Department of Teaching & Learning
Last Revision:9/5/14
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How to Use this Guide
The purpose of this document is to connect the FSA test item specs for your grade level with assessments and curriculum materials. This is a suggested focus sequence.
TIP: Pages can be viewed as a Powerpoint presentation or pages can be printed back to back in order to form a flip book.
More information on the FSA can be found at: http://www.fsassessments.org/resources/?section=2-educators-general
Grade Level Standards can be found at: http://www.cpalms.org/Public/search/Standard
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How to Use this Guide
Textbook Resources:
Red Kayak
Leveled Readers:
Wilma Rudolph, The Long Trip Home, The Signs,
Molly Pitcher
Teacher Selected:
How it Appears in Reading
Street
Focus Standard: LAFS.5.RL.1.2 (Literature 2)
Determine the theme of a story, drama or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the topic.
What does this look like?
 Students select words or phrases from the text that explicitly state the theme of the passage.
 Students select words that support the theme from a text.
 Students select sentences from the text that represent key events that should in included in a summary.
 Students select a summary of a text.
 Students state the theme of a passage and a detail from the text.
Terms to Teach
Theme, Detail, Summary, Support
Terms you may need to introduce based on the standards/FSA item specs
Sample FSA Questions:
 Select the details that support the theme of the text.
 What does this passage suggest about ___________________?
 How does the main character respond to ______________________?
 What does the character’s response reveal about the relationship?
 What does this passage suggest about __________________?
 Use details to support your response.
 Which statement correctly summarizes this passage?
Sample DE Questions:
 What sentence best summarizes the article?
 Readers can assume that __________________.
Example Questions :
 Which sentences show Charlie’s feelings when the power goes out?
 Go back into the passage and select words that describe Charlie’s traits after he yells at his sister.
 How is Charlie’s sister affected by Charlie’s actions?
Example questions from
Reading Street 3

How to Use this Guide
Teacher Selected:
Teacher Created Questions
Looking for Text-Dependent Questioning Resources? Visit this site: http://achievethecore.org/page/710/text-dependent-question-resources
Grade Level Standards can be found at: http://www.cpalms.org/Public/search/Standard
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Standards Covered
Standard
Question: Are these
ALL my grade level standards?
Answer: No, these are only the standards covered on the
Language Portion of the FSA from the test item specs. LAFS.3.RL.2.6
LAFS.3.RL.3.7
LAFS.3.SL.1.2
LAFS.3.RL.3.9
LAFS.3.SL.1.3
LAFS.3.RI.3.9
LAFS.3.L.1.2
LAFS.3.RL.1.1
LAFS.3.RL.1.2
LAFS.3.RL.1.3
LAFS.3.RL.2.4
LAFS.3.L.3.4
LAFS.3.L.3.5
LAFS.3.RL.2.5
X
X
X X
Week(s)
Covered
X X X X X
X
Standard
LAFS.3.RI.1.1
LAFS.3.RI.1.2
LAFS.3.RI.1.2
LAFS.3.RI.1.3
LAFS.3.RI.2.4
LAFS.3.RI.2.5
LAFS.3.RI.2.6
LAFS.3.RI.3.7
LAFS.3.RI.3.8
LAFS.3.L.1.1
LAFS.3.RF.3.3 & 4.4
Week(s)
Covered
X X
X
X
5
X

Textbook Resources:
Charlie McButton
Leveled Readers:
Learning New Things, Camping with Aunt Julie,
Mr. Post’s Project, The Spanish Club
Teacher Selected:
Focus Standard: LAFS.3.RL.1.2 (Literature 2)
Recount stores, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.
What does this look like?
 Students select words or phrases from a text that support the main idea
 Students restate the central message, idea or theme
 Students place events in the correct order
Sample FSA Questions:
 Which of the following does the main character do first?
 Place the events from the story in the correct order.
 What is the central message of the passage?
 One of the lessons from our passage is to use your imagination. Select two details that support this idea.
 Select the central idea of the passage. Then, select a quotation from the passage that support this idea.
Terms to Teach
Central Message, Details, Quotation
Sample DE Questions:
 What happened right before ______?
 Which words will complete the story web?
Example Questions :
 What does the main character, Charlie do after his mom’s suggestions? Go back into the text and find the quotation from the text.
 What key words does the author use to show a progression of time (sequence) in this story?
Focus Standard: LAFS.3.RL.1.3 (Literature 3)
Describe characters in a story (traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.
Terms to Teach
Motivations, Traits, Character
What does this look like?
 Students select words or phrases from the text that provide details to support a description of a character
 Students select an inference about a character, their actions of sequence of events
 Students provide details and determine how these descriptions of events affect the text
Sample FSA Questions:
 The main character is __________ in the passage. Which sentences show this feeling?
 Which sentences show that the main character is _____(feeling)___?
 How are the __(Character)__’s actions affected by the main character’s actions?
 Which of the following describes both the main character’s feelings and the author’s writing?
Example Questions :
 Which sentences show Charlie’s feelings when the power goes out?
 Go back into the passage and select words that describe Charlie’s traits after he yells at his sister.
 How is Charlie’s sister affected by Charlie’s actions?
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Focus Standard: LAFS.3.RL.1.3 (Literature 3)
Sample DE Questions:
 What is the main problem at the end?
 In the beginning, the (character) feels______.
 How are the details arranged in the paragraph?
 What best explain what the narrator thought about ______?
 What is the main problem at the beginning?
 Which word best describes (character)?
 The details in the last sentence tell ________.
 Why did the narrator of this story ___________?
Focus Standard: LAFS.3.L.3.4 (Language 4)
Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown or multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 3 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
What does this look like?
 Students select words or phrases that provide content for an unknown word
 Students distinguish between shades of meaning among related words
 Students select words or phrases based on the tone of the text
 Students select the correct meaning of the word
 Students select words that both literal and nonliteral meanings
 Student distinguish shades of meaning among related words
Terms to Teach
Shades of Meaning, Phrase, Literal, Nonliteral, Illustrate
Teacher Created Questions
Sample FSA Questions:
 Choose the correct meaning of the word __________ as the author used it in the passage.
 Select the words from the passage that help the reader understand what
____________ means.
 What does the author mean by the phrase ___________?
 How does the author illustrate this phrase in the passage?
 What does _______ mean as it is used in the passage?
 What does the author suggest by the phrase _____________?
Sample DE Questions:
 What does the phrase ____ mean?
 What can the readers tell from this line?
 Why does the author compare ______ to ___________ in the story?
 What mood did the author create when he/she used the words
___________?
 Which word is used in the sentence in the same way as the story?
Example Questions :
 Reread the first two lines of page 40. What does the author want to show us when the word toddle was used?
 What does the words kind mean as it is used on page 36-37?
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Textbook Resources:
What About Me?
Leveled Readers:
Trading This for That, Let’s Make a Trade,,
What’s Money All About, It Started with Nails
Teacher Selected:
Focus Standard: LAFS.3.RL.1.1 (Literature 1)
Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
What does this look like?
 Students select words or phrases from a text that to answer questions using explicit or implicit information in the text
 Students select information from a text to inform or support an inference
 Students place events in the correct order
Sample FSA Questions:
 Select two sentences that show that the main character is excited about the arrival of __________________.
 How do we know that the main character’s
___(father,teacher,mother,etc.)__did not understand the question?
 Select the example from the text that shows Character A visited Character B several times.
 Based on the information in the passage, how does the reader know that the main character has used the ___________ before?
Terms to Teach
Central Message, Details, Quotation
Example Questions :
 How do you know the boy is eager to reach his goal? What sentences from the passage show this?
 Based on the first few sentences, what does the reader know about the boy’s goals?
Focus Standard: LAFS.3.RL.1.3 (Literature 3)
Describe characters in a story (traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.
What does this look like?
 Students select words or phrases from the text that provide details to support a description of a character
 Students select an inference about a character, their actions of sequence of events
 Students provide details and determine how these descriptions of events affect the text
Sample FSA Questions:
 The main character is __________ in the passage. Which sentences show this feeling?
 Which sentences show that the main character is _____(feeling)___?
 How are the __(Character)__’s actions affected by the main character’s actions?
 Which of the following describes both the main character’s feelings and the author’s writing?
Example Questions :
 How do the main character’s actions affect the sequence of this story? What in the text can help us make a predict about what will happen next?
 Which detail on page 72 provides a clue about the sequence of this story?
Terms to Teach
Motivations, Traits, Character
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Focus Standard: LAFS.3.L.3.4 (Language 4a)
Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of the word or phrase.
What does this look like?
 Students select words or phrases that provide content for an unknown word
 Students distinguish between shades of meaning among related words
 Students select words or phrases based on the tone of the text
 Students select the correct meaning of the word
 Students select words that both literal and nonliteral meanings
 Student distinguish shades of meaning among related words
Terms to Teach
Phrase, Context Clue
Teacher Created Questions
Focus Standard: LAFS.3.RL.1.3 (Literature 3)
Sample DE Questions:
 What is the main problem at the end?
 In the beginning, the (character) feels______.
 How are the details arranged in the paragraph?
 What best explain what the narrator thought about ______?
 What is the main problem at the beginning?
 Which word best describes (character)?
 The details in the last sentence tell ________.
 Why did the narrator of this story ___________?
 What words describe both the (character) and the (character)?
Sample FSA Questions:
 Choose the correct meaning of the word __________ as the author used it in the passage.
 Select the words from the passage that help the reader understand what
____________ means.
 What does the author mean by the phrase ___________?
 How does the author illustrate this phrase in the passage?
 What does _______ mean as it is used in the passage?
 What does the author suggest by the phrase _____________?
Sample DE Questions:
 What does the phrase ____ mean?
 What can the readers tell from this line?
 Which word is used in the sentence in the same way as the story?
 What does this word mean from the passage?
Example Questions :
 What sentences or phrases tell you the point of view of this story?
 What words or phrases help you understand what the word straying means on pg.70?
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Textbook Resources:
Kumak’s Fish
Leveled Readers:
We Want Soup, Ice Fishing in the Artic, Journey
Across the Artic, Time for the Team
Teacher Selected:
Focus Standard: LAFS.3.RI.1.1 (Informational Text 1)
Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
What does this look like?
 Students select words or phrases from a text that to answer questions using explicit or implicit information in the text
 Students select information from a text to inform or support an inference
 Students place events in the correct order
Sample FSA Questions:
 When was the ____________ found?
 Select a detail from the article that shows that the animal’s ______ was made for catching prey.
 Which details do not show that that the animal’s ______ was made for catching prey?
 Why was the location of the discovery described as _____________?
Terms to Teach
Phrase, Informational Text, Detail
Sample DE Questions:
 Base your answers on the webpage above.
 The heading tells readers that _____.
 What does this date tell us?
 Why are certain words in bold and centered?
 What is the purpose of the _____ section?
 What is the purpose of the picture?
Example Questions :
 What details in the story would change if the author had selected a different setting?
 What do the details on pg.103 tell you about the temperature?
Focus Standard: LAFS.3.RI.1.3 (Informational Text 3)
Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in a technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect.
Terms to Teach
Phrase, Chronological, Process, Structure
What does this look like?
 Students select words or phrases from a text that provide details to describe a relationship between events, concepts or steps.
 Students select descriptions about relationships between time and sequence.
 Students select a correct inference about a relationship between events, concepts or steps.
 Students support a relationship between events, concepts or steps in words and support the description with details from the text.
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Focus Standard: LAFS.3.RI.1.3 (Informational Text 3)
Sample DE Questions:
 What was the reason for _______?
 What probably caused _____?
 The details in the last sentence tell ________.
Example Questions :
 What details show that Kumak is correct when he says “It’s a good for fish”?
 What story structure does the author use in this text? What would the structure look like if you were creating a summary (problem/solution, chronological order, etc.)?
What evidence supports your answer in the text?
Sample FSA Questions:
 Select the phrase that describes how the chronological structure helps the reader to understand the process of ___________.
 How does the structure of the text help the reader to understand how
__________ are found?
Focus Standard: LAFS.3.RF.3.3/ LAFS 3.L.3.4 (Foundational Skills 3/Language 4)
Distinguish shades of meaning among related words that describe states of mind or degrees of certainty (e.g. knew, believed, suspected, heard, wondered) & Use a known root word as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word with the same root word
What does this look like?
 Students select words or phrases that provide content for an unknown word
 Students distinguish between shades of meaning among related words
 Students select words or phrases based on the tone of the text
 Students select the correct meaning of the word
 Students select words that both literal and nonliteral meanings
 Student distinguish shades of meaning among related words
Terms to Teach
Phrase, Context Clue
Sample FSA Questions:
 Choose the correct meaning of the word __________ as the author used it in the passage.
 Select the words from the passage that help the reader understand what
____________ means.
 What does the author mean by the phrase ___________?
 How does the author illustrate this phrase in the passage?
 What does _______ mean as it is used in the passage?
 What does the author suggest by the phrase _____________?
Sample DE Questions:
 What does –er mean at the end?
 Which word has the same base as ____?
 Which words have the same meaning?
 Which words have opposite meanings?
Teacher Created Questions
Example Questions :
 What words or phrases help the reader understand events that are unlikely to happen in real life?
 What does the author mean when he includes the word entire in this passage?
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Textbook Resources:
Supermarket
Leveled Readers:
Our Food, The Shopping Trip, The Road to New
York, Going to the Market
Teacher Selected:
Focus Standard: LAFS.3.RI.1.1 (Informational Text 1)
Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
What does this look like?
 Students select words or phrases from a text that to answer questions using explicit or implicit information in the text
 Students select information from a text to inform or support an inference
 Students place events in the correct order
Terms to Teach
Phrase, Informational Text, Detail
Sample FSA Questions:
 When was the ____________ found?
 Select a detail from the article that shows that the animal’s ______ was made for catching prey.
 Which details do not show that that the animal’s ______ was made for catching prey?
 Why was the location of the discovery described as _____________?
Sample DE Questions:
 Base your answers on the webpage above.
 The heading tells readers that _____.
 What does this date tell us?
 Why are certain words in bold and centered?
 What is the purpose of the _____ section?
 What is the purpose of the picture?
Example Questions :
 What words or phrases help the reader understand events that are unlikely to happen in real life?
 What does the author mean when he includes the word entire in this passage?
Focus Standard: LAFS.3.RI.1.8 (Informational Text 8)
Describe the logical connection between particular sentences and paragraphs in a text ( comparison, cause/effect, first/second/third in a sequence)
Terms to Teach
Compare, Cause, Effect, Sequence
What does this look like?
 Students select words or phrases from a text that show the connect between different parts of the text.
 Students select a connection that exists between different part of the text and to select words or phrases within the text that demonstrate the connection.
 Students describe the connection between different parts of a text.
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Focus Standard: LAFS.3.RI.1.8 (Informational Text 8)
Sample FSA Questions:
 Which description explains the relationship between paragraphs 8 and 9 or
Article 1?
 Select the sentence in the article that demonstrates a shirt between storytelling and factual explanation.
Example Questions :
 What is the relationship between the supermarket and the farm?
 What sentences or details in the text illustrate the relationship between the farm and the shoppers?
Focus Standard: LAFS 3.L.3.4 (Language 4)
Distinguish shades of meaning among related words that describe states of mind or degrees of certainty (e.g. knew, believed, suspected, heard, wondered) & Use a known root word as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word with the same root word
What does this look like?
 Students select words or phrases that provide content for an unknown word
 Students distinguish between shades of meaning among related words
 Students select words or phrases based on the tone of the text
 Students select the correct meaning of the word
 Students select words that both literal and nonliteral meanings
 Student distinguish shades of meaning among related words
Terms to Teach
Phrase, Context Clue
Sample FSA Questions:
 Choose the correct meaning of the word __________ as the author used it in the passage.
 Select the words from the passage that help the reader understand what
____________ means.
 What does the author mean by the phrase ___________?
 How does the author illustrate this phrase in the passage?
 What does _______ mean as it is used in the passage?
 What does the author suggest by the phrase _____________?
Sample DE Questions:
 What does the phrase ____ mean?
 What can the readers tell from this line?
 Why does the author compare ______ to ___________ in the story?
 What mood did the author create when he/she used the words
___________?
Teacher Created Questions Example Questions :
 What words or phrases does the author include that help the reader experience the way things look and sound in a supermarket?
 What details in the text help you understand what the word spoiled means?
13

Textbook Resources:
My Rows & Piles of Coins
Leveled Readers:
I have a dollar, The Market Adventure, With a
Twist, Money to Spend
Teacher Selected:
Focus Standard: LAFS.3.RL.2.5 (Literature 5)
Refer to parts of stories, dramas and poems when writing or speaking about a text, using terms such as chapter, scene, and stanza; describe how each successive part builds on earlier sections.
What does this look like?
 Students model how parts of a text interact with each other
 Students select parts of a text
 Student identify specific parts of a text and analyze it’s impact on the whole
 Students describe in words how parts of the text interact with each other
Terms to Teach
Interact, Chapter, Scene, Stanza, Climax, Resolution
Sample FSA Questions:
 Provide support for a given cause or effect of an event from the text
 Analyze how multiple events relate to each other and lead to subsequence critical events (climax, resolution)
 Create an inference about parts of the text using text-based evidence
 What would the reader miss if the ___________ were not included?
 In the story, the author uses _______ to share information with the reader
 What do the _______ show the reader?
Sample DE Questions:
 The heading tells readers that _____.
 Why are certain words in bold and centered?
 What is the purpose of the _____ section?
 What is the purpose of the picture?
Focus Standard: LAFS 3.L.3.4 (Language 4)
Use a known root word as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word with the same root word
Terms to Teach
Root Word, Prefix, Suffix
What does this look like?
 Students select words or phrases that provide content for an unknown word
 Students distinguish between shades of meaning among related words
 Students select words or phrases based on the tone of the text
 Students select the correct meaning of the word
 Students select words that both literal and nonliteral meanings
 Student distinguish shades of meaning among related words
14

Focus Standard: LAFS 3.L.3.4 (Language 4)
Sample FSA Questions:
 Choose the correct meaning of the word __________ as the author used it in the passage.
 Select the words from the passage that help the reader understand what
____________ means.
 What does the author mean by the phrase ___________?
 How does the author illustrate this phrase in the passage?
 What does _______ mean as it is used in the passage?
 What does the author suggest by the phrase _____________?
Sample DE Questions:
 What does –er mean at the end?
 Which word has the same base as ____?
Teacher Created Questions
15

16

Standards Covered
Standard Week(s) Covered
LAFS.3.RL.1.1
LAFS.3.RL.1.2
LAFS.3.RL.1.3
LAFS.3.RL.2.4
LAFS.3.L.3.4
LAFS.3.L.3.5
LAFS.3.RL.2.5
LAFS.3.RL.2.6
LAFS.3.RL.3.7
LAFS.3.SL.1.2
LAFS.3.RL.3.9
LAFS.3.SL.1.3
LAFS.3.RI.3.9
LAFS.3.L.1.2
X
X
X X
X X X X X
X
X X
X X
X
X
X
X X
X
Standard
LAFS.3.RI.1.1
LAFS.3.RI.1.2
LAFS.3.RI.1.3
LAFS.3.RI.2.4
LAFS.3.RI.2.5
LAFS.3.RI.2.6
LAFS.3.RI.3.7
LAFS.3.SL.1.2
LAFS.3.RI.3.8
LAFS.3.L.1.1
LAFS.3.RF.3.3 & 4.4
X
Week(s) Covered
X X X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
17

Textbook Resources:
Penguin Chick
Leveled Readers:
Keeping Warm, Birds Can’t Fly, All About
Penguins, Different Beaks, Different Jobs
Teacher Selected:
Focus Standard: LAFS.3.RI.1.2 (Informational Text 2)
Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.
What does this look like?
 Students select the main idea of a text.
 Students select explicit or implicit details that support the main idea.
 Students state the main idea of a text.
 Students describe how the main idea is conveyed in the text.
Terms to Teach
Detail, Main Idea
Sample FSA Questions:
 Which of the following best describes the main idea of the text?
 What is the main idea of the article?
 Select the statement that describes the main idea of the article. Select the sentence that best supports your answer.
Sample DE Questions:
 The main idea is ______.
 This story was written to ______.
 What is the main reason the story was written?
Example Questions :
 What is the main idea? Read p.210-211 and select the details that support your main idea.
 How does the sequence of events on pages 212-213 help you understand what the mother penguin goes through to find food?
Focus Standard: LAFS.3.RI.1.1 (Informational Text 1)
Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
What does this look like?
 Students select words or phrases from a text that to answer questions using explicit or implicit information in the text
 Students select information from a text to inform or support an inference
 Students place events in the correct order
Sample FSA Questions:
 When was the ____________ found?
 Select a detail from the article that shows that the animal’s ______ was made for catching prey.
 Which details do not show that that the animal’s ______ was made for catching prey?
 Why was the location of the discovery described as _____________?
Terms to Teach
Phrase, Informational Text, Detail
Sample DE Questions:
 Base your answers on the webpage above.
 The heading tells readers that _____.
 What does this date tell us?
 Why are certain words in bold and centered?
 What is the purpose of the _____ section?
 What is the purpose of the picture?
18

Focus Standard: LAFS.3.RI.1.1 (Informational Text 1)
Example Questions :
 What details on p.213 help you understand how difficult it is for the mother to find food?
 How can you compare and contrast the life of a baby penguin chick with a baby robin? Use details from pp.214-215 to support your responses.
Focus Standard: LAFS.3.RI.1.2 (Informational Text 7)
Use information gained from illustrations (e.g., maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, when, why and how key events occur).
Sample FSA Questions:
 Which of the following phrases correctly describes what the illustration contributes to the text?
 What is the main idea of the presentation?
 Which detail from the presentation supports the idea that ____?
What does this look like?
 Students select words or phrases from a text that explicitly or implicitly identify what the illustration contributes to the text.
 Students choose what an illustration contributes to the text.
 Students choose the meaning the illustration has in a text.
 Students explain how an illustration relates to a text.
Sample DE Questions:
 What does this date tell us?
 Why are certain words in bold and centered?
 What is the purpose of the _____ section?
 What is the purpose of the picture?
 Base your answers on the webpage above.
 The heading tells readers that _____.
Terms to Teach
Implicit, Explicit
Example Questions :
 How does the time line on pgs.218-219 help the reader better understand the stages in a chick’s life?
Teacher Created Questions
19

Textbook Resources:
I Wanna Iguana
Leveled Readers:
Which way is better?, Iguana takes a ride, Puppy
Problems, Mama’s Birthday Garden
Teacher Selected:
Focus Standard: LAFS.3.RL.1.7 (Literature 7)
Explain how specific aspects of a text’s illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a character or setting).
What does this look like?
 Students select words or phrases from a text that explicitly or implicitly identify what the illustration contributes to the text.
 Students choose what an illustration contributes to the text.
 Students choose the meaning the illustration has in a text.
 Students explain how an illustration relates to a text.
Terms to Teach
Cite
Sample FSA Questions:
 Which of the following phrases correctly describes what the illustration contributes to the text?
 What is the main idea of the presentation?
 Which detail from the presentation supports the idea that ____?
Sample DE Questions:
 What does this date tell us?
 Why are certain words in bold and centered?
 What is the purpose of the _____ section?

What is the purpose of the picture?
 Base your answers on the webpage above.
 The heading tells readers that _____.
Example Questions :
 How do the illustrations make this selection humorous? Cite examples from the text.
 Based on the illustration on p.246, what kind of home does Alex expect to have when he grows up?
Focus Standard: LAFS.3.RL.1.1 (Literature 1)
Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
What does this look like?
 Students select words or phrases from a text that to answer questions using explicit or implicit information in the text
 Students select information from a text to inform or support an inference
 Students place events in the correct order
Sample FSA Questions:
 Select two sentences that show that the main character is excited about the arrival of __________________.
 How do we know that the main character’s
___(father,teacher,mother,etc.)__did not understand the question?
 Select the example from the text that shows Character A visited Character B several times.
 Based on the information in the passage, how does the reader know that the main character has used the ___________ before?
Terms to Teach
Central Message, Details, Quotation
Example Questions :
 Has the mother’s opinion changed about Alex having an iguana? How can you tell?
 Do you think Alex researched iguanas? What information supports your answer?
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Focus Standard: LAFS.3.RL.1.3 (Literature 3)
Describe characters in a story (traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.
What does this look like?
 Students select words or phrases from the text that provide details to support a description of a character
 Students select an inference about a character, their actions of sequence of events
 Students provide details and determine how these descriptions of events affect the text
Sample FSA Questions:
 The main character is __________ in the passage. Which sentences show this feeling?
 Which sentences show that the main character is _____(feeling)___?
 How are the __(Character)__’s actions affected by the main character’s actions?
 Which of the following describes both the main character’s feelings and the author’s writing?
Example Questions :
 Describe the relationship between Alex and his Mom.
 Alex refers to himself as a lonely boy. What effect is Alex hoping this will have on his mother? Use information in the story to support your answer.
Terms to Teach
Motivations, Traits, Character
Sample DE Questions:
 What is the main problem at the end?
 In the beginning, the (character) feels______.

What best explain what the narrator thought about ______?
 Which word best describes (character)?
 The details in the last sentence tell ________.
 Why did the narrator of this story ___________?
 What words describe both the (character) and the (character)?
Teacher Created Questions
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Textbook Resources:
Prudy’s Problem
Leveled Readers:
You can Solve It!, The Last Minute, A Family of
Collectors, Jack’s Library
Teacher Selected:
Focus Standard: LAFS.3.RL.1.2 (Literature 2)
Recount stores, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.
What does this look like?
 Students select words or phrases from a text that support the main idea
 Students restate the central message, idea or theme
 Students place events in the correct order
Sample FSA Questions:
 Which of the following does the main character do first?
 Place the events from the story in the correct order.
 What is the central message of the passage?
 One of the lessons from our passage is to use your imagination. Select two details that support this idea.
 Select the central idea of the passage. Then, select a quotation from the passage that support this idea.
Terms to Teach
Central Message, Details, Quotation
Sample DE Questions:
 What happened right before ______?
 Which words will complete the story web?
Example Questions :
 Identify the main idea on p.276 and one detail that supports it.
 Reread pg.284-285 and identify the main idea.
Focus Standard: LAFS.3.RL.2.6 (Literature 6)
Distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters.
What does this look like?
 The students select the portion of the text that is told from the point of view of someone else other than the main character.
 Identify various points of view in the text.
Terms to Teach
Point of View, First Person, Third Person, Narrator
Sample FSA Questions:
 From which character’s point of view is the story told?
Example Questions :
 Is this story told by a first-person narrator or a third party narrator? Give evidence from the text to support your answer.
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Focus Standard: LAFS.3.RL.1.7(Literature 7)
Explain how specific aspects of a text’s illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a character or setting).
What does this look like?
 Students select words or phrases from a text that explicitly or implicitly identify what the illustration contributes to the text.
 Students choose what an illustration contributes to the text.
 Students choose the meaning the illustration has in a text.
 Students explain how an illustration relates to a text.
Terms to Teach
Cite
Sample FSA Questions:
 Which of the following phrases correctly describes what the illustration contributes to the text?
 What is the main idea of the presentation?
 Which detail from the presentation supports the idea that ____?
Sample DE Questions:
 What does this date tell us?
 Why are certain words in bold and centered?
 What is the purpose of the _____ section?

What is the purpose of the picture?
 Base your answers on the webpage above.
 The heading tells readers that _____.
Example Questions :
 What visuals support the main idea of pages 284-285?
 How does the illustrator use humor to add interest to the story?
Teacher Created Questions
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Textbook Resources:
Tops & Bottoms
Leveled Readers:
Let’s be fair, Our Garden, The Magic of Coyote,
Garden for Everyone
Teacher Selected:
Focus Standard: LAFS 3.RL.3.4 & 3.5L. (Literature 4& Language 5a)
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing from literal from nonliteral language.
What does this look like?
 Students select words or phrases that provide content for an unknown word
 Students distinguish between shades of meaning among related words
 Students select words or phrases based on the tone of the text
 Students select the correct meaning of the word
 Students select words that both literal and nonliteral meanings
 Student distinguish shades of meaning among related words
Terms to Teach
Literal, Nonliteral
Sample FSA Questions:
 Choose the correct meaning of the word __________ as the author used it in the passage.
 Select the words from the passage that help the reader understand what
____________ means.
 What does the author mean by the phrase ___________?
 How does the author illustrate this phrase in the passage?
 What does _______ mean as it is used in the passage?
 What does the author suggest by the phrase _____________?
Sample DE Questions:
 What does the phrase ____ mean?
 What can the readers tell from this line?
 Why does the author compare ______ to ___________ in the story?
 What mood did the author create when he/she used the words
___________?
Example Questions :
 On p.311, what does “in very bad shape” mean? Is this meaning literal?
 What kinds of “tops and bottoms” does Hare mean? What information in the text supports your answer?
Focus Standard: LAFS.3.RL.1.1 (Literature 1)
Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
What does this look like?
 Students select words or phrases from a text that to answer questions using explicit or implicit information in the text
 Students select information from a text to inform or support an inference
 Students place events in the correct order
Sample FSA Questions:
 Select two sentences that show that the main character is excited about the arrival of __________________.
 How do we know that the main character’s
___(father,teacher,mother,etc.)__did not understand the question?
 Select the example from the text that shows Character A visited Character B several times.
 Based on the information in the passage, how does the reader know that the main character has used the ___________ before?
Terms to Teach
Central Message, Details, Quotation
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Focus Standard: LAFS.3.RL.1.1 (Literature 1)
Example Questions :
 Using pgs.316-317, compare and contrast Hare and Bear.
 Do you think fair solutions may be part of the author’s purpose? What information from the text supports your answer?
Focus Standard: LAFS.3.RL.1.2 (Literature 2)
Recount stores, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.
What does this look like?
 Students select words or phrases from a text that support the main idea
 Students restate the central message, idea or theme
 Students place events in the correct order
Sample FSA Questions:
 Which of the following does the main character do first?
 Place the events from the story in the correct order.
 What is the central message of the passage?
 One of the lessons from our passage is to use your imagination. Select two details that support this idea.
 Select the central idea of the passage. Then, select a quotation from the passage that support this idea.
Terms to Teach
Central Message, Details, Quotation
Sample DE Questions:
 What happened right before ______?
 Which words will complete the story web?
Example Questions :
 What is the main idea of the selection? What details support your answer?
 What details support the main idea that Hare tricks Bear?
Teacher Created Questions
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Textbook Resources:
Amazing Bird Nests
Leveled Readers:
Birds’ Nests, Bill and Beaks, Animals of the
Concrete Jungle, Animals Adapt
Teacher Selected:
Focus Standard: LAFS.3.RI.1.2 (Informational Text 7)
Use information gained from illustrations (e.g., maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, when, why and how key events occur).
Sample FSA Questions:
 Which of the following phrases correctly describes what the illustration contributes to the text?
 What is the main idea of the presentation?
 Which detail from the presentation supports the idea that ____?
What does this look like?
 Students select words or phrases from a text that explicitly or implicitly identify what the illustration contributes to the text.
 Students choose what an illustration contributes to the text.
 Students choose the meaning the illustration has in a text.
 Students explain how an illustration relates to a text.
Sample DE Questions:
 What does this date tell us?
 Why are certain words in bold and centered?
 What is the purpose of the _____ section?
 What is the purpose of the picture?
 Base your answers on the webpage above.
 The heading tells readers that _____.
Terms to Teach
Implicit, Explicit
Example Questions :
 Why does the author include the photo and caption, “Gray Rat Snake raiding a bird’s nest” on p.244?
Focus Standard: LAFS.3.RI.2.5 (Informational Text 5)
Use text features and search tools to locate information relevant to a given topic efficiently.
Sample FSA Questions:
 Which of the following using the footnotes in the article?
 Select the information in the article that explains ____.
What does this look like?
 Students select text that identifies information that can be located using text features and search tools.
Sample DE Questions:
 Base your answers on the webpage above.
 The heading tells readers that _____.
 What does this date tell us?
 Why are certain words in bold and centered?
 What is the purpose of the _____ section?
Terms to Teach
Text Features
Example Questions :
 How does the structure of nonfiction help you understand the information better?
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Focus Standard: LAFS.3.RI.3.4 (Informational Text 4)
Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown or multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 3 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
What does this look like?

Students select words or phrases that provide content for an unknown word
 Students distinguish between shades of meaning among related words
 Students select words or phrases based on the tone of the text
 Students select the correct meaning of the word
 Students select words that both literal and nonliteral meanings
 Student distinguish shades of meaning among related words
Terms to Teach
Sample FSA Questions:
 Choose the correct meaning of the word __________ as the author used it in the passage.
 Select the words from the passage that help the reader understand what
____________ means.
 What does the author mean by the phrase ___________?
 How does the author illustrate this phrase in the passage?
 What does _______ mean as it is used in the passage?
 What does the author suggest by the phrase _____________?
Sample DE Questions:
 What does the phrase ____ mean?
 What can the readers tell from this line?
 Which word is used in the sentence in the same way as the story?
Example Questions :
 What does the word sturdy mean from pg.351?
 What does changing environments means? What are some examples?
Teacher Created Questions
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