South Dakota ELA 3.RI.9

ELA3rd GradeReading Informational Text

The Standard

Compare and contrast the main ideas and key details presented in two texts on the same topic.

South Dakota English Language Arts Standards (2025)

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students read two texts about the same topic. They tell what each text mainly says, then find details the texts share and details that differ.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can state each text’s main idea in their own words. They can point to details in both texts that support a similarity or difference.
Common Misconceptions: Students may name the topic, such as beavers, instead of saying what each text teaches about beavers. They may call a detail different when the texts say the same thing in different words.
How to Assess It: Display two texts: A, “Beavers build dams with branches. The dams slow streams and make ponds.” B, “Beaver dams slow streams and make ponds. The ponds give frogs a place to live.” Ask, “What is each text mainly about? Which detail appears in both, and which appears in only one?”

Lesson moves

Give pairs two short beaver passages and sticky notes labeled Both, A, and B; have them sort details from the passages.
After reading two passages about beaver dams, ask, “What does each passage teach about dams, and which sentence supports your answer?”
Play Detail Match: read lines from two beaver passages, then have students hold up A, B, or Both cards.
Print tomorrow’s weather forecasts from two sites; have students write each forecast’s main message and circle one detail that differs.

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A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 3.RI.9, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

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