Grade 3 Word Study Curriculum

Family-facing version of the grade 3 Word Study curriculum

On This Page

Quarterly Overview of Grade 3 Word Study

The objectives and outcomes for each unit are common across FCPS and based on the Virginia Standards of Learning. The pacing by quarter and by week provides an example of how the curriculum can be organized throughout the year. Teacher teams may adjust the pacing or order of units to best meet the needs of students.

View the School Year Calendar
Week 1Week 2Week 3 Week 4Week 5Week 6 Week 7Week 8Week 9
Quarter 1
Quarter 2
Quarter 3
Quarter 4

Units and Details

Unit 1: Building a Community of Word Learners

Students will be able to: 

  • Use knowledge of regular and irregular vowel patterns.
  • Decode regular multisyllabic words.                
  • Use knowledge of roots, affixes, synonyms, and antonyms to determine the meaning of new words.

Unit 2: Directional Prefixes and Open Syllables

Students will be able to: 

  • Use knowledge of regular and irregular vowel patterns.
  • Decode regular multisyllabic words.                
  • Use knowledge of roots, affixes, synonyms, and antonyms to determine the meaning of new words.

Unit 3: Directional Prefixes and Closed Syllables

Students will be able to: 

  • Use knowledge of regular and irregular vowel patterns.
  • Decode regular multisyllabic words.                
  • Use knowledge of roots, affixes, synonyms, and antonyms to determine the meaning of new words.

Unit 4: Size and Quantity Prefixes

Students will be able to: 

  • Use knowledge of regular and irregular vowel patterns.
  • Decode regular multisyllabic words.                
  • Use knowledge of roots, affixes, synonyms, and antonyms to determine the meaning of new words.

Unit 5: Homophones

Students will be able to: 

  • Use knowledge of regular and irregular vowel patterns.
  • Decode regular multisyllabic words.            
  • Use knowledge of roots, affixes, synonyms, and antonyms to determine the meaning of new words.
  • Use knowledge of homophones.

Unit 6: Singular Possessives and Contractions with Pronouns

Students will be able to: 

  • Use knowledge of regular and irregular vowel patterns.
  • Decode regular multisyllabic words.                
  • Use knowledge of roots, affixes, synonyms, and antonyms to determine the meaning of new words.
  • Use singular possessives.
  • Use apostrophes in contractions with pronouns and in possessives.

Unit 7: Noun Suffixes and R-Controlled Syllables

Students will be able to: 

  • Use knowledge of regular and irregular vowel patterns.
  • Decode regular multisyllabic words.                
  • Use knowledge of roots, affixes, synonyms, and antonyms to determine the meaning of new words.

Unit 8: Adjective Suffixes and Consonant -ie Syllables

Students will be able to: 

  • Use knowledge of regular and irregular vowel patterns.
  • Decode regular multisyllabic words.                
  • Use knowledge of roots, affixes, synonyms, and antonyms to determine the meaning of new words.

Unit 9: Adverb Suffixes

Students will be able to: 

  • Use knowledge of regular and irregular vowel patterns.
  • Decode regular multisyllabic words.                
  • Use knowledge of roots, affixes, synonyms, and antonyms to determine the meaning of new words.

Unit 10: Irregular Plurals and Past Tense Verbs

Students will be able to: 

  • Use knowledge of regular and irregular vowel patterns.
  • Decode regular multisyllabic words.                
  • Use knowledge of roots, affixes, synonyms, and antonyms to determine the meaning of new words.
  • Use past and present verb tense.
  • Use correct spelling including irregular plurals.

Unit 11: Negative Prefixes

Students will be able to: 

  • Use knowledge of regular and irregular vowel patterns.
  • Decode regular multisyllabic words.                
  • Use knowledge of roots, affixes, synonyms, and antonyms to determine the meaning of new words.

Unit 12: Word Roots with One Form

Students will be able to: 

  • Use knowledge of regular and irregular vowel patterns.
  • Decode regular multisyllabic words.                
  • Use knowledge of roots, affixes, synonyms, and antonyms to determine the meaning of new words.

Unit 13: Word Roots with Two Forms

Students will be able to: 

  • Use knowledge of regular and irregular vowel patterns.
  • Decode regular multisyllabic words.                
  • Use knowledge of roots, affixes, synonyms, and antonyms to determine the meaning of new words.

Virginia Department of Education Resources

English Language Arts Standards of Learning

Literacy Resources for Families and Communities

Assessments

Student assessments are part of the teaching and learning process.

  • Teachers give assessments to students on an ongoing basis to
    • Check for understanding 
    • Gather information about students' knowledge or skills.
  • Assessments provide information about a child's development of knowledge and skills that can help families and teachers better plan for the next steps in instruction.

For testing questions or additional information about how schools and teachers use test results to support student success, families can contact their children's schools.

In Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), grade 3 tests focus on measuring content knowledge and skill development.

Learn more about Grade 3 Student Tests and Assessments in FCPS
Looking for other grade 3 information?

Health

Language Arts
Reading
Writing
Word Study

Mathematics
Advanced Mathematics

Science

Social Studies

Other grade level curriculum information

Equitable Access to Literacy Plan