MCAS ELA Grade 3 common mistakes
MCAS ELA Grade 3 · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
When asked 'What is this story mostly about?', the student retells the whole plot in order (first, then, next, finally) instead of stating the big idea in one sentence.
Grade 3 readers treat 'mostly about' as 'tell me what happened.' Retelling is the reading behaviour they practise most, and plot details are the easiest things to remember, so they mistake sequence for main idea.
What to do instead
Practise the 'cover-up' test: after reading, cover the text and say the whole story in one breath ('This story is about a girl who learns to ask for help'). Then list three details that support that sentence. Do this with short passages daily, and have the student sort a set of detail cards into 'supports the main idea' vs 'interesting but not the main idea'.
The student answers an open-response question with a personal opinion or a general statement ('I think animals are nice') instead of a claim tied to the passage, and never quotes or points to the text.
Grade 3 writers are still learning that evidence is expected. They also confuse 'respond to the text' with 'tell about your own life,' a habit reinforced by journal writing and personal narratives.
What to do instead
Teach a two-part answer frame: 'My idea is ___. In the passage it says ___.' Require the second blank every time, even in conversation. Have the student highlight the exact sentence in the passage before writing, then copy a short phrase from it. Score practice answers with a two-point checklist: idea stated? text evidence included?
On multiple-choice items, the student picks the first answer that sounds true or familiar and moves on without reading the other options or going back to the passage.
Grade 3 test items often include one option that is true about the topic but not supported by the passage, and another that is true in general life. Students who read only until they find a 'yes' fall for these distractors; stamina and time pressure make it worse.
What to do instead
Practise 'read all four, then choose' with a physical routine: cross out two options that cannot be right, then compare the remaining two against a specific paragraph. Build a distractor drill where the student explains in one sentence why each wrong option is wrong. Time practice so the student learns to spend the extra 20 seconds.
The student cannot answer 'Which sentence from the passage best shows that ___?' because they search for the exact words of the question rather than the idea.
Grade 3 readers use word-matching as their main comprehension strategy. When the question paraphrases ('shows that the character was nervous') and the passage says 'her hands shook,' the match fails and the student guesses.
What to do instead
Teach paraphrase-to-text matching explicitly: rewrite the question in kid language ('nervous = how would the body look?'), brainstorm the words the author might use (shook, sweaty, stomach dropped), then scan for those. Do paired practice with two-column charts: 'question words' vs 'author words.'
The student writes a narrative that is a list of events ('I woke up. I ate. I went to school.') with no problem, no character feeling, and no ending that resolves anything.
Third graders often write 'and then' chains because they equate length with quality. They have not yet internalised story structure as a planning tool, and planning time is usually skipped under test conditions.
What to do instead
Require a three-box plan before drafting: somebody / wanted / but / so / then. Practise with a picture book the student already knows, filling in the boxes, then writing only the 'but' moment as a full scene. Revise one list-like draft by adding one feeling sentence and one line of dialogue.
In opinion writing, the student states a position and then gives reasons that are actually restatements of the position ('I think recess should be longer because it should be longer') or gives no reasons at all.
Grade 3 writers are learning the difference between a reason and a repetition. They also run out of ideas quickly because they have not been taught to generate reasons from categories (health, learning, fairness, fun).
What to do instead
Use a reason-generator chart with those four categories and require two different categories per essay. Teach the 'because-but-not-the-same-words' rule: if the reason contains the opinion word, rewrite it. Have the student peer-check with the question 'Does this reason tell me WHY, or just say it again?'
The student's writing has capital letters and periods only at the start and end of the whole piece, with run-on sentences joined by 'and' or 'so' throughout.
Grade 3 conventions are still developing; students write in thought units, not sentence units. On-demand writing removes the revision habit of reading aloud, so errors survive.
What to do instead
Do daily one-sentence dictation and sentence-boundary hunts: give a paragraph with missing periods and have the student mark where a complete thought ends. Teach the 'read it out loud and stop where you breathe' test, then check each stop has an end mark and a capital. Limit the editing checklist to three items so it is actually used.
The student spells high-frequency and grade-level words inconsistently (wuz, sed, becuz, frend) and does not attempt unknown words, leaving blanks or scribbles.
Third graders increasingly rely on sound-it-out spelling, which produces phonetic spellings for irregular words. Fear of being wrong leads some students to avoid words entirely, which lowers scores on both spelling and vocabulary items.
What to do instead
Build a personal word wall of the 50 most frequent misspellings from the student's own writing and quiz five per day. Teach 'say it, stretch it, try it, check it' so no word is left blank. For irregular words, use the 'look, cover, write, check' routine rather than phonics alone.
The student skips the editing and revising stage entirely, turning in the first draft, and loses points on grammar, usage, and organisation items.
Under time pressure, students treat finishing the draft as finishing the task. Grade 3 students also do not yet know what to look for when revising, so revision feels like copying over.
What to do instead
Practise a fixed two-pass routine with different colours: pass one for content (add a detail, fix the order), pass two for conventions (capitals, end marks, spelling). Use a short mnemonic checklist posted on the desk. Rehearse the whole cycle on timed prompts so the routine survives test day.
The student uses vocabulary items by guessing from the word's shape or a familiar root without checking the sentence context, e.g. choosing 'happy' for 'content' in a passage about a full stomach.
Grade 3 vocabulary questions test multiple meanings and context clues, but students apply a single memorised meaning. They also ignore surrounding words that signal the correct sense.
What to do instead
Teach the substitution test: put each answer choice into the sentence and read it back to see if it makes sense. Practise with words that have two meanings (light, bat, spring, content) in contrasting sentences. Require the student to underline the context words that helped before choosing.