Courses of Study : English Language Arts (Grade 3)

Reading Standards for Literature
Key Ideas and Details
English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
1 ) Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers. [RL.3.1]


Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
ELA.AAS.3.1- Answer who, what, and where questions to demonstrate understanding of a story.


English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
2 ) Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text. [RL.3.2]


Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
ELA.AAS.3.2- Identify the central message, lesson, or moral of a story; identify key details that support a central theme of a story.


English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
3 ) Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events. [RL.3.3]


Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
ELA.AAS.3.3- Identify traits or feelings of a character in a story.


Craft and Structure
English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
4 ) Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language. [RL.3.4]

English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
5 ) Refer to parts of stories, dramas, and poems when writing or speaking about a text, using terms such as chapter, scene, and stanza; describe how each successive part builds on earlier sections. [RL.3.5]

English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
6 ) Distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters. [RL.3.6]


Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
ELA.AAS.3.6- Identify the narrator's or character's point of view in a story.


Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
7 ) Explain how specific aspects of a text's illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a character or setting). [RL.3.7]


Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
ELA.AAS.3.7- Use illustrations and words to answer questions about the characters, setting, or events of a story.


English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
8 ) Compare and contrast the themes, settings, and plots of stories written by the same author about the same or similar characters (e.g., in books from a series). [RL.3.9]

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
9 ) By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, at the high end of the Grades 2-3 text complexity band independently and proficiently. [RL.3.10]

Reading Standards for Informational Text
Key Ideas and Details
English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
10 ) Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers. [RI.3.1]


Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
ELA.AAS.3.10- Answer who, what, and where questions to demonstrate understanding of an informational text.


English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
11 ) Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea. [RI.3.2]


Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
ELA.AAS.3.11- Identify the main idea of an informational text; identify details in an informational text that support the main idea.


English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
12 ) Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause and effect. [RI.3.3]


Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
ELA.AAS.3.12- Identify events, ideas, or steps in an informational text pertaining to time, sequence, or cause and effect.


Craft and Structure
English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
13 ) Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a Grade 3 topic or subject area. [RI.3.4]

English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
14 ) Use text features and search tools (e.g., key words, sidebars, hyperlinks) to locate information relevant to a given topic efficiently. [RI.3.5]


Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
ELA.AAS.3.14- Use text features (e.g., title, illustrations, glossary, table of contents, imbedded digital tools) to locate information.


English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
15 ) Distinguish their own point of view from that of the author of a text. [RI.3.6]

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
16 ) Use information gained from illustrations (e.g., maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, when, why, and how key events occur). [RI.3.7]

English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
17 ) Describe the logical connection between particular sentences and paragraphs in a text (e.g., comparison; cause and effect; first, second, third in a sequence). [RI.3.8]


Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
ELA.AAS.3.17- Identify logical connections in an informational text (e.g., cause and effect; first, second, third in a sequence).


English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
18 ) Compare and contrast the most important points and key details presented in two texts on the same topic. [RI.3.9]

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
19 ) By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the Grades 2-3 text complexity band independently and proficiently. [RI.3.10]

Reading Standards: Foundational Skills
Phonics and Word Recognition
English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
20 ) Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words. [RF.3.3]

a. Identify and know the meaning of the most common prefixes and derivational suffixes. [RF.3.3a]

b. Decode words with common Latin suffixes. [RF.3.3b]

c. Decode multisyllable words. [RF.3.3c]

d. Read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words. [RF.3.3d]

Fluency
English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
21 ) Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension. [RF.3.4]

a. Read on-level text with purpose and understanding. [RF.3.4a]

b. Read on-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings. [RF.3.4b]

c. Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary. [RF.3.4c]


Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
ELA.AAS.3.21- Read and comprehend a text of 100 words with or without pictures.
ELA.AAS.3.21a- Read on-level text with purpose and understanding.


Writing Standards
Text Types and Purposes
English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
22 ) Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons. [W.3.1]

a. Introduce the topic or text they are writing about, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure that lists reasons. [W.3.1a]

b. Provide reasons that support the opinion. [W.3.1b]

c. Use linking words and phrases (e.g., because, therefore, since, for example) to connect opinion and reasons. [W.3.1c]

d. Provide a concluding statement or section. [W.3.1d]


Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
ELA.AAS.3.22- Compose opinion pieces by stating an opinion, providing a reason related to the opinion, and providing an appropriate conclusion related to the stated opinion.


English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
23 ) Write informative or explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly. [W.3.2]

a. Introduce a topic and group related information together; include illustrations when useful to aiding comprehension. [W.3.2a]

b. Develop the topic with facts, definitions, and details. [W.3.2b]

c. Use linking words and phrases (e.g., also, another, and, more, but) to connect ideas within categories of information. [W.3.2c]

d. Provide a concluding statement or section. [W.3.2d]


Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
ELA.AAS.3.23- Compose informative or explanatory texts by stating a topic, providing facts or details, and providing an appropriate conclusion related to the topic.


English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
24 ) Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. [W.3.3]

a. Establish a situation and introduce a narrator, characters, or both; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally. [W.3.3a]

b. Use dialogue and descriptions of actions, thoughts, and feelings to develop experiences and events or show the response of characters to situations. [W.3.3b]

c. Use temporal words and phrases to signal event order. [W.3.3c]

d. Provide a sense of closure. [W.3.3d]


Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
ELA.AAS.3.24- Compose narrative texts by introducing characters or a narrator, organizing events in sequence, and providing an ending related to the event sequence.


Production and Distribution of Writing
English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
25 ) With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 22-24 above.) [W.3.4]

English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
26 ) With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of the first three Language standards in Grades K-3.) [W.3.5]

English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
27 ) With guidance and support from adults, use technology to produce and publish writing (using keyboarding skills) as well as to interact and collaborate with others. [W.3.6]

Research to Build and Present Knowledge
English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
28 ) Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic. [W.3.7]


Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
ELA.AAS.3.28- Ask and answer questions about a topic for a research project allowing the use of digital tools and/or differing forms of media.


English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
29 ) Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories. [W.3.8]


Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
ELA.AAS.3.29- Distinguish whether information (text, illustrated, and/or digital) is related to a given topic.


Range of Writing
English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
30 ) Write routinely over extended time frames, including time for research, reflection, and revision, and shorter time frames such as a single sitting or a day or two for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences. [W.3.10]

Speaking and Listening Standards
Comprehension and Collaboration
English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
31 ) Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on Grade 3 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly. [SL.3.1]

a. Come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation and other information known about the topic to explore ideas under discussion. [SL.3.1a]

b. Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion). [SL.3.1b]

c. Ask questions to check understanding of information presented, stay on topic, and link their comments to the remarks of others. [SL.3.1c]

d. Explain their own ideas and understanding in light of the discussion. [SL.3.1d]

English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
32 ) Determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally. [SL.3.2]


Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
ELA.AAS.3.32- Ask and answer questions about a text read aloud and/or information presented orally through media including digital media.


English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
33 ) Ask and answer questions about information from a speaker, offering appropriate elaboration and detail. [SL.3.3]


Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
ELA.AAS.3.33- Ask or answer questions about information presented orally.


Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas
English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
34 ) Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace. [SL.3.4]


Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
ELA.AAS.3.34- Report on a topic or tell a story, that includes a beginning, middle, and end, with relevant facts or details.


English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
35 ) Create engaging audio recordings of stories or poems that demonstrate fluid reading at an understandable pace; add visual displays when appropriate to emphasize or enhance certain facts or details. [SL.3.5]

English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
36 ) Speak in complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification. (See Grade 3 Language standards 37 and 39 for specific expectations.) [SL.3.6]

Language Standards
Skills and understandings that are particularly likely to require continued attention in higher grades as they are applied to increasingly sophisticated writing and speaking are marked with an asterisk (*).
Conventions of Standard English
English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
37 ) Demonstrate command of the conventions of Standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. [L.3.1]

a. Explain the function of nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in general and their functions in particular sentences. [L.3.1a]

b. Form and use regular and irregular plural nouns. [L.3.1b]

c. Use abstract nouns (e.g., childhood). [L.3.1c]

d. Form and use regular and irregular verbs. [L.3.1d]

e. Form and use the simple (e.g., I walked; I walk; I will walk) verb tenses. [L.3.1e]

f. Ensure subject-verb and pronoun-antecedent agreement.* [L.3.1f]

g. Form and use comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs, and choose between them depending on what is to be modified. [L.3.1g]

h. Use coordinating and subordinating conjunctions. [L.3.1h]

i. Produce simple, compound, and complex sentences. [L.3.1i]


Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
ELA.AAS.3.37- Demonstrate standard English grammar when communicating.
ELA.AAS.3.37a- Demonstrate correct use of nouns and verbs.
ELA.AAS.3.37b- Demonstrate correct use of plural nouns.
ELA.AAS.3.37c- Demonstrate correct use of adjectives.
ELA.AAS.3.37f- Demonstrate correct use of pronouns.
ELA.AAS.3.37g- Demonstrate correct use of adverbs.


English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
38 ) Demonstrate command of the conventions of Standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. [L.3.2]

a. Capitalize appropriate words in titles. [L.3.2a]

b. Use commas in addresses. [L.3.2b]

c. Use commas and quotation marks in dialogue. [L.3.2c]

d. Form and use possessives. [L.3.2d]

e. Use conventional spelling for high-frequency and other studied words and for adding suffixes to base words (e.g., sitting, smiled, cries, happiness). [L.3.2e]

f. Use spelling patterns and generalizations (e.g., word families, position-based spellings, syllable patterns, ending rules, meaningful word parts) in writing words. [L.3.2f]

g. Write legibily in cursive. (Alabama)

h. Consult reference materials, including beginning dictionaries, as needed to check and correct spellings. [L.3.2g]


Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
ELA.AAS.3.38- Use a capital letter at the beginning of a first name.
ELA.AAS.3.38a- Use a capital letter at the beginning of a sentence.
ELA.AAS.3.38b- Use punctuation at the end of a sentence.
ELA.AAS.3.38e- Correctly spell high frequency words.


Knowledge of Language
English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
39 ) Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening. [L.3.3]

a. Choose words and phrases for effect.* [L.3.3a]

b. Recognize and observe differences between the conventions of spoken and written Standard English. [L.3.3b]

Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
40 ) Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on Grade 3 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies. [L.3.4]

a. Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase. [L.3.4a]

b. Determine the meaning of the new word formed when a known affix is added to a known word (e.g., agreeable/disagreeable, comfortable/uncomfortable, care/careless, heat/preheat). [L.3.4b]

c. Use a known root word as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word with the same root (e.g., company, companion). [L.3.4c]

d. Use glossaries or beginning dictionaries, both print and digital, to determine or clarify the precise meaning of key words and phrases. [L.3.4d]


Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
ELA.AAS.3.40a- Use context clues to determine the meaning of a word or phrase in a sentence.
ELA.AAS.3.40d- Utilize a dictionary, glossary, and/or digital resources to find the meaning of words.


English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
41 ) Demonstrate understanding of word relationships and nuances in word meanings. [L.3.5]

a. Distinguish the literal and nonliteral meanings of words and phrases in context (e.g., take steps). [L.3.5a]

b. Identify real-life connections between words and their use (e.g., describe people who are friendly or helpful). [L.3.5b]

c. Distinguish shades of meaning among related words that describe states of mind or degrees of certainty (e.g., knew, believed, suspected, heard, wondered). [L.3.5c]


Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
ELA.AAS.3.41- Identify common synonyms and antonyms (e.g., happy-glad, hot-cold).
ELA.AAS.3.41b- Identify words that describe how people act (e.g. describe people who are friendly or helpful).


English Language Arts (2015)
Grade(s): 3
All Resources: 0
42 ) Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate conversational, general academic, and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal spatial and temporal relationships (e.g., After dinner that night we went looking for them). [L.3.6]