syllable ends in a consonant and the vowel says its short sound (cat). An open syllable ends in the vowel, so it says its name (go). Silent e reaches back to make the vowel long (cake).
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• The schwa sound The schwa is the lazy uh sound in unstressed syllables: the a in about, the o in wagon, the e in taken. Any vowel letter can make it.
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• The two sounds of oo The team oo has two voices: the long howl in moon and the short push in book. Same letters, two sounds; your ear makes the call.
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• Variant vowel /ô/ (aw, au, al) Aw, au, and al all can make the same deep aw sound: saw, haul, walk. One sound, three spellings, each with favorite places to stand.
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Word relationships

• Antonyms Antonyms are opposites: hot and cold, up and down, open and closed.
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• Compound words A compound word is two words joined into one new meaning: sun + flower = sunflower.
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• Dictionary guide words Guide words are the first and last words on a dictionary page. A word lives on that page only if it fits between them alphabetically.
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• Homophones Homophones are words that sound exactly alike but are spelled differently and mean different things: sea and see, bear and bare. The sentence tells you which one belongs.
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• Multiple-meaning words Some words carry more than one meaning: a bat flies at night, and a bat hits a baseball. The rest of the sentence tells you which meaning is on duty.
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• Shades of meaning Words come in strengths. Glad is a birthday card; thrilled is fireworks. Sorting everyday words from their stronger cousins tunes your word volume knob.
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• Spatial and time-order words Some words place things in space: beside, beneath, between. Others place events in time: during, until, meanwhile. Writers steer with both.
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• Synonyms Synonyms are words that mean almost the same thing: happy and glad, big and large.
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Prefixes and suffixes

• Prefixes A prefix is glued to the front of a word and changes its meaning: un- flips lock into unlock.
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• Root words and word building Words are built from parts. The root carries the meaning: play. Prefixes and suffixes snap on: re + play = replay, play + er = player.
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• Suffixes A suffix is glued to the end of a word and changes its job: care becomes careful, careless, or carefully.
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Figurative language

• Figurative language, newnew A simile compares with like or as, a metaphor says one thing is another, personification gives a thing a human action, hyperbole stretches the truth, an idiom is a saying with its own meaning, onomatopoeia is a sound word, and alliteration repeats a first sound.
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• Idioms An idiom means something different from its exact words. A piece of cake means easy; raining cats and dogs means pouring. The sentence around it tells you which.
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• Similes and metaphors, newnew A simile compares with like or as: brave as a lion. A metaphor says one thing IS another: the classroom was a zoo.
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Context clues

• Context clues, newnew The sentence around a hard word usually hides its meaning. Read past the word, find the clue, then decide: The arid desert had not seen rain for months, so arid must mean very dry.
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Reading passages

• Animal reading comprehension, newnew An animal passage tells how an animal's body and habits help it live. Answer from the passage, not from what you already know about the animal.
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• Author's purpose Every writer has a reason for writing. The three big reasons are easy to remember as PIE: to Persuade (change your mind), to Inform (teach you facts), or to Entertain (tell you a fun story). To find the purpose, ask what the writer wants you to do after reading.
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• Fact vs opinion A fact can be checked and proven: a spider has eight legs. An opinion tells what someone thinks or feels: spiders are creepy. Ask the test question: could we look this up and settle it?
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• Fiction reading comprehension The answers hide in the story. Read it once for fun, then go back and point to the exact sentence that proves each answer.
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• Main idea and details The main idea is what the whole passage is about, in one sentence. The details are the smaller facts that back it up.
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• Making inferences An inference is a smart guess the writer never says out loud. You mix a clue from the text with what you already know: if a character shivers and rubs her hands, you can infer she is cold.
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• Nonfiction reading comprehension Nonfiction is true information. Read to find out what the passage teaches, and be ready to point to the fact that answers each question.
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• Paired passages Two passages, one topic. Read both all the way through before you answer. Some questions are about one passage, some are about both, and the question always tells you which.
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• Reading fluency passages Read the passage out loud for one minute. Read it the way you would talk: smooth, at a steady pace, and with the feeling the sentences call for. Fast is not the goal; smooth and accurate is.
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• Science reading comprehension, newnew A science passage explains how something in the world works. Find the sentence that answers each question, even when it surprises you.
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Comprehension skills

• Cause and effect A cause is why something happened. An effect is what happened because of it. Ask: what happened, and what made it happen?
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• Character traits A trait is what a person is like on the inside, and actions are the proof. The story never says the word; it shows you, and you name it.
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• Characters and setting Every story answers three questions: who is it about, where does it happen, and when? The characters are the who. The setting is the where and when.
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• Compare and contrast Comparing finds how two things are alike. Contrasting finds how they differ. Good readers do both at once.
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• Firsthand and secondhand accounts A firsthand account comes from someone who was there: I saw, I heard, I felt. A secondhand account is put together afterward from gathered information. Each kind knows things the other cannot.
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• Genres A genre is a kind of writing. Every kind leaves clues: talking animals with a lesson, long-ago magic, true facts, or a story that could happen on your own street.
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• Making predictions A prediction is a smart guess about what happens next. Find the clues, add what you know, and pick the ending the clues point to.
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• Plot A plot is the shape of a story: how it starts, what goes wrong, the moment things turn, and how it all works out.
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• Point of view Point of view is who tells the story. A character inside it says I. A narrator outside it says he, she, and names.
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• Problem and solution Find what is going wrong, and find what fixes it. The best stories also show tries that failed before the fix that worked.
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• Sequencing Events in a passage happen in order. Keep track of what happened first, next, and last, and watch for time words that tell you.
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• Summarizing A summary tells the whole story in a sentence or two: who or what, the big problem or idea, and how it turned out. Small details stay behind.
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• Text evidence Evidence is the exact line that proves a point. Don't tell me the story says so. Show me the sentence where it says so.
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• Text features Text features are a book's built-in helpers: headings, bold words, the table of contents, the glossary, the index. Good readers use them before reading, not just during.
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• Theme The theme is what a story teaches about life, said in a full sentence. Not what the story is about, but what it shows you.
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• Vocabulary in context When a strange word appears, the sentences around it are usually explaining it. Read past the word, find the clues, then come back and catch it.
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• Cursive alphabet Cursive letters flow: each one is written in one motion, with an entry stroke that leads in and an exit stroke that leads out.
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• Cursive sentences, newnew In a cursive sentence each word is one joined line. Lift the pencil at the end of every word, leave a space, and end with a period.
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• Cursive words In cursive the whole word is one line: the exit stroke of each letter becomes the entry stroke of the next, so the pencil stays down from the first letter to the last.
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• Linking and transition words Transition words are the road signs of writing: also adds, however turns, therefore concludes, meanwhile runs alongside. Choose the sign that matches the turn.
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• Narrative sequencing words Stories move in order, and order words drive: first, next, then, after that, finally. They tell the reader where in the journey you are.
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• Opinion sentence frames An opinion sentence has two parts: what you think, and why. The frame holds the shape: I think ___ because ___.
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• Picture writing prompts, newnew Look at the whole picture first. Say one thing that is happening, then write that sentence down.
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