Virginia State Standards for Language Arts: Grade 3
3.1. The student will use effective communication skills in group activities.
3.1.a) Listen attentively by making eye contact, facing the speaker, asking questions, and summarizing what is said.
3.1.b) Ask and respond to questions from teachers and other group members.
3.1.c) Explain what has been learned.
3.2. The student will present brief oral reports.
3.2.a) Speak clearly.
3.2.b) Use appropriate volume and pitch.
3.2.c) Speak at an understandable rate.
3.2.d) Organize ideas sequentially or around major points of information.
3.2.e) Use grammatically correct language and specific vocabulary to communicate ideas.
3.3. The student will apply word-analysis skills when reading.
3.3.a) Use knowledge of all vowel patterns.
3.3.b) Use knowledge of homophones.
3.3.c) Decode regular multisyllabic words.
3.4. The student will use strategies to read a variety of fiction and nonfiction materials.
3.4.a) Preview and use text formats.
3.4.b) Set a purpose for reading.
3.4.c) Apply meaning clues, language structure, and phonetic strategies.
3.4.d) Use context to clarify meaning of unfamiliar words.
3.4.e) Read fiction and nonfiction fluently and accurately.
3.4.f) Reread and self-correct when necessary.
3.5. The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of fiction.
3.5.a) Set a purpose for reading.
3.5.b) Make connections between previous experiences and reading selections.
3.5.c) Make, confirm, or revise predictions.
3.5.d) Compare and contrast settings, characters, and events.
3.5.e) Identify the author's purpose.
3.5.f) Ask and answer questions.
3.5.g) Draw conclusions about character and plot.
3.5.h) Organize information and events logically.
3.5.i) Summarize major points found in fiction materials.
3.5.j) Understand basic plots of fairy tales, myths, folktales, legends, and fables.
3.6. The student will continue to read and demonstrate comprehension of nonfiction.
3.6.a) Identify the author's purpose.
3.6.b) Make connections between previous experiences and reading selections.
3.6.c) Ask and answer questions about what is read.
3.6.d) Draw conclusions.
3.6.e) Organize information and events logically.
3.6.f) Summarize major points found in nonfiction materials.
3.6.g) Identify the characteristics of biographies and autobiographies.
3.6.h) Compare and contrast the lives of two persons as described in biographies and/or autobiographies.
3.7. The student will demonstrate comprehension of information from a variety of print resources.
3.7.a) Use dictionary, glossary, thesaurus, encyclopedia, and other reference books, including online reference materials.
3.7.b) Use available technology.
3.8. The student will write legibly in cursive.
3.9. The student will write descriptive paragraphs.
3.9.a) Develop a plan for writing.
3.9.b) Focus on a central idea.
3.9.c) Group related ideas.
3.9.d) Include descriptive details that elaborate the central idea.
3.9.e) Revise writing for clarity.
3.10. The student will write stories, letters, simple explanations, and short reports across all content areas.
3.10.a) Use a variety of planning strategies.
3.10.b) Organize information according to the type of writing.
3.10.c) Identify the intended audience.
3.10.d) Revise writing for specific vocabulary and information.
3.10.e) Use available technology.
3.11. The student will edit writing for correct grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.
3.11.a) Use complete and varied sentences.
3.11.b) Use the word I in compound subjects.
3.11.c) Use past and present verb tense.
3.11.d) Use singular possessives.
3.11.e) Use commas in a simple series.
3.11.f) Use simple abbreviations.
3.11.g) Use apostrophes in contractions with pronouns.
3.11.h) Use correct spelling for high-frequency sight words, including irregular plurals.