Toolbox: Grade 3

February 2019 Grades 3-5 Lesson of the Month

This time of year can become a little stressful trying to cram in as many skills and strategies as possible, in preparation for state testing. Students, as well as teachers, start to feel the stress level rising. In order to build in some social-emotional learning, this lesson will offer your students the language they might need to express their emotions. Build in plenty of time to discuss their emotions and allow students a chance to build an awareness for how they’re feeling. You will love this writing lesson that can be utilized in your reading block as well!

February 2019 Grades K-2 Lesson of the Month

Let’s start this month off by spreading a little love and kindness to those around us! This adorable book is sure to be a hit with your little sweeties while teaching us that it’s ok to be different and that everyone is uniquely loveable.

Editing, Revising, and More – Grade 3 – 2019-20 TEKS Alignment

January 2019 Grades 2-4 Lesson of the Month

It seems as teachers, that as we collect years of experience we also assemble a library of classic stories that we love to use each year! This month’s lesson uses an all time favorite winter read aloud – The Mitten by Jan Brett with a new and exciting lesson to try!

December 2018 Grades 2-4 Lesson of the Month

What student doesn’t love a little friendly competition?? Engaging our students and teaching them to love to read and write is one of the biggest challenges we as teachers face. With this book,  Reindeer of the Year, your students won’t be able to put their pencils down, as they convince you, that their reindeer is […]

November 2018 Lesson of the Month

Lesson of the Month:  Summarizing an expository piece Objective: Students summarize an expository piece using the summarizing framework and write an extended summary statement using informative verbs. The verbs can also be used to write informative sentences for reading response journals. Materials: Possible expository books: What Happens in Autumn by Suzanne Venino As the Earth […]

November 2018 Lesson of the Month Connection

Connections: Be on the lookout for our grade level narrative guides coming soon.  More narrative lessons, plus RTT for narrative texts!

October 2018 Lesson of the Month Connection

Connections: Laying the Foundation: Why Good Writing Starts with the Teacher Many teachers, whether they’re new to the classroom or seasoned veterans, consider writing instruction to be one of the most difficult parts of their job. Why? Because writing is often taught “on the fly” without the formal training and methodologies that get results. Our […]

October 2018 Lesson of the Month

Lesson of the Month: Haunted House Objective: Students will apply detail generating questions to create a descriptive piece on a haunted house.  Materials: http://www.hauntedhouses.com/map.htm, https://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com http://www.cegesmith.com/2012/10/22/winchester-mystery-house-virtual-haunted-house-tour-stop-2/ The House that Drac Built by Judy Sierra In the Haunted House by Eve Bunting Splat the Cat by Rob Scotton At the Old Haunted House by Helen Ketteman […]

September 2018 Lesson of the Month

Lesson of the Month: Homophones Objective: Practice homophones all day, every day!  Materials: homophone cards (ex: it’s/its, their/there/they’re, your/you’re, too/to/two) Procedures: *This is an activity that can be done all year long in any subject area. Example: The students are writing main idea sentences for an expository piece on dogs. This could be done individually […]

September 2018 Lesson of the Month Connection

Connections: Don’t forget about our website. It’s full of free resources for ANY teacher in ANY subject! A favorite is the Quick Writes. Check out the many categories you can use every day!! Bookmark this link, then share it! You might want to take a few minutes to browse through the website and bookmark any […]

2019-20 Expository & Opinion TEKS Alignment Chart – Grade 3

Download the files to see the 2019-2020 TEKS alignment for the Expository & Opinion Guide for Grade 3 Writing lessons.