Virginia K–6 english language arts standards

The student will develop effective oral communication and collaboration skills to build a community of learners that process, understand, and interpret content together

Participate in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) on kindergarten topics and texts. This includes:

Listening actively and following agreed-upon rules for participating in discussions (e.g., waiting for a turn to speak without unnecessary interruptions and staying on topic)

Respectfully building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly

Asking questions to seek help, get information, or clarify information for further understanding

Expressing ideas and needs in complete sentences

Describe personal experiences using complete sentences

Speak audibly with appropriate pacing, prosody, and voice level

Participate in a variety of oral language activities, including choral speaking and recitation of short poems, rhymes, songs, and stories with repeated patterns and refrains

Retell, create, and dictate stories, rhymes, poems, and events in sequential order using drama, props, and/or pictures indicating first, next and last events in a story

Use knowledge of letter-sound correspondences to read and reread controlled decodable sentences and texts that include phonic elements and irregular words (Reading Fluency, K-12)

With prompting and support, when responding to text through discussions and/or writing, draw several pieces of evidence from read-alouds to support claims, conclusions, inferences, including quoting or paraphrasing from texts accurately and tracing where relevant evidence is located (Textual Evidence, K-12)

Regularly engage in listening to a series of conceptually related texts organized around topics of study to build knowledge and vocabulary. Use this background knowledge as context for new learning (Deep Reading on Topics to Build Knowledge and Vocabulary, K-12)

Follow words from left to right and from top to bottom on a printed page, including the return sweep from line to line

Demonstrate knowledge of a sentence, word, and letter

Demonstrate knowledge that spoken words are represented in print and separated by spaces

Identify the author and illustrator of a text and define the role of each

Identify the front cover, back cover and title of a text

Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence (e.g., first word, capitalization, ending punctuation)

Demonstrate ability to segment spoken words in sentences and syllables in words

Blend and segment one syllable words by onset and rime.

Isolate the initial, medial, and final sounds in three phoneme (individual sound) words (excluding words ending with /l/, /r/, or /x/)

Demonstrate ability to segment and blend one syllable words with two, three, and four phonemes (including words with consonant digraphs th, sh, ch, wh)

Identify capital and lowercase letters of the alphabet

Identify common letter-sound correspondences

Discriminate between long and short sounds with common spellings for the five major vowels with open and closed syllables (e.g., short /e/ as in “pet”, long /e/ as in “he”)

Demonstrate knowledge that every word has a vowel sound

Identify the letter-sound correspondences for consonant digraphs (e.g., ch, sh, th, wh)

Demonstrate knowledge of letter-sound correspondences to blend CV, CVC, VC words

Decode (read) and encode (spell) words with short vowels, including words beginning or ending in a digraph (e.g., ch, sh, th, wh)

Use letter-sound correspondences to read grade-level high frequency words, including decodable and irregular words, with automaticity and accuracy

The student will print legibly in manuscript

Use functional pencil grasp for letter formation

Accurately and automatically print capital and lowercase letters of the alphabet independently

Write left to right and top to bottom

Accurately print first and last names, beginning each with a capital letter

Apply spaces between written words in phrase or sentence level writing.

Encode (spell) one syllable words with short vowels and one syllable words beginning or ending in a digraph (e.g., ch, sh, th, wh)

Encode (spell) unknown words using logical invented spelling

With prompting and support, use phoneme/grapheme (sound/symbol) correspondences to spell grade-level high-frequency words with accuracy

The student will use the conventions of Standard English when speaking and writing, differentiating between contexts that call for formal English and situations where informal discourse is more appropriate

Produce and expand complete sentences in shared language activities

Use nouns to identify and name people, places, and things

Use pronouns to identify individuals and groups (he, she, they, his, hers, their(s)

Use adjectives to describe specific objects (quantity, size, age, shape, color, or location)

Use verbs to locate specific actions

With guidance and support, begin each sentence with a capital letter and capitalize the pronoun I

With guidance and support, identify statements and questions and use ending punctuation (e.g., period and question mark)

Phonetically spell words containing unknown letter-sound correspondences

The student will conduct research and listen to a series of conceptually related texts on selected topics to build knowledge on grade-level topics or solve problems using available resources

With prompting and support, generate a topic of interest and question to explore a given topic

With prompting and support, find information on the topic from pictures, texts, people or provided sources

With prompting and support, use drawing, writing, or dictation to record facts and information collected from the research

With prompting and support, in small or large group settings, informally share recorded information collected from research

The student will use textual evidence to demonstrate comprehension and build knowledge from a variety of informational texts heard.

With prompting and support, ask and answer literal (who, what, when, where) or inferential (why, how) questions about what is read

With prompting and support, identify the main topic and key details of a text

With prompting and support, identify the purpose of common text features: table of contents, headings, bolded words, and pictures

With prompting and support, identify basic similarities in and differences between two texts on the same topic

With prompting and support, describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text

The student will use textual evidence to demonstrate comprehension and build knowledge from a variety of literary texts heard, to include fantasy, humor, fable/fairy tale, realistic fiction, historical fiction, and folklore/tall tale

With prompting and support, activate prior (experience) and background (content) knowledge and make connections to what is read

With prompting and support, demonstrate knowledge of story structure by orally identifying characters, setting,important events, and details

With prompting and support, orally re-tell a familiar story in sequential order (beginning, middle, end)

With prompting and support, generate predictions about story characters and events using the text

With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts)

With prompting and support, compare and contrast characters, plot events, or settings between two familiar stories

With prompting and support, monitor listening comprehension

The student will systematically build vocabulary and word knowledge based on kindergarten content and texts heard

Discuss meanings of words from a variety of texts and experiences

Ask questions about words not understood

Use vocabulary from across content areas

Identify the purpose of simple reference materials (e.g., pictures, dictionary, digital dictionary)

Increase and develop breadth of vocabulary knowledge by listening to high quality, complex text

Use newly learned words and phrases in discussions and speaking activities

The student will write in a variety of forms, linked to kindergarten content and texts

Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose narrative stories in sequential order (beginning, middle, end)

Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose descriptive writing that identifies a topic and provides one or more relevant details

Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to write in response to texts heard.

With guidance and support, use prewriting activities, including drawing and suggestions from peers to generate ideas and plan writing or dictation. This includes:

Identifying the audience and purpose of the writing (e.g., letters, stories, “all about” book, etc)

Composing or dictating simple sentences that include a subject (noun) and predicate(verb) focused on the topic

The student will develop effective oral communication and collaboration skills to build a community of learners that process, understand, and interpret content together.

Participate in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) on grade one topics and texts. This includes:

Listening actively and following agreed-upon rules for participating in discussions (e.g., waiting for a turn to speak without unnecessary interruptions and staying on topic).

Respectfully building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

Asking questions to seek help, get information, or clarify information for further understanding.

Expressing ideas and needs in complete sentences.

Describe people, places, things, and events with relevant details and using appropriate vocabulary.

Speak audibly with appropriate pacing, prosody, and voice level.

Participate in a variety of oral language activities, including choral speaking and recitation of short poems, rhymes, songs, and stories with repeated patterns and refrains.

Retell, create, and dictate stories, rhymes, poems, and events in sequential order using drama, props, and/or pictures indicating first, next, and last events in a story.

Use knowledge of letter-sound correspondences to read a variety of decodable and gradelevel texts with accuracy, automaticity, appropriate rate, and meaningful expression in successive readings to support comprehension. Monitor while reading to confirm or selfcorrect word recognition and understanding, as necessary (Reading Fluency, K-12).

With prompting and support, when responding to text through discussions and/or writing, draw several pieces of evidence from read-alouds to support claims, conclusions, and inferences, including quoting or paraphrasing from texts accurately and tracing where relevant evidence is located (Textual Evidence, K-12).

Regularly engage in listening to a series of conceptually related texts organized around topics of study to build knowledge and vocabulary. Use this background knowledge as context for new learning (Deep Reading on Topics to Build Knowledge and Vocabulary, K-12).

Follow words from left to right and from top to bottom on a printed page, including the return sweep from line to line.

Demonstrate knowledge of a sentence, word, and letter.

Demonstrate knowledge that spoken words are represented in print and separated by spaces.

Identify the author and illustrator of a text and define the role of each.

Identify the front cover, back cover and title of a text.

Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence (e.g., first word, capitalization, ending punctuation).

Isolate sounds in four and five phoneme words.

Demonstrate ability to blend words with four and five phonemes, including words with consonant digraphs (e.g., th, sh, ch, wh) and consonant blends (e.g., fr, st, bl).

Demonstrate the ability to segment words with four and five phonemes, including words with consonant digraphs (e.g., th, sh, ch) and consonant blends e.g., fr, st, bl).

Decode and encode words with short vowels to include blends with digraphs, closed syllables (CVC, CCVC, CVCC, CCVCC).

Decode and encode words with long vowels, open syllables, (CV, CCV) and vowelconsonant-e (CVCE, CCVCE).

Use letter-sound correspondences to decode words containing common vowel teams and rcontrolled vowels.

Decode multisyllabic words following basic patterns by breaking the words into syllables.

Read grade-level high-frequency words, including decodable and irregular words with automaticity and accuracy.

Write grade-level high-frequency words with automaticity and accuracy.

The student will print legibly in manuscript

Use functional pencil grasp for letter formation.

Accurately and automatically form all capital and lowercase letters and numbers using manuscript letter formation.

Accurately and automatically apply spaces between written words in phrases or sentencelevel writing.

Use phoneme-grapheme (sound/symbol) correspondence to encode (spell) single-syllable words containing closed syllables (cvc, ccvc, cvcc, and ccvcc), open syllables (cv, ccv), vowel-consonant-e (cvce, ccvce).

Encode (spell) 2-syllable words (e.g., pancake) following basic patterns by breaking the words into syllables.

Encode (spell) unfamiliar words by recognizing and applying taught word patterns.

Use phoneme/grapheme (sound/symbol) correspondences to encode (spell) grade-level high-frequency words with automaticity and accuracy.

The student will use conventions of Standard English when speaking and writing, differentiating between contexts that call for formal English and situations where informal discourse is more appropriate.

Produce and expand simple sentences, including a noun, verb, and adjective.

Form regular plural nouns orally by adding ‘s’ or ‘es’ sound.

Use personal and possessive pronouns to represent nouns.

Use frequently occurring adjectives to describe specific objects (quantity, size, age, shape, color, or location).

Form and use simple verb tenses (past, present, and future) for regular verbs.

Use proper verb tense and correct subject-verb agreement.

Use articles correctly (e.g., a, an, the).

Use interrogatives to ask questions in complete sentences (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how).

Capitalize the first word in a sentence, proper nouns, and the pronoun I.

Identify statements and questions and, use correct ending punctuation (e.g., period, questions mark, and exclamation points).

Use conventional spelling of words with commonly taught spelling patterns and for frequently occurring irregular words.

The student will conduct research and listen to a series of conceptually related texts on selected topics to build knowledge on grade-level topics or solve problems using available resources.

With prompting and support, generate research questions related to a given topic.

Locate and collect information related to the given topic from pictures, texts, people, or provided sources.

Use templates to organize the information collected (e.g., charts, graphs).

Use drawing, writing, or dictation to record facts and information collected from research.

In small or large group settings, informally share recorded information collected from research.

The student will use textual evidence to demonstrate comprehension and build knowledge from a variety of informational texts heard or read

Ask and answer literal (who, what, when, where) and inferential (why, how) questions about what is read, including demonstrating an understanding of the main topics.

Identify the main idea and supporting details of a text.

Explain the difference between facts and opinions in a text.

Identify and use common text features to gain information: table of contents, headings, bolded words, and pictures, captions, and diagrams.

Distinguish between information provided by pictures or other illustrations and information provided by the words in a text.

Identify basic similarities in and differences between two texts on the same topic.

Describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.

The student will use textual evidence to demonstrate comprehension and build knowledge from a variety of literary texts heard or read including fantasy, humor, fable/fairy tale, realistic fiction, historical fiction, and folklore/tall tale

Retell familiar stories sequentially and demonstrate an understanding of the story structure, the central message or lesson, and the details.

Identify the elements of a familiar story, including the characters, setting, and important events (e.g., conflict and resolution).

Ask and answer literal (who, what, when, where) or inferential (how, why) questions about what is read.

Generate predictions about story characters and events using the text.

Set a purpose for reading by providing a guiding question, activating prior (experience) and background (content) knowledge.

Make connections between characters, settings, and major events in stories heard, using key details.

Compare and contrast the adventures or experiences of characters in stories heard, using key details.

The student will systematically build vocabulary and word knowledge based on gradeone content and texts heard or read

Vocabulary Development and Word Analysis

Discuss meanings of words in context from a variety of texts.

Identify antonyms and synonyms of familiar words to deepen understanding of word meaning and relationships.

Ask for the meaning of unknown words and make connections to familiar words.

Use vocabulary across content areas.

Determine the meaning of an unknown word using frequently occurring root words and inflectional affixes (e.g. -s, -ing, -ed).

Distinguish shades of meaning among verbs and adjectives

Identify the purpose of simple reference materials (e.g. picture dictionary, digital dictionary).

Increase and develop breadth of vocabulary knowledge by listening to high quality, complex text.

Use newly learned words and phrases in discussions and speaking activities.

The student will write in a variety of forms for diverse audiences and purposes linked to grade one content and texts

Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to recount two or more sequenced events or experiences and include details about the events and characters.

Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/expository texts that name a topic and supply some facts about the topic.

Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose opinion pieces that state an opinion and supply a reason for the opinion.

Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing about text(s) read or heard in which students share their thinking with a couple of supporting details from the text.

With guidance and support, use a variety of prewriting activities, such as brainstorming, drawing and graphic organizers, to generate ideas and draft writing or dictation. This includes:

Identifying the audience and purpose of the writing (e.g., letters, stories, journals, etc.).

Composing a series of simple sentences focused on the topic, including sentences with a subject and predicate, subject/verb agreement, and one or more descriptive adjectives.

With guidance and support from adults, edit writing for conventions e.g., spelling, capitalization, usage, punctuation). (See Language Usage for grade level expectations).

The student will develop effective oral communication and collaboration skills to build a community of learners that process, understand, and interpret content together.

Participate in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) on grade two topics and texts. This includes:

Listening actively and following agreed upon rules for participating in discussions.

Respectfully building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

Asking and responding to questions that acquire or confirm information on a topic.

Demonstrating active engagement when listening to a speaker and asking for clarification to ensure understanding.

Use topic specific language and vocabulary to communicate ideas.

Speak audibly with appropriate pacing, prosody, and voice level.

Engage the audience by asking and/or responding to questions.

Create and participate in oral language activities that include oral storytelling and dramatics.

Retell information in an organized manner, focused on a key topic or experience.

Create a simple presentation using multimodal tools that enhance the topic or presentation.

Read a variety of grade-level text with accuracy, automaticity, appropriate rate, and meaningful expression in successive readings to support comprehension. Monitor while reading to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding as necessary (Reading Fluency, K-12).

Proficiently read and comprehend texts from a variety of literary forms that exhibit complexity at the lower range of the grades 2-3 band (See the Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis charts for determining complexity in the Appendix.) (Text Complexity, 2-12).

When responding to text through discussion and/or writing, draw several pieces of evidence from read-alouds and grade-level texts to support claims, conclusions, and inferences, including quoting or paraphrasing from texts accurately and tracing where relevant evidence is located (Textual Evidence, K-12).

Regularly engage in listening to a series of conceptually related texts organized around topics of study to build knowledge and vocabulary. Use this background knowledge as context for new learning (Deep Reading on Topics to Build Knowledge and Vocabulary, K-12).

Follow words from left to right and from top to bottom on a printed page, including the return sweep from line to line.

Demonstrate knowledge of a sentence, word, and letter.

Demonstrate knowledge that spoken words are represented in print and separated by spaces.

Identify the author and illustrator of a text and define the role of each.

Identify the front cover, back cover and title of a text.

Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence (e.g., first word, capitalization, ending punctuation).

Isolate sounds in four and five phoneme words.

Demonstrate the ability to blend words with four and five phonemes, including words with consonant digraphs (e.g., th, sh, ch) and consonant blends (e.g., fr, st, bl).

Demonstrate the ability to segment words with four and five phonemes, including words with consonant digraphs (e.g., th, sh, ch) and consonant blends (e.g., fr, st, bl).

Decode and encode words with short vowels to include blends, digraphs, and trigraphs in closed syllables (CVCC, CCVC, CVCC, CCVCC, and CCVCCC) and open syllables (CV, CCV).

Decode and encode words with vowel teams and r-controlled vowels.

Use knowledge of syllabication and syllable types to decode words.

Use knowledge of affixes (e.g., suffixes, prefixes) to decode words.

Read grade-level high frequency words, including decodable and irregular words, with automaticity and accuracy.

The student will print legibly in manuscript and cursive while applying grade level word knowledge to spell words correctly.

Maintain legible printing and begin to make the transition to cursive.

Begin to write capital and lowercase letters of the alphabet in cursive.

Begin to sign his/her first and last names.

Use phoneme-grapheme (sound/symbol correspondence to encode (spell) single-syllable words containing closed syllables (cvc, ccvc, cvcc, and ccvcc), open syllables (cv, ccv), vowel-consonant-e (cvce, ccvce), vowel teams, and r-controlled vowels.

Use phoneme-grapheme (sound/symbol) correspondence to encode (spell) multisyllabic words.

Use phoneme/grapheme (sound/symbol) correspondences to encode (spell) grade-level high-frequency words with automaticity and accuracy.

The student will use conventions of Standard English when speaking and writing, differentiating between contexts that call for formal English and situations where informal discourse is more appropriate.

Produce and expand complete sentences, both simple and compound.

Use indefinite (e.g., anybody, anything) reflexive (e.g., yourself, herself) pronouns.

Form and use regular and frequently occurring irregular plural nouns (e.g., men, teeth).

Use frequently occurring conjunctions to signal simple relationships (e.g., and, but, or, so, because).

Use proper verb tense, including for frequently occurring irregular verbs (e.g., ran, told, went).

Use subject-verb agreement in simple sentences.

Use common abbreviations.

Use contractions and singular possessives.

Eliminate double negatives when speaking.

Identify statements, questions, and commands and use correct ending punctuation (e.g., period, question mark, and exclamation points).

Use commas in salutation and closing of a letter.

Generalize learned spelling patterns when writing words.

The student will conduct research and read or listen to a series of conceptually related texts on selected topics to build knowledge on grade-level topics or solve problems using available resources.

Identify a topic and generate questions to explore the topic.

Locate information in reference texts, electronic resources, interviews, or provided sources.

Use templates to organize the information collected (e.g., charts, graphs).

Record information on sources using own words, organizing evidence into provided categories.

Share information orally in writing, or through visual display, avoiding plagiarism and using own words.

The student will use textual evidence to demonstrate and build knowledge from a variety of grade level complex informational texts heard or read.

Ask and answer literal and inferential questions (who, what, where, when, how, and why) about key details in a text.

Retell key details of texts that demonstrate an understanding of the main topics of texts.

Differentiate facts from opinions within a text.

Use text features (table of contents, headings, pictures, captions, maps, and charts) to preview, set a purpose for reading and gain information.

Identify the main purpose of a text, including what the author wants to answer, explain, or describe.

Use prior (experience) and background (content) knowledge as context for new learning.

Compare and contrast the most important points presented by two texts on the same topic.

Describe the interactions between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in texts.

The student will use textual evidence to demonstrate comprehension and build knowledge from a variety of grade-level complex literary texts heard or read to include fantasy, humor, fable/fairy tale, realistic fiction, historical fiction, and folklore/tall tale, with a focus on fables/fairytales from a variety of cultures.

Retell stories sequentially, including their overall structure, essential story events, and the central message, lesson, or moral.

Identify a story’s central conflict using events from the plot as evidence.

Describe character’s attributes (e.g., traits, motivations, or feelings) and how they respond to major events and challenges.

Generate predictions about story characters and events using the text.

Set a purpose for reading by providing guiding questions, activating prior (experience) and background (content) knowledge.

Recognize dialogue in text and explain how it can reveal characters’ thoughts and perspectives.

Compare and contrast characters, settings, and plots in two versions of the same story from different cultures (e.g., Cinderella stories).

The student will systematically build vocabulary and word knowledge based on gradetwo content and texts heard or read.

Discuss meanings of new words or phrases acquired through conversations and literature.

Use vocabulary across content areas.

Determine the meaning of an unknown word using frequently occurring root words and inflectional affixes (e.g. -s, -ing, - ed).

Use the context of a sentence to apply knowledge of homophones.

Apply knowledge of morphology (e.g., common grade appropriate suffixes, prefixes), synonyms, and antonyms to determine the meaning of new words.

Distinguish shades of meaning among verbs and adjectives.

Develop breadth of vocabulary knowledge by listening to and reading high quality, complex text.

Use newly learned words and phrases in discussions and speaking activities.

The student will write in a variety of forms for diverse audiences and purposes, linked to grade two content and texts.

Write narratives that recount a well-elaborated event or short sequence of events and include details about the events and characters and use of time-related words to signal the event sequence.

Write informative/explanatory texts that introduce a topic and develop the ideas with facts and examples.

Write opinion pieces on topics or texts that support a point of view with reasons.

Write in response to text(s) read or heard to share thinking with a couple supporting details from the text.

Engage in writing as a process to plan writing based on purpose and genre. This includes:

Writing a clear topic sentence focusing on the main idea.

Identifying the audience and purpose of the writing.

Developing, selecting, and organizing ideas and details relevant to the topic, purpose, and genre.

Providing a concluding statement or section.

With guidance and support from adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by revising for quality of ideas, organization, sentence fluency, and word choice.

With guidance and support from adults, edit writing for conventions (e.g., spelling, capitalization, usage, punctuation). (See Language Usage for grade level expectations).

The student will develop effective oral communication and collaboration skills to build a community of learners that process, understand, and interpret content together.

Participate in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) on grade three topics and texts. This includes:

Listening actively and speaking using agreed-upon discussion rules.

Respectfully building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

Asking and responding to questions that acquire or confirm information on a topic and link their comments to the remarks of others.

Actively engaging throughout the collaboration.

Report orally on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience in an organized manner. This includes:

Using descriptive details and appropriate facts to support themes or central ideas.

Speaking audibly with appropriate pacing, prosody, and voice level.

Using language (formal or informal) and style as appropriate to audience, topic, and purpose.

Create a simple presentation using multimodal tools that enhance the topic and/or presentation.

Read a variety of grade-level complex texts with accuracy, automaticity, appropriate rate, and meaningful expression in successive readings to support comprehension. Monitor while reading to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, as necessary (Reading Fluency, K-12).

Proficiently read and comprehend a variety of literary and informational texts that exhibit complexity at the higher range of the grades 2-3 bands (See Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis charts for determining complexity in the Appendix) (Text Complexity, 2-12).

When responding to texts through discussions and/or writing, draw several pieces of evidence from read alouds and grade-level complex texts to support claims, conclusions, and inferences, including quoting or paraphrasing from texts accurately and tracing where relevant evidence is located (Textual Evidence, K-12).

Regularly engage in listening to a series of conceptually related texts organized around topics of study to build knowledge and vocabulary. Use background knowledge as context for new learning (Deep Reading on Topics to Build Knowledge and Vocabulary K-12).

Use reading strategies as needed to monitor comprehension when encountering challenging sections of text. These sense-making strategies attended to common text organizational structures, summarizing, asking questions of the text, and others (Reading Strategies, 3-12).

See Kindergarten for standards that address Print Concepts.

See Kindergarten through grade two for standards that address Phonological and Phonemic Awareness.

Decode and encode words with vowel teams and r-controlled vowels.

Use knowledge of syllabication and syllable types to decode and encode words.

Use knowledge of affixes (e.g., suffixes, prefixes) to decode and encode words.

Read grade-level high-frequency words, including decodable and irregular words, with automaticity and accuracy.

The student will print legibly in manuscript and cursive while applying grade level word knowledge to spell words correctly.

Maintain legible printing.

Write capital and lowercase letters of the alphabet using correct letter formation in cursive.

Sign his/her first and last name.

Form cursive letters with flow from one letter to the next within names and words.

Use phoneme-grapheme correspondence to encode (spell) multisyllabic words.

Use common affixes to encode (spell) words.

Use phoneme/grapheme (sound/symbol) correspondences to encode (spell) grade-level high-frequency words with automaticity and accuracy.

The student will use the conventions of Standard English when speaking and writing, differentiating between contexts that call for formal English and situations where informal discourse is more appropriate.

Produce, expand, and rearrange simple and compound sentences when speaking and writing.

Distinguish between complete and incomplete sentences.

Form and use comparative and superlative adjectives when speaking and writing.

Form and use regular and irregular verbs when speaking and writing.

Use subject-verb agreement in simple sentences.

Eliminate double negatives when speaking and writing.

Use commas in series, dates, addresses, and in greetings and closings of letters.

Use apostrophes to form contractions and frequently occurring possessions in writing.

Capitalize holidays, names, and places.

Use learned spelling patterns when writing words, including high frequency words and grade level word analysis knowledge.

Consult reference materials, including beginning dictionaries to check and correct spelling.

The student will conduct research and read or listen to a series of conceptually related texts on selected topics to build knowledge on grade-three content and texts, solve problems and support cross-curricular learning.

Identify a topic and generate questions that explore the topic.

Locate information in reference texts, electronic resources, provided sources, or through interviews and take brief notes on sources.

Organize evidence into relevant categories, recognizing that some sources may be more reliable than others.

Organize and share information orally, in writing, or through visual display.

Avoid plagiarism, giving credit to sources of information (title and author when available).

The student will use textual evidence to demonstrate comprehension and build knowledge from grade-level complex informational texts read.

Determine the main idea of multi-paragraph texts as well as specific paragraphs within them.

Summarize texts using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause and effect, referring to historical events, scientific ideas, or steps in technical procedures.

Identify and explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support specific points in texts.

Describe major structural differences between the organizational patterns of different informational texts (e.g., cause/effect, comparison/contrast, problem/solution, description, sequence, and chronological order) and how they support a reader’s understanding of the text.

Use text features and search tools (e.g., sidebars, hyperlink) to locate and gain information efficiently.

Identify the author’s purpose for writing, including what the author wants to answer, explain, or describe.

Use prior (experience) and background (content) knowledge as context for new learning.

Compare and contrast the most important points and key details presented in two texts on the same topic.

Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text.

Demonstrate comprehension by writing about what is read using the text for support.

The student will use textual evidence to demonstrate comprehension and build knowledge from a variety of grade-level complex literary texts read to include fantasy, humor, fable/fairy tale, realistic fiction, historical fiction, biography, autobiography, and folklore/tall tale, with a focus on folklore and tall tales.

Identify thematic topics of stories (e.g. friendship, survival, determination) and the lessons learned.

Identify the central conflict and resolution using events from the plot to summarize the text.

Describe a character’s attributes, including their traits, motivations, or feelings and how they develop throughout the text.

Discuss how an author uses characters and settings to advance the plot.