I have been teaching third grade for three years now. My happy spot has always been first grade. I love the childlike happiness, the glee, the happiness of coming to school everyday and the eagerness for learning. It has taken me a while to find my happy place in third grade.
First, I have found that I have a special spot in my heart for students with needs outside those of the general population. Of course all of the students hold a little piece of my heart, but the students who need more support are truly my passion. Whether it's students with disabilities or students who are new to the country. You might not have heard me say this two years ago. Our school used to have a sheltered reading group for students who were new to the school, however this year they stopped it and I am so happy they did! I have a new found passion for teaching English and reading to third grade students! They have that passion for learning that first graders have! Of course I aspire to get all my students to have that passion, but the ELL students who come to me with no English, understandably have that passion without urging.
Secondly, I have found a newfound love for bookclubs and novel studies. I love reading the books with the students, creating questions for guided reading, literacy groups or book clubs. I have made the novel studies I have made so far available on my TPT shop if you want to check them out. They are easy to use, literally just print and pass out! They are kid friendly questions that check comprehension and include word work skills as well!
Clementine is a great novel study for third grade because its low level and easy to understand. The questions follow both CCSS and Virginia SOL standards. I also have a novel study available for Riding Freedom AND Ramona and Beezus. There will definitely be more to come in the future!
Novel Studies are not the only thing I do with my kids in small groups. They meet with me for Novel Studies one day a week and work together throughout the week discussing the questions and answers they've gotten. Then the other two days we work on either a nonfiction text or a fiction text and how to find answers to comprehension questions and highlighting the information or answers in the text. I have a schedule I follow so I know who I am meeting and what we are working on!
Check them out and keep and eye out for more blog posts! I'm making a comeback!
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