Reading
Students will READ, READ, READ! Our goal is for our 3rd graders to read independently while using a range of strategies to draw meaning from texts, make connections, ask questions, define challenging vocabulary, and learn new things! Whether they are reading for a purpose or for entertainment, our hope is for students to be able to discuss books with their teachers and peers in a meaningful way. Students end up forming a strong bond with their class community through a variety of diverse books. Third graders will also apply the following reading strategies independently to comprehend fiction and nonfiction texts:
- Making inferences
- Making connections
- Visualizing
- Summarizing
- Comparing and contrasting
- Identifying and using context clues to define unknown words
- Making predictions
- Identifying and utilizing text features
- Sequencing
Writing
We hope for our 3rd graders to communicate their amazing ideas and voices through writing independently. Students will compose, edit, and publish several different writing pieces throughout the year which include personal narratives, informational writing, persuasive essays and letters, and creative fiction. Throughout the writing process third graders will explore powerful mentor texts from a variety of diverse authors, as well as dive into relevant and real-world topics. Third graders will also apply the following writing strategies to confidently convey their ideas for a sustained amount of time.
- Applying vivid verbs and interesting adjectives to enhance writing
- Organizing ideas in paragraphs using transition words and phrases
- Paraphrasing
- Utilizing persuasive language
- Identifying and applying parts of speech
- Applying spelling strategies to everyday writing
- Writing in cursive