NO 25
NAME: ______________________________
Homework Explanation
Please RETURN this to your form assembly teacher by next Friday. Start by practising your
spelling words and getting someone to test you. Bring in your spelling test sheet with this
homework sheet also. Copies can be printed in A4 from our website:
http://www.araratcc.vic.edu.au/page4.html
Spelling Lists
Spelling Tips: 1 Count syllables 2.Write the words out three times 3. Highlight/trace
over the top of tricky letters, such as silent or double letters eg whistle 4. Look Say Cover
Write Check. 5. Write the word out in its singular and plural form eg baby, babies 6. Write
the words in sentences. 6. Turn each letter of the word into a funny little phrase eg. chili:
cats have interesting little ideas 7. Old way/New Way; see:
http://www.spellingzone.com/spellingchart.html
8. Make a word search out of your spelling words: http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/
Level W
-ful
boastful
careful
forgetful
grateful
hopeful
mouthful
powerful
spiteful
thankful
useful
BASE WORD
busy
hungry
Level X
more -ies
bullies
cries
tries
relies
replies
satisfies
supplies
carries
hurries
worries
Level Y
-iness
business
emptiness
happiness
heaviness
hungriness
laziness
loneliness
nastiness
silliness
tidiness
Level Z
-lling & -lled
appalling
controlling
labelling
patrolling
quarrelling
tunnelling
cancelled
marvelled
rebelled
signalled
Up, up and away!
Latin Roots 3
advertisement
convert
introvert
extrovert
controversy
diversion
decompose
benefactor
facilitate
intervention
WORD WITH ‘ness’ SUFFIX
business
emptiness
happiness
heaviness
hungriness
laziness
loneliness
nastiness
silliness
tidiness
NO 25
The Geckos
My grandparents live in Florida. We spend most holidays at their house. And, while
there, my favorite activity is to sit by the pool. I say “sit” because I rarely swim. Instead, I
watch my favorite animal run around the patio. That would be the gecko.
Geckos
Geckos live in most warm climates in North America. They are small lizards that live in nature and also near
people. When I say they are small, I really mean they are tiny. The biggest one I have ever seen was about
ten inches long. However, the book I read on geckos claims they can get to be 60 centimeters long. That
would be over twice the size of the largest one I saw. Most, though, are just a few inches long.
The lizards are usually green, but some geckos appear blue. I’ve seen a few that have patterns on their
backs, but not all do. While their appearance is interesting, geckos really drew me in by the way the move.
Why I Love Geckos
See, geckos are incredibly fast. It seems geckos are either standing perfectly still or sprinting across the
patio! More interesting still is their climbing ability. They are some of the best climbers in the world. And they
can stick to most surfaces. I’ve even seen geckos walk on ceilings before! Most people welcome geckos
because they eat mosquitoes. My grandparents certainly feel this way. Their patio is covered in geckos, and
they do not do anything to change that fact. And that is just fine with me!
My Only Complaint
The only thing I really dislike about geckos is that they do not live by me. However, my grandpa told me that
it is not such a bad thing. He suggests that I would likely get sick of the geckos if I saw them every day as he
does. I find that very hard to believe!
1) According to the passage, geckos range in size from
A. 10 inches to 60 centimeters
B. a few inches to 10 inches
C. a few inches to 60 centimeters
D. 10 inches to a foot
2) According to the passage, the narrator is most interested in what aspect of the geckos?
A. what they eat
B. how they move
C. how they appear
D. what their lengths are
3) As used in paragraph 4, sprinting is best defined as
A. standing still
B. climbing quickly
C. standing closely
D. running very quickly
4) From paragraph 6, it can be assumed that the narrator’s grandparents
A. do not like mosquitoes
B. are interested in learning about mosquitoes
C. are very interested in geckos
D. do not understand the narrator’s interest in geckos
5) According to the passage, the narrator learned about geckos by
I. reading about them in a book
II. seeing them at her grandparents’ house
III. studying them in her backyard
A. I only
B. I and II only
C. II and III only
NO 25
Rebus Puzzle
Use the image below to work
out a well-known phrase
The Brook Song
by James Whitcomb Riley
_________________________
Little brook! Little brook!
You have such a happy lookSuch a very merry manner, as you swerve and curve and
crookAnd your ripples, one and one,
Reach each other's hands and run
Like laughing little children in the sun!
Reading Picks:
Little brook, sing to me;
Sing about the bumblebee
That tumbled from a lily bell and grumbled mumblingly,
Because he wet the film
Of his wings, and had to swim,
While the water bugs raced round and laughed at him.
Little brook-sing a song
Of a leaf that sailed along
Down the golden-hearted center of your current swift and
strong,
And a dragon fly that lit
On the tilting rim of it,
And rode away and wasn't scared a bit.
And sing-how oft in glee
Came a truant boy like me,
Who loved to lean and listen to your lilting melody,
Till the gurgle and refrain
Of your music in his brain
Wrought a happiness as keen to him as pain.
Little brook-laugh and leap!
Do not let the dreamer weep:
Sing him all the songs of summer till he sink in softest sleep;
And then sing soft and low
Through his dreams of long agoSing back to him the rest he used to know!
NO 25
Magic Squares
Each row and column has to add up to the same number. Top row easy. Bottom
row, challenging! The magic number is the number each row and column adds up
to.
ANSWERS: Rebus puzzle: you’re under arrest
Last week’s Magic Squares answers: