CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.3

ELA3rd GradeKey Ideas and Details

The Standard

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.

Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · Reading Standards for Informational Text

What This Standard Means

Students need to explain how events, ideas, or steps connect in an informational text. They should use words like first, next, after, because, so, as a result, and caused by. They are not just listing facts. They are showing how one part leads to, follows, or affects another.

Mastery looks like a clear oral or written explanation of the chain in the text. Students can point to sentences that prove the order or cause. Common sticking points are retelling every detail, mixing up time order, and using because when the text only shows sequence.

Ways to Teach It

  • Have students cut apart sentences from a short life cycle passage and arrange them in order with arrows and signal words.
  • Ask students to write: What happened first, what happened next, and what changed because of it?
  • Give three events from a paragraph and have students label each connection as time, sequence, or cause and effect.
  • Use a simple recipe card and ask students what would happen if one step were skipped or moved.

Before This Standard

If students are struggling here, check these first.

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What This Unlocks

Mastery here sets students up for these next.

Related Standards

Standard text verified against corestandards.org on July 10, 2026.

Page updated July 10, 2026.

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