Unit 5 Skills Workbook

Grade 3 — Core Knowledge Language Arts®, Skills Strand

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About This Workbook

This Skills Workbook contains the worksheets that go along with the Teacher Guide lessons for Unit 5. Each worksheet is labeled with the lesson number it belongs to. For instance, if Lesson 8 has two worksheets, they're labeled 8.1 and 8.2. Every student should have their own copy of this workbook.

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Take-Home Letter: Spelling Words (Worksheet 1.2)

Dear Family Member,

Please help your child succeed in spelling by spending a few minutes each evening reviewing the spelling words together. Useful activities include saying the words aloud, writing sentences that use them, or simply copying them by hand.

This week's list reviews all eight spelling patterns for the long "e" sound (as in see) that students have already learned. Your child will be tested on these words on Friday.

Two "Challenge Words" are included: almost and really. Challenge Words are common words that don't necessarily fit the week's spelling pattern. Almost doesn't follow the long-"e" pattern, but really does—both the "ea" and the "y" make the long-"e" sound.

This week's "Content Word" is electricity. It connects directly to material your child is reading in Adventures in Light and Sound. The Content Word is optional: if your child attempts it and spells it wrong, it won't count against them on the test. We encourage students to challenge themselves and try it anyway.

Spelling list:

1. succeeded
2. money
3. enemy
4. centipede
5. experience
6. believe
7. secret
8. increase
9. chimney
10. tedious
11. fancy
12. stadium
13. chariot
14. degree
15. athlete
16. chief
17. grease
18. scenic
19. Challenge Word: almost
20. Challenge Word: really

Content Word: electricity

About the Reader: This week your child will read chapters from Adventures in Light and Sound covering what light is, how shadows form, and how mirrors create reflections. Ask your child each night what they're learning. Throughout the unit, they'll bring home printed copies of each chapter—reading material tied directly to this unit reinforces both content and vocabulary. They'll also bring home a glossary to help family members understand the bolded vocabulary words found in the text.

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Worksheet 2.1: What Is Light?

1. How fast does light travel?

A. 106,000 miles per second in a vacuum
B. 156,000 miles per second in a vacuum
C. 186,000 miles per second in a vacuum
D. 126,000 miles per second in a vacuum
(Page ___)

1. How does all light travel?

A. As sources
B. As waves
C. As groups
D. As gases
(Page ___)

1. What determines whether a light wave is visible to the human eye?

A. The speed of the source
B. The length of the source
C. The speed of the wave
D. The length of the wave
(Page ___)

1. **In this sentence from the reading—"The moon does, however, reflect light from the sun"—what does reflect mean?**

A. Send back
B. Make
C. Absorb
D. Create

1. Describe white light.

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1. List three sources of light.

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1. What is the main idea of this chapter?

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Worksheet 2.2: Forming Adverbs with the Suffix -ly

Instructions: Underline the verb in each sentence. Change the adjective given in parentheses into an adverb by adding -ly, and use it to complete the sentence. Then answer the question that follows.

1. We waited ______ (patient) for our turn to look through the telescope.

How did we wait? ________________

1. People were riding in the car ______ (illegal) because they weren't wearing their seatbelts.

How were the people riding? ________________

1. Our teacher drew lines ______ (vertical) on the paper so we'd know where to write each part.

How did our teacher draw the lines? ________________

1. I ______ (neat) arranged my books on the shelves when I cleaned my room.

How did I arrange my books? ________________

1. A woman at a nearby table ______ (polite) asked the waiter for more water.

How did she ask? ________________

1. The medicine the doctor gave me went down ______ (smooth) when I swallowed it, compared to what I took last year when I was sick.

How did the medicine go down? ________________

Now write a sentence for each of the following adverbs. Make sure the adverb describes the verb.

1. slowly

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1. loudly

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Worksheet 2.3: What Is Light? (Reading Passage)

Did you know the sun is Earth's greatest source of light? But what exactly is light, and why does it matter so much?

The sun's hot gases release both light and heat energy. Light itself carries energy in the form of waves, and the length of those waves determines how much energy they carry: long wavelengths carry the least energy, and short wavelengths carry the most. When you picture something "full of energy," what comes to mind? Maybe a speeding race car, or a powerful wind strong enough to knock down a tree?

As it turns out, light can be far more energetic than either of those things.

Light travels at 186,000 miles per second in a vacuum (empty space with no matter in it). At that speed, light could circle the entire Earth more than seven times in a single second—faster than any machine humans have ever built, including jets and rockets.

Light—including sunlight—travels in the form of waves. Scientists can measure the length of these waves, and wavelengths vary: some are long, some are short. Some are visible to the human eye, and some are not. Whether or not we can see a light wave depends on its length. Among visible light, red has the longest wavelength, while violet has the shortest. Notably, the shorter the wavelength, the more energy it carries.

The sun produces what scientists call "white light." You might assume sunlight has no color at all, or maybe you picture it as yellow. In fact, sunlight—white light—is made up of every color of the rainbow combined. It contains light of many different wavelengths, including every color the human eye can perceive.

Among all these wavelengths, sunlight contains just slightly more yellow than any other color. That's why the sun appears yellow against the blue sky. Even so, its light truly contains every color and every wavelength. You'll learn more about white light, visible light, and color in a later chapter of this Reader.