What does a student learn in StateMissouri,GradeGrade 3,SubjectEnglish Language Arts?

Reading closely to understand what a story or article says, and showing that understanding by answering questions, finding key details, and explaining what the text means.

Students read a story or passage and figure out something the author never says directly, then point to a specific sentence or detail that backs up their thinking.

Students retell a story's beginning, middle, and end in their own words, then explain the lesson or moral the story is teaching.

Students learn new words by studying how they are used in sentences and stories. They practice figuring out meaning from context before looking up a definition.

Students learn that adding a prefix or suffix to a word changes its meaning. For example, "unhappy" means the opposite of "happy," and "helpless" means without help.

Students use the words around an unfamiliar word to figure out what it means. When a word has more than one meaning, like "bark" or "bat," they use nearby sentences to choose the right one.

Students learn to spot when words mean exactly what they say and when they don't. Reading "it's raining cats and dogs" means recognizing that no animals are actually falling from the sky.

Students learn to recognize and use three types of words: everyday words they hear in conversation, broader vocabulary that shows up across subjects, and subject-specific terms tied to a particular topic like science or history.

Students read on their own for different reasons across a full class period or longer. That means reading for fun, to find information, or to follow steps in a set of directions.

Reading a story, poem, or play, students figure out ideas the author hints at but never states directly, then explain their thinking using details from the text.

Students retell a story's key events in order and explain how one event causes or changes what happens next.

Reading a story, students figure out what a character is like (brave, jealous, kind) by paying attention to what that character thinks, says, and does, not just what the author tells them directly.

Characters in a story affect each other. Students describe how two characters relate, what causes their relationship to shift, and what that change shows about each of them.

Reading a story, students find the reason something happened and explain what it caused. They look for how one event sets off another.

Reading a story, students figure out what a character or narrator thinks about something, then ask themselves if they actually agree. The goal is to notice when their own opinion differs from the one on the page.

Students read nonfiction and use features like headings, captions, and maps to figure out information the main text doesn't spell out.

Students read a nonfiction passage and point to the specific sentences or facts that back up what the whole piece is mostly about.

Nonfiction books use headings, maps, captions, and diagrams to help readers find information. Students use those features to predict what a section will cover, then check whether they were right.

Students read nonfiction passages and figure out what the author means beyond what's stated outright. That includes spotting how word choice or structure shapes the message.

Students learn to tell the difference between an author's personal take on a topic and the argument the author is making to change how readers think or act.

Students read nonfiction passages and use how the text is organized (like problem and solution, or cause and effect) to figure out ideas the author doesn't state directly.

Reading a nonfiction passage, students explain how one event leads to another or how two ideas connect. They look for cause-and-effect patterns and describe what those relationships mean.

Students read a nonfiction passage and explain how a problem in the text gets solved. They identify what went wrong and what fixed it, using details from the writing to back up their thinking.

Students read two nonfiction texts on the same topic and explain what those texts agree on and where they differ. The focus stays on the big ideas, not small details.

Students use letter patterns and spelling rules to decode unfamiliar words while reading. Sounding out a new word and recognizing familiar word chunks are the main tools.

Students break apart longer words by recognizing familiar spelling patterns in each syllable. This works whether the word appears in a sentence or stands alone.

Students read common words that don't follow normal spelling rules, like "said," "come," and "were," without sounding them out letter by letter. Recognizing these words on sight keeps reading moving.

Students turn their planning notes into a first draft, writing out their ideas in the format that fits the type of piece they're working on, whether a story, an opinion piece, or an informational paragraph.

Students reread their own writing and work with a classmate or adult to spot what's unclear or missing, then fix it before the final version.

Students pick a topic they care about and write to persuade readers that their view is right. They back up that opinion with reasons from what they've read or experienced.

Students write to explain a topic clearly, using facts and details to help the reader understand. Think of it as a short how-it-works piece, not a story or an opinion.

Students write their own stories, true accounts, or poems. The focus is on getting ideas down in a form that has a clear shape, whether that looks like a tale with characters or a poem with its own rhythm.

Students find information from more than one source (a book, a website, a video) and use what they learn to support their writing.

Students practice choosing which books, websites, or other sources actually answer their research question, rather than grabbing whatever comes up first.

Students apply basic grammar rules when they speak and write sentences, things like using the right verb tense and forming plurals correctly.

Students write and say four kinds of sentences: statements, questions, commands, and exclamations. Each type has a different job, and students practice using all four correctly in their own speaking and writing.

Students practice putting capital letters, punctuation, and correct spelling into their own writing, not just recognizing them on a worksheet.

Students learn when a word needs an apostrophe to show ownership, like "the dog's leash" or "Maria's backpack." They practice adding the apostrophe in the right spot when writing.

Students practice capitalizing the names of specific places, like a city, a street, or a country, whenever those names appear in their writing.

Students learn which words to capitalize in the title of a book, story, or song. A title like "the cat in the hat" becomes "The Cat in the Hat."

Students practice listening carefully during class discussions, read-alouds, and group work. They learn to follow along, stay focused, and understand what classmates and teachers are saying.

Students listen closely during discussions and ask questions when something isn't clear. They keep their questions on topic and connect what they say to what a classmate just said.