 
|
 |
| Third Grade Benchmarks for
Language Arts
1. Demonstrates competence
in listening and speaking as tools for learning ·
Listens
actively ·
Responds
to rhythm and rhyme ·
Listens
for an appropriate length of time ·
Visualizes
information ·
Interprets
non-verbal clues ·
Listens
to and follows directions ·
Listens
and responds to others ·
Recalls
main ideas, details, and facts ·
Takes
dictation ·
Uses
formal and informal language appropriately ·
Speaks
clearly at an appropriate speed and volume ·
Expresses
ideas orally ·
Participates
in group and class activities ·
Relates
ideas, opinions, and experiences ·
Participates
in story telling and retelling, rhyme, and song ·
Speaks
in a variety of situations ·
Presents
to audiences ·
Understands
the major ideas and supporting evidence in spoken messages ·
Identifies
and analyzes a speaker’s opinions and persuasive techniques ·
Communicates
needs, feelings, and opinions
2. Demonstrates competence
in the general skills and strategies of the reading process ·
Vocabulary: / Applies a variety of appropriate
reading strategies to increase vocabulary / Understands connotation and
denotation / Understand root words for meaning
/ Understands syllabication and
common syllable patterns / Identifies schwa sound ·
Decoding: / Uses context and word parts
to identify words and meanings / Recognizes synonyms, antonyms
/ Recognizes homonyms and multiple-meaning
words / Consults references for pronunciation
and/or meaning / Increases vocabulary ·
Comprehension: / Produces writing and/or artwork
to reflect understanding of text / Makes connections between own
life and literature; uses clues from titles, text, and illustrations
to make predictions / Listens and/or reads to confirm
predictions / Discusses, retells, and sequences
story events / Discriminates between reality
and fantasy / Understands the function of
basic punctuation / Summarizes literature; follows
written directions / Uses strategies such as reading
on, rereading, and self-correcting / Discriminates between fact
and opinion / Uses reference materials with
guidance / Adjusts reading pace to accommodate
purpose, style and difficulty of material / Identifies cause and effect
/ Locates and categorizes information
3. Demonstrates competence
in the general skills and strategies for reading a variety of literary
texts
·
Selects
books appropriate to own reading level with guidance
·
Learns
new vocabulary through experiences with literature
·
Participates
in guided literary discussions
·
Recognizes
literary devices (e.g., simile, metaphor, idiom, slang, jargon)
·
Recognizes
and uses organizational features of a book
·
Reads
silently for an appropriate length of time
·
Identifies
main and supporting characters, setting, climax, problem and solution
·
Recognizes
various literary genres
·
Compares
characters
·
Identifies
relationships between characters
·
Recognizes
first and third person voice
·
Distinguishes
between narration and dialogue
4. Demonstrates competence
in the general skills and strategies for reading a variety of informational
text
·
Uses
reading strategies to understand a variety of informational texts
·
Uses
text structures and organizers to understand information
·
Uses
structural patterns or organization to understand informational text
including chronological, logical, and sequential (e.g., subtitles, bold
print, etc.) 5. Demonstrates competence
in the general skills and strategies of the writing process
·
Key
writing focus: paragraph with topic sentence, supporting details and
closing sentence
·
Writing
exposure will include but is not limited to: / How to / Narrative, personal / Report / Opinion / Journal / Book review / Explanation / Folk tale
·
Writing
Process: develops the paragraph (e.g., uses indention, uses topic sentence
and supporting facts and details, includes beginning and ending sentence)
·
Prewriting: applies prewriting strategies, makes use of
story mapping to plan stories
·
Drafting: uses inventive spelling to write independently,
spells selected high frequency words correctly
·
Revising:
revises own work, participates in writing conferences with teacher and
peers
·
Proofreading: proofreads for appropriate use of grammar and
mechanics, applies appropriate spelling rules and patterns
·
Publishing: publishes in a variety of forms
·
Writers’
Craft: writes about observations and experiences sequences events, applies
literary devices, applies content words, uses appropriate vocabulary,
uses descriptive words and phrases, uses dialogue, varies sentence length
and structure, uses basic paragraph structure, summarizes, identifies
and develops character, setting and plot, uses 1st. and 3rd.
person voice, develops the concept of audience, produces a unified and
cohesive piece, develop the writing of a paragraph 6. Demonstrates
competence in the stylistic and rhetorical techniques in writing
·
Uses
descriptive language
·
Uses
paragraph form in writing which includes indentions, topic sentences
with simple supporting facts and details and one sentence introduction
and conclusion
·
Develops
the concept of an audience
7. Uses
grammatical and mechanical conventions in written compositions
·
Handwriting: prints legibly using D’Nealian style, decreases
size of printing, uses legible D’Nealian cursive writing
·
Uses
conjunctions
·
Uses
prepositions
·
Uses
abbreviations
·
Uses
underlining
·
Uses
indentation
·
Uses
adverbs
·
Uses
articles
·
Uses
commas
·
Uses
compound subject
·
Uses
complete predicate
·
Uses
possessive nouns
·
Uses
compound sentence
·
Uses
you understood
·
Uses
future tense verbs
8. Gathers and uses information for research purposes
·
Uses
a variety of print and non-print sources to gather information
·
Uses
electronic media to gather information
·
Uses
graphic organizers and questionnaires to gather and record research
information in their own words
·
Uses
notes to write research report
·
Highlights
information
·
Organizes
content systematically (e.g., sequentially or around main ideas)
·
Understands
the purpose for and uses an Almanac and Atlas
·
Retells
and writes relevant facts
·
Develops
questions about subject
·
Understands
the difference between using “your own” words and copying someone else |
 |
 |