Grade 3 ELA Arizona Standards

Demonstrate command of the conventions of Standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

Explain the function of nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in general and their functions in particular sentences.

Form and use regular and irregular plural nouns.

Use abstract nouns (e.g., childhood).

Form and use regular and irregular verbs.

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

Ensure subject-verb and pronoun-antecedent agreement.

Form and use comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs, and choose between them depending on what is to be modified.

Use coordinating and subordinating conjunctions.

Produce simple, compound, and complex sentences.

Write one or more paragraphs that explain a main idea within a topic and support it with details and conclusions/closure.

Demonstrate command of the conventions of Standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

Capitalize appropriate words in titles.

Use commas in addresses.

Use commas and quotation marks in dialogue.

Form and use possessives.

Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.

Choose words and phrases for effect.

Recognize and observe differences between the conventions of spoken and written Standard English.

Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning word and phrases based on grade 3 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.

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).

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

Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrases.

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

Demonstrate understanding of word relationships and nuances in word meanings.

Distinguish the literal and non-literal meanings of words and phrases in context (e.g., take steps).

Identify real-life connections between words and their uses (e.g., describe people who are friendly or helpful).

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

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).

Know and apply phonics and word analysis skills in decoding one-syllable or multisyllabic words.

Identify and know the meaning of the most common prefixes and derivational suffixes.

Decode words with common Latin suffixes.

Apply knowledge of the six syllable types to read grade-level words accurately.

Read grade-level appropriate irregularly spelled words.

Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.

Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding.

Read grade-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.

Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.

Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

By the end of the year, proficiently and independently read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in a text complexity range determined by qualitative and quantitative measures appropriate to grade 3.

Determine the main idea of a text; recount and paraphrase the key details and explain how they support the main idea.

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/effect.

Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 3 topic or subject area.

Use text features and search tools (e.g., key words, sidebars, hyperlinks) to locate information relevant to a given topic efficiently.

Distinguish one's own point of view from that of the author of a text.

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).

Describe the logical connection between particular sentences and paragraphs in a text (e.g., comparison, cause/effect, first/second/third in a sequence).

Compare and contrast the most important points and key details presented in two texts on the same topic.

Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

By the end of the year, proficiently and independently read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, in a text complexity range determined by qualitative and quantitative measures appropriate to grade 3.

Recount and paraphrase 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 text.

Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from non-literal language.

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.

Distinguish one's own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters.

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).

(Not applicable to literature)

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).

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.

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.

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).

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

Explain their own ideas and understanding based on the discussion.

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.

Ask and answer questions about information from a speaker, offering appropriate elaboration and detail.

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.

Create 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.

Speak in complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification.

Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, using reasons to support one's point of view.

Introduce the topic or text, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure that lists reasons.

Provide reasons that support the opinion.

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

Provide a concluding statement or section.

Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

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

Develop the topic with facts, definitions, and details.

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

Provide a concluding statement or section.

Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

Establish a situation and introduce a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally.

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

Use temporal words and phrases to signal event order.

Provide a sense of closure.

With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose.

With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing.

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.

Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic.

Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories.

(Begins in grade 4)

Demonstrate and apply handwriting skills.

Read and write cursive letters, upper and lower case.

Transcribe ideas legibly in cursive and manuscript, with appropriate spacing and indentation.

Standard ends at grade 2.

Know and apply spelling conventions and patterns.

Spell single-syllable words with less common and complex graphemes (e.g., ough, augh, old, -ind, -ost, -ild families).

Identify language of origin for words, as noted in dictionaries.

Spell singular and plural possessives (e.g., teacher's, teachers').

Spell regular two-and three-syllable words that:

Combine all basic syllable types: closed, VCe (Vowel-Consonant-silent e), open, vowel team, vowel-r, and consonant le.

Include common, transparent prefixes and suffixes (e.g., re-, pre-, sub-, un-, dis-, mis-; -able, -ness, -ful, -tion).

Spell grade-level appropriate words in English, as found in a research-based list, including:

Irregular words.

Pattern-based words.

Comprehension and Collaboration

Vocabulary Acquisition and Use

Spelling

Sound-letter basics and Handwriting

Key Ideas and Details

Reading Standards: Foundational Skills

Speaking and Listening Standards

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

Text Types and Purposes

Fluency

Production and Distribution of Writing

Key Ideas and Details

Range of Writing

Reading Standards for Literature

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

Reading Standards for Informational Text

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

Research to Build and Present Knowledge

Language Standards

Conventions of Standard English

Craft and Structure

Knowledge of Language

Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas

Writing Standards: Foundational Skills

Writing Standards

Phonics and Word Recognition

Craft and Structure

Construct meaning from oral presentations and literary and informational text through grade appropriate listening, reading, and viewing.

Ask and answer questions about key details that support the main idea by using evidence from a text.

Explain the central idea, lesson, and moral using key details.

Explain how key details support the main idea or message.

Recount a variety of texts using key details.

Identify and describe similarities and differences between two texts.

Make accurate use of standard English to communicate in grade appropriate speech and writing.

using grade appropriate singular and plural nouns.

using a variety of prepositional phrases (e.g. ,toward the playground) to provide detail (e.g., time, manner, place, cause).

using frequently occurring conjunctions (e.g., and, but, or, so, because).

using appropriate word order (subject-verb-object) in declarative, imperative, and interrogative sentences.

using grade appropriate common and proper nouns with appropriate determiners (e.g., articles and demonstratives).

using possessives with grade appropriate nouns. (e.g., That is Mary’s backpack.).

using personal (subject and object), possessive, and indefinite pronouns.

using verbs in the past progressive.

using grade appropriate verbs in the simple present and simple past, including irregular past forms (e.g., drank, sat, wrote).

using gradeappropriate verbs in the future with “going to” and “will”.

applying subjectverb agreement using grade-appropriate nouns and verbs.

using a variety of frequently occurring adjectives (i.e., descriptive, possessive, demonstrative).

Determine the meaning of words and phrases in oral presentations and literary and informational text

Determine the meaning of less frequently occurring words and phrases and content specific words.

Determine the meaning of idiomatic expressions and figurative language (e.g. metaphors, similes, adages, and proverbs) in texts about a variety of topics, experiences, or events.

Apply context clues, information from visual aids, reference materials, and knowledge of grade-appropriate English morphology to determine meaning of unknown words.

Speak and write about grade appropriate complex literary and informational texts and topics.

deliver oral presentations that include details and examples to develop a topic.

compose written narratives using appropriate conventions that include details and examples to develop a topic.

compose informational texts that include details and examples to develop a topic while using appropriate conventions.

produce writing with appropriate organization on a variety of topics, experiences, or events.

Construct grade appropriate oral and written claims and support them with reasoning and evidence.

express an opinion about a given topic or text.

supply a reason that supports the opinion and is based on more detailed textual evidence and relevant background knowledge.

use gradeappropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, including adjectives, adverbs, and appropriate transition words.

provide a conclusion that summarizes the opinion presented

Adapt language choices to purpose, task, and audience when speaking and writing.

shift appropriately between informal “playground speech” and language appropriate to the classroom.

use grade appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, including adjectives, adverbs, and appropriate transition words.

Participate in grade appropriate oral and written exchanges of information, ideas, and analyses, responding to peer, audience, or reader comments and questions.

participate in extended conversations and discussions about a variety of topics and texts.

participate in extended written exchanges about a variety of topics and texts.

express own ideas using the rules for discussion.

pose and respond to relevant questions about a variety of topics and texts.

build on the ideas of others.

Conduct research and evaluate and communicate findings to answer questions or solve problems.

gather information from print and digital provided resources to answer questions.

respond to a question or problem based on gathered information from multiple (personal experience, digital, and print) sources.

Analyze and critique the arguments of others orally and in writing.

explain how an author or speaker uses reasons and evidence to support or fail to support specific points.

ask and answer yes-no, either-or, and wh- questions in order to clarify what an author or speaker says.

use general academic and domain-specific words and phrases that signal spatial and temporal relationships.

Create clear and coherent grade-appropriate speech and text.

apply understanding of how text types are organized when writing and speaking in complex texts (e.g., how a story is organized sequentially versus how an informative text is organized by topic and details versus how an opinion text is organized by opinion and supporting reasons).

apply increasing understanding of how ideas, events, or reasons are linked throughout a text by using grade appropriate linking words and temporal words when writing and speaking.