Enduring Understandings - important ideas that students should carry with them years beyond the instruction received this year.

• Different strategies and skills are required to understand a variety of materials.

• People apply critical thinking skills when reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing.

• Throughout history, humans have used literature as a record of their experiences.

Essential Questions - most important “big picture” questions students should be able to answer after completing learning activities.

• Why do we need to understand what we read or hear? How do we use strategies and skills to understand a variety of materials?

• What is critical thinking? Why is critical thinking important? How do we apply critical thinking skills?

• How and why do humans use literature to record their experiences? How has history influenced literature and vice versa?

Standards
Must be Mastered by End of Year Must be Introduced Other Standards & E-skills

Phonics
        Apply knowledge of letter-sound relationships and syllable spelling patterns to decode words in order to comprehend texts

Fluency

Third grade students will be able to read all Kindergarten, First and Second grade words. At the end of quarter one, students will be able to read 125 of these sight words. There are a total of 526 Third grade words. Other words will be learned from phonics, spelling and vocabulary programs to total the expected 1000+ words.
Read grade level materials with phrasing, intonation, and by using punctuation.
Read silently for extended periods of time.

Vocabulary
        Understand vocabulary essential to text.

Comprehension
1.b Summarize text passages.
1.c Identify main idea and find information to support particular ideas.
1.d Draw inferences using contextual clues.
1.g Use word recognition skills and resources (for example, phonics, context clues, picture clues, reference guides, roots, prefixes, and suffixes of words) for comprehension.

Writes for a Variety of Purposes
Compose short constructed responses to fiction.
    Use graphic organizers for identifying main idea and supporting details.
    Draft summary writings (single to multi-sentence summaries) extending from plans using graphic organizers.

Writing: Conventions, Mechanics, and Grammar   3^rd Grade Writing Rubric
        Use correct grammar.
        Write in complete sentences.
        Write legibly.
 

Resources

Sight Word Powerpoint:  Basic sight word recognition is essential for reading fluency and comprehension. This PowerPoint Slides will be a quick way to practice 220 essential high-frequency words with your child. Sit down and challenge your student by asking him/her how many words he/she knows. If they do not know these words yet, it will be a fun way to start.

Sight Word Powerpoint with Sentences:  This presentation includes the 220 essential high-frequency words and an example of those words used in context. This will be a great way for children to practice sight word recognition within the context of a basic sentence.

Audio Sight Word PowerPoint Slides Slides:  The following link will allow your child to work with smaller amounts of the 220 sight words children need to master by the end of third grade.  The links are divided into groups of 20 (11 lists in all).  Start with List 1 and work through List 11.  When you feel your child has mastered all 220 words (with 90%) accuracy, try out the PowerPoint Slides presentations found in slots 1 and 2. The PowerPoint Slides Slides in slots 1 and 2, however, do not have audio support. 
Sight Words Part 1   Sight Words Part 2    Sight Words Part 3    Sight Words Part 4    Sight Words Part 5
Sight Words Part 6    Sight Words Part 7    Sight Words Part 8    Sight Words Part 9    Sight Words Part 10
Sight Words Part 11

The King of Soundsound:  This challenging reading activity provides access to all 44 phonemes (sounds) that our language provides. By reading this story and practicing it with your child, you will ensure that your child is exposed to the multifaceted sounds our language makes. At the end of this story, you will also find several phonogram poems that will improve your child's fluency. Read these with your child and have a blast!

Phonogram Powerpoints:  A phonogram is a word part that contains a group of letters that are often found together (ight, ell, ought, ook, oop, ump, uss). It is important for children to recognize phonograms as part of their phonics training. These powerpoints will provide easy access to over 200 different phonograms you can practice with your child. The more phonograms they can pronounce, the more words they will be prepared to read and sound out.

Lessons