South Dakota ELA 3.RL.4

ELA3rd GradeReading Literature

The Standard

Identify and explain the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language.

South Dakota English Language Arts Standards (2025)

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students figure out what a word or phrase means in a story by looking at nearby details. They tell whether it describes something that really happened or means something else.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student reads, 'When everyone shouted at once, the classroom was a zoo,' and explains that the room was noisy, not full of animals. They point to 'everyone shouted' as a clue.
Common Misconceptions: Students may picture actual animals when they read 'the classroom was a zoo.' They may also know what an expression means but struggle to point to the words that helped them figure it out.
How to Assess It: Read: 'Before her turn onstage, Mia had butterflies in her stomach.' Ask students to write what the phrase means, whether the butterflies are real, and which words helped them decide.

Lesson moves

Give pairs two sticky notes to sketch real butterflies and nervous feelings beside the sentence about Mia's turn onstage.
Ask partners: 'Why does the writer call the noisy classroom a zoo? Which words help you tell?'
Play a card sort with 'My backpack weighs a ton' and 'The truck carries a ton of gravel'; students explain each choice.
Show a lunch poster reading 'Our pizza is out of this world'; have students write what the cook means.

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