th
Thinking about story meaning beyond what the text may say.
st
Understanding how to determine the meaning of a word.
Dear Parents,
In Grade Three your student is aiming for a score of 204 on the
OAKS Reading
Assessment in four strand areas.
nd
Finding answers by looking in the text.
rd
Looking at Graphs, Charts and Indexes of many kinds to locate information.

To the Parents:
This booklet can help you and your child work together at home to improve reading comprehension using a format that will enable your child to perform well on the OAKS reading test.
This booklet has three goals:
1. For the parent: To explain what the “strands” (goals) are for each area of reading comprehension your child will be tested on.
2. For parent and child: To provide state test samples you can practice at home that are similar to the ones on the test.
3. For parent and child: To inform you of books, you can read together and discuss at home that encourage the use of the reading strategies [strands] your child will be tested on.
To the Teacher:
This book is designed as a tool that should be delivered to the parents but with a brief overview and explanation (modeling) on how to use this book throughout the school year.
The test samples and strand data for this booklet can be found on the Oregon State Departments of
Education web site. The use of this booklet was designed for the Hillsboro School District based on HSD
Power Standards along with the ODE strand categories. This booklet is paid for and furnished to teachers for instruction by the HSD.
The concept of this booklet was created by Rick & Susan Richmond
© Rick & Susan Richmond 2010 Revision: Original 03-2010
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from Rick & Susan Richmond and the Oregon State Department of
Education and the Hillsboro School District.
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Mysteries such as
Hour of the
Olympics encourage thinking beyond the text.
Books such as
Seven Blind Mice encourage Inferring or “Reading
Between the Lines!”
Balloon Farm & other predictable text, help students to predict what may happen next!
Train to
Somewhere help students to connect a story to their own lives.
The Magic
School Bus encourages questioning about specific topics.
 knowing words that mean about the same ( SYNONYMS)…
 knowing words that mean the opposite (ANYTONYMS)..
 knowing words that sound the same but have a different meaning (HOMOPHONES)…
 knowing words that are spelled the same but have a different meaning (HOMOGRAPHS)…
Aeosop’s Fables and other folktale stories help students delve into the
Author’s
Purpose.
 looking at other words nearby.
 knowing how the word is used in the sentence.
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Parent Note: Most questions on the OAKS test for the
Vocabulary strand, asks students to find a word that means about the same ( synonym) or using context clues.
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Squirrel added the feathers to his horde. In this story, a synonym or word with the same meaning as horde would be. . .
A. friends.
B. food.
C. gifts.
D. collection.
Parents, these are the kind of questions your child is asked in
on the grade 3 reading test.
This bark contains chemicals called tannins which help the tree fight off pests and diseases.
In this story, what does the word tannins mean?
A. Deep rocks.
B. Very tiny seeds.
C. Chemicals in bark.
D. Lower branches.
Sequoias are the king of trees. These humongous plants live high on the western slopes of California’s
Sierra Nevada Mountains. Sequoias can grow more than 300 feet tall and 110 feet around the trunk.
The story calls sequoias humongous plants.
Humongous means
A. flowering.
B. gigantic.
C. green.
D. cone-bearing
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OLI DIDN’T WANT TO EAT his ugali. He didn’t want to take a nap. He wanted to go bird hunting in the woods with his big brother Mbachu. His mama said no…….. Oli sat up and listened. All was quiet. From under the mattress, he pulled out his slingshot. Then he sneaked out of the house.
What do you think Oli probably did after he sneaked out of the house?
A. He hunted for birds with his slingshot for a while.
B. He stayed away from his house for two days.
C. He found his brother, and they went to the village.
D. He came right back to his home
to take his nap.
Parents, these are the kind of questions your child is asked in
This article gives facts and opinions.
Which statement below is an opinion?
A. Apples have a great taste.
B. Apples can be divided into four groups.
C. The Golden Delicious grew from a seedling.
D. Jonagold is a cross between a Jonathan and a Golden
Delicious apple.
E. The Golden Delicious grew from a seedling.
Robby, the little horse at the end of the line, the one who was pestered and pushed around and knew what it meant to be left out, had taken the trouble to help a newcomer learn the ways of his new home.
Which of these words best describes
Robby?
A. Troublesome
B. Greedy
C. Frisky
D. Understanding
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 predicting what information will be in the text next.
 telling about cause and effect relationships.
 knowing the difference between fact and opinion.
 telling about the characters’ personality traits based on the text.
 predicting what may happen next.
 telling about the author’s theme or message.
 tell about cause and effect relationships.
Parent Note: Most questions on the OAKS test for
Developing Interpretation asks students to “read between the lines,” or make a guess based on clues in the story.
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Its not just knowing what a word means, but knowing HOW
TO FIGURE OUT THE MEANING of a word when reading!
Little House
Books and books about eras in history, present new vocabulary in
Context.
The “old classics” such as The Lion,
The Witch and
the Wardrobe, have a rich vocabulary.
Amelia Bedelia and books about puns on words and joke books, give opportunity to learn about synonyms & antonyms.
Charlotte’s Web and books that have characters using “adult vocabulary.”
Any science, social studies or non-fiction informational stories, challenge readers with contextual meaning.
The Land I
Lost and any books about people from other cultures.
Lizard and the
Sun/ La
Lagartija YEL
Sol and any
FOLK TALE books, present new vocabulary in context.
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 tell about The Main Idea.
 find details in the text.
 find Problems in the text.
 find Solutions in the text.
 tell who the narrator or speaker is (who’s telling the story).
 sequence the events in the story (first, next and last).
 choose a special event in the sequence and tell about it.
 tell which events are special and make me think about the plot.
Parent Note: Most questions on the OAKS test for
Demonstrating a General Understanding ask students to answer questions that can be directly found in the text.
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Cookbooks encourage following recipes directions!
Hobby and
“How To” Books teach reading and following directions and illustrations.
Student Dictionaries are a great resource for many skills needed in reading for information!
Reading a “Kids
Menu” helps children find information.
Charts and Graphs are amazing tools for children to learn to use!
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Parents, Your child will be asked to answer these kind of questions in
GLOSSARY:
Absorb to soak up the sound. Some of the best
absorbing materials are those with rough surfaces or those with holes.
Amplifier is something which makes sounds louder.
Bagpipes a musical instrument that is pumped with air supplied from an animal bladder Beat a sound made regularly. The beat helps maintain the rhythm and keeps
the musical time.
Which of these words is a unit that measures sound?
A. an amplifier
B. a chord
C. a decibel
D. an eardrum
Parents, these are the kind of questions your child is asked in
on the grade 3 reading test.
Sequoias can grow more than
300 feet tall and 110 feet around the trunk
How tall can a sequoia be?
A. Around 110 feet
B. From 150 to 250 feet
C. More than 300 feet
D. 125,000 feet
It is no wonder that giant sequoias are protected so that you and I, our children, and the children after that can continue to enjoy them.
What statement best describes the main idea of the story?
A. Sequoia trees have thick bark and blue-green needles.
B. Don’t stand under a sequoia in a windstorm.
C. Scientists don’t know how long sequoias live.
D. Sequoias are huge, awesome trees that live a long time.
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A shark twists and turns as it swims. That’s because it doesn’t have a bone in its body! A shark’s skeleton is made of cartilage (say “CAR-ti-luj”).
A shark’s skeleton is made up of. . .
A. bones.
B. fins.
C. gills.
D. cartilage.
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Chapter books such as the
Amber
Brown series have simple plots, & narrators voice.
Biographies such as
Helen Keller teach problems and solutions.
Historical
Fiction based on true sequential events such as
Freedoms
Wings.
Science and
Social
Studies books present main ideas and details.
Chapter books such as the
Zac Files series have simple plots and special events.
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 look in the Table of Contents.
 look at illustrations.
 look at captions.
 look in glossaries.
 look in indexes.
 interpret information in diagrams.
 interpret information in charts.
 interpret information in graphs.
 Follow simple multi-step written directions.
Parent Note: Most questions on the OAKS test for
Read to Perform a Task ask students to show they can read a graph or chart to find answers.
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