Grade 3 Oregon State Released Practice Tests Booklet #3-6 Specified State Standards Listed Under: Vocabulary

1. Most questions for Grade 3 OAKS , Vocabulary, asks students to find a word that means about the same as the underlined word or what a phrase means using context clues. Grade 3 Oregon State Released Practice Tests Booklet #3-6 • Specified State Standards Listed Under: • Vocabulary The Test Samples in this Booklet were taken from the Oregon State Department of Education WEB Site, unless otherwise noted.

2. Teacher Information page: Notes: Most questions for Grade 3 OAKS , Vocabulary, asks students to find a word that means about the same as the underlined word or what a phrase means using context clues. Grade 3 Oregon State Released Practice Tests Vocabulary O.D.E. Standards in this booklet include: (Note: These specific standards are assessed under the English/Language Arts Standards heading: Vocabulary or Voc on OAKS.) EL.03.RE.14 Determine the meanings of words usingknowledge of antonyms, synonyms, homophones, and homographs. EL.03.RE.15 Use sentence and word context to find the meaning of unknown words. • Note: Although this standard is NOT a Power Standard it is strongly assessed on OAKS: Page 14 Page 1

3. Notes: BIG BOY Kids all over the world like to have fun. BIG BOY by Tololwa M. Mollel is a story about a boy who lives in Africa and wants to have an adventure. The boy’s name is Oli, a name you may not have heard before. Oli’s brother is named Mbachu. There are two words in the story that will be new to you—ugali and kanga. See if you can figure out what they mean. 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. “You are too little,” she told him. Oli protested and hung on to his brother but Mbachu shook him off and left for the woods, dangling his slingshot proudly around his neck. Mama spoke soothingly to Oli. “Here, finish your lunch and drink some water.” After lunch, singing quietly, she carried him to bed. “When will I be big, Mama?” Oli asked. Mama smiled. “Only after many more naps, little one.” “I am tired of being a little one,” grumbled Oli. “But you are my only little one,” Mama said, draping her colorful kanga over him. “Who else could I sing to and tell stories?” Page 13 Page 2

4. Alone in the room, Oli stared at the smoke-darkened ceiling and wished he were big. Big enough to do without a nap. Big enough to walk side by side with his big brother in the woods. • No, even bigger. Big enough to lead the way, Mbachu huffing and puffing to catch up. • Oli sat up and listened. All was quiet. From under the mattress, he pulled out his slingshot. Then he sneaked out of the house. • The story tells you that Oli protested when Mama told him he couldn’t go to the woods with his brother. What was Oli doing when he protested? • He was agreeing with Mama. • He was feeling happy about his lunch. • He was saying that he wasn’t too little. • He was feeling lucky to have a slingshot . • The author of this story tells you that “Mama spoke soothingly to Oli.” This means that Mama • tried to make Oli feel better. • tried to make Oli behave. • was very angry with Oli for wanting to hunt. • was proud that Oli was growing up. Notes: Page 3 Page 12

5. A STORY FOR THE BIRDS • CRADLES IN THE TREES by Patricia Brennan Demuth is a book about bird nests. Read this • part of the book to learn more about birds and their nests. • AFTER THE LONG, COLD WINTER, springtime comes. The • world leaps to life again. New flowers peek out of the • ground. Green buds burst forth on the trees. And skies • are full of birds flying home. • All winter long, many birds stay in warm places. In the spring, they return home. Some must travel a long, long way to get back. The little bobolink flies five thousand miles! • After their big trips, the birds don’t rest for long. There is work to be done. Soon the mothers will lay their eggs. Baby birds will be born. Where will the babies live? They need safe, warm homes. And so the job of building nests must begin. • Every bird makes a nest just like the one its parents made. How does it learn how? No one ever teaches it. It • just knows. Inside a bird’s brain is a deep knowing called instinct. By instinct, every bird knows just what to do. • Birds build their nests in all kinds of different places: • in the trees, on the ground, under bridges, inside the lids • of old tin cans, on top of cliffs . . . even inside chimneys. • Instinct is a deep knowing that birds have inside their brains. Because of instinct, every bird knows just what to do. Instinct means that birds . . . • can be taught to talk if trained when they are babies. • will know they don’t have to worry about cats in the yard anymore. • will know it is silly to fly 5,000 miles before winter. • are born knowing certain things. Notes: Page 11 Page 4

6. SMOKEY BEAR by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction by Jean Craighead George. The worst fire in the history of Lincoln National Forest, New Mexico, raged for weeks in 1950. When the flames were out, when the thunder and crackle of blazing trees had died down, a badly burned bear cub was found clinging to a tree. A weary firefighter snapped his picture, then rescued the hurting and bewildered cub. The rangers named him Smokey after the familiar poster character Smokey Bear, a cartoon bear in a ranger’s hat and blue jeans holding a shovel. He had been created in 1944 by the U.S. Forest Service to publicize a campaign to prevent forest fires. Posters of the cartoon bear read “Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires!” and were tacked up in every national forest and park as well as in public buildings. “Then the real Smokey came along. The rangers nursed him back to health and sent him to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. Photographs of the badly burned cub, his playful recovery, and his life in Washington sent the popularity of the cartoon Smokey Bear skyrocketing. With all the publicity, the living Smokey Bear became one of the most popular animals at the National Zoo. Thousands of visitors dropped by to see the black bear who limped on one leg and still bore scars from the fire that some careless camper or smoker had started. • What is the best phrase to go in the blank? A seahorse has armorto keep__________. • it’s head shaped like a horse. • it warm and cool and protect it. • it swimming. • the seahorse growing. • A seahorse has a natural habitat.The best definition for habitat in this passage is. • where seahorses live • the size of a seahorse • where seahorses are different colors • how seahorses survive Page 5 Page 10

7. Camouflage • Are seahorses colored brown, black, gray or white like real horses? Seahorses come in lots of different colors. • They can be white, yellow, red, brown, black, gray, spotted or striped. Seahorses can even change color in the blink of an eye! They can change color to match the background. • They use camouflageto hide from their enemies. This is one of the ways they survive. Otherwise, a seahorse might become a tasty snack for larger fish, birds, crabs or sea turtles. • What does the word tropicalmean in the passage? • a place that is very hot and often damp • a place that gets cold during parts of the year • a place off the coast of Alaska where seahorses breed • A place in Canada near the Atlantic Ocean • Seahorses can camouflage themselves. What does camouflagemean in the passage? • surviving • look like real horses • hide from their enemies • live in the ocean • Smokey’s misfortune became the best reason for preventing forest fires. He even made public appearances. Eventually he had his own Smokey Bear fan club. Membership was In the many thousands. • Children who signed up to be Junior Forest Rangers received not only a Ranger kit but an official-looking badge and pictures of the real and the cartoon Smokeys. • In May 1975, when he was twenty-five years old (which is equal to seventy in human years), the National Zoo and the Forest Service retired Smokey in an impressive ceremony. At the same time, they introduced Smokey Junior, an orphan of another fire in Lincoln National Forest. Smokey Senior died a year later. • His remains were buried at the Smokey Bear Historical Park in Lincoln National Forest, and today his message lives on: “Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires!” • What does the word skyrocketing mean about the popularity of the cartoon bear in this passage? • was clear • rose rapidly • was exciting • disappeared quickly Page 9 Page 6

8. Seahorses Little horses that live in the sea might sound like fairy tale creatures, but seahorses are very real. Of course, they are really fish, not horses. You can’t put a saddle on a seahorse and ride it in the water! They do not have long legs or pointed ears. They are called seahorses because their heads are shaped like the head of a horse. Seahorse Bodies Hard, bony scales like a knight’s armor cover the seahorse’s body. These scales help protect the seahorse. They keep the seahorse warm in cooler water and cool in warmer water. But their heavy scales also make them very bad swimmers. Habitat The natural habitat of seahorses is in the ocean where the water is warm and shallow. Many seahorses live in tropical areas where the water is always warm. Some live in the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Seahorse is the largest type of seahorse. It can grow as long as 12 inches. Most seahorses, though, are much smaller—just 6 inches long. • Thousands of visitors dropped by to see the black bear who limped on one leg and still bore scars from the fire that some careless camper or smoker had started. • What does the phrase dropped by mean in this sentence? • came • looked • planned • refused • The wordcareless means… • full of care • without care • in a caring way • with some caring Page 7 Page 8