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Texas Standards

English III ELA TEKS

All 64 Texas English language arts standards for English III, each explained in plain English. The official wording is one click away under each one.

64 standards

Developing and sustaining foundational language skills: listening, speaking, discussion, and thinking--oral language

4 standards
The student develops oral language through listening, speaking, and discussion.
E3.1(A)
Discuss a speech respectfully while judging how clear and logical the message is and how the speaker's word choice and sentence style affect it.
Official wording
engage in meaningful and respectful discourse when evaluating the clarity and coherence of a speaker's message and critiquing the impact of a speaker's use of diction and syntax;
E3.1(B)
Follow and give detailed instructions, asking sharp questions to clear up confusion and responding suitably, like steps for a group research task.
Official wording
follow and give complex instructions, clarify meaning by asking pertinent questions, and respond appropriately;
E3.1(C)
Deliver a formal talk with a logical structure, smooth transitions, accurate evidence and rhetorical devices, using eye contact, pacing, volume and gestures well.
Official wording
give a formal presentation that exhibits a logical structure, smooth transitions, accurate evidence, well-chosen details, and rhetorical devices and that employs eye contact, speaking rate such as pauses for effect, volume, enunciation, purposeful gestures, and conventions of language to communicate ideas effectively; and
E3.1(D)
Work in teams by offering ideas that move the group toward its goals, asking insightful questions, accepting differing views and judging the work by shared criteria.
Official wording
participate collaboratively, offering ideas or judgments that are purposeful in moving the team toward goals, asking relevant and insightful questions, tolerating a range of positions and ambiguity in decision making, and evaluating the work of the group based on agreed-upon criteria.

Developing and sustaining foundational language skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking--vocabulary

3 standards
The student uses newly acquired vocabulary expressively.
E3.2(A)
Use print or online references to confirm the different meanings of advanced words, like the opposite senses of sanction.
Official wording
use print or digital resources to clarify and validate understanding of multiple meanings of advanced vocabulary;
E3.2(B)
Use context to work out subtle shades of meaning, like what the imagery of a distant green light suggests.
Official wording
analyze context to draw conclusions about nuanced meanings such as in imagery; and
E3.2(C)
Learn what borrowed Latin and French expressions mean in English writing and speech, like ad hoc, faux pas and modus operandi.
Official wording
determine the meaning of foreign words or phrases used frequently in English such as ad hoc, faux pas, non sequitur, and modus operandi.

Developing and sustaining foundational language skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking--self-sustained reading

1 standard
The student reads grade-appropriate texts independently.
E3.3
Select personal reading, like a novel or a nonfiction book, and read it independently with focus for a lengthy period.
Official wording
self-select text and read independently for a sustained period of time.

Comprehension skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts

9 standards
The student uses metacognitive skills to both develop and deepen comprehension of increasingly complex texts.
E3.4(A)
Name a purpose for every text, whether assigned or self-selected, like collecting evidence for an argument or studying an author's style.
Official wording
establish purpose for reading assigned and self-selected texts;
E3.4(B)
Pose questions about a text from the first glance to the final page and afterward, like what an essayist assumes the reader believes.
Official wording
generate questions about text before, during, and after reading to deepen understanding and gain information;
E3.4(C)
Use features, genre conventions and the shape of a text to forecast what comes next, then confirm or revise the forecast.
Official wording
make and correct or confirm predictions using text features, characteristics of genre, and structures;
E3.4(D)
Visualize what a text describes, like a character's crowded kitchen or a factory floor, to make sense of it on a deeper level.
Official wording
create mental images to deepen understanding;
E3.4(E)
Relate texts to personal experiences, other readings and current society, like linking an American novel to today's debates.
Official wording
make connections to personal experiences, ideas in other texts, and society;
E3.4(F)
Draw reasoned conclusions about unstated ideas in a text and support them with specific evidence.
Official wording
make inferences and use evidence to support understanding;
E3.4(G)
Assess the details in a text to understand its central ideas, deciding which details carry real significance.
Official wording
evaluate details read to understand key ideas;
E3.4(H)
Merge information from different kinds of texts, like a speech, a chart and a short story, into a new understanding.
Official wording
synthesize information from a variety of text types to create new understanding; and
E3.4(I)
Spot moments of confusion while reading and recover by rereading, annotating, asking questions, using prior knowledge or consulting outside sources.
Official wording
monitor comprehension and make adjustments such as re-reading, using background knowledge, asking questions, annotating, and using outside sources when understanding breaks down.

Response skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts

10 standards
The student responds to an increasingly challenging variety of sources that are read, heard, or viewed.
E3.5(A)
Talk or write about how varied sources, from assigned essays to personal reading choices, connect to personal experience.
Official wording
describe personal connections to a variety of sources, including self-selected texts;
E3.5(B)
Write analytical responses to texts, including comparisons of works in the same genre or different ones, like a short story and a film.
Official wording
write responses that demonstrate analysis of texts, including comparing texts within and across genres;
E3.5(C)
Build an analytical response with text evidence and original commentary that explains how the evidence supports the analysis.
Official wording
use text evidence and original commentary to support an analytic response;
E3.5(D)
Put texts into fresh words and short summaries that stay true to the meaning and keep the ideas in logical order.
Official wording
paraphrase and summarize texts in ways that maintain meaning and logical order;
E3.5(E)
Respond to sources actively through notes, annotations, freewriting or illustrations, like a sketch of a key scene.
Official wording
interact with sources in meaningful ways such as notetaking, annotating, freewriting, or illustrating;
E3.5(F)
Use the academic and subject terms learned in class when responding, like ethos, diction or allegory, wherever they apply.
Official wording
respond using acquired content and academic vocabulary as appropriate;
E3.5(G)
Explore in discussion and writing what a text states openly and what it implies beneath the surface.
Official wording
discuss and write about the explicit and implicit meanings of text;
E3.5(H)
Answer in speech or writing using the right level of formality plus effective word choice, tone and voice.
Official wording
respond orally or in writing with appropriate register and effective vocabulary, tone, and voice;
E3.5(I)
Look back at a response and change it when credible evidence calls for a different view, like after reading a stronger counterargument.
Official wording
reflect on and adjust responses when valid evidence warrants; and
E3.5(J)
Defend or push back on an author's claims with relevant evidence drawn from the text, like a passage from an essay.
Official wording
defend or challenge the authors' claims using relevant text evidence.

Multiple genres: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts--literary elements

4 standards
The student recognizes and analyzes literary elements within and across increasingly complex traditional, contemporary, classical, and diverse literary texts.
E3.6(A)
Analyze how theme, characters, point of view, setting and plot shape one another in many kinds of literary works.
Official wording
analyze relationships among thematic development, characterization, point of view, significance of setting, and plot in a variety of literary texts;
E3.6(B)
Analyze how what characters do and why they do it creates moral dilemmas that shape the plot and theme, like John Proctor's choice.
Official wording
analyze how characters' behaviors and underlying motivations contribute to moral dilemmas that influence the plot and theme;
E3.6(C)
Judge how elements like setting, point of view and conflict shape the way an author presents the plot.
Official wording
evaluate how different literary elements shape the author's portrayal of the plot; and
E3.6(D)
Analyze how the history, society and economy of a story's setting shape its plot, characters and theme, like the Great Depression.
Official wording
analyze how the historical, social, and economic context of setting(s) influences the plot, characterization, and theme.

Multiple genres: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts--genres

6 standards
The student recognizes and analyzes genre-specific characteristics, structures, and purposes within and across increasingly complex traditional, contemporary, classical, and diverse texts.
E3.7(A)
Read and analyze American literature from different eras, from colonial writing through the Harlem Renaissance to today.
Official wording
read and analyze American literature across literary periods;
E3.7(B)
Analyze how a poem's stanzas, line breaks, speaker and sound devices work together across forms, like a ballad or free verse.
Official wording
analyze relationships among characteristics of poetry, including stanzas, line breaks, speaker, and sound devices in poems across a variety of poetic forms;
E3.7(C)
Analyze how dramatic elements like dialogue, stage directions and conflict work together to move a play's plot forward.
Official wording
analyze how the relationships among dramatic elements advance the plot;
E3.7(D)
Analyze how informational texts use a thesis, strong evidence, examples, commentary, summary and conclusion, and how structure serves the author's purpose.
Official wording
analyze characteristics and structural elements of informational texts such as:iclear thesis, strong supporting evidence, pertinent examples, commentary, summary, and conclusion; andiithe relationship between organizational design and author's purpose;
E3.7(E)
Analyze arguments for an arguable thesis, appeals, structure, conclusion and call to action, plus evidence, counterarguments and intended audience.
Official wording
analyze characteristics and structural elements of argumentative texts such as:iclear arguable thesis, appeals, structure of the argument, convincing conclusion, and call to action;iivarious types of evidence and treatment of counterarguments, including concessions and rebuttals; andiiiidentifiable audience or reader; and
E3.7(F)
Analyze how effectively multimodal and digital texts use their features, like images, video and hyperlinks in an online feature.
Official wording
analyze the effectiveness of characteristics of multimodal and digital texts.

Author's purpose and craft: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts

7 standards
The student uses critical inquiry to analyze the authors' choices and how they influence and communicate meaning within a variety of texts. The student analyzes and applies author's craft purposefully in order to develop his or her own products and performances.
E3.8(A)
Analyze how an author's purpose, target audience and message shape a text, like a colonial sermon or a modern op-ed.
Official wording
analyze the author's purpose, audience, and message within a text;
E3.8(B)
Evaluate how well a text's organization, like a problem and solution layout, serves the author's purpose.
Official wording
evaluate use of text structure to achieve the author's purpose;
E3.8(C)
Assess an author's use of print and graphic elements, like pull quotes, maps or photos, to achieve particular aims.
Official wording
evaluate the author's use of print and graphic features to achieve specific purposes;
E3.8(D)
Evaluate how an author's language choices inform readers and steer their view of a topic, like in a political speech.
Official wording
evaluate how the author's use of language informs and shapes the perception of readers;
E3.8(E)
Evaluate how well authors use devices like paradox, satire and allegory to accomplish their aims, like a satire mocking social norms.
Official wording
evaluate the use of literary devices such as paradox, satire, and allegory to achieve specific purposes;
E3.8(F)
Evaluate how word choice and sentence patterns build a text's mood, voice and tone, like plain speech in a frontier story.
Official wording
evaluate how the author's diction and syntax contribute to the mood, voice, and tone of a text; and
E3.8(G)
Analyze how rhetorical devices and logical fallacies change the way readers take in and understand a text, like in a campaign speech.
Official wording
analyze the effects of rhetorical devices and logical fallacies on the way the text is read and understood.

Composition: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts--writing process

5 standards
The student uses the writing process recursively to compose multiple texts that are legible and use appropriate conventions.
E3.9(A)
Plan a piece for its purpose and readers, generating ideas with strategies like brainstorming, journaling, research reading or discussion.
Official wording
plan a piece of writing appropriate for various purposes and audiences by generating ideas through a range of strategies such as brainstorming, journaling, reading, or discussing;
E3.9(B)
Develop drafts, timed or open-ended, into coherent pieces with a strategic structure and an insightful idea built with rhetorical devices, details and commentary.
Official wording
develop drafts into a focused, structured, and coherent piece of writing in timed and open-ended situations by:iusing strategic organizational structures appropriate to purpose, audience, topic, and context; andiideveloping an engaging idea reflecting depth of thought with effective use of rhetorical devices, details, examples, and commentary;
E3.9(C)
Revise drafts for clarity, development, organization, style and word choice, smoothing how sentences flow on their own and into each other.
Official wording
revise drafts to improve clarity, development, organization, style, diction, and sentence fluency, both within and between sentences;
E3.9(D)
Edit drafts to show strong control of grammar, usage and mechanics, checking a style guide like MLA when needed.
Official wording
edit drafts to demonstrate a command of standard English conventions using a style guide as appropriate; and
E3.9(E)
Share final drafts with suitable audiences, like a writing contest, a community blog or a literary magazine.
Official wording
publish written work for appropriate audiences.

Composition: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts--genres

6 standards
The student uses genre characteristics and craft to compose multiple texts that are meaningful.
E3.10(A)
Write original literary pieces, like short stories and poems, using genre traits and craft such as imagery or point of view.
Official wording
compose literary texts such as fiction and poetry using genre characteristics and craft;
E3.10(B)
Write informational texts like explanatory essays, reports, resumes and personal essays with the features and craft each form needs.
Official wording
compose informational texts such as explanatory essays, reports, resumes, and personal essays using genre characteristics and craft;
E3.10(C)
Write well-crafted arguments, like an editorial or position paper, that use the features of argumentative writing.
Official wording
compose argumentative texts using genre characteristics and craft;
E3.10(D)
Compose professional or friendly correspondence, like a cover letter for a job or a note to a mentor.
Official wording
compose correspondence in a professional or friendly structure;
E3.10(E)
Write a literary analysis essay that interprets a work using the conventions of the genre, like analyzing symbolism in a novel.
Official wording
compose literary analysis using genre characteristics and craft; and
E3.10(F)
Write a rhetorical analysis showing how a speaker or writer persuades, like breaking down the appeals in a famous speech.
Official wording
compose rhetorical analysis using genre characteristics and craft.

Inquiry and research: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts

9 standards
The student engages in both short-term and sustained recursive inquiry processes for a variety of purposes.
E3.11(A)
Develop questions to guide formal research papers and informal investigations alike.
Official wording
develop questions for formal and informal inquiry;
E3.11(B)
Critique the research process step by step, making adjustments whenever new needs are spotted.
Official wording
critique the research process at each step to implement changes as needs occur and are identified;
E3.11(C)
Build a plan for research and adjust it as the project develops.
Official wording
develop and revise a plan;
E3.11(D)
Revise the main question of a research project when needed to sharpen the plan's focus.
Official wording
modify the major research question as necessary to refocus the research plan;
E3.11(E)
Search out relevant sources, like academic databases, interviews and primary documents.
Official wording
locate relevant sources;
E3.11(F)
Synthesize information from many sources, connecting their ideas into a single line of thinking.
Official wording
synthesize information from a variety of sources;
E3.11(G)
Judge sources for credibility, bias and accuracy, and catch flawed reasoning like false cause, circular reasoning, red herrings and assumptions.
Official wording
examine sources for:icredibility, bias, and accuracy; andiifaulty reasoning such as post hoc-ad hoc, circular reasoning, red herring, and assumptions;
E3.11(H)
Include academic citations, like MLA in-text citations and a works cited page, for quotes and paraphrases, and use sources ethically.
Official wording
display academic citations, including for paraphrased and quoted text, and use source materials ethically to avoid plagiarism; and
E3.11(I)
Choose the right way to deliver research, like a formal paper, a panel talk or a website, and present the results.
Official wording
use an appropriate mode of delivery, whether written, oral, or multimodal, to present results.

The official Texas documents

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts and Reading, 19 Texas Administrative Code Chapter 110, adopted by the Texas State Board of Education.

The plain-English lines are EMStudio's own explanations, shown beside the official wording. They are not part of the standards.