Or is the book just weird? I bought Instructional Fair's 3rd grade grammar activity book last week. DS started it today and, wow.... really? Page 2 was fill-in-the-blank compound words. So they would list "sail, speed, motor _____" and he should write "boat." Well, they were not all quite so easy. One was a football reference only footballs fans/players would know. Not a big deal. One was "rose, balsa, fruit." I had to look up the answer because I had no idea fruitwood was a word. And I certainly don't expect my 8yo to know what balsawood is. Ok, anyhow. Then we came to: Hand Lithe Win Really??? I had to look it up because I didn't have the faintest idea!
Okay, your book is just weird. So what is the answer? I'm not getting it either. What was the football one? Normally, I like IF's books, but I don't think I'd like this one.
Yeah... uh... I think those are fun, but I wouldn't expect an 8 year old to know them! :lol: Not impressed with that book!
Is the answer "some"? I have heard handsome and I think I have heard winsome, but not lithesome. I am just guessing. This is crazy weird for that age, that sounds like a challenging word puzzle for adults.
I gave a test like that to my special ed kids once. LOL, it was GREAT! There were four pictures, and he had to tell me they were all....? So he had four bugs. Instead of saying they were all bugs, he told me, "You SWAP 'em!" "You swap them?" "YEAH! You know! With the swapper!" LOL!!! And yes, I DID give him credit for a correct answer!
Another one that he struggled with was Back Head Ear I think it was easy, but only because I'm 'older.' Lol. I don't think a kid would think like that. We really had to talk through it before he got it.
Some of those are nutty! We have a game here that the kids like playing with us. It's called tribond and it's very smiliar to that book, only it's more fun because most of the answers aren't so obscure.
Yes, I can enjoy that, but only as a GAME, not as an actual TEST. My very-high-score-on-her-ACT-test Rachael didn't get them. The kids were all over with the football terms.... They said MOON (full moon, half moon, quarter moon) and DOLLAR (full dollar, half dollar, quarter dollar). If I were actually testing them individually, I'd for sure give credit for MOON, though probably not for DOLLAR. I finally gave them a hint (sports), and then they were trying things like PERIOD or TIME. When I specifically said FOOTBALL, Phillip goes OH!!! And got it right away.
This was a worksheet page, not a test. I certainly didn't expect him to get these. Needless to say, this has not put a great taste in my mouth for the book. [Teach me to try to shop at Mardel's with all four boys in tow!]
I vaguely recall hearing "lithesome", but I've never heard "winsome." And according to the Princeton Dictionary, "balsawood" is not a word; "balsa wood" is two words, thereby making it NOT a compound word. Though, oddly enough, "fruitwood" IS a compound word!
Lol. I got the football one immediately (we're not big football fans). I really had to think about the back, head, ear one. My 14 yo tried it. She guessed time for the football one. Took her a couple minutes, but she finally got the back... one. Don't think my kids would have gotten them in 3rd grade. It's probably one of those books that thinks kids have to have a lot of problems. They just couldn't think of that many for 3rd graders, so put these in anyway. They should have added them as bonus or brainteaser questions.
I'm more familiar with "winsome" than "lithesome". HOWEVER, I DO NOT consider either of them compound words. "Some", in this instance, is considered a suffix, NOT a "word", and suffixes/prefixes don't count for compound words. As a worksheet, I'd be OK with it, especially if it were geared toward "gifted" children. My kids would consider it a fun page, but I'd never give it as serious.
The BIG Webster's Dictionary (the one we use ONLY when it's absolutely necessary, lol!) has it listed twice as a suffix: -some suffix used added to numbers to indicate a group, as in 'foursome' -some suffix being or tending to be, as in 'loathsome' (Italics are theirs, not mine!)
