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Tom and the Spelling Pretest

Prefixes pre-, dis-, mis- 3rd Phase 5
Tom and the Spelling Pretest
Tom and the Spelling Pretest, page 1
1Tom the turtle sat at his desk in class. He fixed his blue scarf and vest. It was time for a spelling pretest. A pretest helps you see what you need to learn.
Tom and the Spelling Pretest, page 2
2Tom wanted to do well, so he tried to think hard about each word. But the list was long and hard. When the pretest was done, Tom looked at his paper. Oh no! He was sad that he had misspelled a lot of the words.
Tom and the Spelling Pretest, page 3
3It felt like every word was a mistake. Tom felt a deep dislike for the test. He put his head down on his desk. "I just cannot spell," Tom told himself. "I will just give up on spelling.
Tom and the Spelling Pretest, page 4
4I cannot do it." Tom began to distrust his own brain. He felt like he would never get it right. His good pal Rob the robin walked over. Rob wore a sky-blue shirt and a bow tie. "Why are you sad, Tom?" asked Rob.
Tom and the Spelling Pretest, page 5
5"I had a bad time on the pretest," Tom said. "I will not fib to you. I am bad at this. I misplace the letters and mismatch the sounds. I feel like I misread everything." "Do not mistrust yourself," Rob said kindly.
Tom and the Spelling Pretest, page 6
6"We can make it fun. You only mixed up a few letters. I have a trick that can help you." "What trick?" asked Tom. He wanted to know, but he still had a big dislike for the hard words. "We can sing them!" said Rob.
Tom and the Spelling Pretest, page 7
7On the walk home, Rob made up a silly song for each hard word. He made a quick tune for the word misprint. He made a loud tune for the word disobey. Each song had a fun beat to hum. Soon, Tom was humming and singing along.
Tom and the Spelling Pretest, page 8
8The next day was the real test. Tom felt ready. He did not feel afraid. When he looked at a hard word, he hummed Rob's tune in his head. He did not misspell it. Tom got every word right, and he was so happy!
Circle or highlight all the words that start with pre-, dis-, or mis- in the story above. How many did you find?

Comprehension Questions

After reading, ask these questions to check understanding:

  1. What kind of test did Tom take in class?
  2. What trick did Rob use to help Tom?
  3. How did Tom do on the real test?
Keep practicing
Practice Prefixes pre-, dis-, mis- with 4 more free worksheets

The words from this story, on printable practice sheets:

Word sortPhrasing cardsRapid naming chartWord search
Get the Prefixes pre-, dis-, mis- worksheets →
Download Mini-Book
Full-color picture book • Print, cut & staple • No signup required
Read-aloud version (one page per sheet, for projecting)
Tom and the Spelling Pretest illustrated mini-book cover
Cover + 8 illustrated pages

Reader Details

Phonics Skill Prefixes pre-, dis-, mis-
Grade Level 3rd
Phase Phase 5
Worksheets Prefixes pre-, dis-, mis- Worksheets

Target Words

preheat preplan pretest preteen predawn prepay preset dislike distrust disband dismiss mistake

Sight Words

the a and to was is it she he they said have with you are of for her there one into what when out about

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About This Decodable Reader

“Tom and the Spelling Pretest” is a free printable decodable reader designed for 3rd students practicing prefixes pre-, dis-, mis- phonics patterns. This mini-book uses phonetically controlled vocabulary so beginning readers can successfully sound out nearly every word in the story, building confidence and reinforcing the specific phonics skills they're learning.

The free PDF is a full-color illustrated mini-book: a cover, eight picture pages with one or two lines of story text each, and a back page listing the prefixes pre-, dis-, mis- words, high-frequency words, and discussion questions. Print the five sheets, cut each one in half along the dashed line, and staple — your child has a real little book to hold. A read-aloud version with one large page per sheet is also included for projecting to the whole class.

This reader is part of our collection of 193 free decodable readers organized by phonics skill and aligned with the Science of Reading. For additional practice with prefixes pre-, dis-, mis- patterns, try our prefixes pre-, dis-, mis- phonics worksheets which include word sorts, phrasing practice cards, and rapid naming charts.