English Language Arts — Grade 3

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The connection between poetry and music

In this lesson, students acquire knowledge and appreciation for beat and meter in poetry by listening to poems that are read aloud. After the teacher reads the poem, students evaluate the rhythm and line breaks by clapping their hands or tapping their feet.... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Composing cinquain poems with basic parts of speech

After learning about the parts of speech, students explore the cinquain poem, a type of poetry that uses nouns, verbs, and adjectives in a specific order. Students evaluate several sample cinquain poems for structure and similar characteristics. Using a... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Compiling poetry collections and a working definition of poetry

This ReadWriteThink lesson introduces poetry forms and craft elements while students explore poetry about everyday topics or themes. Focusing on poetry in this way allows students to delve deeply into their own creativity. When students have the opportunity... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Color Poems--Using the Five Senses to Guide Prewriting

In this lesson from ReadWriteThink, students are asked to think about colors, while imagining what they taste, feel, smell, sound, and look like. The students use their five senses as a prewriting tool to guide their poetry writing. This lesson is open-ended... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Can you haiku?

Haiku poems show us the world in a water drop, providing a tiny lens through which to glimpse the miracle and mystery of life. Combining close observation with a moment of reflection, this simple yet highly sophisticated form of poetry can help sharpen... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provided by: EDSITEment

Building classroom community through the exploration of acrostic poetry

In this lesson that builds classroom community, the teacher explains the format of an acrostic poem and models the process of writing this style of poetry in a collaborative class activity. The teacher then engages students in a discussion about how an... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Bridging literature and mathematics by visualizing mathematical concepts

During interactive read-aloud sessions that explore Actual Size and If You Hopped Like a Frog, students identify and analyze elements of author’s craft in conveying mathematical information... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts and Mathematics)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Born on a mountaintop? Davy Crockett, tall tales, and history

The culminating activity in this unit is the student creation of tall tales. Such tales are built by combining the fictional element of exaggeration with historical elements of nostalgia about the past and anxiety about the future. John Henry, for example,... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

Provided by: EDSITEment

Blending fiction and nonfiction to improve comprehension and writing skills

This ReadWriteThink lesson supports the use of a text set (paired fiction and nonfiction texts on a similar topic) to increase student interest in and understanding of content area material and to develop critical writing skills. The more familiar format... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Author study: Improving reading comprehension using inference and comparison

In groups, students read books by Paul Goble and discuss their impressions of the author. Then, as a class, students present their impressions of the author based on the content of his books. After explaining that authors tell stories that interest them... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

All about our town: Using brochures to teach informational writing

Students look at brochures and other informational tools to determine some of the purposes for which people read and write. After students brainstorm places in their town that fit certain categories created by the teacher, they examine sample brochures.... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 Visual Arts Education and English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Alaska Native stories: Using narrative to introduce expository text

Students debate the role of narrative text versus expository text to provide information on animal species. After students make a KWLQ chart about sandhill cranes, they listen to John Active tell the Yu’pik tale, “Crane and His Blue Eyes”. The... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink