Virginia SOL 3.W

3.W is a Standards of Learning standard. These are the knowledge and skills expectations under it.

• 3.W.1

  Modes and Purposes for Writing

• 3.W.1.A

  Recognize different forms of writing (narrative, expository, and opinion) have distinctive patterns of organization to support their purpose.

• 3.W.1.B

  Write personal or fictional narratives that organize event sequences that unfold naturally.

• 3.W.1.C

  Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic that develops the topic with facts and details.

• 3.W.1.D

  Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with facts and reasons.

• 3.W.1.E

  Write in response to text(s) read or heard to share thinking using supporting details from the text.

• 3.W.2

  Organization and Composition

• 3.W.2.A.i

  Writing a clear topic sentence focusing on a main idea.

• 3.W.2.A.ii

  Developing, selecting, and organizing ideas relevant to topic, audience,purpose, and genre.

• 3.W.2.A.iii

  Elaborating writing by including supporting details.

• 3.W.2.A.iv

  Using transition words to vary sentence structure.

• 3.W.2.A.v

  Providing a concluding statement.

• 3.W.3

  Usage and Mechanics

• 3.W.3.A

  With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by revising for quality of ideas, organization, sentence fluency, and ...

• 3.W.3.B

  With guidance and support from peers and adults, edit writing for format and conventions such as capitalization, usage, punctuation, and spelling. (See Language...

01

What Students Need to Do

Students write narratives, informational pieces, and opinions for a clear audience and purpose. They organize a paragraph around one main idea, using relevant details, transitions, and a conclusion. They respond to texts with evidence, then revise and edit their work.

02

What Mastery Looks Like

Students choose an organization that fits a narrative, informational, or opinion piece. They write a focused paragraph with a topic sentence, relevant details, transitions, and a conclusion. They revise ideas and organization, then edit spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and usage.

03

Common Misconceptions

Students may mix forms, such as giving opinions without reasons or listing facts instead of explaining them. They may confuse a topic sentence with a title, use transitions randomly, or add unrelated details. Revising and editing are often treated as the same step.

04

How to Assess It

Give students a short passage and ask: “Do you agree with the character’s choice? Write one paragraph with a clear opinion, two text details, transitions, and a conclusion.”

1. 01

   Give groups mixed sentence strips from one paragraph, then have them arrange the topic sentence, details, transitions, and conclusion.

2. 02

   Read a short story, then ask students to write whether the main character made a good choice, using two story details.

3. 03

   Play Paragraph Sort by having teams place sample sentences under narrative, informational, or opinion headings and explain each choice.

4. 04

   Have students write a school lunch suggestion for the principal, supported by two reasons and a concluding request.

• 4.W

  The student will compose various works for diverse audiences and purposes, linked to grade four content and texts. 

• 7.W

  The student will compose various works for diverse audiences and purposes, linked to grade seven content and texts.

• 5.W

  The student will compose various works for diverse audiences and purposes, linked to grade five content and texts.

• 6.W

  The student will compose various works for diverse audiences and purposes, linked to grade six content and texts.