Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
By the end of third grade, your child should have developed the following skill set.
Listening Skills
- Listens well in groups and group settings
- Understands what’s being taught in class
Talking Skills
- Asks and answers posed questions
- Uses words taught in subjects such as science, math and social studies
- Stays on topic and introduces new or related topics
- Paraphrases a story correctly
- Talks about what he or she learned in school
- Knows how to talk appropriately in different places (such as using a “quiet” voice in the library versus an “outside” voice on the playground
Reading Skills
- Sounds out new words
- Reads third-grade-level fiction and nonfiction books with ease
- Reads smoothly without excessive pausing
- Reads words consistently and makes corrections if needed
- Uses story clues and supporting words to figure out what new words mean
- Predicts what will happen next in a story
- Asks and answers questions about books
- Uses what he or she knows to understand new material
Writing Skills
- Writes stories, letters, simple explanations and short reports
- Plans and edits what he or she writes
- Uses details in writing
- Spells basic words correctly
- Corrects most spelling mistakes and uses a dictionary or online resource when needed
- Writes in cursive (although this can vary based on state curriculums)
- Uses a computer for writing and can search for letters on the keyboard
