English Language Arts — Grade 3

Beans and how they grow

The students will incorporate computer skills, math, and literature with books such as: Miss Rumphius and The Reason for a Flower.

Format: lesson plan (grade 3 English Language Arts, Computer Technology Skills, and Science)

By Betty Black.

Cause and effect

Students will identify and interpret cause and effect as expressed in poetry.

Format: lesson plan (grade 3 English Language Arts)

By Rochelle Mullis.

"Kid-Created" Biographies

In this lesson plan, the students will create biographies on the people they know best-- their teachers! The students will use various skills to collect information, organize details, publish the biographies and present the information.

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–4 Information Skills, English Language Arts, and Computer Technology Skills)

By Gregg Farr, Lynn Beatty, and Tricia Freeze.

Positively Poetry: Part 6

Students will be learning about and writing limericks. Since limericks follow a strict rhyming pattern and word count, the students will work in partners to create their own limericks.

Format: lesson plan (grade 3 Information Skills, English Language Arts, and Computer Technology Skills)

By Maribeth Warren, Pam Purifoy, and Tracy Dagenhart.

Visualizations: Black poet, Langston Hughes

Third grade or fourth grade students will have an opportunity to read and appreciate selected poetry of the African-American poet, Langston Hughes.

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–4 Information Skills, English Language Arts, and Social Studies)

By Floanna Long.

Lesson plans on the web

3, 2, 1...Blast off! Vocabulary instruction using a virtual trip to the moon

Students learn new vocabulary by taking a virtual field trip to the moon. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 2–3 English Language Arts and Science)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Book clubs: Reading for fun

In this lesson, small groups of students create, organize, and run book clubs in order to promote reading for fun. (Learn more)

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

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Bridging literature and mathematics by visualizing mathematical concepts

Math-related, informational books, Actual Size and If You Hopped Like a Frog provide the focus for this lesson, which connects reading, writing, math, and science. (Learn more)

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

Provider: IRA/NCTE

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

This lesson uses comic strips to introduce students to onomatopoeia, words that imitate the natural sound associated with an action or an object. (Learn more)

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

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Choosing clear and varied dialogue tags: A mini-lesson

Students explore the use of dialogue tags such as “he said” or “she answered” in picture books and novels, discussing their purpose, form, and style. (Learn more)

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

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Composing cinquain poems with basic parts of speech

Students learn to compose original cinquain poems in this lesson that follows a unit on parts of speech. (Learn more)

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

Provider: IRA/NCTE

The connection between poetry and music

In this lesson, students listen to poems read aloud and discuss the rhythm and sound of poetry. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Creating family timelines: Graphing family memories and significant events

Students explore family memories, interview family members, and create a timeline of important events in their lives. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Daily book boost

Each day at the end of their independent reading time, students give “book boosts,” one-minute raves about books they’ve read. (Learn more)

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

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Dancing minds and shouting smiles: Teaching personification through poetry

In this lesson, students learn about personification by reading and discussing poems by Emily Dickinson, William Blake, and Langston Hughes. (Learn more)

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

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Dear Librarian: Writing a persuasive letter

Inspired by the actions in Beverly Cleary’s book Emily’s Runaway Imagination, in this lesson plan, students write to their school librarian, requesting that a specific text be added to the library collection. (Learn more)

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

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Developing inferential comprehension through DL-TA and discussion webs

Uses the narrative text Granddaddy's Gift by Margaree King Mitchell to help students improve their inferential comprehension, prediction, and discussion skills. (Learn more)

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

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Developing students' critical thinking skills through whole-class dialogue

After reading a story, students answer an open-ended question about an issue that could have multiple perspectives. (Learn more)

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

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Dr. King's dream

Students learn about the life and work of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. through photographs, speeches, and a brief biography. They create picture books about their own dreams of freedom for Americans today. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 2–3 English Language Arts, Visual Arts Education, and Social Studies)

Provider: National Endowment for the Humanities

Figurative language awards ceremony

Students use their background knowledge of figurative language to explore texts to find their favorite examples of similes, metaphors, and personification. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–4 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE