ELA

Reading

We encourage reading in a variety of books both fiction and nonfiction, and we hope to instill a love of reading in our students. We concentrate not only on improving reading fluency, but reading comprehension as well. We want our students not only to learn to read but more importantly, read to learn. We do this with individual reading, buddy reading, shared reading, guided reading, and written response to what is read. We also teach reading strategies to improve comprehension. The third graders in Texas are expected to pass the Reading STAAR test.

Writing

We encourage writing in a variety of modes (narrative, persuasive, how-to letters, poetry, compare/contrast, & informational). We hope to instill a love of writing. These modes will be taught and modeled in a variety of ways, and students will have the opportunity to select their own topics, respond to a story or article, and write to a prompt. Students will be guided through the writing process and learn the important steps to a well-written piece. Much of this learning will be individualized. Editing and revision conferences will be held with the teacher, as well as, peers. The Six Traits of Good Writing (ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, & conventions) will be the target areas in revision. Cursive is introduced during the 1st semester, and students will be given the opportunity to read and write in cursive during the 2nd semester.

Spelling

Our spelling program, Benchmark Taller, provides word lists that are tailored to meet each child’s needs. We administered a spelling inventory the 1st week of school to determine your child’s spelling strengths and needs. The word lists will become more difficult as your child progresses through each developmental stage of spelling.

Spelling is part of each child’s weekly classwork. Your child will select an activity of their choice from the provided spelling menu to practice their weekly spelling words at home.

Dictionary and computer spell-check skills will also be taught and implemented. Students will also keep personal dictionaries in their writing binders. These contain frequently misspelled words and words that your child has requested the teacher spell.