Grade 3 Academic Content Standards
Science
Science and Technology
Understanding Technology
1. Describe how technology can extend human abilities (e.g., to move things and to extend senses).
2. Describe ways that using technology can have helpful and/or harmful results.
3. Investigate ways that the results of technology may affect the individual, family and community.
Social Studies
Social Studies Skills and Methods
Obtaining Information
1. Obtain information about local issues from a variety of sources including:
a. Maps;
b. Photos;
c. Oral histories;
d. Newspapers;
e. Letters;
f. Artifacts;
g. Documents.
2. Locate information using various parts of a source including:
a. The table of contents;
b. Title page;
c. Illustrations;
d. Keyword searches.
Thinking and Organizing
3. Identify possible cause and effect relationships.
4. Read and interpret pictographs, bar graphs and charts.
Communicating Information
5. Communicate information using pictographs and bar graphs.
Problem Solving
6. Use a problem-solving/decision-making process which includes:
a. Identifying a problem;
b. Gathering information;
c. Listing and considering options;
d. Considering advantages and disadvantages of options;
e. Choosing and implementing a solution.
English Language Arts Standards
READING: Informational Text
Key Ideas and Details
1. Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
2. Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.
3. 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.
Craft and Structure
4. Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 3 topic or subject area.
5. Use text features and search tools (e.g., key words, sidebars, hyperlinks) to locate information relevant to a given topic efficiently.
6. Distinguish their own point of view from that of the author of a text.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
7. 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).
8. Describe the logical connection between particular sentences and paragraphs in a text (e.g., comparison, cause/effect, first/second/third in a sequence).
9. Compare and contrast the most important points and key details presented in two texts on the same topic.
Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
10. 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.
WRITING: Text Types and Purposes
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
1. Introduce a topic and group related information together; include illustrations when useful to aiding comprehension.
2. Develop the topic with facts, definitions, and details.
3. Use linking words and phrases (e.g., also, another, and, more, but) to connect ideas within categories of information.
4. Provide a concluding statement or section.
Production and Distribution of Writing
4. With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose.
5. With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing.
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
7. Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic.
8. Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories.
Range of Writing
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.
Speaking & Listening
Comprehension and Collaboration
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.
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. Ask and answer questions about information from a speaker, offering appropriate elaboration and detail.
Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas
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.
5. 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.
6. Speak in complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification.
Science and Technology
Understanding Technology
1. Describe how technology can extend human abilities (e.g., to move things and to extend senses).
2. Describe ways that using technology can have helpful and/or harmful results.
3. Investigate ways that the results of technology may affect the individual, family and community.
Social Studies
Social Studies Skills and Methods
Obtaining Information
1. Obtain information about local issues from a variety of sources including:
a. Maps;
b. Photos;
c. Oral histories;
d. Newspapers;
e. Letters;
f. Artifacts;
g. Documents.
2. Locate information using various parts of a source including:
a. The table of contents;
b. Title page;
c. Illustrations;
d. Keyword searches.
Thinking and Organizing
3. Identify possible cause and effect relationships.
4. Read and interpret pictographs, bar graphs and charts.
Communicating Information
5. Communicate information using pictographs and bar graphs.
Problem Solving
6. Use a problem-solving/decision-making process which includes:
a. Identifying a problem;
b. Gathering information;
c. Listing and considering options;
d. Considering advantages and disadvantages of options;
e. Choosing and implementing a solution.
English Language Arts Standards
READING: Informational Text
Key Ideas and Details
1. Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
2. Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.
3. 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.
Craft and Structure
4. Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 3 topic or subject area.
5. Use text features and search tools (e.g., key words, sidebars, hyperlinks) to locate information relevant to a given topic efficiently.
6. Distinguish their own point of view from that of the author of a text.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
7. 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).
8. Describe the logical connection between particular sentences and paragraphs in a text (e.g., comparison, cause/effect, first/second/third in a sequence).
9. Compare and contrast the most important points and key details presented in two texts on the same topic.
Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
10. 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.
WRITING: Text Types and Purposes
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
1. Introduce a topic and group related information together; include illustrations when useful to aiding comprehension.
2. Develop the topic with facts, definitions, and details.
3. Use linking words and phrases (e.g., also, another, and, more, but) to connect ideas within categories of information.
4. Provide a concluding statement or section.
Production and Distribution of Writing
4. With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose.
5. With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing.
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
7. Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic.
8. Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories.
Range of Writing
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.
Speaking & Listening
Comprehension and Collaboration
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.
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. Ask and answer questions about information from a speaker, offering appropriate elaboration and detail.
Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas
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.
5. 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.
6. Speak in complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification.