3rd Grade Owls Soaring into Nonfiction Reading and Writing
January is a busy month for third grade students. We celebrate Martin Luther King Jr., as well as shed light to Islamic Heritage Month. Students will be engaged in read-alouds, and enjoy reading collections on Epic focused on both of these current topics. In addition, students will highlight their learning using timelines, banners, and graphic organizers to further display their learning. These activities connect language arts and Social Studies, encouraging students to engage in multidisciplinary studies.
We are thrilled to have recently wrapped up our Non-Fiction Reading and Writing units of study. Students have worked so hard reading and writing about nonfiction topics! In writing, students chose to write about a topic that they are an expert on. Students spent several weeks working hard on their “All About Writing.” They started by organizing the information about their topics into several subtopics (chapters). In fact, students spent several days using research databases to grow their information by adding more details to their chapters. Students also learned about many different text features and structures, including compare and contrast, cause and effect, problem and solution, sequencing, and description. They were then able to apply their learning to their chapters in an effort to enhance their writing. Students set their chapters up using a few of these different text structures, and developed interesting introductions that hook the reader and clever conclusions that left the reader with a final thought. Students did a wonderful job on their “All About Writing” pieces and were able to celebrate their work by sharing their writing with their classmates.
In reading, students focused on reading nonfiction texts, where they used text features to help them better understand the texts they are reading. Students worked very hard to identify the main idea of a subtopic within a text, using many different strategies taught and learned in class. For example, students used boxes and bullets to help them identify the main idea and supporting details of a topic. In addition, students learned a lot from their peers through all the partner work they have been doing. Students were able to share their reading responses with their partners, identify the main idea together, and teach one another new information learned. We are so proud of how hard students worked during this reading unit!
