Third Grade
School Leader’s Literacy Walkthrough
Foundational Reading Skills ............................................................................................................... 2
Reading Comprehension .................................................................................................................... 3
Writing .................................................................................................................................................. 4
Language .............................................................................................................................................. 5
Speaking and Listening ....................................................................................................................... 6
Marcia Kosanovich
Kevin Smith
Trudy Hensley
La’Tara Osborne-Lampkin
Barbara Foorman
This School Leader’s Literacy Walkthrough was developed by REL Southeast supported in whole or in part by contract ED-IES-12-C-0011 from the U.S. Department of Education,
Institute of Education Sciences. The content does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of IES or the U.S. Department of Education, nor does mention of trade names, commercial
products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. government.
Third Grade Literacy Walkthrough: Foundational Reading Skills
Teacher:
Skills/Concepts
Phonics and Word Recognition

Identify and know the meaning of the most common
prefixes (un-, re-, dis-) and derivational suffixes

Decode words with common Latin suffixes (e.g., able, -ible, -ation)

Decode multisyllable words

Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly
spelled words (e.g., carry, done)
Fluency

Listen to the teacher read with speed, accuracy, and
prosody

Read grade level texts with purpose and
understanding

Read grade level texts with accuracy, appropriate
rate, and expression on successive readings

Reread and use context to confirm or self-correct
word recognition to support understanding
Date/Time:
Evidence
Teacher Instruction
Student Learning
Instructional Materials
Teacher Instruction
Student Learning
Instructional Materials
Classroom Environment
Evidence
Literacy rich environment
Classroom arrangement
Classroom management
2
Third Grade Literacy Walkthrough: Reading Comprehension
Teacher:
Skills/Concepts
Literary Texts

Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of the
text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers

Retell stories from diverse cultures; determine the main
idea/lesson/moral and explain how it is conveyed through key
details in the text

Describe characters in a story and how their actions contribute
to the sequence of events

Distinguish literal from nonliteral language

Compare and contrast the themes, settings, and plots of stories
written by the same author about the same or similar characters

Identify how illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the
words in a story

Use information from illustrations and words in print or digital
text to demonstrate understanding of characters, setting, or plot

Distinguish point of view (own, narrator, characters)
Informational Text

Ask and answer questions, referring explicitly to the text as the
basis for the answers

Determine the main idea of a text, recount the key details, and
explain how they support the main idea

Describe the relationship between a series of historical events,
scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a
text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and
cause/effect

Use text features and search tools to efficiently locate
information relevant to a given topic

Distinguish own point of view from that of the author

Use information gained from illustrations and the words in a text
to demonstrate understanding

Describe the logical connection between particular sentences
and paragraphs in a text
Date/Time:
Evidence
Teacher Instruction
Student Learning
Instructional Materials
Teacher Instruction
Student Learning
Instructional Materials
Classroom Environment
Evidence
Literacy rich environment
Classroom arrangement
Classroom management
3
Third Grade Literacy Walkthrough: Writing
Teacher:
Skills/Concepts
Mechanics

Capitalize appropriate words in titles

Use commas in addresses

Use commas and quotation marks in dialogue

Form and use possessives

Use conventional spelling for high frequency and other
studied words and for adding suffixes to base words

Use spelling patterns and generalizations (e.g., word
families, syllable patterns, ending rules)

Consult reference materials to check and correct spellings
Process

Write opinions: introduce a topic, state an opinion, create an
organizational structure with reasons that support opinion,
use linking words, and a conclusion

Write to inform/explain: introduce a topic, group related
information together, include illustrations when useful, offer
facts and definitions to develop the topic, use linking words
and phrases to connect ideas, and a concluding statement

Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about
a topic

Plan, revise, and edit writing

Gather information from print and digital sources, take brief
notes on sources, and sort evidence into provided
categories

Write narratives: establish a situation, introduce
narrator/characters, sequence events, use dialogue and
describe actions, thoughts, and feelings, use temporal
words, and closure

Use technology to produce and publish writing (using
keyboard skills) as well as to interact and collaborate with
others
Date/Time:
Evidence
Teacher Instruction
Student Learning
Instructional Materials
Teacher Instruction
Student Learning
Instructional Materials
Classroom Environment
Evidence
Literacy rich environment
Classroom arrangement
Classroom management
4
Third Grade Literacy Walkthrough: Language
Teacher:
Skills/Concepts
Conventions of Standard English

Use the function of nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives,
and adverbs in general and their function in particular
sentences

Form and use regular and irregular plural nouns

Use abstract nouns (e.g., childhood)

Form and use regular and irregular verbs

Form and use simple verb tenses (e.g., I walked; I walk;
I will walk)

Form and use comparative and superlative adjectives
and adverbs and how to choose between them
depending on what is being modified

Use subject-verb and pronoun-antecedent agreement

Use coordinating and subordinating conjunctions

Produce simple, compound, and complex sentences
Vocabulary

Use words in multiple contexts

Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a
word or phrase

Use print and digital glossaries and beginning
dictionaries to determine or clarify the meaning of words
and phrases

Make connections between words and their use

Determine the meaning of a new word when a known
affix is added to a known word

Distinguish shades of meaning among related words that
describe states of mind or degrees of certainty (e.g.,
perturbed, mad, angry, furious)
Date/Time:
Evidence
Teacher Instruction
Student Learning
Instructional Materials
Teacher Instruction
Student Learning
Instructional Materials
Classroom Environment
Evidence
Literacy rich environment
Classroom arrangement
Classroom management
5
Third Grade Literacy Walkthrough: Speaking and Listening
Teacher:
Skills/Concepts
Speaking and Listening

Participate in collaborative conversations about third
grade topics and texts with peers and adults in small
and large groups

Arrive at a discussion prepared

Follow agreed-upon rules for group discussions

Ask for clarification and further explanation when
needed and link their comments to comments of
others

Explain their own ideas and understanding in light of
the discussion

Present using appropriate facts and relevant
descriptive details, speaking clearly and at an
understandable pace
Date/Time:
Evidence
Teacher Instruction
Classroom Environment
Student Learning
Evidence
Literacy rich environment
Classroom arrangement
Classroom management
6
Instructional Materials