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ARKANSAS WITS

Grade 3

WITS & The Standards   COMMON CORE ALIGNMENT
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Grade 3 Common Core Language Standards Alignment

Conventions of Standard English:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.3.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

WITS ALIGNMENT:

Students will be able to write poems that incorporate these conventions of English grammar and usage. The WITS program emphasizes the differences between abstract and concrete nouns. Students will be able to identify these differences and employ concrete nouns in order to describe an abstract concept.

Conventions of Standard English, continued:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.3.2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

WITS ALIGNMENT:

Students will be able to write poems that incorporate aspects of English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling. Visiting writers give prompts that require students to utilize the epistolary form, in which they practice the conventions of letter writing. Visiting writers also incorporate classroom dictionaries and reference materials into prompts and exercises as well.

Knowledge of Language:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.3.3 Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.

WITS ALIGNMENT:

Students will be able to experiment with words and phrases for effect and to see the relationship between their choices and their produced effects.

Vocabulary Acquisition and Use:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.4 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning word and phrases based on grade 3 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.

  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.4a: Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.4b: Determine the meaning of the new word formed when a known affix is added to a known word (e.g., agreeable/disagreeable, comfortable/uncomfortable, care/careless, heat/preheat).
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.4c: Use a known root word as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word with the same root (e.g., company, companion).
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.4d: Use glossaries or beginning dictionaries, both print and digital, to determine or clarify the precise meaning of key words and phrases.
WITS ALIGNMENT:

By using word banks and other vocabulary development tools, visiting writers introduce students to unfamiliar words. Students will be able to determine the meaning of these words, and also practice usage by incorporating these new words into their poems.

Vocabulary Acquisition and Use, part 2:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.5: Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships and nuances in word meanings.

  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.5.a Distinguish the literal and nonliteral meanings of words and phrases in context (e.g., take steps).
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.5.b Identify real-life connections between words and their use (e.g., describe people who are friendly or helpful).
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.5.c Distinguish shades of meaning among related words that describe states of mind or degrees of certainty (e.g., knew, believed, suspected, heard, wondered).
WITS ALIGNMENT:

Students will be able to consider the literal and nonliteral meanings of words and also incorporate nuanced language in their poetry. WITS prompts require students to draw upon experiences and observations to identify real-life connections between words and their use. Many WITS prompts are structured so that students will be able to distinguish shades of meaning among related words that describe states of mind or degrees of certainty.

Vocabulary Acquisition and Use, part 3:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.6 Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate conversational, general academic, and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal spatial and temporal relationships (e.g., After dinner that night we went looking for them).

WITS ALIGNMENT:

Visiting writers will read model poems aloud to the students, calling attention to phrases that signal spatial and temporal relationships. Students will then incorporate vocabulary and phrases from these works into their own poems. Students will be asked to focus their attention toward writing domain-specific words and phrases, especially those that signal spatial and temporal relationships.

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Grade 2 Common Core Reading Standards Alignment: Foundational Skills & Literature

Foundational Skills – Phonics and Word Recognition:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.3.3 Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.

WITS ALIGNMENT:

By using word banks and other tools, visiting writers require students to be able to identify and decode unfamiliar words.

Foundational Skills – Fluency:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.3.4 Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.

WITS ALIGNMENT:

At the conclusion of each prompt, students are encouraged to take turns reading their poems aloud to the class.

Literature – Key Ideas and Details:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.1 Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

WITS ALIGNMENT:

Visiting writers develop prompts using published poems as models. Through these activities, students will observe how a poem is crafted and incorporate the characteristics, patterns, ideas, and/or themes they observe into their own work.

Literature – Key Ideas and Details, continued:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.2 Recount stories, 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.

WITS ALIGNMENT:

Visiting writers ask students to write poems based on familiar stories, fables, and folktales. Students will be able to create these poems by focusing on key details in the original source.

Literature – Craft and Structure:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language.

WITS ALIGNMENT:

WITS prompts are designed so that students will be able to explore and describe their physical world by consciously employing both literal and nonliteral language.

Literature – Craft and Structure, part 2:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.5 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.

WITS ALIGNMENT:

Visiting writers develop prompts that call attention to form, requiring students to use stanzas and focus on sections. Students are then able to identify the relationships between stanzas and/or sections.

Literature – Craft and Structure, part 3:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.6 Distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters.

WITS ALIGNMENT:

Visiting writers introduce prompts that require students to use personas in order to distinguish themselves from the narrators of their poems.

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, at the high end of the grades 2-3 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

WITS ALIGNMENT:

Visiting writers introduce students to published poems both at grade-level and above grade-level. This contributes to students reading, comprehending, and seeking out advanced texts by the end of the academic year.

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Grade 3 Common Core Speaking & Listening Standards Alignment

Comprehension and Collaboration:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.1.a Come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation and other information known about the topic to explore ideas under discussion.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.1.b Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion).
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.1.c Ask questions to check understanding of information presented, stay on topic, and link their comments to the remarks of others.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.1.d Explain their own ideas and understanding in light of the discussion.
WITS ALIGNMENT:

Visiting writers lead a discussion about poetry, poetic terms, and creative writing with the students. Students will be able to listen to the writers, participate in guided discussion, and ask questions for clarification. Students also will be able to take turns sharing their work aloud after each exercise. Visiting writers emphasize the importance of careful and respectful listening while fellow students are reading aloud.

Comprehension and Collaboration, part 2:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.2 Determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

WITS ALIGNMENT:

Visiting writers will read model poems aloud to the students. Students are then asked to recount key ideas and details from the work.

Comprehension and Collaboration, part 3:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.3 Ask and answer questions about information from a speaker, offering appropriate elaboration and detail.

WITS ALIGNMENT:

Visiting writers encourage students to ask for clarification, additional information, and foster conversation leading toward a deeper understanding of language and poetry. Students are encouraged to provide elaboration and ask questions.

Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.3.4 Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace.

WITS ALIGNMENT:

At the conclusion of each prompt, students are given the opportunity to read their poems aloud.

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Grade 3 Common Core Writing Standards Alignment

Text Types and Purposes:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

WITS ALIGNMENT:

Visiting writers present prompts that ask students to write narrative poems and encourage the use of descriptive details, thoughts, feelings, linear or non-linear sequencing, and/or a conclusion. Specificity is emphasized and encouraged. Many prompts are designed so that students will employ temporal words and phrases, calling attention to the relationship between events or thoughts (or the relationship between thought and event), and signaling closure at the poem’s conclusion.

Production and Distribution of Writing:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.4 With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose.

WITS ALIGNMENT:

Visiting writers guide and support students as they follow prompts appropriate to their grade level to produce original writing.

Production and Distribution of Writing, continued:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.5 With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing.

WITS ALIGNMENT:

Visiting writers walk around the room and spend one-on-one time with students as they work on their poems. Visiting writers also introduce students to revision techniques such as replacing weak, vague verbs with strong, specific verbs, improving descriptions by choosing more specific language, and/or removing lines from their poems. Students are also encouraged to play with syntax and re-order their lines. Many WITS prompts are designed with a built-in revision component.

Research to Build and Present Knowledge:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.8 Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories.

WITS ALIGNMENT:

Many prompts are designed for students to draw upon their own knowledge, experiences, and observations. When making their poems, students synthesize their own experiences and knowledge with the forms and techniques presented by visiting writers in model poems.

Range of Writing:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.10 Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

WITS ALIGNMENT:

Students will be able to write poems from a variety of prompts over short time frames (each prompt ranges from 2 to 15 minutes). Prompts are presented using published poems as models. Visiting writers guide students in a discussion about the model poem’s purpose and intended audience, and students will be able to write with a specific purpose and for a specific audience.