Text Types and Purposes

3.W.1

Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, using reasons to support one's point of view.
a. Introduce the topic or text, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure that lists reasons.
b. Provide reasons that support the opinion.
c. Use linking words and phrases (e.g., because, therefore, since, for example) to connect opinion and reasons. d. Provide a concluding statement or section.

3.W.2

Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
a. Introduce a topic and group related information together; include illustrations when useful to aiding comprehension. b. Develop the topic with facts, definitions, and details.
c. Use linking words and phrases (e.g., also, another, and, more, but) to connect ideas within categories of information. d. Provide a concluding statement or section.

3.W.3

Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. a. Establish a situation and introduce a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally.
b. Use dialogue and descriptions of actions, thoughts, and feelings to develop experiences and events or show the response of characters to situations.

c. Use temporal words and phrases to signal event order. d. Provide a sense of closure.

Production and Distribution of Writing

3.W.4

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 1–3 above.)

3.W.5

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 Language standards 1–3 up to and including grade 3.)

3.W.6

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.

Research to Build and Present Knowledge

3.W.7

Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic.

3.W.8

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

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3.W.9

(Begins in grade 4)

Range of Writing

3.W.10

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.

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Arizona’s English Language Arts Standards – 3rd Grade

Writing Standards: Foundational Skills

Sound-letter basics and Handwriting

3.WF.1

Demonstrate and apply handwriting skills.
a. Read and write cursive letters, upper and lower case.
b. Transcribe ideas legibly in cursive and manuscript, with appropriate spacing and indentation.

3.WF.2

Standard ends at grade 2.

Spelling

3.WF.3

Know and apply spelling conventions and patterns.
a. Spell single-syllable words with less common and complex graphemes (e.g., ough, augh, old, -ind, -ost, -ild families). b. Identify language of origin for words, as noted in dictionaries.
c. Spell singular and plural possessives (e.g., teacher's, teachers').
d. Spell regular two-and three-syllable words that:

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

2. Include common, transparent prefixes and suffixes (e.g., re-, pre-, sub-, un-, dis-, mis-; -able, -ness, -ful, -tion).
e. Spell grade-level appropriate words in English, as found in a research-based list (*See guidelines under Word Lists in the ELA Glossary), including:

1. Irregular words.
2. Pattern-based words.

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Arizona’s English Language Arts Standards – 3rd Grade

Speaking and Listening Standards

Comprehension and Collaboration

3.SL.1

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.
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.

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).
c. Ask questions to check understanding of information presented, stay on topic, and link their comments to the remarks of others.
d. Explain their own ideas and understanding based on the discussion.

3.SL.2

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.

3.SL.3

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

Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas

3.SL.4

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.

3.SL.5

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.

3.SL.6

Speak in complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification. (See grade 3 Language standards 1 and 3 for specific expectations.)

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Arizona’s English Language Arts Standards – 3rd Grade

Language Standards

Conventions of Standard English

3.L.1

Demonstrate command of the conventions of Standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
a. Explain the function of nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in general and their functions in particular sentences.
b. Form and use regular and irregular plural nouns.
c. Use abstract nouns (e.g., childhood).
d. Form and use regular and irregular verbs.
e. Form and use the simple verb tenses (e.g., I walked; I walk; I will walk).
f. Ensure subject-verb and pronoun-antecedent agreement.
g. Form and use comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs, and choose between them depending on what is to be modified. h. Use coordinating and subordinating conjunctions.
i. Produce simple, compound, and complex sentences.
j. Write one or more paragraphs that explain a main idea within a topic and support it with details and conclusions/closure.

3.L.2

Demonstrate command of the conventions of Standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. a. Capitalize appropriate words in titles.
b. Use commas in addresses.
c. Use commas and quotation marks in dialogue.

d. Form and use possessives.

Knowledge of Language

3.L.3

Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.
a. Choose words and phrases for effect.
b. Recognize and observe differences between the conventions of spoken and written Standard English.

Vocabulary Acquisition and Use

3.L.4

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.
a. 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).

b. Use a known root word as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word with the same root (e.g., company, companion).
c. Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrases.
d. Use glossaries or beginning dictionaries, both print and digital, to determine or clarify the precise meaning of key words and phrases.

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3.L.5

Demonstrate understanding of word relationships and nuances in word meanings.
a. Distinguish the literal and nonliteral meanings of words and phrases in context (e.g., take steps).
b. Identify real-life connections between words and their uses (e.g., describe people who are friendly or helpful).
c. Distinguish shades of meaning among related words that describe states of mind or degrees of certainty (e.g., knew, believed, suspected, heard, and wondered).

3.L.6

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).