Becoming a Close Reader and Writing to Learn
Grade: 3
Subject: ELA
Time Frame: Quarter 1- 8 weeks
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Essential Questions
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Speaking and Listening:
- what are the different kinds of roles people have when working in a group?
- What characteristics do effective group members have?
- how do we have collaborative conversations?
- why is it important to speak clearly with appropriate volume and pitch?
- what information is important to consider when giving a presentation?
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Reading:
- How do we use different reading strategies to better understand a variety of texts?
- How is accuracy in reading like accuracy in mathematics?
- How does structure affect our understanding of a text?
- How does comparing two texts help our understanding of what we read?
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Writing:
- How do we connect ideas when writing?
- How do we structure writing effectively?
- How do we support our opinions?
- How do we gather accurate information?
- Why is it important for us to label text features?
- How do we structure writing effectively?
- Why do we use dialogue and description in narrative writing?
- how do we structure our writing effectively?
- Why do we need more than one resource when researching?
- How do visuals support information presented in research?
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Language Usage:
- How do prefixes and suffixes change the meaning of a word?
- How does the root word help us understand the meaning of a word?
- What do we need to be mindful of as a writer?
- What are differences between simple and complex sentences?
- What resources can be used to help small words correctly?
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By the End of This Unit, Students Will Be Able To:
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Speaking and Listening:
• I can effectively participate in a conversation with my peers and adults.
• I can follow our class norms when I participate in a conversation.
• I can explain what I understand about the topic being discussed.
• I can demonstrate fluency when reading stories or poems for an audio recording.
• I can speak in complete sentences with appropriate detail.
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Reading:
• I can ask questions to deepen my understanding of a literary text.
• I can answer questions using specific details from the text.
• I can retell a story using key details from the text.
• I can identify the main message or lesson of a story using key details from the text.
• I can describe the characters in a story (their traits, motivations, feelings).
• I can describe how a character’s actions contribute to the events in the story.
• I can distinguish between a narrator or character’s point of view and my own.
• I can explain how an illustration contributes to the story (e.g., mood, tone, character, setting).
• I can make connections between texts and ideas to comprehend what I read.
• I can choose texts that interest me.
• I can determine the main idea of an informational text.
• I can retell key ideas from an informational text.
• I can make connections between the events, ideas, or concepts in a text.
• I can use information from illustrations (maps, photographs) to understand informational texts.
• I can use information from the words to understand informational texts.
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Writing:
• I can write an informative/explanatory text.
• I can write an informative/explanatory text that has a clear topic.
• I can group supporting facts together about a topic in an informative/explanatory text using both text and illustrations.
• I can develop the topic with facts, definitions, and details.
• I can construct a closure on the topic of an informative/explanatory text.
• I can produce writing that is appropriate to task and purpose (with support).
• I can document what I learn about a topic by taking notes.
• I can document what I learn about a topic by sorting evidence into categories.
• I can write for a variety of reasons.
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Language Usage:
• I can use conventions to send a clear message to my reader.
• I can capitalize appropriate words in titles.
• I can spell words that have suffixes added to base words correctly.
• I can use spelling patterns to spell words correctly.
• I can use resources to check and correct my spelling.
• I can use what the sentence says to help me to determine what a word or phrase means.
• I can accurately use third-grade academic vocabulary to express my ideas.
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Assessments
- selected response and short constructed response
- extended response- setting reading goals
- answering text-dependent questions
- informative paragraph
- scaffold explanatory paragraph
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Topics
• introduce close reading
• Launch independent reading
• Introduce paragraph writing
• Practice close reading and note-taking
• Learn about and build the personal powers of reading through stories and classroom structures (e.g., vocabulary, independent reading stamina)
• Set individual reading goals and write an informational letter about those goals
• Develop reading fluency and create an oral recording of fluent reading for an audience
• Determine the main idea of informational texts about accessing texts around the world
• Plan, draft, revise, edit, and publish an informative paragraph
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Common Core Standards:
RL.3.2; RL.3.3;
RI.3.2;
W.3.2; W.3.4; W.3.8;
SL.3.1; SL.3.5;
L.3.1.a; L.3.2; L.3.4.a; L.3.6