Reading benchmarks · by grade
Third grade reading benchmarks
3rd grade is the shift from learning to read to reading to learn: chapter books, prefixes and suffixes, and talking about what they've read. In the published fluency norms the middle 3rd grader reads 83 words correct per minute at the start of the year, 97 in the middle and 112 at the end. The Dolch third grade list, the last of the five, has 41 words.
3rd grade benchmarks
Figures from the published fluency norms and the Dolch lists. Each line says where it comes from.
- Fluency midpoint, end of year
112 words correct per minute (50th percentile, spring)
Hasbrouck & Tindal (2017). The full table by season is below.
- Dolch third grade list
41 words
Usually taught: third grade. Most can be sounded out, so phonics and sight words grow together.
- How US schools check
No national check: state screeners instead
Most states screen early readers during the year with tools such as DIBELS or Acadience, which look at letter-sound fluency, nonsense-word reading and oral reading fluency. Ask the school what their screener shows; you don't need a result from this page to ask.
| Percentile | Fall | Winter | Spring |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90th | 134 | 161 | 166 |
| 75th | 104 | 137 | 139 |
| 50th | 83 | 97 | 112 |
| 25th | 59 | 79 | 91 |
| 10th | 40 | 62 | 63 |
The 50th percentile is the middle of the group, not a pass mark. A score at or above a column's value reaches that percentile.
Run a one-minute reading at home
3rd grade is already picked. Time your child reading an unpracticed passage aloud for one minute, count the words and the mistakes, and see where that sits in the table for this time of year.
If they're below that line
If your child reads below the lower columns, check it again on another day with a fresh passage. If it holds, act now rather than waiting: ask the teacher what the school screener shows and what support is available, and look at accuracy before speed.
Practise long words in chunks (un-for-tun-ate-ly), re-read short passages, and keep the sight words that are left on a small daily pile.
This is not a diagnosis
This is not a diagnosis or an assessment, and a reassuring result doesn't rule anything out. Children learn to read on different timelines. If you're worried about your child's reading, talk to your child's teacher. The figures on this page describe groups of children, not a line your child has to cross by a certain date.
Frequently asked questions
Is 3rd grade too late to fix reading problems?
It isn't too late to work on them. The work is the same as for a younger child: find the first pattern that isn't secure and practise it daily, with books that look their age. Specific skills respond well to targeted daily practice.
What does reading to learn mean for my 3rd grader?
More of what they learn at school starts to come through reading: science, history and word problems. A child who still works hard to decode has less attention left for understanding, which is why accuracy and fluency are worth checking now.
What if my 3rd grader is below the 10th percentile?
One home reading can be off, so check again with fresh passages on two different days. If it holds, it's worth acting on now: talk to the teacher, ask about the school's screener and support, and use the phonics skill check to see where decoding breaks down.
Free: reading fluency by grade: a one-page chart
Typical end-of-year reading speed for grades 1–6 with the published source, how to read the numbers, and suggested daily reading time. One printable page.
We'll email you the reading fluency by grade chart, a few short reading tips over the next month, then at most one monthly roundup of new guides. Unsubscribe anytime.
Where the numbers come from
- Hasbrouck, J. & Tindal, G. (2017). An Update to Compiled ORF Norms (Technical Report No. 1702). Behavioral Research and Teaching, University of Oregon. Table 4: Compiled ORF Norms 2017 (report p. 10).
- Dolch, E. W. (1936). A basic sight vocabulary. The Elementary School Journal.
- Dolch, E. W. (1948). Problems in Reading. Champaign, IL: Garrard Press.