Category: Third Grade

Third graders studied the pioneers and worked on projects to show their learning. Their projects included quilt square watercolor paintings depicting what pioneers saw as they traveled west, and model covered wagons containing objects that pioneers would have carried in their wagons. They also incorporated lessons from their narrative writing unit into their study of the pioneers. They made pioneer journals, in which they created a pioneer character, developed a scenario that character experienced, and wrote journal entries from that character’s point of view. The skills they drew from their narrative writing unit include using graphic organizers, such as a story mountain, to create the structure of their story, writing Show, Don’t Tell sentences in which they explored what the characters feel through picturing their faces and actions, and using their storyteller’s voice, telling the story bit by bit with description. They read Little House on the Prairie and students displayed their learning in a comprehension interactive notebook. As the culmination of their unit, students presented their pioneer characters and journal entries to the parents, reading and telling their stories.

Each of the third graders did a report on a Native American tribe.

On Monday, the students shared their reports with their parents and friends.

On Wednesday, the Third Graders presented their Endangered Species reports. To prepare for the presentation, they wrote a 7 page report about an endangered animal of their choice.

They created posters to help teach others how they can make a difference to keep these animals from going extinct. They worked very hard on their reports and they gave wonderful presentations!

Last week, the third graders went to Sisi’s Cafe to read their non-fiction books. It was so much fun drinking hot cocoa and reading our books. Activities like these help students develop a love for reading.

Right now, the third graders are “reading to learn” and are practicing high-level concepts like “identifying main ideas and supporting details,” “inferring within the text,” and “cross-text(s) synthesis.” In third grade, students need to do the following to practice cross-text(s) synthesis: “When I read two texts (or parts of a text) that teach about the same subtopic, I can find the information on a subtopic from both texts (or parts of one text) and put that information together” (Calkins & Tolan, 2015). It is good for students to have fun while they are practicing these difficult reading strategies.