3rd Grade Writing Curriculum

My third grader attends a writer’s workshop three times a week (duration – 40 minutes). Our elementary school has set the following goal for our third grade writing program:

Students will develop the knowledge and skills necessary to becoming literate, thoughtful communicators, capable of controlling language effectively by – composing narrative, informative/explanatory and opinion texts as tools for learning and reflection; conducting research and writing projects for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes and audiences; and evaluate information from print and digital sources and using a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing.

Third Grade Writing Curriculum

Writing	Marking Period 1	Marking Period 2
Narrative	short composition – dialogue; descriptions	short composition – poetry, event sequence & descriptions of actions
Informative	extended writing – organization, topic introduction, topic development & organization of related information	extended writing – organization & topic development with facts & details
Opinion	extended writing – opinion statement supported by reasons	short composition – topic introduction & opinion statement supported by reasons
Speaking & Listening	use of audio recording or visual display to tell a story or report on a topic
Conventions of Written Language	capitalization, punctuation, parts of speech, & types of sentences	capitalization, punctuation, parts of speech, types of sentences, function of verb and verb tense, & conventions of spoken and written language

Writing	Marking Period 3	Marking Period 4
Narrative	extended writing – organization & establishment of a situation	short compositions – organization, event sequence & descriptive details
Informative		short composition – organization of information, topic development & illustrations to aid comprehension of facts
Opinion	short composition – organization, topic introduction, topic development & opinion statement supported by reasons	extended writing – organization, opinion statement supported by reasons & point of view supported by reasons
Speaking & Listening	use of audio recording or visual display to tell a story or report on a topic
Conventions of Written Language	capitalization, punctuation, parts of speech, types of sentences, function of verb and verb tense, & conventions of spoken and written language	capitalization, punctuation, parts of speech, types of sentences, function of verb and verb tense, & conventions of spoken and written language

Source: Montgomery County Public Schools, Maryland (2012)