Reading: Informational Text
The Reading: Informational Text domain of the Grade 3 OST ELA tests how you read short articles, biographies, how-to texts, and content-area passages. You will identify main ideas and key details, explain how ideas connect, use text features, interpret vocabulary, and compare two texts on the same topic. Correct answers are supported by the passage, not by outside knowledge alone.
Main idea and key details
The main idea is what the whole text is mostly about; it is broader than any one detail. A key detail supports or explains it. Ask: "If I remove this detail, does the main idea still stand?" If yes, it may be interesting but not key. For a sequence, retell steps in order; for cause and effect, name what happened and why.
Text features and text structure
Headings announce sections; captions explain pictures; diagrams label parts; maps show places; tables organize data; glossaries define words; indexes list page numbers. Structure is how the author organizes ideas: sequence, cause/effect, compare/contrast, or problem/solution. Recognizing structure helps you predict what comes next and find evidence.
Vocabulary and author's point
Use context clues in the same sentence or nearby sentences. Domain words are often defined right after a dash or in a glossary. The author's point is what the author wants you to believe; reasons and evidence support it. Do not confuse the topic with the point.
Worked example
Read: "Beavers build dams across streams. The dams slow water and create ponds. Those ponds become homes for fish, insects, and birds." Question: Which detail best supports the idea that beaver dams change a habitat? Reasoning: the detail about dams slowing water and creating ponds explains a change to the environment; a detail about beaver teeth, if present, would describe the animal but not habitat change. The pond-and-animals detail is the support.
Traps that cost marks
Choosing a single detail as the main idea; ignoring a caption that contains the answer; calling a sequence a cause; guessing a word from how it sounds instead of context; naming the topic when asked for the author's point.