• Lifelong Practices of  Writers

    *think, read, speak, and listen to support writing

    *write often and widely in a variety of formats, using print and digital resources and tools

    *write for multiple purposes, including for learning and for pleasure

    *persevere through challenging writing tasks

    *enrich personal language, background knowledge, and vocabulary through writing and communicating with others

    *experiment and play with language

    *analyze mentor texts to enhance writing

    *strengthen writing by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach

     

    Units of Study

     The opening unit, Crafting True Stories, extends students’ work with personal narrative while engaging them more fully in the complete writing process, with increasing emphasis on drafting and revising their work.


    In the second unit, The Art of Information Writing, youngsters write chapter books that synthesize a wide variety of information and learn to section their topics into subtopics. They are supported in this challenging work because they are writing about topics on which they have firsthand, personal knowledge: dogs, soccer, gymnastics.

     Changing the World: Persuasive Speeches, Petitions, and Editorials rallies third-graders to use their newfound abilities to gather and organize information to persuade people about causes the children believe matter: stopping bullying, recycling, saving dogs at the SPCA.

    The final unit in third grade, Once Upon a Time: Adapting and Writing Fairy Tales, uses familiar fairy tales to explore techniques of fiction writing such as writing in scenes, employing an omniscient narrator to orient readers, using story structure to create tension, and crafting figurative language to convey mood.