3rd Grade Unit LUES Clues
Dear Parents/Guardians:
Third grade has started a new unit. We hope you find this information useful when helping your student at
home. 
Subject
Unit
SOLs
Objective
Important
Vocabulary
Reading
Dictionary Skills, Affixes, Homophones, Context Clues

3.4g Use dictionary, glossary, thesaurus, encyclopedia, and other reference
books, including online reference materials.
 3.4b Use knowledge of roots and affixes.
 3.4d Use context to clarify meaning of unfamiliar words.
 3.3b Use knowledge of homophones
 Use dictionary including online reference materials.
 Use knowledge of roots, prefixes and suffixes.
 Use context to clarify meaning of unfamiliar words.
 Use homophones in text
Syllables
a unit of pronunciation having one vowel sound, with or without
surrounding consonants, forming the whole or a part of a word; e.g.,
there are two syllables in water
Homophones each of two or more words having the same pronunciation but
different meanings, origins, or spelling, e.g., new and knew
Context clue
Context clues are hints that an author gives to help define a difficult or
unusual word. The clue may appear within the same sentence as the
word to which it refers, or it may follow in a preceding sentence.
Prefix
a word, letter, or number placed before another.
Suffix
Root word
Dictionary
Entry Word
Guide Words
a morpheme added at the end of a word to form a derivative, e.g., ation, -fy, -ing, -itis.
The root word is also a word in its own right. For example, the word
lovely consists of the word love and the suffix -ly.
a book or electronic resource that lists the words of a language
(typically in alphabetical order) and gives their meaning, or gives the
equivalent words in a different language, often also providing
information about pronunciation, origin, and usage.
the entry in a dictionary of information about a word
In a dictionary, guide words help you find the word you are looking for;
usually set in boldface or another distinctive type at the top of a page.
Strategies
and
Examples
Dictionary Skills
When to use a dictionary:
 When you are unsure of a word’s meaning
 To check spelling
 To find other definitions
 To find a word’s origin
 To find similar or different words (synonyms & antonyms)
 To find other grammatical information
 To find out how to say a word
How a dictionary is organized:
 Words are listed
alphabetically.
 The words on the top of
each page are guide words.
All of the entry words on
the page will be listed
alphabetically between the
two guide words.
 For example, the
guidewords are cat and
crouch, all of the words on
this page are words that
come after cat
alphabetically, but before
crouch
DICTIONARY
Cat
Crouch
Cat- noun, (kat) a
small domesticated
animal
Cobweb – noun,
(kob-web) a web
spun by a spider to
entrap its prey
Clutter – verb,
(kluht-er) to fill with
things in a
disorderly manner;
noun, a mess
Cog – noun, (kog) a
gear tooth
Coat – noun, (koht)
an outergarment
with sleeves
Crouch – verb
(krouch) to stoop or
bend low
Colt – noun, (kohlt)
a male horse or
pony
Homophones
Use context clues when reading to figure out the meaning of a homophone used in a
passage.
Context Clues
 When you are reading and you come to a word that you don’t know:
o Try reading the rest of the sentence and look for clues
o Try your best to fit in a synonym in its place- what you think it might
mean.
o If it works, you’ve found the definition!
o If not, try reading the rest of the paragraph and try different options for
the mystery word.
Prefixes and Suffixes
Prefix or
Suffix
dis-
Meaning
Example
NONexample
not
disagree
disk
im-
not
impossible
imagine
mis-
done wrong
misbehave
mister
re-
to do again
reheat
rest
un-
not
unimportant
underwear
pre-
to do before
preschool
pretty
-ing
happening right now
sleeping
spring
-ion
the act of doing something
evaporation
onion
-ed
done in the past
planted
speed
-able
able to be
traceable
table
-ful
full of
wonderful
fuller
-en
to be made
widen
happen
-less
without
hairless
lesser
-er
one who does something
teacher
reindeer
-ness
the state of being
happiness
nest
-ly
done in a certain way
lovingly
butterfly
-y
to describe a word
misty
jolly
Syllables
 Every syllable has one vowel sound.
 A syllable may or may not contain any consonants.
 All words have at least one syllable.
 Sometimes the rules do not work, but most of the time they do.
Syllable Rules
Rule 1: The number of vowel sounds in a word equals the number of syllables. Every
syllable has to have a vowel sound.
Examples: can (1 syllable); win-dow (2 syllables); mag-net-ic (3 syllables)
Rule 2: When two consonants come between two vowels, the word is usually split
between the consonants. Examples: but-ter, hap-py, cam-pus, sel-dom
Rule 3: A compound word is divided between the two words that make the compound
word. Examples: for-get, snow-man, rain-coat
Rule 4: Consonant blends and digraphs are never separated. Examples: mush-y, rock-et
Sincerely,
The Third Grade Team