English

English — Grade 3

American Curriculum · Ages 8-9

Third grade is a pivotal year: students are expected to read independently and to reason about what they read. Comprehension work covers main idea and supporting details, inference, author's purpose, character motivation, and text structure such as sequence and cause and effect.

Writing becomes organized and purposeful: opinion pieces with reasons, informative pieces grouped into paragraphs, and narratives with a clear sequence of events. Vocabulary work introduces Greek and Latin roots, and grammar covers verb tenses, subject-verb agreement and possessives.

Key topics covered

• Reading FoundationsMultisyllabic words, affixes and irregular spellings read with fluency.
• Reading ComprehensionMain idea, inference, author's purpose, theme and character motivation.
• Text StructureSequence, compare and contrast, cause and effect, and problem and solution.
• VocabularyPrefixes, suffixes, Greek and Latin roots, synonyms, antonyms and context clues.
• Writing StrategiesTopic sentences, linking words, descriptive detail and organizing a draft.
• Grammar & MechanicsVerb tenses, subject-verb agreement, pronouns, possessives and quotation marks.