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Common Core ELA3rd GradeReading: Literature

RL.3.4: Literal and Nonliteral Language

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.4 · Cluster: Craft and Structure.

Make a Vocabulary SheetAll 42 3rd Grade ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language.

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

What RL.3.4 Means in Plain English

Third graders work out what words and phrases mean in a story from how they’re used, and they catch phrases that don’t mean exactly what they say. When a girl gets cold feet on a high dive, her toes aren’t chilly: she’s scared and wants to back down.

In 2nd grade (RL.2.4) students heard how rhythm, rhyme and repeated lines add meaning. Third grade adds the split between literal and nonliteral language. In 4th grade (RL.4.4) students also meet words that come from mythology, like Herculean.

RL.3.4 I Can Statements

  • I can figure out what a word means from how it is used.
  • I can tell when a phrase does not mean exactly what it says.
  • I can explain what a nonliteral phrase really means in a story.

RL.3.4 Worked Example

A short story packed with phrases that don’t mean what they say. The question asks about one of them.

Read the Story
Imani climbed the steps to the high dive one at a time. Halfway up, she got cold feet.At the top, her knees turned to jelly. The water looked a mile away.“Hurry up!” her cousin Ray called from below. “It won’t bite!”Imani held her nose, shut her eyes and stepped off. When she popped up, she was grinning from ear to ear.
A short passage written for this page.
Question: What does “got cold feet” mean in this story? How do you know it isn’t literal?
Not Yet“Her feet got cold because she was standing on wet steps.”It reads the phrase literally. Nothing in the story is about temperature, and the answer ignores every clue about how Imani feels.
Meets the Standard“It’s nonliteral. ‘Got cold feet’ means she got scared and almost backed out. It happens halfway up, right before ‘her knees turned to jelly,’ and she has to shut her eyes to jump. The phrase is about being nervous, not about her toes.”It names the phrase as nonliteral, gives the real meaning, and backs it up with clues from the sentences around it.
Question Stems to Use
Does this phrase mean exactly what the words say?If it were literal, what would be happening? Does that fit the story?What clues around the phrase tell you what it really means?How would you say it in plain words?Why might the author use this phrase instead of plain words?

Common Mistakes with RL.3.4

Reading every phrase literally

“Her knees turned into real jelly.”

Try this: Have students sketch the literal meaning beside the real meaning, then ask which picture fits what is happening in the story.

Calling every vivid phrase nonliteral

Says “climbed the steps” is nonliteral

Try this: Test each phrase: could it actually happen just as written? If yes, it is literal, even when the words are vivid.

Memorizing idiom lists without context

Can define “cold feet” on a list but misses it in the story

Try this: Teach each new phrase inside a sentence from a story, then have students find or write a second sentence that uses it.

Where RL.3.4 Fits

Comes BeforeRL.2.4Describe how rhythm, rhyme and repeated lines add meaning to a story, poem or song.
AlongsideL.3.5Tell the literal and nonliteral meanings of phrases like take steps.L.3.4Use the sentence around an unknown word as a clue to its meaning.
Comes NextRL.4.4Work out word meanings in a text, including words drawn from mythology, like Herculean.

Practice RL.3.4

Vocabulary Worksheet GeneratorFree ToolEnter the nonliteral phrases from this week’s read-aloud and have students write what each one says and what it really means.IdiomsLiteral or notGrade 3
Make a Worksheet

Quick Check

  1. What does “her knees turned to jelly” mean?
  2. Is “The water looked a mile away” literal? Explain.
  3. How does Imani feel at the end, and which phrase shows it?

RL.3.4: Other Names

RL.3.4CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.4

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.