South Dakota ELA 3.L.5

ELA3rd GradeLanguage

The Standard

Demonstrate understanding of word relationships and subtle differences in word meanings. Distinguish the literal and nonliteral meanings of words and phrases in context. Identify real-life connections between words and their use (e.g., describe people who are friendly or helpful). Distinguish subtle differences among closely related words that describe states of mind or degrees of certainty (e.g., knew, believed, suspected, heard, wondered).

South Dakota English Language Arts Standards (2025)

Teacher's field guide

What This Standard Means

What Students Need to Do: Students use context to tell when a phrase means exactly what it says and when it means something else. They connect describing words to people they know and choose words that show how sure someone is.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student explains why “butterflies in my stomach” means nervous, not real insects. They describe an action that makes someone helpful and use “suspected” instead of “knew” when someone has a hunch but no proof.
Common Misconceptions: Some students picture real insects when they read “butterflies in my stomach.” Others treat “heard” as proof that something is true, or use “suspected” and “knew” as if they mean the same thing.
How to Assess It: On an exit ticket, write: “Before the race, Leo had butterflies in his stomach. He suspected he might win.” Ask students to explain the phrase, tell how sure Leo is, and name an action that makes someone helpful.

Lesson moves

Ways to Teach It

Give pairs sentence cards about real butterflies and “butterflies in my stomach”; have them sort literal from nonliteral meanings and underline clues.
Ask students to write two sentences about a missing lunchbox, one using “knew” and one using “suspected,” then explain the difference.
Play a word swap game: replace “wondered” in “I wondered if it would rain” with “knew,” “believed,” or “heard,” then explain the change.
Ask students to name a helpful person at school and write the specific action that makes “helpful” the right word.

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