Grade 3 ELA: Common Core Standards

Your Teacher Information Pack for Grade 3 ELA: every Common Core standard with its official code, notes on which states use them, and trusted links. Tick what you're teaching and send it straight into the lesson plan maker.

Does my state use these standards?

Your state may use its own standards. Common Core is not federal law: each state decides. For English language arts (compiled 2026-10-20, check your state's site before relying on it):

• Use their own standards, not Common Core (13): Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia. Codes on this page won't match your state's paperwork.
• Adapted and renamed (23): Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming. Mostly similar, but check wording and codes.
• Common Core as written (15): California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington.

Full state list with links to each state's standards

The standards

Standards are grouped by strand (Reading: Literature, Reading: Informational Text, Writing, and so on) and by heading. Each code links to the official page. ★ marks a modeling standard and (+) additional mathematics for advanced courses.

Reading: Literature (RL) 10 standards

• Key Ideas and Details
  • RL.3.1 Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
  • RL.3.2 Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.
  • RL.3.3 Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events
• Craft and Structure
  • RL.3.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language.
  • RL.3.5 Refer to parts of stories, dramas, and poems when writing or speaking about a text, using terms such as chapter, scene, and stanza; describe how each successive part builds on earlier sections.
  • RL.3.6 Distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters.
• Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
  • RL.3.7 Explain how specific aspects of a text's illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a character or setting)
  • RL.3.8 (RL.3.8 not applicable to literature)
  • RL.3.9 Compare and contrast the themes, settings, and plots of stories written by the same author about the same or similar characters (e.g., in books from a series)
• Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
  • RL.3.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, at the high end of the grades 2-3 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

Read this domain on the official site

Reading: Informational Text (RI) 10 standards

• Key Ideas and Details
  • RI.3.1 Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
  • RI.3.2 Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.
  • RI.3.3 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
  • RI.3.4 Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 3 topic or subject area.
  • RI.3.5 Use text features and search tools (e.g., key words, sidebars, hyperlinks) to locate information relevant to a given topic efficiently.
  • RI.3.6 Distinguish their own point of view from that of the author of a text.
• Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
  • RI.3.7 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).
  • RI.3.8 Describe the logical connection between particular sentences and paragraphs in a text (e.g., comparison, cause/effect, first/second/third in a sequence).
  • RI.3.9 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
  • RI.3.10 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.

Read this domain on the official site

Reading: Foundational Skills (RF) 2 standards

• Phonics and Word Recognition
  • RF.3.3 Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.
    • RF.3.3.a Identify and know the meaning of the most common prefixes and derivational suffixes.
    • RF.3.3.b Decode words with common Latin suffixes.
    • RF.3.3.c Decode multisyllable words.
    • RF.3.3.d Read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words.
• Fluency
  • RF.3.4 Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
    • RF.3.4.a Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding.
    • RF.3.4.b Read grade-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.
    • RF.3.4.c Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.

Read this domain on the official site

Writing (W) 10 standards

• Text Types and Purposes
  • W.3.1 Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons.
    • W.3.1.a Introduce the topic or text they are writing about, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure that lists reasons.
    • W.3.1.b Provide reasons that support the opinion.
    • W.3.1.c Use linking words and phrases (e.g., because, therefore, since, for example) to connect opinion and reasons.
    • W.3.1.d Provide a concluding statement or section.
  • W.3.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
    • W.3.2.a Introduce a topic and group related information together; include illustrations when useful to aiding comprehension.
    • W.3.2.b Develop the topic with facts, definitions, and details.
    • W.3.2.c Use linking words and phrases (e.g., also, another, and, more, but) to connect ideas within categories of information.
    • W.3.2.d Provide a concluding statement or section.
  • W.3.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
    • W.3.3.a Establish a situation and introduce a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally.
    • W.3.3.b Use dialogue and descriptions of actions, thoughts, and feelings to develop experiences and events or show the response of characters to situations.
    • W.3.3.c Use temporal words and phrases to signal event order.
    • W.3.3.d Provide a sense of closure.
• Production and Distribution of Writing
  • W.3.4 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.)
  • W.3.5 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 here.)
  • W.3.6 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
  • W.3.7 Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic.
  • W.3.8 Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories.
  • W.3.9 (W.3.9 begins in grade 4)
• Range of Writing
  • W.3.10 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.

Read this domain on the official site

Speaking & Listening (SL) 6 standards

• Comprehension and Collaboration
  • SL.3.1 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.
    • SL.3.1.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.
    • SL.3.1.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).
    • SL.3.1.c Ask questions to check understanding of information presented, stay on topic, and link their comments to the remarks of others.
    • SL.3.1.d Explain their own ideas and understanding in light of the discussion.
  • SL.3.2 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.
  • SL.3.3 Ask and answer questions about information from a speaker, offering appropriate elaboration and detail.
• Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas
  • SL.3.4 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.
  • SL.3.5 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.
  • SL.3.6 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 here for specific expectations.)

Read this domain on the official site

Language (L) 6 standards

• Conventions of Standard English
  • L.3.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
    • L.3.1.a Explain the function of nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in general and their functions in particular sentences.
    • L.3.1.b Form and use regular and irregular plural nouns.
    • L.3.1.c Use abstract nouns (e.g., childhood).
    • L.3.1.d Form and use regular and irregular verbs.
    • L.3.1.e Form and use the simple (e.g., I walked; I walk; I will walk) verb tenses.
    • L.3.1.f Ensure subject-verb and pronoun-antecedent agreement.*
    • L.3.1.g Form and use comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs, and choose between them depending on what is to be modified.
    • L.3.1.h Use coordinating and subordinating conjunctions.
    • L.3.1.i Produce simple, compound, and complex sentences.
  • L.3.2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
    • L.3.2.a Capitalize appropriate words in titles.
    • L.3.2.b Use commas in addresses.
    • L.3.2.c Use commas and quotation marks in dialogue.
    • L.3.2.d Form and use possessives.
    • L.3.2.e Use conventional spelling for high-frequency and other studied words and for adding suffixes to base words (e.g., sitting, smiled, cries, happiness).
    • L.3.2.f Use spelling patterns and generalizations (e.g., word families, position-based spellings, syllable patterns, ending rules, meaningful word parts) in writing words.
    • L.3.2.g Consult reference materials, including beginning dictionaries, as needed to check and correct spellings.
• Knowledge of Language
  • L.3.3 Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.
    • L.3.3.a Choose words and phrases for effect.*
    • L.3.3.b Recognize and observe differences between the conventions of spoken and written standard English.
• Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
  • L.3.4 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning word and phrases based on grade 3 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
    • L.3.4.a Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
    • L.3.4.b 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).
    • L.3.4.c Use a known root word as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word with the same root (e.g., company, companion).
    • L.3.4.d Use glossaries or beginning dictionaries, both print and digital, to determine or clarify the precise meaning of key words and phrases.
  • L.3.5 Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships and nuances in word meanings.
    • L.3.5.a Distinguish the literal and nonliteral meanings of words and phrases in context (e.g., take steps).
    • L.3.5.b Identify real-life connections between words and their use (e.g., describe people who are friendly or helpful).
    • L.3.5.c Distinguish shades of meaning among related words that describe states of mind or degrees of certainty (e.g., knew, believed, suspected, heard, wondered).
  • L.3.6 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).

Read this domain on the official site

These grade standards build on the 32 College and Career Readiness anchor standards, which apply to every grade.

Tests and key dates

Each state sets its own tests and testing windows. Check your state education department (links on our state list) and your district calendar.

Official documents

• Official standards page: ELA-Literacy

Trusted free resources

• Khan Academy – Free practice, videos and teacher tools (US grades and courses).

Links only: we don't copy their content and we aren't connected to these organisations.

More packs

Related: Grade 3 Math.

Find another TIP

Frequently asked questions