Louisiana Standards
Louisiana 3rd Grade ELA Standards
All 42 Louisiana English language arts standards for 3rd grade, each explained in plain English. The official wording is in Louisiana Department of Education's document, linked at the end of this page.
42 standards
Reading Standards for Literature
9 standardsRL.3.1
Ask and answer questions about a story and point to the exact words in it that prove each answer, not a guess from memory.
RL.3.2
Retell a fable, folktale or myth from another culture, name its lesson or moral, and show which details in the story teach it.
RL.3.3
Describe a character’s traits, feelings and reasons for acting, and explain how what the character does moves the story along.
RL.3.4
Work out what words and phrases mean in a text, telling literal language from non-literal, like knowing raining cats and dogs means heavy rain.
RL.3.5
Use words like chapter, scene and stanza when talking about a story, play or poem, and tell how each part builds on the one before.
RL.3.6
Tell how your own point of view differs from the narrator's or the characters', like disagreeing with a choice a character makes.
RL.3.7
Explain what a story’s pictures add to its words, such as making a scene feel scary or showing how small a character is.
RL.3.9
Compare the themes, settings and plots of two books in the same series, like two stories about the same detective.
RL.3.10
By the end of the year, read chapter books, plays and poems at the hard end of the grades 2 to 3 range on their own and understand them.
Reading Standards for Informational Text
10 standardsRI.3.1
Ask and answer questions about a story and point to the exact words in it that prove each answer, not a guess from memory.
RI.3.2
Find the main idea of an informational text, retell its key details, and explain how those details back up the main idea.
RI.3.3
Explain how events, ideas or steps in a nonfiction text connect, using words like first, next, because and as a result.
RI.3.4
Work out what school words like compare and subject words like habitat mean in a text on a grade 3 topic.
RI.3.5
Use a book’s headings, bold key words and sidebars, or a website’s search box and links, to find facts on a topic fast.
RI.3.6
Tell how your own point of view on a topic differs from the author's view in a nonfiction text.
RI.3.7
Use a map, photo or diagram together with the words to explain where, when, why or how something in a nonfiction text happened.
RI.3.8
Explain how the sentences and paragraphs of an informational text fit together, like a cause and its effect or steps in order.
RI.3.9
Read two books or articles on the same topic, such as two about sharks, and tell how their big points and details are alike and different.
RI.3.10
By the end of the year, read history, science and how-to texts at the hard end of the grades 2 to 3 range on their own and understand them.
Reading Standards for Foundational Skills
2 standardsRF.3.3
Say the main sound of each consonant, know the long and short sounds of a, e, i, o and u, and read common sight words like the, of and you.
RF.3.4
Read 1st-grade books aloud smoothly and accurately with expression, understand them, and reread when a word or sentence does not make sense.
Writing Standards
9 standardsW.3.1
Write an opinion piece that names the topic, states the opinion, gives reasons in order, links them with because or for example, and ends with a closing.
W.3.2
Write an informative piece that introduces a topic, groups related facts and definitions, links them with words like also, and closes with a final sentence.
W.3.3
Write a story, real or made up, that sets the scene, introduces the characters, uses dialogue and time words like later, and ends with a sense of closure.
W.3.4
With guidance and support from adults, write pieces whose development and organization fit the task and purpose, like a clear how-to with ordered steps.
W.3.5
With help from classmates and adults, plan, revise and edit writing to make it stronger, like adding details to a story.
W.3.6
With guidance and support from adults, use technology to write and publish grade-level writing alone or with classmates, like typing a class book page.
W.3.7
Do a short research project on one topic, like reading a few books about honeybees and writing down what was learned.
W.3.8
Gather facts from memory, books or websites, jot short notes, and sort them into the categories the teacher gives, like food and habitat.
W.3.10
Write regularly, from a report built over several days to a journal entry finished in one class, for different subjects, purposes and readers.
Speaking and Listening Standards
6 standardsSL.3.1
Join discussions on grade 3 topics prepared, follow the group’s rules, ask questions to check understanding, stay on topic and build on others’ ideas.
SL.3.2
Tell the main idea and key details of a read-aloud, a video, a chart or a talk.
SL.3.3
Ask a speaker questions about what they said and answer questions about it with enough detail to be clear.
SL.3.4
Give a short talk about a topic, book or experience with facts and descriptive details, speaking clearly and not too fast.
SL.3.5
Record themselves reading a story or poem smoothly and at a good pace, and add a picture or chart when it helps make a point.
SL.3.6
Speak in complete sentences that fit the task and audience, adding detail or explaining more when asked, like during a book talk.
Language Standards
6 standardsL.3.1
Print many letters, use everyday nouns, verbs and little words like in and on, make plurals like dogs and wishes, ask with who and where, and speak in full sentences.
L.3.2
Capitalize the first word of a sentence and the word I, name the period and question mark, and spell simple words the way they sound, like kat for cat.
L.3.3
Notice the difference between formal and casual English, like Good morning, Mrs. Lee versus Hey, and choose which fits the moment.
L.3.4
Work out an unknown word on a grade 3 topic from the sentence around it, from a known prefix or root like pre in preheat, or by checking a glossary or dictionary.
L.3.5
Connect words to real life, like naming foods that are spicy or juicy, and tell apart close words like toss, throw and hurl or thin, slender and scrawny.
L.3.6
Learn and use grade 3 conversation, school and subject words, including time and place words like after, during and beside.
The official Louisiana documents
- K-12 Louisiana Student Standards for English Language Arts · adopted March 2016, revised 2019 · since 2016-17, through 2026-27
- 2026 K-12 Louisiana Student Standards for English Language Arts · coming next · adopted 2026 · from 2027-28
The plain-English lines on this page are EMStudio's own explanations of Louisiana's standards, not the official wording, which Louisiana Department of Education publishes in the documents above. Codes and strand names identify each standard.