English Language Arts — Grade 3

Wish you were here!

Students apply their knowledge of vocabulary and writing skills along with art skills to create a postcard.

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

By Maggie Harder.

Welcome to my world!: Developing a personal narrative timeline

Students will create digital, narrative, and drawn versions of a timeline of at least five events of their life.

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

By DPI Integration Strategies.

Nutrition and the media: Cereal box consumerism

This lesson will offer your students the opportunity to explore nutrition and how the media impacts our consumer decisions. Students will design a cereal box and read about how the use of color, slogans, and prizes impacts buyers. This lesson plan is easily adapted for exceptional children and can be expanded and/or adapted to suit your students' needs.

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–4 English Language Arts, Healthful Living, and Mathematics)

By Gloria Simmons.

Nature journaling: A new way to enjoy nature

Nature journaling is a way to record and re-create an image experienced in nature. By combining drawing and writing, the student uses their senses to record what they feel, see, hear and touch at a particular point in time.

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

By Steven Sather.

Little Bit - BIG BIT - Little Bit

This lesson helps students who tend to jump right in and tell their entire story in the first few sentences and then struggle to complete their story. Students will learn to start and end their stories with just a "Little Bit" about the setup and closure of the story.

Format: lesson plan (grade 2–4 English Language Arts)

By DPI Writing Strategies.

The life cycle of a seed

This lesson integrates science into the language arts block. Students will read about plant life cycle events and then write their own books about the life cycle of a plant.

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

By Joni Kight.

Inside and outside: Paradox of the box

This lesson serves to introduce students to symbolism (the box), to the literary element paradox, and to the abstract notion of ambiguity (freedom vs. confinement). It is designed for 2nd and 3rd graders, but may be adapted for use with upper elementary or early middle school grades.

Format: lesson plan (grade 2–6 English Language Arts)

By Edie McDowell.

Great endings

Sometimes authors end their stories with a memory, a feeling, a wish, or a hope. Other times they end the story by referring back to the language of the beginning. In this lesson, students will examine the characteristics of good endings by reading good endings of narrative picture books. They will then practice writing good endings for their own narratives.

Format: lesson plan (grade 2–4 English Language Arts)

By DPI Writing Strategies.

A brochure of safety tips

The students summarize information they have read and learned in school to create a brochure of important safety tips. They work in teams, each on a specific area of safety, to create a multimedia presentation on the computer using HyperStudio, or other publishing or presentation software, for text, graphics, and sound.

Format: lesson plan (grade 3 Healthful Living and Information Skills)

By Shanti Kudva.

Beginning biography research

Encyclopedia research skills will be taught using biographies of famous people. This is one lesson in a collaborative unit taught by both the classroom teacher and the library media coordinator.

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

By Joan Milliken.

The Sign of the Beaver real estate advertisement

Having read The Sign of the Beaver and the Sunday Real Estate section of the newspaper, create a slide show designed to sell Matt's cabin to buyers in early America.

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

By CarrieAnne Blocker.

Resources on the web

Writing and assessing an autobiographical incident

In this lesson from ReadWriteThink, students will build upon their knowledge of biographies to write their own autobiographical incident. Students will be given a rubric and shown several examples. They will then complete the writing process and share their... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Webcams in the classroom: Animal inquiry and observation

In this lesson from ReadWriteThink, students observe animal habits and habitats using one of the many webcams broadcasting from zoos and aquariums around the United States and the world. Based on the observation of webcams, this lesson plan engages students... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Voting! What's it all about?

In this lesson from ReadWriteThink, students both listen to information read aloud from a variety of sources and read from fiction and nonfiction books. Students explore information from current sources including child-oriented websites, newspapers, and... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 Computer/Technology Skills, English Language Arts, and Social Studies)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Using word storms to explore vocabulary and encourage critical thinking

Students are introduced to the concept of working dogs in this lesson that focuses on reading multiple texts, developing reading strategies, and learning the writing process. After introducing the concept of working dogs to students, the teacher challenges... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Technical reading and writing using board games

This lesson is designed as a review activity for the conclusion of a novel unit. Students work together to design a board game and to determine what the game will look like, how it will be played, and the number of questions and answers the game will include.... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Talking, writing, and reasoning: Making thinking visible with math journals

Students are encouraged to talk about and record their attempts at math problems as they work and record solutions, strategies, and other observations. As an opening activity, students explore their thoughts about math in journals and share them with classmates.... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Talking about books to improve comprehension

In this lesson, students will learn how to determine which ideas work best to inspire a conversation, how to stay focused on a particular idea, and how to talk with other students in a way that leads to deeper thinking. During a read-aloud of Stephanie's... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Storytelling in the social studies classroom

This lesson invites students to tell their own stories and explore the stories of other Americans. Practiced skills include reading, researching, visually representing, writing, and presenting. After engaging students in discussion about great storytellers,... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Shape poems: Writing extraordinary poems about ordinary objects

Students write shape poems using their content knowledge and sensory awareness of a familiar object in this lesson. After modeling the poetry activity by having students explore the senses and images that the subject conjures, the teacher shows students... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: ReadWriteThink