Grades 3-5 Common Core ELA Resources

The Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts for Grades 3-5 emphasize the need to provide all students with consistent opportunities to confront and comprehend grade-level complex text—through individual reading, through read-alouds, or as a group reading activity. Although this may require extra scaffolding for some students, all students should have an opportunity to engage with complex text as a member of a class.

Characteristics of high-quality reading materials for Grades 3-5:

• appropriately complex texts
• contain more sophisticated academic vocabulary
• lend themselves to more complex tasks
• able to support rich dialogue
• well-written and, as appropriate, richly illustrated
• appeal to students’ interests (“texts of their choice”)
• wide range of materials on a variety of topics and genres
• vary in length and density
• at students’ own reading levels as well as complexity levels that will challenge and motivate students

National Geographic's many award-winning nonfiction materials—from children's books to classroom magazines to interactive digital products—provide upper elementary students with opportunities to practice the foundational reading skills required to achieve fluency and comprehension.