Describe literary elements within a story, including setting, plot, characters, and themes.
Describe in detail the characters’ behavior, emotions, and traits and explain how
their actions influence events in the story.
Explain how the characters’ actions and dialogue contribute to the meaning of the
story.
Identify the central message, theme, or moral in a story, including myths, fables,
and folktales, and explain the meaning conveyed in the passage.
Compare and contrast the themes, settings, and plots from two texts.
Arizona Academic Standards:
3.RL.3
Common Core State Standards:
Literacy.RL.3.3
Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE):
ELAGSE3RL3
Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events
North Carolina - Standard Course of Study:
RL.3.3
Tennessee Academic Standards:
3.RL.KID.3
Describe characters in a story and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.
New Jersey Student Learning Standards:
RL.3.3
Describe the characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their
actions contribute to the plot.
New York State Next Generation Learning Standards:
3R3
In literary texts, describe character traits, motivations, or feelings, drawing on specific details from the text. (RL) In informational texts, describe the relationship among a series of events, ideas, concepts, or steps in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect. (RI)
Wisconsin Academic Standards:
R.3.3
Describe a character (traits, motivations, feelings) drawing on specific details from the text. (RL) Describe the relationship among a series of events, ideas, concepts, or steps in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect. (RI)
Pennsylvania Core Standards:
CC.1.3.3.C
Describe characters in a story and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.
Pennsylvania Core Standards:
E03.A-K.1.1.3
Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.
3rd Grade Reading - Sequence of Events Lesson
Sequence of Events
The sequence of events in a story is the order in which things happen.
When you read, pay attention to the characters’ thoughts, feelings, and beliefs and how they affect the sequence of events.
Early Saturday morning, Josie woke up with a big grin on her face. After what felt like forever, it was finally her birthday! She crept out of her room and down the hall toward the kitchen. Every year on her birthday, her family made her a delicious pancake breakfast.
When she looked in the kitchen, no one was there. The house was silent. Slowly, Josie turned around to go back to her room. Her shoulders sank low, and she stared at the floor as she walked.
“Happy birthday!” her parents and sister yelled from the hallway.
Josie jumped at the sound.
“We wondered where you went!” her mom said, holding a tray of pancakes.
Josie was grinning again as she said, “Thanks!”
Example:
Today is Josie’s birthday. The text says that her family made her “a delicious pancake breakfast” every year on her birthday. Josie is most likely excited that, since today is her birthday, she will have pancakes for breakfast.