TX ELA Standards (Grade 3)

Explain the author's purpose and message within a text.

Explain how the use of text structure contributes to the author's purpose.

Explain the author's use of print and graphic features to achieve specific purposes.

Describe how the author's use of imagery, literal and figurative language such as simile, and sound devices such as onomatopoeia achieves specific purposes.

Identify the use of literary devices, including first- or third-person point of view.

Discuss how the author's use of language contributes to voice.

Identify and explain the use of hyperbole.

Compose literary texts, including personal narratives and poetry, using genre characteristics and craft.

Compose informational texts, including brief compositions that convey information about a topic, using a clear central idea and genre characteristics and craft.

Compose argumentative texts, including opinion essays, using genre characteristics and craft.

Compose correspondence such as thank you notes or letters.

Plan a first draft by selecting a genre for a particular topic, purpose, and audience using a range of strategies such as brainstorming, freewriting, and mapping.

Develop drafts into a focused, structured, and coherent piece of writing by: (i) organizing with purposeful structure, including an introduction and a conclusion; and (ii) developing an engaging idea with relevant details.

Revise drafts to improve sentence structure and word choice by adding, deleting, combining, and rearranging ideas for coherence and clarity.

Edit drafts using standard English conventions, including: (i) complete simple and compound sentences with subject-verb agreement; (ii) past, present, and future verb tense; (iii) singular, plural, common, and proper nouns; (iv) adjectives, including their comparative and superlative forms; (v) adverbs that convey time and adverbs that convey manner; (vi) prepositions and prepositional phrases; (vii) pronouns, including subjective, objective, and possessive cases; (viii) coordinating conjunctions to form compound subjects, predicates, and sentences; (ix) capitalization of official titles of people, holidays, and geographical names and places; (x) punctuation marks, including apostrophes in contractions and possessives and commas in compound sentences and items in a series; and (xi) correct spelling of words with grade-appropriate orthographic patterns and rules and high-frequency words.

Publish written work for appropriate audiences.

Establish purpose for reading assigned and self-selected texts.

Generate questions about text before, during, and after reading to deepen understanding and gain information.

Make and correct or confirm predictions using text features, characteristics of genre, and structures.

Create mental images to deepen understanding.

Make connections to personal experiences, ideas in other texts, and society.

Make inferences and use evidence to support understanding.

Evaluate details read to determine key ideas.

Synthesize information to create new understanding.

Monitor comprehension and make adjustments such as re-reading, using background knowledge, asking questions, and annotating when understanding breaks down.

Demonstrate and apply phonetic knowledge by: (i) decoding multisyllabic words with multiple sound-spelling patterns such as eigh, ough, and en; (ii) decoding multisyllabic words with closed syllables; open syllables; VCe syllables; vowel teams, including digraphs and diphthongs; r-controlled syllables; and final stable syllables; (iii) decoding compound words, contractions, and abbreviations; (iv) decoding words using knowledge of syllable division patterns such as VCCV, VCV, and VCCCV with accent shifts; (v) decoding words using knowledge of prefixes; (vi) decoding words using knowledge of suffixes, including how they can change base words such as dropping e, changing y to i, and doubling final consonants; and (vii) identifying and reading high-frequency words from a research-based list.

Demonstrate and apply spelling knowledge by: (i) spelling multisyllabic words with closed syllables; open syllables; VCe syllables; vowel teams, including digraphs and diphthongs; r-controlled syllables; and final stable syllables; (ii) spelling homophones; (iii) spelling compound words, contractions, and abbreviations; (iv) spelling multisyllabic words with multiple sound-spelling patterns; (v) spelling words using knowledge of syllable division patterns such as VCCV, VCV, and VCCCV; (vi) spelling words using knowledge of prefixes; and (vii) spelling words using knowledge of suffixes, including how they can change base words such as dropping e, changing y to i, and doubling final consonants.

Alphabetize a series of words to the third letter.

Write complete words, thoughts, and answers legibly in cursive leaving appropriate spaces between words.

The student reads grade-level text with fluency and comprehension. The student is expected to use appropriate fluency (rate, accuracy, and prosody) when reading grade-level text.

Listen actively, ask relevant questions to clarify information, and make pertinent comments.

Follow, restate, and give oral instructions that involve a series of related sequences of action.

Speak coherently about the topic under discussion, employing eye contact, speaking rate, volume, enunciation, and the conventions of language to communicate ideas effectively.

Work collaboratively with others by following agreed-upon rules, norms, and protocols.

Develop social communication such as conversing politely in all situations.

The student reads grade-appropriate texts independently. The student is expected to self-select text and read independently for a sustained period of time.

Use print or digital resources to determine meaning, syllabication, and pronunciation.

Use context within and beyond a sentence to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words and multiple-meaning words.

Identify the meaning of and use words with affixes such as im- (into), non-, dis-, in- (not, non), pre-, -ness, -y, and -ful.

Identify, use, and explain the meaning of antonyms, synonyms, idioms, homophones, and homographs in a text.

Generate questions on a topic for formal and informal inquiry.

Develop and follow a research plan with adult assistance.

Identify and gather relevant information from a variety of sources.

Identify primary and secondary sources.

Demonstrate understanding of information gathered.

Recognize the difference between paraphrasing and plagiarism when using source materials.

Create a works cited page.

Use an appropriate mode of delivery, whether written, oral, or multimodal, to present results.

Demonstrate knowledge of distinguishing characteristics of well-known children's literature such as folktales, fables, fairy tales, legends, and myths.

Explain rhyme scheme, sound devices, and structural elements such as stanzas in a variety of poems.

Discuss elements of drama such as characters, dialogue, setting, and acts.

Recognize characteristics and structures of informational text, including: (i) the central idea with supporting evidence; (ii) features such as sections, tables, graphs, timelines, bullets, numbers, and bold and italicized font to support understanding; and (iii) organizational patterns such as cause and effect and problem and solution.

Recognize characteristics and structures of argumentative text by: (i) identifying the claim; (ii) distinguishing facts from opinion; and (iii) identifying the intended audience or reader.

Recognize characteristics of multimodal and digital texts.

Infer the theme of a work, distinguishing theme from topic.

Explain the relationships among the major and minor characters.

Analyze plot elements, including the sequence of events, the conflict, and the resolution.

Explain the influence of the setting on the plot.

Describe personal connections to a variety of sources, including self-selected texts.

Write a response to a literary or informational text that demonstrates an understanding of a text.

Use text evidence to support an appropriate response.

Retell and paraphrase texts in ways that maintain meaning and logical order.

Interact with sources in meaningful ways such as notetaking, annotating, freewriting, or illustrating.

Respond using newly acquired vocabulary as appropriate.

Discuss specific ideas in the text that are important to the meaning.