3rd Grade Tools for Common Core Lesson (by date, latest first)

Fall Halloween Bundle

Over 150+ activities included in 9 packets for Fall and Halloween fun!

Descriptions:

Activity Packet 1: Halloween Coloring Sheets

40 pages

Halloween fun with 40 coloring sheets (nothing scary!) of:

pumpkins
scarecrows
friendly ghosts
haunted trees
haunted house
Dracula
Frankenstein
and more...

Non-controversial and with lesson plan ideas to encourage coordination, multi-tasking skills, writing, listening, reading, storytelling, puppet theater, and more. Great for introducing Halloween as a friendly holiday.

Activity Packet 2: Eerie Writing Prompts

21 pages

Eerie story starters to get your students in the mood for writing scary stories! Great visuals with one liner story starters. Colorful and imaginative prompts for creative writing practice and peer workshopping.

Includes:
Perhaps we could become friends...
Two eyes peered back at me...
I've had a very interesting life!
Come closer...
Let me tell you how I ended up here...
C'mon out...there's nothing to be afraid of!
Meet my new friend
The eerie glow of the pumpkin...
I know what you did!
Have a seat and let me tell you my story!
The howl of the wolf scared me.
Something went bump in the night
I started up the winding road...
The blaze lit up the night's sky...
Let me show you my castle!
"Help!" screamed the principal.
We found the shipwrecked boat...

Great Halloween writing prompts for practicing creative writing, storytelling, and peer workshopping skills!

Activity Packet 3: Get Fit Action Story: Frank N. Stein’s Haunted Horse

15 pages

Get students exercising and moving as they follow along with Frank N. Stein's move to a new neighborhood, where he finds new friends to help make his house a home. Action words include:

looked around
moped
juggled
skipped rope
frown
blow
shivered and shook
dropped to the ground
ran
slammed
quiver
danced
stood still
knock
jump
shook hands
waved
stepped to the right
boogied to the Monster Mash
shouted,
“Happy Halloween!”

Practice/assess coordination, comprehension, fitness, following directions, listening, and sight words with Get Fit Action Stories. Use for daily warm-ups, rainy day indoor activities, PE, reading, and learning styles. Fun and enjoyable for all!

Activity Packet 4: Write a Scary Story with Word Banks and Coloring Images

16 pages

16 Halloween coloring images with holiday word banks that include:

Cats
Bats
Dracula
Frankenstein
Ghosts
Pirate
Pumpkins
Trick or Treat
Witches
Zombies
and more...

Includes: Suggestions For Use sheet and template to create your own vocabulary word bank. Upper levels can use for poetry and contest writing. Fun way to assess writing skills in an ELA classroom. Grab a blanket and flashlight, turn on the lighted pumpkin, and have a classroom read-around of Halloween stories.

Activity Packet 5: Wacky Wayne’s Halloween I-Spy

11 pages

10 I-Spy Halloween pictures and items to help students with basic letters, hand-eye coordination, and matching skills. Can be colored and displayed. Includes:

Ghost
Frankenstein (2)
Bat
Haunted House
Mummy
Dracula
Scary Tree
and more...

Fun matching activities for early elementary students.

Activity Packet 6: Wacky Wayne’s Fall I-Spy

11 pages

10 I-Spy handouts with fall themes. Find and match basic letters and shapes. Includes:

Scarecrows
Farm
Farmer
Pumpkins
Squirrels
Leaves
Shapes
Basic Letters
and many more...

Handouts can be colored and displayed.

Activity Packet 7: Halloween Color, Count and Match Activities

22 pages

22 Halloween themed handouts for early learners to practice math skills, such as:

coloring/motor skills
counting
holiday
matching
numbers 1-10
sight words
themes
(No controversial or scary images!)

Find the correct Halloween symbol sheet to match the handout then cut, color, and paste. Practice basic numbers and sight words recognition, as well as matching symbols. Can be used for assessment. Includes extra activities and ideas for use of handouts.

Activity Packet 8: Fabulous Fall Activities

26 pages

25 fall themed creative writing handouts, poetry sheets, coloring activities, and more for elementary grades:

Includes:
Fall Scavenger Hunt
Classmate Scarecrow (Facebook page with Scarecrow)
"F is for"
My Pumpkin Poem (writing & craft activity)
Fall Acrostic Poem
What I love about fall
Create a Fall Feast party invitation
Write a Fall Story (with fall vocabulary word bank)
Write a tongue twister (with fall vocabulary word bank)
Draw a fall scene in the camera's lens
How many words can you make from "corn and oats"
Quack! Quack! If I were a duck...
Design a sign to sell your veggies/photos
My Fall Message for You
My Favorite thing to do in Fall
Fall interview
Fall newspaper
Fabulous Fall Recipe
Fall word search
& more...

Lots of creative and engaging handouts and activities for fall fun!

Activity Packet 9: Falling Leaf Spelling Activities

18 pages

15 Fall themed scenes that provide sight word/consonant and vowel practice. Falling leaves contain letters which can be written on the lines to make as many words as possible using consonants and vowels. Color the scenes, put together letters to make words, compare answers, small team game included.

Includes:

Fall scenes: trees, scarecrows, farm, farmer, pumpkins, squirrels, and more...
Basic alphabet letters: vowels and consonants
Directions with Optional Play and Use

Great for consonants, vowels, spelling, vocabulary, and writing practice, as well as assessments.

Fall Halloween Bundle includes over 150+ fun activities!

Holiday bundle includes 6 holiday Get Fit stories and editable word file overview handout with sight words lists:

1. Frank N. Stein’s Haunted House (October: Halloween)

2. Tom the Turkey Takes a Break (November: Thanksgiving)

3. A Veteran’s Day Celebration (November: Veteran’s Day)

4. The Vanishing Valentine’s (February: Valentine’s Day)

5. Lucky the Leprechaun Looks for Gold (March: St. Patrick’s Day)

6. Santa’s Missing Suit (December: Christmas)

Get Fit Action Stories: Frank N. Stein’s Haunted House

Get students exercising and moving as they follow along with Frank N. Stein's move to a new neighborhood, where he finds new friends to help make his house a home. Action words include: 

looked around
moped
juggled
skipped rope
frown
blow
shivered and shook
dropped to the ground
ran
slammed
quiver
danced
stood still
knock
jump
shook hands
waved
stepped to the right
boogied to the Monster Mash
shouted, 
“Happy Halloween!”

Practice/assess coordination, comprehension, fitness, following directions, listening, and sight words with Get Fit Action Stories. Use for daily warm-ups, rainy day indoor activities, PE, reading, and learning styles. Fun and enjoyable for all!

Get Fit Action Stories: Tom the Turkey Takes a Break

What happens when Tom the Turkey decides not to participate in Thanksgiving? This active learning book includes listening and sight words that are physically acted out when read aloud. Get fit while reading and learning! 

Action words include:

1. gobbled and hopped
2. yelled, “Stop!” 
3. sat on the ground
4. Shake a leg 
5. wave your hand
6. jumped up and down
7. gobble, gobble…
8. shook hands
9. stretched and yawned
10. looked around
11. frowned
12. smiled
13. ran
14. stood frozen
15. remained frozen
16. shaded his eyes
17. Beep, beep
18. wriggled
19. yelled, “Happy Thanksgiving!”

Includes short story elements that can also be taught. Meets CCSS for assessment of listening, following directions, sight words, vocabulary, and more...Have fun exercising and learning with Tom the turkey!

Get Fit Action Stories: A Veteran’s Day Celebration

What is Veterans Day? When does it fall each year? What kinds of celebrations honor our veterans? Students get an introduction and definition of Veterans Day, plus why it is different than Memorial Day. Then, get ready to join the parade! Play ball, watch fireworks, and thank a veteran for serving!

Get Fit Action Stories combine reading, sight words, listening, speaking, directions, and physical education into one assignment. It's a fun, physical learning adventure!

Action Words included:
1. salute
2. clap
3. Miss America wave
4. struts
5. moves a scepter up and down
6. twirl
7. toss
8. catch
9. plays a violin
10. toots a horn
11. beats a drum
12. pedal
13. flip hamburgers
14. toss salads
15. swing bats
16. hit homeruns
17. yells, “Ewwwww” then
“Awwwww”
18. “Thank you!”
19. salute
20. “Happy Veterans Day!” 

Get Fit Action Stories: The Vanishing Valentines

What happened to Ms. Vee's Valentine's Day cards? Exercise and read along to uncover the Valentine's Day mystery with this Get Fit Action Story.

Includes:
Directions
Example
Action Word List

Actions include: 
1.look up and down
2. picked flowers
3. Boo-hoo! Wah-wah!
(cry)
3. magnifying glass and looked
4. jumped rope
5. cooked
6. fly
7. winked
8. close our eyes
9. count to ten
10. lifts weights
11. prowls under rocks
12. bounces 
13. hold on to your heart
14. delivered
15. “Happy Valentine’s Day!” 
shouts

Meets CCSS reading guidelines. Great for building motor skills and reading skills. Students will enjoy learning and exercising with The Vanishing Valentine's story! 

Get Fit Action Stories: Lucky the Leprechaun Looks for Gold

Can Lucky find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? What happens when he runs into Mr. Dragon? Can a leprechaun and dragon become friends? Exercise and practice sight words on Lucky's journey to find the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. 

Includes:

Directions
Sight Words and Exercise List:
dance a jig
hunt rainbows
eat
sleep
watch for rainbows
looks up
jumps
points and yells “There’s a rainbow!”
runs
tiptoes
sidesteps
skips
sits
rests
cheers, “Hip-hip hooray!”
waves a club
link arms and dance a jig
shake hands
share the gold
Wish your friends 
“Happy St. Patrick’s Day!”

Excellent for bad weather days, physical education classes, ELA sight word practice, motor coordination, and visual imagery skills. Fun and engaging! Meets CCSS.

Get Fit Action Stories: Santa’s Missing Suit

Where is Santa's missing red suit? Help Evie the elf as she recruits other elves, reindeer, and snowmen to help find Santa's red suit. Will Santa's famous yearly trip be delayed?

Each page contains action word(s) for students to physically act out. Words include: 

1. snored
2. danced a jig
3. hummed
4. checked and double checked
5. shook hands
6. whistled
7. looked under
8. tiptoed
9. pawed
10. searched
11. made snowballs
12. tossed
13. hop
14. shook their heads and yelled, “No!”
15. jumped up and down
16. slowly cracked open the door
17. peeked
18. waved
19. shouted, “Ho, ho, ho…Happy holidays!”

Meets CCSS for speaking and listening, reading foundation skills, and physical education. Have while learning and searching for Santa's missing red suit!

Help student writers understand and read their essays from readers' perspectives with this nine page presentation. The analogy of learning to drive is used to help writers understand that reading punctuation is like obeying road signs. Includes: Many roles of a writer Visually stimulating graphics Defining Writer as Reader Practicing Writer as Reader slides (indiividual/group activity) Peer Workshopping Following the steps of reading, listening, and correcting Excellent for introducing writers' roles, peer workshopping, and understanding punctuation.

Where did Rudolph get his red nose? How did it come about? When did it happen? Why is it red? Become a reporter and uncover the facts! Students get the opportunity to create facts and/or interview others about Rudolph's red nose. Then, students compile a report using proper dialogue. The 7 page lesson can be used with early learners as well as middle school learners. Packet includes: Directions with optional activities Media/Video Links Working with Dialogue and Facts sheet Rudolph's Red Nose: The Facts (handout for higher level learners) Lined, themed paper for writing Reindeer handout for lower level writers Introduces use of dialogue and quotations for future fact-based assessment writing. Meets Common Core Standards.

June is Dairy Month, so get students learning about cows with these fourteen activities for group or individuals that use critical thinking skills. Includes: Coloring handouts (2) KWL chart Calendar to fill in with dates & dairy items; star the items Maze Poem or Story writing Milkman United States' map activity Cow or Dairy Facts Decorate the Cow Skull List as many dairy items as possible Graph to chart Cow Confusion true or false activity Thumbprint cows (to use with inkpad) Know and label the parts of a cow For use with science or social studies units. Can be used for assessment and with differentiated classes. Meets CCSS.

Introduce Semi-Colons, Colons, Dashes, and Hyphens with this 14 slide presentation. Includes: definitions examples practice sentences peer workshopping component comprehension checkpoint & answers extra resources This PowerPoint gives students everything they need to successfully use each of the "Other Punctuation Marks" within their essays! Easy to read and follow with color-coded examples. Can be used for ELL/GT/AP and flipped classrooms. Meets CCSS guidelines.

Students learn to write a thesis statement with this interactive presentation. Comes with: Handouts Examples Individual and group writing activities Peer Workshopping Answer Key Supplemental Resources Easy to understand, implement, and use as introduction, reinforcement, or assessment. Meets CCSS.

Do you know how Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month begin? This 25 page comic book explains the history behind the celebrated month, and it offers students the opportunity to review information then fill in their own comic speech bubbles and facts using the comic templates.

Includes:

Immigration of the first Japanese to America

Number of Japanese who left their homeland for U.S.

Transcontinental Railroad

Map of Railroad Line

Golden/Last Spike

Asian-Pacific Continents & Islands (partial list)

Commemorative Bill made into Law

White House Fact about Visitors

Timeline of Congressional Bill into Law

Public Law 102-458

Hawaiian Words List and Activity

Famous Asian-Pacific Americans and Their Info: Amy Tan, Steven Chu, Michelle Kwan, Jerry Yang

Interesting facts, great coloring images, and follows CCSS guidelines. Use for assessment, introduction, and/or refresher. Fun, educational way to learn facts about Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month!

What is a rough draft? How do you find a topic? How do you get started? How does it work as part of the writing process? All this and more answered as students work through the easy-to-follow guide for the rough draft process of writing. Includes: Rough drafts are bad caption/image Writers compose in different ways Writing process and overview Reflection activity Methods for starting: Chunk writing,Cluster/Map, Free writing, Outline Let's Practice activity Taking a risk with rough drafts Tips: Using your writing toolbox, taking a break between drafts, and Can you read this? Rough draft strategy slide and begin your rough draft Reminder of writing process for peer workshopping Everything needed to help students understand and begin their first rough drafts! Excellent for flipped classrooms and writing centers!

What is multigenre writing, and how can you use it in your classroom? This Common Core, across-curriculum, interactive presentation includes: Fact-based/non-fiction or fictional Defining: "Multi" and "Genre" Student examples of multigenre projects Interactive small group activity for introducing multigenre Research and extra resources on multigenres 2 levels of assignments: lower and upper Brainstorming Topics chart Find Your Topic graphic organizer Multigenre list for choosing types of writings Peer Workshopping guide Supplemental Resources Works Cited Ready to use with students, and a great way to re-visit an old topic or to revive research essays, whether using non-fiction or fiction. Can be used to introduce topics or as assessment for unit or research for any discipline.. Multigenre activities are engaging, educational, meaningful, and fun.

A fun way to introduce compare and contrast writing through collaborative learning and peerworkshopping for elementary, ELL, and emergent writers. Includes: Group exercise for working with compare and contrast Interactive comparing/contrasting essay writing assignment Handouts for group/individual listings (graphic organizer) Slide by Slide writing guide: intro, bodies, conclusion Easy to follow examples Thesis Intoduction Relationship Words handout Peer workshopping component Scoring rubric for grading Diploma for mastery of compare and contrast essay Great way to get students to discuss concepts and skills. Easy introduction for lower level learners. Also, great icebreaker activity! Students will be excited about compare and contrast writing Meets CCSS.

13 color-coded, figurative language Santa-themed activities that include definitions, examples, and writings. Fun for learning and using figurative language! Includes: Alliteration Hyperbole Idioms Imagery Internal Rhyme Metaphor Onomatopoeia Personification Simile Symbolism Writing Activity Word Search Activity Mix and Match Activity Answer Keys to Activities Use individually, small/whole group, as competitive activities and for Common Core Standards review or assessment of figurative language. Colorful Santa images to spark creativity!

Students produce personal narratives from memories with this 21 page guide that used the writing process. Includes: Attributes/Characteristics of Narrative Essay Overview of Writing Process Creating life maps (with student examples) Narrowing topics--prewriting stage with examples Narrative writing examples Online Reading: Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge Peer workshopping with guided questions: Revision and Editing Final Essay Stage Publishing/Sharing Scoring Rubric Extra Resources The 21 page guide is self-explanatory. It includes interactive writing activities along with using the writing process and peer workshopping strategies to teach narrative writing. Weblink to the online narrative book Gordon Wilfred McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox (by Screen Actors Guild) is excellent! Engaging and fun lesson that meets CCSS.

Where is Santa's missing red suit? Help Evie the elf as she recruits other elves, reindeer, and snowmen to help find Santa's red suit. Will Santa's famous yearly trip be delayed? Each page contains action word(s) for students to physically act out. Words include: 1. snored 2. danced a jig 3. hummed 4. checked and double checked 5. shook hands 6. whistled 7. looked under 8. tiptoed 9. pawed 10. searched 11. made snowballs 12. tossed 13. hop 14. shook their heads and yelled, “No!” 15. jumped up and down 16. slowly cracked open the door 17. peeked 18. waved 19. shouted, “Ho, ho, ho…Happy holidays!” Meets CCSS for speaking and listening, reading foundation skills, and physical education. Have while learning and searching for Santa's missing red suit!

Students make their own fact based or fictional Thanksgiving Storybooks then bind and share. These ready to use handout sheets are loaded with holiday graphics that include:

4 Title pages to color

4 The End pages to color

6 Coloring Frames with Speech Bubbles

16 Coloring Frames with Writing Spaces

Instructions for Use and binding with Optional Extensions (media)

32 slides of Thanksgiving fun that allows students to create their own books to share with classmates, families, and friends. Can be used as assessment for grammar/writing skills, as fact-based only stories, or as creative writing assignments.

Help students understand the difference between city and rural life with 10 activities. Includes: Easy to understand definitions of city and rural Matching (2 worksheets: symbols and words) Maps with city and rural activities to choose from Draw items found in a city and rural areas Letters for reflection (fill-in-the-blanks) Directions on each page Great for intro to geography or social studies unit, homework, or assessment. Meets CCSS.

An overview of Galveston as the Gateway to America during 1845-1924. Follow immigrants from Europe to Galveston in dangerous conditions over rough seas as they enter the Port of Galveston to start their new lives. 23 pages of comic book style coloring frames; 11 of these pages are blank for students to write their immigration stories. Includes "Fact" box on each of the pages. Fun, engaging, and educational approach to learning about immigration through the Port of Galveston in 1845. Use for introducing skills or for assessment of knowledge.

16 Halloween coloring images with holiday word banks that include: Cats Bats Dracula Frankenstein Ghosts Pirate Pumpkins Trick or Treat Witches Zombies and more... Includes Suggestions For Use sheet and template to create your own vocabulary word bank. Upper levels can use for poetry and contest writing. Fun way to assess writing skills in an ELA classroom. Grab a blanket and flashlight, turn on the lighted pumpkin, and have a classroom read-around of Halloween stories!

Do your students have trouble determining when to use "I" or "Me"? This easy-to-follow PowerPoint includes: Simplified Rules for Using"I" and "Me" Easy to follow Examples Peer Workshopping Activity This to-the-point presentation is for individual, small, or whole group introduction and review.. Make learning to use "I' or "Me" easy!

Connect fact based, real life writing to process/patterned writing by having students "Write an Award Winning Business Letter". The 16 slide presentation includes: Parts of a business letter: date, inside address, greeting/salutation, body, closing, signature line Examples of 6 parts Checklist Extra resources Easy to follow and can be used with individuals,small or whole groups. Easily guides students through the process of writing business letters. Be sure to send letters once they are finished!