Third grade reading skills

Hello parents, this is Coach V from TAG—The Academic Gym. Third grade reading skills set the foundation for the rest of a child's academic career. Failure here can be devastating in school and in life. In third grade, your child is expected to read, spell, and write with growing independence and fluency. According to the New York State Next Generation Standards (which align closely with Common Core), third graders should be building on foundational skills like phonological awareness, alphabetic understanding, and syllabic recognition. However, many students—especially those affected by pandemic-related learning gaps—may need to revisit these early skills to succeed.

At TAG, we emphasize four key areas: phonological awareness (hearing and breaking down sounds), alphabetic awareness (knowing that letters spell sounds), syllabic awareness (recognizing chunks of sounds), and phonemic awareness (identifying individual sounds). These skills help children decode, spell, and comprehend words more effectively. Our syllable tables—like math tables for reading—teach students how to break down and spell thousands of words. When kids master these patterns, they read faster, spell better, and gain confidence across all subjects.