CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.3c
The Standard
Use temporal words and phrases to signal event order.
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts
What This Standard Means
Students need to show time order clearly in a story. They should use words and phrases like first, later, after dinner, the next morning, finally, and a few minutes later. The goal is not to add fancy words. The goal is to help the reader follow what happened and when.
Mastery looks like a narrative where events move in a clear sequence without the reader getting lost. Students often repeat then too much, skip over time changes, or use time words that do not match the event order. They may also list events instead of building a story with connected moments.
Ways to Teach It
- Give pairs mixed-up story sentence strips and have them reorder the events, then add one temporal phrase to each sentence.
- Ask students to write about a time they lost something, using at least five different time words or phrases.
- Have students highlight the temporal words in their draft and put a star where the order still feels unclear.
- Read a simple recipe or game directions and circle the words that show what happens first, next, and last.
Plan a Lesson for CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.3c
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What This Unlocks
Mastery here sets students up for these next.
Related Standards
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.7.3c
Use a variety of transition words, phrases, and clauses to convey sequence and signal shifts from one time frame or setting to another.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.6.3c
Use a variety of transition words, phrases, and clauses to convey sequence and signal shifts from one time frame or setting to another.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.3c
Use a variety of transitional words, phrases, and clauses to manage the sequence of events.