ELA.3.C.3.1

Follow the rules of standard English grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling appropriate to grade level.

Clarifications

Clarification 1: Skills to be mastered at this grade level are as follows: 
  • Conjugate regular and irregular verb tenses. 
  • Form and use regular and frequently occurring irregular plural nouns. 
  • Form and use the past tense of frequently occurring irregular verbs. • Maintain consistent verb tense across paragraphs. 
  • Form and use irregular plural nouns. 
  • Form and use the progressive and perfect verb tenses. 
  • Use simple modifiers. 
  • Use prepositions and prepositional phrases. 
  • Form and use compound sentences. 
  • Use quotation marks with dialogue and direct quotations. • Use commas to indicate direct address. 
Skills to be implemented but not yet mastered are as follows: 
  • Use subject-verb agreement with intervening clauses and phrases. 
  • Produce complete sentences, recognizing and correcting inappropriate fragments and run-ons. 
  • Use conjunctions. 
  • Use principal modals to indicate the mood of a verb. 
  • Use appositives, main clauses, and subordinate clauses. 
Clarification 2: See Convention Progression by Grade Level for more information.
General Information
Subject Area: English Language Arts (B.E.S.T.)
Grade: 3
Strand: Communication
Date Adopted or Revised: 08/20
Status: State Board Approved

Related Courses

This benchmark is part of these courses.
5010030: Functional Basic Skills in Communications-Elementary (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2022, 2022 - 2024, 2024 and beyond (current))
5010044: Language Arts - Grade Three (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2022, 2022 - 2024, 2024 and beyond (current))
7710014: Access Language Arts - Grade 3 (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2018, 2018 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))
5010103: Introduction to Debate Grade 3 (Specifically in versions: 2020 - 2022, 2022 - 2024, 2024 and beyond (current))
5010014: English for Speakers of Other Languages Grade 3 (Specifically in versions: 2022 and beyond (current))

Related Access Points

Alternate version of this benchmark for students with significant cognitive disabilities.
ELA.3.C.3.AP.1: Follow the rules of standard English grammar, punctuation, capitalization and spelling.
  • Use interjections.
  • Use apostrophes to form contractions.
  • Identify quotation marks with dialogue and direct quotations.
Identify prepositions and prepositional phrases.

Related Resources

Vetted resources educators can use to teach the concepts and skills in this benchmark.

Lesson Plans

How does Generative AI work?:

Students will explore Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the basics on how generative AI models use Large Language Models (LLMs) and Natural Language Processing NLP to generate outputs. This K-3 lesson is an integrated Computer Science, ELA and Math lesson designed for application of math and ELA content knowledge while exploring and using computational thinking to understand how generative AI works, making cross-curricular connections to understand emerging technologies.

Type: Lesson Plan

Abraham Lincoln: Life of Honesty: Who is Abraham Lincoln?:

This is lesson #8 in the text unit series for Abraham Lincoln: A Life of Honesty by Tonya Leslie. Students will be applying what they learned about Abraham Lincoln’s character as a United States citizen to respond to an expository prompt. Students will complete a planning sheet and write an expository paragraph based on the text. This will be done after reading the text Abraham Lincoln: A Life of Honesty to apply their knowledge.

This unit will help students explain why the United States Constitution is an important document that protects the rights of American citizens, the responsibilities of the United States government, and how Abraham Lincoln is an important symbol of the United States Government.

Students will engage in a read aloud spread out over several lessons emphasizing vocabulary, central idea, research, expository and opinion writing, and collaboration in groups.

The teacher will facilitate vocabulary instruction, student research, determination of central ideas, student presentation, expository and opinion writing, and group collaboration to help students demonstrate why the United States Constitution is an important document.

This resource uses a book that is on the Florida Department of Education's reading list. This book is not provided with this resource.

Type: Lesson Plan

Historical Narrative Letter:

Students will research and write about one of three United States symbols for this integrated lesson. Given a graphic organizer, students will collaboratively collect information on their symbol using text and/or internet resources. Task students with writing a friendly letter from the perspective of a child in the time-period of their symbol’s origin/most significance. Students will be provided with a guiding graphic organizer and a rubric for composing their final product.

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Why Vote? :

In this lesson plan, students will explore the purpose of voting and how it impacts their community. The lesson's warm-up examines voting in a classroom to elicit student prior knowledge. The next activity allows students to learn more about the voting process through a "gallery walk." The concluding activity requires students to put their knowledge into action by creating a poster to encourage people to vote. 

Type: Lesson Plan

Coding with the Great Seal of the State of Florida:

Students will plan and write a Scratch coding program to explain how various elements on the Great Seal of the State of Florida represent Florida. After reviewing the various elements included in the Great Seal of the State of Florida, students will create a Scratch coding program that describes the importance of at least one element on the Great Seal. Students will be required to use at least one sprite, a background, narration, and any animations they choose in their block-based coding program

Type: Lesson Plan

Charlotte's Web: Chapter 1:

In this reading lesson, students will determine the meaning of vocabulary words and explain the development of the main character, Fern, using Chapter 1 of E.B. White's Charlotte's Web. Students will respond to the text by writing an opinion paragraph.

Type: Lesson Plan

Poppin' Themes:

Students will learn about theme by exploring classic books such as Where the Wild Things Are and A Chair for My Mother. This will be done using a popcorn and kernels as a guide to how theme works.

Type: Lesson Plan

Roaring for Figurative Language:

In this lesson, students will analyze song lyrics to determine the meanings of figurative language used throughout the lyrics. Students will determine the theme of the song and explain how the examples of figurative language help develop the theme. They will complete various graphic organizers and write an opinion piece to demonstrate their understanding of the skills.

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Amazing Dolphins:

In this lesson, students will explore vocabulary, answer questions about the text, and identify the details and the central idea of an informational text about dolphins. Students will demonstrate their new knowledge about this amazing animal by completing an expository paragraph.

Type: Lesson Plan

A River of Words: Chronological Text Structure:

In this lesson, students will work with the teacher and in cooperative groups to read and summarize A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams by Jen Bryant. Through the reading of the text, students will sequence the events and use text features and text structure to understand the text. Students will then write to summarize William Carlos Williams' story.

Type: Lesson Plan

Comparing and Contrasting Washington and Lincoln:

In this lesson, students will identify the relevant details and central idea of two informational texts about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. They will then compare and contrast the two presidents using a graphic organizer and write an expository essay to explain the presidents' similarities and differences.

Type: Lesson Plan

Point of View: A Reading of Two Bad Ants:

In this reading lesson, students will work with the teacher and in cooperative groups to read and comprehend Two Bad Ants by Chris Van Allsburg. Students will determine and analyze the point of view of the text, sequence the key events, and answer discussion questions. Students will also rewrite the story from a human's point of view.

Type: Lesson Plan

Point of View: Two Bad Ants by Chris Van Allsburg:

During these lessons, students will delve deep into the text Two Bad Ants by Chris Van Allsburg. After identifying the point of view in the story, they will answer comprehension questions about the story by playing a small group game. Students will have the opportunity to rewrite the story from a completely different point of view.

Type: Lesson Plan

How to Find a Princess: A Study of The Real Princess by Hans Christian Anderson:

This short text, "The Real Princess," originally told by Hans Christian Anderson, will require students to think deeply, make inferences based on text evidence and learn several new vocabulary words. Students will discuss the components of a fairy tale, play a vocabulary game, and compose an opinion piece of writing about the theme of the story.

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A Reading of The Junkyard Wonders by Patricia Polacco:

In this reading of Patricia Polacco's story The Junkyard Wonders, students will identify and analyze character development to help determine the theme, or underlying message, the author wants readers to understand.

Type: Lesson Plan

Character Development: Just a Dream by Chris Van Allsburg:

In this lesson, students will delve into the text Just a Dream by Chris Van Allsburg. They will determine the character’s development based upon the character's traits, actions, and language, especially examining character change over the course of the text. Students will also write a narrative ending to the story based on the character’s development.

Type: Lesson Plan

A Journey with Aesop: The Lion and the Mouse:

Students will listen to the teacher read aloud Aesop's fable "The Lion and the Mouse." They will define vocabulary words and discuss the causes and effects of events in the story. These lessons will culuminte with students writing an expository text about how the lion changes throughout the story by providing details and other required components.

Type: Lesson Plan

Character Traits with 14 Cows for America:

The following lesson centers around the book 14 Cows for America. This story is a recount of the events on September 11 told through the eyes of a young man in his village in Kenya. Students will think deeply about the main character and his character traits in the story. A series of discussion questions are provided along with an expository writing prompt.

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The Ballad of Mulan: A Close Reading Activity:

In this lesson, students will read and reread a classic Chinese folktale, The Ballad of Mulan. They will ask and answer text-dependent questions and will recount the events in the story using a story map. Students will determine the theme of the story and analyze Mulan's character development through her actions, thoughts, and feelings along with their contribution to the sequence of events and, ultimately, the theme of the story.

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Sparks of Color:

Using a variety of colors, students will practice the art of "revision" in the writing process.

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The Journey of a Tiny Turtle:

In this lesson, students will read texts about the life cycle of sea turtles. They will gather facts and research sea turtles from various texts in order to write an expository essay and create a brochure about sea turtles.

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The Prepositional House:

This lesson will provide students with an opportunity to be able to identify and apply their knowledge of prepositions and prepositional phrases.

Type: Lesson Plan

It's all in the details! Personal Narrative Writing using the Text My Secret Bully by Trudy Ludwig:

The lesson focuses on supporting students as they write personal narratives with character descriptions, interesting details and dialogue using an example from the My Secret Bully by Trudy Ludwig. This is the last in a series of three lessons using the text My Secret Bully.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is What I Think! Using Opinion Writing to Respond to the Text My Secret Bully by Trudy Ludwig:

For this lesson, students will read an excerpt from the text My Secret Bully by Trudy Ludwig. In response to a character's actions in the story, students will work to produce an opinion writing piece using character perspectives as text evidence to support their opinion. This is the second in a series of three lessons using the text My Secret Bully.

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Exploring Theme Using the text My Secret Bully by Trudy Ludwig:

During this lesson students will write a summary of the text My Secret Bully by Trudy Lidwig, focusing on the details to determine the theme. Students will complete a problem/solution graphic organizer to be used in the summary. This is the first in a series of three lessons using the text My Secret Bully.

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Cause and Effect: Practicing the Skill with Picture Books:

In this lesson, students will listen to picture books and then use a graphic organizer to explain the cause-and-effect relationships in the picture books. Students will create their own storybook using cause-and-effect relationships.

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Crickwing: A Lesson in Using Strong Words to Convey Precise Meaning:

Using the book Crickwing, students will demonstrate understanding of the connection a writer needs to make between the words they use and the meaning they would like the reader to secure.

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Multiple Meaning Words:

In this lesson, students will explore the concept that many words have multiple meanings. The students will be engaged in activities where they will use reference materials to look up the various definitions of the words and identify their parts of speech, as well as understand how the meaning of the words change depending on the context of the sentence. Students will compose sentences for words with multiple meanings. Students will work independently, as well as with their peers, to gain a better understanding of multiple meaning words and how to identify their correct meanings using reference materials and context clues.

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Finding the Central Idea and Details Using Informational Texts:

In this lesson, students read informational texts to determine the text’s central idea and the relevant details that support the central idea. Students use a graphic organizer to record a central idea and details and then write a paragraph summary. This lesson is written in a generalized way so that any type of informational text can be used.

Type: Lesson Plan

Going Batty! Using Informational Text about Bats to find the Central Idea and Details:

Students will find the central idea and relevant details in informational texts about bats. To support students finding the central idea and details, students will use a fact gathering sheet. Students will write a central idea and details paragraph that includes appropriate content-area vocabulary and grade-level conventions.

Type: Lesson Plan

Commanding Better Conventions in Writing:

In this lesson, the teacher will use the humorous book, Twenty-Odd Ducks: Why, Every Punctuation Mark Counts! by Lynne Truss, to help students understand how inserting or removing punctuation marks can change the meaning of sentences.
Students will participate in small group activities to improve their command of conventions. Students will also apply their knowledge of conventions to edit and improve their own writing.

Type: Lesson Plan

The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash: Using stories to formulate a Narrative:

In this lesson, students will create their own original narrative that mimics the story The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash by Trinka Hakes Noble. This lesson allows time for students to practice writing the narrative with teacher support as a whole class and with teacher support in small groups before writing a narrative on their own.

Type: Lesson Plan

Who's Who?:

Students will collect evidence from informational texts and the internet to show the importance of a historical figure. Students will conduct research, write an expository paragraph, and provide and receive peer feedback on their writing.

Type: Lesson Plan

Original Student Tutorials

Dialogue Under Construction:

Welcome! In this tutorial, you’ll be building your knowledge about dialogue. Much like a construction worker follows blueprints to build a building, dialogue in text is constructed in a specific way. By the end of this tutorial, you’ll be able to demonstrate the use of commas and quotation marks in dialogue. Let’s get started!

Type: Original Student Tutorial

The Conjunction Zone:

Use conjunctions to connect words and sentences together in this interactive tutorial. Help Builder Carl build new sentences using common conjunctions.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Super Writing!:

Learn how to use commas and quotation marks to mark direct speech and quotations from a text.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

The Preposition Factory:

Learn how to identify special words called prepositions that help you describe where a person or object is located. By the end of this interactive tutorial, you should also be able to use these special words to complete simple sentences.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Original Student Tutorials for Language Arts - Grades K-5

Dialogue Under Construction:

Welcome! In this tutorial, you’ll be building your knowledge about dialogue. Much like a construction worker follows blueprints to build a building, dialogue in text is constructed in a specific way. By the end of this tutorial, you’ll be able to demonstrate the use of commas and quotation marks in dialogue. Let’s get started!

Super Writing!:

Learn how to use commas and quotation marks to mark direct speech and quotations from a text.

The Conjunction Zone:

Use conjunctions to connect words and sentences together in this interactive tutorial. Help Builder Carl build new sentences using common conjunctions.

The Preposition Factory:

Learn how to identify special words called prepositions that help you describe where a person or object is located. By the end of this interactive tutorial, you should also be able to use these special words to complete simple sentences.

Student Resources

Vetted resources students can use to learn the concepts and skills in this benchmark.

Original Student Tutorials

Dialogue Under Construction:

Welcome! In this tutorial, you’ll be building your knowledge about dialogue. Much like a construction worker follows blueprints to build a building, dialogue in text is constructed in a specific way. By the end of this tutorial, you’ll be able to demonstrate the use of commas and quotation marks in dialogue. Let’s get started!

Type: Original Student Tutorial

The Conjunction Zone:

Use conjunctions to connect words and sentences together in this interactive tutorial. Help Builder Carl build new sentences using common conjunctions.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Super Writing!:

Learn how to use commas and quotation marks to mark direct speech and quotations from a text.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

The Preposition Factory:

Learn how to identify special words called prepositions that help you describe where a person or object is located. By the end of this interactive tutorial, you should also be able to use these special words to complete simple sentences.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Parent Resources

Vetted resources caregivers can use to help students learn the concepts and skills in this benchmark.