Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
Common Core State Standards, Grade 3, Writing · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026
What W.3.2 Means in Plain English
Third graders write to teach. They name a topic and keep related facts together: a ladybug’s body in one group, its food in another. They define new words, add a labeled drawing when it helps, link facts with also or another, and end with a closing sentence.
Second graders (W.2.2) already introduce a topic, use facts and definitions, and close. Third grade adds the grouping, the illustrations and linking words inside each group. Fourth grade (W.4.2) puts the groups into paragraphs with headings and adds quotations and precise topic words.
W.3.2 I Can Statements
I can introduce my topic and group facts that go together.
I can use facts, definitions and details, and add a drawing when it helps.
I can link ideas with also, another and but, and end with a closing.
W.3.2 Worked Example
Both students knew the same ladybug facts. Only one sorted them into groups a reader can follow.
Prompt
Write an informative piece about ladybugs for our science corner. Keep facts about the same thing together, and add a labeled drawing if it would help a reader.
Not YetLadybugs are cute. They have spots and they eat bugs. Ladybugs are cute and you should catch one.A topic and two vague facts, then a suggestion. Nothing is grouped, no word is defined, “eat bugs” teaches the reader nothing, and the last sentence tells the reader what to do instead of closing the explanation.
Meets the StandardLadybugs are small beetles with round, spotted backs. A ladybug’s red back is really two hard wing covers, and they open like doors so a pair of thin, see-through wings can unfold underneath, as my labeled drawing shows. Another thing about its body is that the bright color warns birds that it tastes bad. For food, most ladybugs eat aphids, which are tiny bugs that suck the juice out of plants. A ladybug can also eat about fifty aphids in one day, but it leaves the plant itself alone. Ladybugs may be tiny, but their wings and their big appetite make them a gardener’s best helper.Sentence one introduces the topic. The body facts sit together, linked with “and” and “another,” then the food facts with “also” and “but.” “Aphids” is defined where it appears, the drawing shows wings unfolding from under the covers, something words alone would blur, and the last sentence closes.
Moves to Use
Name the topic in the first sentence, then keep each group of facts together.Define a new word, like aphid, right where it first appears.Link facts inside a group with and, also, another or but.Add a labeled drawing where words alone are hard to picture.End with a sentence that sums up the topic.
Common Mistakes with W.3.2
Facts in the order they were found
A wing fact, then a food fact, then a spot fact, then another wing fact
Try this: Have students color-code their facts by group before drafting, then write all of one color before starting the next.
A drawing that decorates instead of informs
A smiling ladybug on a flower with a sun in the corner and no labels
Try this: Ask “What does the drawing show that the sentences cannot?” and have students add labels that name the parts they wrote about.
An opinion where the closing should be
“Ladybugs are the best bugs ever!” as the last sentence
Try this: Teach the closing as a summary: one sentence that reminds the reader what the groups were about, with no new fact or opinion.
Which two groups of facts does the strong response use?
Facts about the ladybug’s body, in sentences two and three, and facts about its food, in sentences four and five.
Which word does the strong response define, and how?
“Aphids,” defined in the same sentence: tiny bugs that suck the juice out of plants.
Why does the strong response mention a labeled drawing?
Thin wings unfolding from under two hard wing covers are hard to picture from words alone, so the drawing shows what the sentence describes. That is what W.3.2a means by illustrations that aid comprehension.