Third Grade Writing
Writing
In third grade, students are expected to APPLY what they learn in
writing lessons. For this reason, we grade writing across the curriculum.
Written responses in science, social studies, reading, and math are included
in this process. Students will learn to write informative, opinion, and
narrative texts. They will be expected to APPLY conventions such as
punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and sentence structure.
We will begin the 1 st nine weeks with a focus on sentence structure and
the conventions used when writing a GOOD third grade sentence. The
second nine weeks will focus on combining our sentences into a paragraph
that focuses on one topic with a main idea. In the third nine weeks, we will
write multiple paragraphs on one topic to support a main idea. The fourth
nine weeks offers us an opportunity to practice and APPLY what we have
learned throughout the year. We attempt to make writing meaningful and
strive to offer the students REAL reasons to write.
Spelling
This year, students will not have a conventional spelling list. Each student will have their own 5 high-frequency words to study each week. High-frequency words are just what they sound like - words that appear frequently in the English language. On the sheets we use, the words are listed in the order of their frequency of use in everyday writing. At the beginning of the year, students take a test to determine an appropriate level to start on the high-frequency word list. Then, they will be assessed on at least 200 of these words. Whatever words they miss, will help determine their words each week. The words will be assessed on Fridays. Each week, the new words will be written in the agenda. If a student gets all five words correct, he or she moves on to their next set of five words. If any words are missed, those words are once again on the student's list of five words to learn for the following week. Each quarter, students will be reassessed to make sure they have retained the correct spelling of their words. Any words missed at that point will go back on the list of words for students to learn. By the end of the year, students should know how to spell many common words that they previously could not. I believe this is better than getting a set of 10 to 20 words (most of which are not commonly used), memorize them for a week, and then forget how to spell them later.
Students will keep their high-frequency word list within their notebook to refer to each week. Any words that your child already knew how to spell coming into third grade are highlighted. They will not be assessed on these words. Once students have mastered a word, as dictated by the weekly spelling test, the word will be highlighted in yellow. If the child retains the word on the quarterly assessment, the word will be marked as "mastered". Because each sheet will be specific to each child, it is imperative that the Spelling Folder does not get lost. It is also important that this folder is in the binder on Fridays so that we can do a proper assessment, highlighting, and acquiring the new week's words.
If you click on the picture below, you will be able to see all of the high-frequency word lists.
