Language

Conventions of Standard English

• Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking; retain and further develop language skills learned in previous grades. (See grade 3 Writing Standard 5 and Speaking and Listening Standard 6 on strengthening writing and presentations by applying knowledge of conventions.)

Sentence Structure and Meaning

• • • • Produce, expand, and rearrange complete simple, compound, and complex sentences.

      • Ensure subject-verb and pronoun-antecedent agreement.

      • Use verbs in the present, past, and future tenses and choose among them depending on the overall meaning of the sentence.

      • Use coordinating and subordinating conjunctions and choose between them depending on the overall meaning of the sentence.

      • Form and use comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs and choose between them depending on what is to be modified and the overall meaning of the sentence.

Word Usage

• • • • Use abstract nouns.

      • Form and use regular and irregular plural nouns and the past tense of regular and irregular verbs.

• Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

  • • • Write legibly and fluently by hand, using either printing or cursive handwriting.

      • Capitalize appropriate words in titles.

      • Use commas in addresses.

      • Use commas and quotation marks in dialogue.

      • Form and use possessives.

      • Use conventional spelling for high-frequency and other studied words and for adding suffixes to base words (e.g., sitting, smiled, cries, happiness).

      • Demonstrate understanding that numerals used at the beginning of a sentence are written as words and capitalized (e.g., “Three pandas could be seen eating leaves high in the bamboo grove.”).

      • Use spelling patterns and generalizations (e.g., word families, position-based spellings, syllable patterns, ending rules, meaningful word parts) in writing words.

      • Consult reference materials, including beginning dictionaries, as needed to check and correct spellings.

Knowledge of Language

Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.

• • • • Choose words and phrases for effect.

      • Recognize and observe differences between the conventions of spoken and written English.

Vocabulary Acquisition and Use

• Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 3 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.

  • • • Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.

      • 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).

      • Use a known root word as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word with the same root (e.g., company, companion).

      • Use glossaries or beginning dictionaries, both print and digital, to determine or clarify the precise meaning of key words and phrases.

      • Recognize and use appropriately abbreviations related to grade-level content or common in everyday life (e.g., N, S, E, W on a map).

      • Recognize and use appropriately symbols related to grade-level content or common in everyday life (e.g., <, >).

• Demonstrate understanding of word relationships and nuances in word meanings.

  • • • Distinguish the literal and nonliteral meanings of words and phrases in context (e.g., take steps).

      • Identify real-life connections between words and their use (e.g., describe people who are friendly or helpful).

      • Distinguish shades of meaning among related words that describe states of mind or degrees of certainty (e.g., knew, believed, suspected, heard, wondered).

• Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate conversational, general academic, and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal spatial and temporal relationships.