English Language Arts — Grade 3

Resources on the web

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

Cinderella folk tales: Variations in plot and setting

In this lesson from EDSITEment, students compare and contrast several versions of Cinderella stories told around the world to find differences and similarities in plot and setting. (Learn more)

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

Provided by: EDSITEment

Cinderella folk tales: Variations in character

In this lesson from EDSITEment, students compare and contrast several versions of Cinderella stories told around the world to find differences and similarities in character traits. (Learn more)

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

Provided by: EDSITEment

Charting characters for a more complete understanding of the story

This ReadWriteThink lesson introduces the instructional strategy of Character Perspective Charting. This method is designed to reflect the actual complexity of stories that may not be reflected by the use of traditional story maps. A practical instructional... (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

Buzz! Whiz! Bang! Using comic books to teach onomatopoeia

In this lesson, students use comic strips to find onomatopoetic words, develop a vocabulary list from the words, and discuss why writers use onomatopoeia. In the introductory activity, students listen for words that imitate the natural sound associated... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Bright Morning: Exploring character development in fiction

This lesson uses Scott O'Dell's Sing Down the Moon to explore character traits and identify textual support. After students have read the book, the teacher challenges them to describe the character Bright Morning to someone... (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

Book report alternative: The elements of fiction

In this lesson from ReadWriteThink, students review the elements of fiction and the key components of a book report. They identify and share these concepts by writing and illustrating their own mini-book based on a fiction book they have chosen to read.... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Book report alternative: Examining story elements using story map comic strips

In this lesson, from ReadWriteThink, students use a six-paneled comic strip to create a story map, summarizing a book or story that they've either read as a class or independently. The story strips that result provide a great way to evaluate student's understanding... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Behind the scenes with Cinderella

This lesson from ReadWriteThink begins by having students compare a version of the Cinderella folk tale from France with a version from the United States to help students make connections between the characters, setting, and plot. The lesson then focuses... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Alter egos and more with Avi's "Who Was That Masked Man, Anyway?"

In this lesson, students read Who Was That Masked Man, Anyway? and study the history of radio shows. After students have read the story, they work together to chart the plot of the story. Then students compare it to other... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: ReadWriteThink