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Common Core ELA3rd GradeReading: Literature

RL.3.3: Describe Characters and Their Actions

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.3 · Cluster: Key Ideas and Details.

All 42 3rd Grade ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events

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

What RL.3.3 Means in Plain English

Third graders describe a character in three ways: what they are like, what they want and how they feel. Then they connect the character’s actions to the plot, showing how each choice causes the next event, so the story would change if the character chose differently.

In 2nd grade (RL.2.3) students described how characters respond to big events. Third grade flips it: the characters’ actions drive the events. In 4th grade (RL.4.3) students describe a character, setting or event in depth, drawing on thoughts, words and actions.

RL.3.3 I Can Statements

  • I can describe a character’s traits and feelings.
  • I can explain what a character wants and why.
  • I can explain how a character’s actions cause the next event.

RL.3.3 Worked Example

A girl who misses out on the part she wants. Every event after that comes from something she does.

Read the Story
Ada wanted to play the brave knight in the class play so much that she practiced the knight’s lines in the bathtub every night.At tryouts she rushed. The words tumbled out so fast that Mr. Bell asked her to slow down, twice. The knight went to Owen.Ada got the gong instead. Her whole job was one strike, at the very end of the play.She stomped home and slammed her door. Then she borrowed a baking sheet from the kitchen and practiced. Too soft. Too early. She practiced until she could hit it at exactly the right moment.On show night, the gong rang out at exactly the right moment. A dad in the front row dropped his phone, and the whole room cheered.
A short passage written for this page.
Question: What is Ada like, and how do her actions lead to the events of the story?
Not Yet“Ada is sad because she didn’t get to be the knight.”It names one feeling at one moment. It never says what Ada is like overall or how anything she does causes what happens next.
Meets the Standard“Ada is eager and she doesn’t give up. She wants the part so much that she rushes at tryouts, and ‘The words tumbled out so fast’ that the knight goes to Owen. She is angry at first, since she ‘slammed her door,’ but then she practices on a baking sheet until her timing is perfect. That practice is why the gong lands at the right moment and the whole room cheers.”It names traits, a motivation and a feeling, then links each of Ada’s actions to the event it causes.
Question Stems to Use
What word describes this character? Which action shows it?What does the character want, and how can you tell?How does the character feel here, and what makes you think so?What happens because of what the character did?How would the story change if the character had chosen differently?

Common Mistakes with RL.3.3

Naming a feeling instead of a trait

“Ada is sad.”

Try this: Teach the difference: a feeling changes from page to page, a trait stays. Ask “What is she like all the way through?”

Traits with no proof

“Ada is determined.” and nothing more

Try this: Require an action from the text after every trait word: “Ada is determined because she practiced until her timing was perfect.”

Listing events without causes

“First she tried out. Then she got the gong. Then the play happened.”

Try this: Swap “then” for “so” or “because” when retelling, so each event is tied to the character action that caused it.

Where RL.3.3 Fits

Comes BeforeRL.2.3Describe how characters respond to major events and challenges.
AlongsideRL.3.1Point to the words in the story that prove each trait.W.3.3Write stories where characters’ actions, thoughts and feelings move the events.
Comes NextRL.4.3Describe a character, setting or event in depth, using thoughts, words and actions.

Practice RL.3.3

Quick Check

  1. Why does the knight’s part go to Owen?
  2. How does Ada feel when she gets the gong? Which words show it?
  3. What action of Ada’s leads to the cheering on show night?

RL.3.3: Other Names

RL.3.3CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.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.