Hey, everyone! Happy December! Can you believe the holidays are so close? December is a fun, crazy, busy time of year, but there are so many ways to make things exciting in your classroom. I like to have fun with my kids but I also want to make the most of every educational opportunity. One way I do this is by reading 'Twas the Night Before Christmas with my class.
One of the big things in 3rd grade is studying poetry and I use this unit and my kids' love for Christmas to review a ton of poetry elements. I begin the unit with a good old fashioned read aloud. There are a lot of versions of this story by different publishers. I opted to go with the original that is no longer in print. Luckily, this version is in the public domain and can be found on Project Gutenburg. I converted the book into Google Slides to make it easier to share with my class. You can download it here if you would like to use it with your class.
Once we've read the story together for enjoyment, I give my students their booklets that include the poem plus comprehension pages. We go through and discuss poetry elements. I allow my students to use markers or color pencils to take notes with to help keep them engaged. Here's an example of some of the notes we take.
Once we've covered the basics of the poem, we spend time discussing what each stanza means and summarizing the stanza. I always need more grades, so I have my students cut out paraphrased cards and glue them next to the appropriate stanza.
Students can practice putting the poem in order with these sequencing cards.
Because 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (A Visit From St. Nick) was written so long ago, students are unfamiliar with some of the terms. We practice vocabulary 2 different ways. We match up the terms and their definitions in our class pocket chart. I also have a matching activity for my students to work on in centers.
This unit keeps us busy all week. The activity book covers a wide range of skills, including: vocabulary, story elements, sequencing, and summarizing.
If you are interested in learning more about this unit, check it out in my TpT store.
After we complete this unit, we have fun by reading a Grinchy story. You can read more about it here (It's a freebie so you don't want to miss out!).
What tried and true units do you use every year? I'd love to hear from you!
One of the big things in 3rd grade is studying poetry and I use this unit and my kids' love for Christmas to review a ton of poetry elements. I begin the unit with a good old fashioned read aloud. There are a lot of versions of this story by different publishers. I opted to go with the original that is no longer in print. Luckily, this version is in the public domain and can be found on Project Gutenburg. I converted the book into Google Slides to make it easier to share with my class. You can download it here if you would like to use it with your class.
Once we've read the story together for enjoyment, I give my students their booklets that include the poem plus comprehension pages. We go through and discuss poetry elements. I allow my students to use markers or color pencils to take notes with to help keep them engaged. Here's an example of some of the notes we take.
Once we've covered the basics of the poem, we spend time discussing what each stanza means and summarizing the stanza. I always need more grades, so I have my students cut out paraphrased cards and glue them next to the appropriate stanza.
Students can practice putting the poem in order with these sequencing cards.
Because 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (A Visit From St. Nick) was written so long ago, students are unfamiliar with some of the terms. We practice vocabulary 2 different ways. We match up the terms and their definitions in our class pocket chart. I also have a matching activity for my students to work on in centers.
This unit keeps us busy all week. The activity book covers a wide range of skills, including: vocabulary, story elements, sequencing, and summarizing.
If you are interested in learning more about this unit, check it out in my TpT store.
After we complete this unit, we have fun by reading a Grinchy story. You can read more about it here (It's a freebie so you don't want to miss out!).
What tried and true units do you use every year? I'd love to hear from you!
