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Common Core ELA3rd GradeLanguage

L.3.3: Choose Words for Effect

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.3.3 · Cluster: Knowledge of Language.

All 42 3rd Grade ELA Standards

The Official Wording

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

Common Core State Standards, Grade 3, Language · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What L.3.3 Means in Plain English

Third graders pick words for the effect they want: plunged or crawled instead of went, a detail instead of really really. They also notice that talk and writing differ: “so then it was like, whoa” works aloud, but on paper the words have to do the work.

Second graders (L.2.3) compared formal and informal uses of English. Third grade turns that into choices: words picked on purpose, and gonna and wanna kept out of written work. Fourth grade (L.4.3) asks for precise words, punctuation chosen for effect, and telling formal settings from informal ones.

L.3.3 I Can Statements

  • I can swap a plain word for one that shows how.
  • I can take talking words like gonna out of my writing.
  • I can choose words that make a reader feel the moment.

L.3.3 Worked Example

One moment from a personal narrative, first as it would be told at lunch, then as it reads on the page.

Prompt

Revise this sentence from a story about a roller coaster so it reads like writing and makes the reader feel the ride.

Not YetSo then the roller coaster went up really really high and then it went down super fast and it was like, whoa.It sounds like talk: so then, like and whoa carry the feeling with a voice that isn’t on the page. Went says nothing about how it moved, and really really says how much without showing it.
Meets the StandardThe roller coaster clanked to the top, paused for one long second, and then plunged so fast that my stomach flipped.Clanked and plunged show how it moved, the long second builds suspense, and the flipped stomach does the job whoa did out loud. The talk words are gone.
Moves to Use
Cut talk words that don’t work on paper: so then, like, super.Swap went for a verb that shows how: crawled, clanked, plunged.Trade really really for a detail the reader can feel.Write going to and want to; gonna and wanna belong to talk.

Common Mistakes with L.3.3

Writing the way you talk

“We were gonna go but then my dad was kinda tired.”

Try this: Have students read the draft aloud in a news-reporter voice and circle every word that sounds wrong there, then rewrite those words.

A big word with the wrong effect

“The roller coaster strolled down the hill.”

Try this: Ask what feeling the moment needs, fast or slow, scary or calm, then choose the verb that matches it, not just the longest one.

Very, really and exclamation marks doing all the work

“It was so so so scary!!!”

Try this: Ban very and really for one draft, and have students show the feeling with what their body did: sweaty hands, a flipped stomach.

Where L.3.3 Fits

Comes BeforeL.2.3Compare formal and informal uses of English.
AlongsideW.3.3Write narratives with descriptive details of actions, thoughts and feelings.SL.3.6Speak in complete sentences when the task calls for detail or clarification.
Comes NextL.4.3Choose precise words and punctuation for effect, and tell formal settings from informal ones.

Practice L.3.3

Quick Check

  1. Which words in the weak sentence belong to talk, not writing?
  2. What words in the strong sentence do the job whoa did?
  3. Rewrite for a story: “I was gonna tell her but I was kinda scared.”

L.3.3: Other Names

L.3.3CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.3.3

Common Core State Standards © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved. Official wording from the Common Core State Standards PDFs at corestandards.org, last checked October 14, 2026. The explanation, I can statements, example, mistakes and practice on this page are EMStudio’s own, written beside the official wording. They are not part of the standard.