New to Third Grade

This post is quite a bit different from my typical blog post. This summer I’ve had the opportunity to talk with several teachers (new and experienced) who were new to third grade, and I wanted to create a blog post that condenses some of my favorite tips, posts, and products. I know that changing grade levels is difficult, and it’s hard to sort through years worth of blog posts and products to find just what you need to get started. This is nowhere near an all-inclusive list! I’ve just highlighted some of my favorites that would be helpful for transitioning to third grade. Hopefully, even if you’ve been a third grade teacher for awhile, you’ll find something useful! You can read about how I prep for the year here.

Pacing Guides & Morning Work

• Math-Get a visual math pacing guide for the year.
• Language Arts-This visual pacing guide includes reading, writing, and grammar!
• Morning Work-A good morning work routine is one of the most important parts of my day.
• Classroom Set Up-Here’s a few classroom pictures.

Language Arts

• Reading Workshop-In this post I layout my plans and format for reading workshop.
• Reading Workshop Resources-This is an overview of what I use to teach reading workshop.
• Literacy Stations-This post includes ideas of authentic literacy station activities that are easy to manage!
• Introducing Paragraphs-This is one of my all time favorites! I highly recommend starting the year by teaching students how to write paragraphs through these back to school books!
• Mentor Texts-Here is a big list of mentor texts to teach various reading strategies.

Math

• Math Workshop-This post describes how math workshop can be used in a third grade classroom.
• Math Work Stations-This is a great post to show how to use math work stations in an upper elementary classroom.
• First Days of Math Workshop-I highly recommend this! There are step-by-step lessons to teach math workshop with routines and procedures.
• Managing Work Stations-This blog post gives helpful tips on the management of math work stations. This is especially useful at the end of the year, when students have a difficult time staying on task!
• Math RTI-I don’t know what I’d do without my RTI binders!
• Multiplication Facts-There are TONS of fun ideas and freebies to make learning multiplication facts fun!

Social Studies & Science

• Transform Your Social Studies and Science Instruction-This is a series of blog posts that cover several different instructional ideas for teaching social studies and science. The series discusses vocabulary, presenting content, exploration activities, assessment, and more!
• Integrating Social Studies and Science-I love integrating as often as I can. In this post I share a few ideas on how to integrate social studies and science into language arts and art.

Classroom Management

• Google Classroom-If you have access to computers, Google Classroom may become your best friend!
• Behavior-Includes free and editable behavior log.
• Digital Planning-If you’re interested in digital planning, check this post out!
• Interactive Bulletin Boards-This is a great post for setting up a focus wall.

Top Ten Products

This Reading Workshop Bundle is probably my favorite product! It’s one of those that really does have everything! There are 180 reading comprehension lesson plans and printables to go with each lesson plan. I’ve also included fluency practice, vocabulary, and reading homework.

My Third Grade Math Units is a compilation of YEARS of work! This bundle includes 10 math units with hands-on lessons, skills practice, and task cards!

 

I honestly don’t know what I’d do without my Weekly Word Problems. I now use the updated version with the constructed response practice for my morning work. It’s one of my favorites!

 

Once again, I’d be lost without my Fluency Passages! I use these for weekly fluency and comprehension homework. The best part is that the entire pack is integrated with science and social studies!

 

My Language Arts Morning Work is an excellent spiral review. This will help keep tricky grammar and reading skills fresh all year.

 

 

Writing can certainly be tricky, which is why I love having the Writing Bundle ready to go! This contains three writing units that are aligned to the Common Core Standards: informational, opinion, and narrative!

 

I love these Multiplication Facts Booklets! Teaching multiplication facts is a year long process, so I incorporate these booklets all year long. The are a great way to teach conceptual understanding and memorization of multiplication facts.

 

I use the Prefix of the Week packet along with my Homophone of the Week for weekly vocabulary and word work. This makes a cute bulletin board and comes with different booklets!

 

I use this Math Constructed Response packet at least once a week. This is one of those concepts that needs to be practiced all year long, rather than taught as an isolated test prep skill.

 

I’m cheating a little here! I actually have several No Prep packs, and I love them all! I especially like that many of the printables are much more than a worksheet. I’ve included several interactive games in each of the packs as well as many pages that require higher order thinking skills.

You are going to love third grade! One of the best things about third grade is that students are young enough to still love school and have a desire to please their teacher. Yet, they are independent enough to participate in really fun activities. Third graders should get to have fun too! Like all students, they need love, consistency, and strong procedures for optimal success. Don’t sweat the test! Your preparation starts from Day 1 and with good instruction your students will be ready!

Don’t hesitate to ask any questions! I’m always happy to help.