This resource, which is a direct download, is a lesson plan for "Aero and Office Mike" by Joan Plummer Russell. "Aero and Officer Mike is an informational text about a police officer and his partner, a dog named Aero. Information about their daily routine, Aero's special talents, and Officer Mike's training is included.

This lesson introduces students answer questions using specific details from the text and explain what they understand about the topic being discussed.

In this lesson, students create autobiographies by taking photographs that represent their life and writing paragraph captions. Students will then publish and electronic version to share with others.

In this lesson from Expeditionary Learning, students will imagine themselves in the role of the main characters of That Book Woman by Heather Henson. They will discover the motivations of the characters through role-playing and investigating the illustrations in the text. Students will use an informational text to investigate why it might be difficult to get books to people, as it was in That Book Woman. This is Lesson 1 of 17 from the Grade 3 Curriculum Map Unit 3, Module 1: http://engageny.org/resource/grade-3-ela-module-1-unit-3 .

In this lesson, students begin to explicitly focus on their ability to engage in collaborative discussions.

This article discusses how creating Readers Theater scripts from informational text can improve fluency and build comprehension.

Students will choose a landform to research. Using NC Wise Owl they will complete the Research form.They will use the information they learned to write an oral report as if they are a newscaster reporting from the landform.  They will record the report using Do Ink (Greenscreen app). Next they will create a diorama of the landform in a shoebox. Using the ipad, they will take a picture of the diorama and use Do Ink to make the greenscreen video.

 Using Wonders Literature Anthology and students Reading/Writing Companion, students will learn “What are different kinds of energy?”.  Students will complete a pre and post assessment for data collection. Students will read about solar energy, wind energy, and fossil fuels. Using information from the text, students will create a poster board to present information about each form of energy and will code a Dash Robot. Students will code Dash to move to the different types of energy, and students will voice record themselves describing and giving detail of each energy form.  

This activity for gifted learners might serve as a culminating activity as part of a larger poetry unit. Students will take part in close readings of a variety of poems throughout the unit. In this activity, gifted learners would work either individually or with a partner to close read “Autumn” by Emily Dickinson.  They will then work to decipher the poem and it’s meaning, resulting in an audio recording of the original poem and visual display to complement their knowledge/understanding of the poem. They will then create their own humorous adaptation of  “Autumn” by translating the poem into their own nonliteral language, slang, phrases with a newly “remastered” audio recording of the poem and visual display to complement their knowledge/understanding of the poem in their own words. This lesson was developed by NCDPI as part of the Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project. This lesson plan has been vetted at the state level for standards alignment, AIG focus, and content accuracy.

In this lesson, students practice formal and informal English, spoken and written, based on audience and purpose.

Students will investigate the idea that gradual changes in landforms reflect changes in the Earth’s atmosphere caused by human activity and subsequent global warming. They will create classroom service announcements, detailing the possible causes of climate change and urging fellow students to take action, to become aware of the connections among their lifestyles and the preservation of landforms. Students will develop the perspective that daily activity in one place in the world can have an impact on the entire planet. This lesson was developed by Georgia Morrison as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.            

In this lesson students are ready to share their knowledge of poverty related issues and stories with their peers. Teams continue to work with their poverty article from lessons 4 and 5 in an extension project using technology. The goal of this project is to have students identify the most important pieces of information from their article and communicate this in a digital format. The first part of this lesson allows students to plan a news segment with information and images to be video recorded and compiled for a final news report. They will work together to create teleprompter cards and choose and save images related to their articles using Google images to prepare for the project. Finally in Part 2 (Lesson 7), students will compose the video. A rubric is also provided to students to provide guidance and feedback as they create their portion of the news report (“Using Rubrics” 2016). This lesson was developed by Karie Gregory as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.            

In lesson 7, students are video recorded while presenting information about poverty in front of a green screen as the final piece of the collaborative group project. Students learn how to import images from saved files and videos on to a timeline in the iMovie application or other movie making software using an iPad or computer. The final news report is shared with an audience such as the class, school, or community to communicate ideas and take action by building awareness about the global issue of poverty. This lesson was developed by Karie Gregory as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.            

This lesson begins by following up to the previous lesson in which students were instructed to politely refuse one single-use item. Students will observe how one community in South America makes something wonderful from trash. Students will learn the importance of reducing their trash by actively participating in a trash-sorting activity, and demonstrate the ability to reuse trash by making a "trash to treasure" product. This lesson was developed by Lee Ann Smith as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.

In this lesson, students will attempt to answer this question: How can they, as third graders, help people who live across the world from them with a problem such as unclean or not enough water? Students will view a PowerPoint about Global Interdependence and the teacher will guide a discussion of the implications of unsafe water. How easy is it for most students in the U.S. to access clean water? jStudents will also discuss what might happen if the water in their community became compromised. What can they do about the issue both in their own communities and in South Sudan? Student groups will research different fundraising possibilities for helping Salva Dut's Water for South Sudan and prepare research notes. Using these notes, groups will present a fundraising possiblity to the class, which will then choose one to participate in. Teacher will assist the children in voting on one project to support. This lesson was developed by Amber Honeycutt as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.            

In this lesson, students will access their school- or district-approved search engine to research ways to help an African community. Prior to the research class period, the teacher should model the process using a template (see attached example) that will guide the students in gathering information. During the research class period, the teacher will monitor the students' research and assist as necessary with finding sites, writing down important information, etc. Students will then create a persuasive essay outlining reasons the rest of their third grade classmates should help support a fundraising project in support of that community. Throughout the writing process, the teacher will provide feedback as necessary (see lesson plan below) and monitor the students' progress. This lesson was developed by Amber Honeycutt as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.            

After this lesson students will be able to combine word choice and procedural writing; thus enhancing their overall writing skills.

Students will experience force and speed by constructing model cars in cooperative groups. The students will explore ways to move their cars at different speeds. Each group will create a PhotoStory describing their cars.

This activity for gifted learners might serve as part of a larger poetry unit. Students will take part in close readings of a variety of poems throughout the unit.  This research project should be assigned to students who demonstrate solid understanding of poetry (figurative language, structure, meaning) and are ready for a challenge as they work individually, or with a partner, to close read “Something Told the Wild Geese” by Rachel Field and then investigate…What is the “something”?  Using the information they discover in their research, they will create a complementary poem to “Something Told the Wild Geese,” explaining the scientific principal behind each stanza in verse which they will read to the class.  This lesson was developed by NCDPI as part of the Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project. This lesson plan has been vetted at the state level for standards alignment, AIG focus, and content accuracy.

In this comprehensive lesson, students work collaboratively to learn about the eight planets. They will research a planet's size, its comparison to other planets and its characteristics and use the information they find to publish an acrostic poem to share with their classmates. They will also produce a poster and create a technology presentation such as a Prezi or a PowerPoint.

Water covers 71% of the earth?s surface?does it get the instructional time it deserves in your busy curriculum? Students wade right in to the study of bodies of water as they read and discuss science trade books and work together to develop Readers Theater scripts based on selected titles.

This activity for gifted learners follows close reading of Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan.  At the end of the reading of Sarah, Plain and Tall, all students will complete a timeline of events & characters throughout the novel that is differentiated based on readiness.  This project should be assigned to students who not only demonstrate a solid understanding of the novel, but also show keen insight into the main characters’ development (traits, motivations, feelings, etc.) throughout the novel.  Students will analyze the characters’ development through the lens of the American frontier/pioneer period in our nation’s history, determining possible relationships between events during this time period and character development in the novel, through both research and careful reflection of characters/events in the novel.  This will culminate in the creation of a dual timeline.  This lesson was developed by NCDPI as part of the Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project. This lesson plan has been vetted at the state level for standards alignment, AIG focus, and content accuracy.

Students prepare a news report that highlights problems facing coastal communities and how climate change might affect coastal populations.

Third grade task cards for all seven MITECS and ISTE Standards for Students

This activity for gifted learners might serve as a culminating activity as part of a larger unit on fables, folktales, & myths. Students will take part in close readings of a variety of stories throughout the unit (including fables, folktales, & myths).  In this activity, gifted learners would work either individually or with a partner to closely read Amos & Boris by William Steig.  They will then work to decipher the central message(s) of the story and what fable(s) this story can be connected to.  As they read, they will pay special attention to two main details that help to convey the story:  the word choice and illustrations.  Using the central message of the story as an anchor and the saying, “A picture’s worth a thousand words,” they will then argue that the Steig’s word choice and illustration do or do not support the story’s central message in the best possible way by creating an audio/visual presentation that supports their argument.  This lesson was developed by NCDPI as part of the Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project. This lesson plan has been vetted at the state level for standards alignment, AIG focus, and content accuracy.

Using Wonders Literature Anthology and students Reading/Writing Companion, students will learn “What we know about Earth and its neighbors”.  Students will read about discoveries in space and how we learn more about our solar system.  After reading texts from Wonders using literature anthology and student reading writing companion, students will be placed in 9 groups (representing one planet each) and conduct research on their planet.  Students will create a one pager displaying a drawing or image of their planet with six facts (facts must include size, temperature, and an option of four other facts).  Students will then utilize Makey Makey to conduct an oral presentation of their project by coding and recording facts.  After completion, students will do a Gallery Walk to visit each planet while completing interactive guided note sheet in Google Slides.

This activity for gifted learners might serve as a culminating activity of part of a larger social studies unit or an English language arts unit centered on the concept of culture.  Students will take part in close readings of a variety of fiction (folktales, myths, historical fiction, etc.) and non-fiction (informational books, reference books/materials, maps, magazines articles, original documents, websites, etc.) throughout the unit.   As they read, they will pay attention to the different sections of the books (e.g., - nationalities, religions, languages, etc.) and take notes on what applies to them/where they fit in regard to that topic/category, thus comparing  & contrasting where they stand when considering their place in America & their place in the world. They will then work to create a “self portrait” by crafting their research into a portrait that conveys who they are in America, in the world, and in their own head & heart and present that information to the class.  This lesson was developed by NCDPI as part of the Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project. This lesson plan has been vetted at the state level for standards alignment, AIG focus, and content accuracy.

 This activity is in place of Research and Inquiry project on page 111 and 121 of student reading / writing companion In this lesson, students can choose from a list of historical figures to create a research project. Students will be asked to create a digital timeline of that person, and include images, audio, and/or video on their timeline that they find throughout their research. Each student will be asked to present their timeline to the rest of the class.

In this lesson, students write an informative/explanatory text and effectively participate in a conversation with their peers.