online writing 3rd grade

Free tools to make your students better writers and readers .

Quill.org, a non-profit, provides free literacy activities that build reading comprehension, writing, and language skills for elementary, middle, and high school students.

Writing Across the Curriculum: Quill's nonprofit mission is to now build both reading and writing skills through free, OER content across the curriculum. Over the coming years, we will be building a library of free ELA, social studies, and science activities that engage students in deeper thinking through writing prompts that provide immediate feedback.

9 million students have written 2 billion sentences on Quill.

Quill Reading for Evidence

Provide your students with nonfiction texts paired with AI-powered writing prompts, instead of multiple-choice questions, to enable deeper thinking.

Students read a nonfiction text and build their comprehension through writing prompts, supporting a series of claims with evidence sourced from the text. Quill challenges students to write responses that are precise, logical, and based on textual evidence, with Quill coaching the student through custom, targeted feedback on each revision so that students strengthen their reading comprehension and hone their writing skills.

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Culture & Society Topics

"Should Schools Have Grade Requirements for Student Athletes?"

Science Topics

"How Does Eating Meat Impact Global Warming?"

Social Studies Topics

U.S. History

World History

Under Development, Coming 2023

Quill Connect

Help your students advance from fragmented and run-on sentences to complex and well structured ones.

Using the evidence-based strategy of sentence combining, students combine multiple ideas into a single sentence. They then receive instant feedback designed to help them improve their clarity and precision.

Quill Lessons

The Quill Lessons tool enables teachers to lead whole-class and small-group writing instruction.

Teachers control interactive slides that contain writing prompts, and the entire class responds to each prompt. Each Quill Lessons activity provides a lesson plan, writing prompts, discussion topics, and a follow up independent practice activity.

Quill Diagnostic

Quickly determine which skills your students need to work on with our diagnostics.

The diagnostics cover vital sentence construction skills and generate personalized learning plans based on the student’s performance.

Quill Proofreader

Proofreader teaches your students editing skills by having them proofread passages.

Students edit passages and receive personalized exercises based on their results. With over 100 expository passages, Proofreader gives students the practice they need to spot common grammatical errors.

Quill Grammar

Students practice basic grammar skills, from comma placement to parallel structure.

Quill Grammar has over 150 sentence writing activities to help your students. Our activities are designed to be completed in 10 minutes so you have the freedom to use them in the way that works best for your classroom.

How Quill Works

Set up your classroom, without it.

You can quickly and easily set up your classroom in Quill by inputting student names or providing students with a unique code. If you use Google Classroom or Clever, you can automatically set up your classroom with one click.

Choose activities

Decide if you want your students to proofread passages, combine sentences, or complete a diagnostic. Use our ten minute activities as building blocks during your classroom instruction.

Use easy-to-consume reporting

Use our reporting to spot trends and identify growth opportunities. Monitor comprehension on specific writing standards.

Get immediate feedback for your students

Save time grading and watch your students correct their mistakes instantly.

Intervene where students struggle

See exactly where your students need intervention with our comprehensive reports.

Differentiate learning to meet the needs of all students

Assign specific activities for ELLs and students with learning differences.

Engage students with adaptive activities

Challenge students with questions that automatically adapt based on their previous responses.

Align with the Common Core Standards

Easily meet Common Core language standards with our aligned activities.

Easily sign up with Google Classroom

With one click all of your students and classes will be imported.

Over 100 concepts totaling 50 hours of quality curriculum.

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DANIEL SCIBIENSKI, PRINCETON PUBLIC SCHOOLS

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8th Grade ELA & ELL

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Reading Worksheets, Spelling, Grammar, Comprehension, Lesson Plans

3rd Grade CCSS: Writing

For third graders, this Common Core area helps students gain mastery of writing skills by working collaboratively and producing written texts, understanding syntax and vocabulary, and organizing their ideas. Among the complete standards for this grade, third graders will be asked to: write opinion pieces, explanatory texts, narratives, use linking words, be able to write conclusions, properly use illustrations to enhance a text, use dialogue, and descriptions of emotions and thoughts to develop understanding of characters, use appropriate technology to publish writing, understand writing for specific audiences, go through the process of writing, editing and revision for their written work.

Mother’s Day Acrostic Poem

A fun Mother’s Day acrostic poems for students!

Acrostic Poetry Worksheet Activity: Write It!

Here’s a great prompt for writing acrostic poetry.

Autumn: Five Senses and Adjectives

Practice describing Autumn with your five senses by using this fun classroom activity! Describe what you see, smell, hear, taste, and feel!

Christmas Acrostic Poem Activity

See what your students come up with when you hand out this worksheet and have them write an acrostic poem about Christmas.

Fourth of July Acrostic Poem

Bring some fun into the classroom with this Acrostic Poem activity for the Fourth of July!

Introducing a Topic: Giving Information

How do you name a pet or describe a good book at the library? In this activity, students introduce different topics based on prompts.

Introducing a Topic: Opinion Writing

Students, especially beginning writers, sometimes have trouble getting started. This activity helps them learn how to introduce topics.

Introducing a Topic: Telling a Story

This activity helps students learn how to clearly introduce a topic in a story they are telling. In this activity, students will write the setting of the story.

Spring Acrostic Poem

Students practice their creativity with this fun acrostic poem using the word “SPRING”.

Thanksgiving Acrostic Poem

T is for thankful. H is for helping. Print out this free worksheet for your students! Have them write their own acrostic poem using the word THANKS.

Write an Acrostic Poem

This acrostic poem worksheet will introduce your youngster to poetry!

Autumn Acrostic Poem

This fun activity helps your elementary school aged students practice their writing skills by creating an acrostic poem about Autumn!

Autumn: The Scarecrow’s Surprise Writing Prompt

Students will further develop their creative writing skills with this Autumn writing prompt activity. This is a great worksheet to keep your students’ creativity flowing!

Back to School Acrostic Poem

Welcome your students back to the classroom with a creative, educational acrostic poem activity.

Classroom Reporter: Interview with a Classmate

“Classroom Reporter: Interview with a Classmate” is the perfect way to introduce students to their classmates and learn more about one another.

Father’s Day Acrostic Poem

Use this Acrostic Poem worksheet to keep your students engaged and learning in the classroom for Father’s Day.

Father’s Day Writing Prompt: He’s the Best

Your students will have fun writing about their father in this “He’s the Best” writing activity.

Fourth of July Writing Prompt: What Freedom Means to Me

Teach your students about freedom in America with this fun Fourth of July Writing Prompt printable worksheet.

Haiku: Write Your Own!

This worksheet features the Japanese poetry style haiku.

Halloween Acrostic Poem Activity

Help your students develop their writing skills with our festive GHOST acrostic poem!

Writing Worksheets for 3rd Graders

Printable Writing Worksheets for 3rd Graders aligned with Common Core Standards. SplashLearn is an award-winning learning program used by more than 40 million children.

CONTENT TYPE

• Lesson Plans
• Math (1,020)
• Number Sense (121)
• Compare Numbers (18)
• Compare 3-Digit Numbers (9)
• Order Numbers (21)
• Order 3-Digit Numbers (10)
• Skip Counting (2)
• Skip Count By 10 (2)
• Even And Odd Numbers (24)
• Place Value (33)
• Round Numbers (21)
• Round Numbers To The Nearest 10 (10)
• Round Numbers To The Nearest 100 (10)
• Addition (146)
• Addition Properties (6)
• Addition Strategies (19)
• Add Using Multiples Of 10 (8)
• Add Three Whole Numbers (18)
• 2-Digit Addition (21)
• 3-Digit Addition (87)
• 3-Digit Addition Without Regrouping (22)
• 3-Digit Addition With Regrouping (42)
• Subtraction (155)
• Subtraction Strategies (25)
• Subtract From 10 Strategy (4)
• Subtract Using Multiples Of 10 (6)
• 2-Digit Subtraction (40)
• 2-Digit Subtraction Without Regrouping (11)
• 3-Digit Subtraction (98)
• 3-Digit Subtraction Without Regrouping (40)
• 3-Digit Subtraction With Regrouping (25)
• Multiplication (250)
• Multiplication Strategies (89)
• Multiplication With Equal Groups (25)
• Multiplication With Arrays (23)
• Multiplication Sentences (50)
• Repeated Addition To Multiply (15)
• Times Tables (63)
• Multiplication By 2 (5)
• Multiplication By 3 (6)
• Multiplication By 4 (5)
• Multiplication By 5 (8)
• Multiplication By 6 (5)
• Multiplication By 7 (4)
• Multiplication By 8 (5)
• Multiplication By 9 (4)
• Multiplication By 10 (5)
• Multiplication Properties (64)
• Commutative Property Of Multiplication (10)
• Distributive Property Of Multiplication (31)
• Multiply By Multiples Of 10 (18)
• Estimate Products (8)
• Multi-Digit Multiplication (8)
• Multiply 2-Digit By 1-Digit Numbers (8)
• Division (111)
• Divide On A Number Line (10)
• Division Facts (47)
• Estimate Quotients (5)
• Long Division (3)
• Divide 3-Digit By 1-Digit Numbers (3)
• Fractions (101)
• Fractions Using Models (42)
• Fractions On A Number Line (15)
• Compare Fractions (11)
• Order Fractions (18)
• Order Fractions Using Models (10)
• Equivalent Fractions (14)
• Equivalent Fractions Using Models (6)
• Fractions Operations (3)
• Geometry (20)
• Shapes (17)
• 2D Shapes (17)
• Attributes Of 2D Shapes (5)
• Partition Into Equal Parts (2)
• Data Handling (16)
• Measurement (31)
• Length (10)
• Measure Lengths Using The Ruler (8)
• Estimate Lengths (2)
• Capacity (4)
• Conversion Of Measurement Units (8)
• Perimeter (5)
• Time In Quarter Hours (10)
• Time To The Nearest 5 Minutes (6)
• Time To The Nearest Minute (1)
• Digital Clock (14)
• Elapsed Time (2)
• Multiply And Divide Money (2)
• Algebra (10)
• Factors And Multiples (9)
• Word Problems (160)
• Addition Word Problems (44)
• 2-Digit Addition Word Problems (18)
• 3-Digit Addition Word Problems (18)
• Subtraction Word Problems (16)
• Subtraction Word Problems Within 20 (1)
• Multiplication Word Problems (42)
• Division Word Problems (12)
• Multi-Step Word Problems (19)
• Reading (98)
• Phonics (3)
• Diphthongs (2)
• Reading Comprehension (96)
• Cause And Effect (4)
• Inference (8)
• Prediction (18)
• Sequencing (8)
• Story Elements (6)
• Authors Purpose (6)
• Compare And Contrast (4)
• Ask And Answer Questions (13)
• Point Of View (3)
• Reality And Fantasy (4)
• Using Illustrations (5)
• Using Text Features (3)
• Context Clues (4)
• Writing (305)
• Handwriting (259)
• Word Tracing (83)
• Sentence Tracing (50)
• Cursive Writing (126)
• Cursive Words (74)
• Cursive Sentences (52)
• Creative Writing (46)
• Opinion Writing (15)
• Descriptive Writing (20)
• Writing Paragraphs (45)
• Grammar (193)
• Adverbs (27)
• Adjectives (23)
• Singular And Plural Nouns (16)
• Pronouns (14)
• Parts Of Speech (6)
• Prepositions (6)
• Punctuation (7)
• Tenses (32)
• Article A An The (2)
• Spelling (16)
• Common Misspellings (6)
• Unscramble (7)
• Vocabulary (73)
• Affixes (4)
• Commonly Confused Words (2)
• Compound Words (9)
• Figures Of Speech (4)
• Synonyms And Antonyms (9)
• Word Puzzles (45)
• Word Search (34)

Handwriting Worksheets

Writing Practice: Common Fruits Mistaken as Vegetables Worksheet

Discover and learn about fruits often mistaken as vegetables with our enjoyable handwriting practice worksheet.

Cursive Writing: Common Fruits Mistaken as Vegetables Worksheet

Is a tomato a fruit? Explore common fruits mistaken as vegetables and practice cursive handwriting with our fun worksheet.

Sentence Writing: The Solar System

Learn about the solar system with this engaging handwriting practice worksheet, perfect for enhancing writing skills.

Handwriting Practice: Days of the Week Worksheet

Master the days of the week with our engaging handwriting practice worksheet, perfect for daily learning.

Creative Writing Worksheets

Complete the Story Worksheet

Complete the story by examining pictures. Enjoy this engaging and interactive task to enhance your storytelling skills. Join the adventure today!

Prediction Practice: What Happens Next?

Inspire children to practice prediction with this engaging spaceship-themed worksheet, designed to build comprehension skills.

Let's Predict: What Happens Next?

Engage your child with this printable reading worksheet to enhance their prediction skills with a fun writing activity.

Predict the Mystery: Sarah's Midnight Adventure

Discover the joy of creative writing and practice prediction with our fun worksheet on a midnight adventure.

Opinion Writing Worksheets

Opinion Writing: My Favorite Hobby

Strengthen your child's creative writing practice with our hobby-themed printable worksheet focusing on writing sentences.

Opinion Writing: My Favorite Food

Improve your child's creative writing practice with our fun worksheet, focusing on writing about their favorite food.

Opinion Writing: My Favorite Festival

Practice opinion writing with this engaging printable worksheet centered on writing about your favorite festival.

Opinion Writing: My Favorite Season

Help your child learn opinion writing with our enjoyable printable worksheet, focusing on writing about their favorite season.

Descriptive Writing Worksheets

Descriptive Writing: At the Zoo

Improve creative writing practice with this engaging printable worksheet, focusing on writing about a day at the zoo.

Descriptive Writing: A Day at the beach

Excel in creative writing with our printable worksheet, focusing on writing a picture description about a day at the beach.

Descriptive Writing: A Snowy Day

Augment creative writing with this engaging printable worksheet, while writing about a snowy day.

Descriptive Writing: At the Park

Boost your kid's creative writing practice with our printable worksheet while writing a description about a day at the park.

Writing Paragraphs Worksheets

Can You Predict What Happens Next?

Build creative writing skills with our fun worksheet on prediction and read a story to predict where a map leads.

Predict the Discovery: Dr. Anderson's Science Marvel

Explore the world of creative writing with our fun science-themed worksheet focused on developing prediction skills.

Making Predictions: What Will Happen Next?

Introduce kids to the skill of prediction with this fun worksheet while reading a story about a strange discovery in a jungle.

Read and Predict: The Mansion on the Hill

Advance your child's creative writing skills with our exciting prediction worksheet with a story about a mansion on the hill.

All Writing Worksheets

Writing Practice: Letter D Animals Worksheet

Discover letter D animals with our enjoyable handwriting practice worksheet, a great way to learn about wildlife.

Writing Practice: Letter E Animals Worksheet

Explore letter E animals with our educational handwriting practice worksheet, perfect for young animal enthusiasts.

Writing Practice: Letter F Animals Worksheet

Learn about letter F animals and practice handwriting with our fun worksheet, combining vocabulary with handwriting skills.

Writing Practice: Letter G Animals Worksheet

Explore letter G animals and enhance handwriting skills with our exciting handwriting practice worksheet.

Writing Practice: Letter H Animals Worksheet

Discover fascinating letter H animals with our handwriting practice worksheet, combining fun and learning.

Writing Practice: Desserts Worksheet

Dive into the world of desserts with our awesome handwriting skills worksheet, perfect for sweetening handwriting practice.

Writing Practice: Drinks Worksheet

Learn about various drinks and enhance handwriting skills with our enjoyable drinks-themed worksheet for young learners.

Read and Predict: Daniel the Explorer

Develop creative writing skills with our fun prediction printable while reading about the adventures of Daniel the explorer.

Writing Practice: Easter Words Worksheet

Celebrate Easter, boost vocabulary and handwriting skills using our fun Easter-themed handwriting practice worksheet.

Let's Predict: The Talking Tree

Practice creative writing with our fun worksheet, while honing your prediction skills using the story of a talking tree.

Practice Writing: Easter Worksheet

Discover the joys of Easter and improve your handwriting with our awesome worksheet, a festive educational experience.

Let's Predict: Museum Mysteries

Encourage creative writing practice with our exciting museum-themed worksheet, focusing on the skill of prediction.

Writing Practice: Thanksgiving Food Worksheet

Explore Thanksgiving foods and sharpen handwriting skills with our enjoyable worksheet, perfect for holiday learning.

Writing Practice: Christmas Food Worksheet

Learn about festive Christmas foods with our fun handwriting practice worksheet, perfect for holiday learning.

Writing Practice: New Year Worksheet

Ring in the New Year and improve handwriting skills with our festive worksheet, a fun way to celebrate and learn.

Practice Writing: Weather Words Worksheet

Master weather words and handwriting with our engaging handwriting practice worksheet, perfect for budding weather experts.

It'S Raining: Writing Practice Worksheet

Practice handwriting with our exciting rain-themed handwriting practice worksheet, perfect for rainy day learning.

Opinion Writing: My Favorite Animal

Refine your kid's opinion writing skills with our printable worksheet as they write all about their favorite animal.

Windy Vocabulary: Writing Practice Worksheet

Develop handwriting skills with our windy vocabulary handwriting practice worksheet, ideal for learning weather terms.

Opinion Writing: My Favorite Movie

Master opinion writing practice with this engaging, movie-themed printable worksheet for honing creative writing skills.

Writing Practice: Brown Items Worksheet

Explore various brown items, boost vocabulary, and practice handwriting with our exciting handwriting practice worksheet.

Opinion Writing: My Favorite Book

Elevate your child's opinion writing practice with this engaging worksheet, focused on writing about their favorite book.

Writing Practice: Red Items Worksheet

Explore things that are red in color with our engaging handwriting practice worksheet, perfect for fun and learning.

Opinion Writing: Favorite Holiday Destination

Excel in opinion writing practice with our printable worksheet focused on writing about a favorite holiday destination.

Practice Writing: Letter E Words Worksheet

Explore letter E words and improve handwriting with our fun handwriting practice worksheet, perfect for vocabulary expansion.

Opinion Writing: Favorite Flavor of Ice-Cream

Augment your kid's opinion writing practice with our fun, printable worksheet themed on their favorite flavor of ice-cream.

Practice Writing: Letter Q Words Worksheet

Learn letter Q words and practice handwriting with our fun handwriting practice worksheet, a fun way to expand vocabulary.

Opinion Writing: Favorite Sport

Boost your child's opinion writing practice with our exciting sports-themed worksheet, perfect for enhancing writing skills!

Writing Practice: Letter Z Words Worksheet

Explore letter Z words with our fun handwriting practice worksheet, combining vocabulary learning with handwriting practice.

Opinion Writing: Favorite Teacher

Improve your child's opinion writing with this engaging creative writing worksheet to write about their favorite teacher.

Writing Practice: Silent C Words Worksheet

Uncover the intrigue of silent C words with our handwriting worksheet, perfect for practicing spelling and handwriting.

Opinion Writing: Favorite Board Game

Engage in creative writing practice with our fun, board game-themed printable worksheet focused on opinion writing.

Writing Practice: Silent T Words Worksheet

Master silent T words with our enjoyable handwriting practice worksheet, ideal for challenging young writers.

Opinion Writing: Favorite School Subject

Inspire children with this printable worksheet, focusing on opinion writing as they write about their favorite school subject.

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50 Creative 3rd Grade Writing Prompts (Free Printable!)

Taking the leap from the primary level to the intermediate grades.

Third grade is a huge transitional year in elementary school. Third grade writers have learned foundational concepts and skills and have had time to practice. Now they are developing more complex skills as they dig deeper, learn to make connections, and analyze the topics they write about. Here are 50 third grade writing prompts to help your students master and refine their writing skills.

If you’d like even more upper elementary writing prompts, we publish new ones twice a week on our kid-friendly site: the Daily Classroom Hub . Make sure to bookmark the link!

(Want this entire set in one easy document? Get your free PowerPoint bundle by submitting your email here, so you’ll always have the prompts available!)

1. Tell about a special event in your life.

2. What are you best at?

3. What do you want to learn more about?

4. I could never live without______.

5. If you could go anyplace in the world, where would you go and why?

6. Interview one of your parents or grandparents and ask them to tell you a story from their childhood. Share their story here.

7. Describe one of your favorite book characters. Tell three things about their personality.

8. Do you think third graders should have to do chores at home? Why or why not?

9. What is something you would change about school if you could?

10. Tell about a time you helped somebody.

11. Tell about a time somebody helped you.

12. Tell about a memorable “first” in your life. For example, the first time you ate a particular kind of food, the first time you met your teacher, etc.

13. Describe step by step how to make a pizza.

14. What does it mean to be a hero?

15. I am afraid of _______ because_______.

16. What is the difference between being polite and rude? Give three examples.

17. What is the most important rule in the classroom?

18. What are the three most important qualities you look for in a friend?

19. Do you think kids should be assigned homework? Why or why not?

20. Nature gives us many beautiful things—plants, animals, water, weather, stars and planets, etc. What is one of your favorite things in nature and why?

21. If I were a spider, I’d _______.

22. Three things that make me happy are ______.

23. What is your favorite holiday and why?

24. Tell about one of your family’s unique traditions.

25. If you could have a pet, what would you choose? How would you take care of it?

26. Write about a dream you recently had.

27. Tell about a person that inspires you and why.

28. Name five things you are thankful for and why you are thankful for them.

29. What are ways you can be a good citizen?

30. When you and a friend disagree, how do you work it out?

31. What do you think the world will be like in one hundred years?

32. What is your favorite type of weather? Why?

33. What superpower do you wish you had? Why?

34. What famous person would you like to meet? Why?

35. In your opinion, which animal makes the best pet? Give three reasons for your answer.

36. If someone gave you $100, how would you spend it?

37. Should third graders have cell phones? Why or why not?

38. If you could be an Olympic athlete, what sport would you participate in?

39. Write about your “getting ready for school” routine.

40. Write about your “getting ready for bed” routine.

41. If you could travel through time like Jack and Annie in the Magic Tree House, where would you go?

42. In your opinion, what does a perfect weekend look like?

43. Write about the last time you felt really angry. What happened and how did it all work out?

44. Pretend there was a special zoo where animals could talk. Which animal would you talk to and what are three questions you would ask?

45. What is your favorite thing with wheels? Why?

46. Tell the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears from the point of view of Baby Bear.

47. What do you think would grow if you planted a magic bean?

48. Which would you rather be able to do—fly or read people’s minds? Why?

49. Tell about an adult in your life that you admire.

50. If you were traveling for a week and could only bring a backpack, what would you pack?

Get My Third Grade Writing Prompts

Love these third grade writing prompts? Make sure to check out our third grade jokes to start the day !

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The Guide to 3rd Grade: Reading and Writing

Review reading and writing curricula for third grade, including what to expect and how to support learning..

Your child has mastered the fundamentals in 1st grade and 2nd grade , and is now ready to thrive through 3rd grade! But it’s not just another year: This grade is a very important time in your child’s education, because it’s when students transition from what are often known as the “lower grades” to the “upper grades.” It is a crucial period in students’ learning as they become more independent and mature learners.

In 3rd grade, students progress from practicing basic skills to mastering them, and move on to develop more complex skills. 

Read on for what to expect this year, and shop all books and resources for third grade at The Scholastic Store . 

For more book and reading ideas,  sign up  for our Scholastic Parents newsletter.

Reading in 3rd Grade 

After mastering literacy skills in earlier grades, 3rd graders become better and more independent readers. Third grade reading focuses on teaching kids how to think and talk about what they read in deeper and more detailed ways. Students read longer texts, and most read fictional chapter books .

Many reading lessons in 3rd grade are dedicated to writing and talking about the meanings, lessons, and important ideas in texts. Third graders are encouraged to develop their own points of view about books they read, and to discuss their ideas about a text or characters.  Series books are important in 3rd grade, because they allow students to make connections between different books and talk about how certain characters develop. As 3rd graders explore a greater range of books and longer texts, they become more fluent readers and learn to read, define, and pronounce complex words.

To build reading skills, your 3rd grader :

• Reads multi-syllable and grade-appropriate, irregularly spelled words (ask your child’s teacher for a list of these words).
• Reads grade-level text with appropriate pace, accuracy, expression, and understanding.
• Self-corrects mistakes and re-reads when necessary.
• Talks about and answers questions about a text using specific examples from the text and connects different parts of a text.
• Reads a variety of texts including, fiction, non-fiction, fables, and poetry, and understands and talks about their main ideas and lessons.
• Begins to understand the difference between literal and non-literal text such as metaphors and analogies.
• Uses the text and context to determine the meaning of words.
• Is able to express their own point of view about characters or a text.
• Makes comparisons between books written by the same author and books in series that are about the same characters.

Third Grade Reading Activities

Get Serious About Series : Find a series that interests your child and begin to read it together. You can read to your child, your child can read to you, or they can read a chapter independently. You can even interview each other as you read — ask about main ideas, events, and thoughts you each have about the books and characters.

Look It Up : When your child encounters a word they don’t know the meaning of, look up the meaning together. Use a grade-appropriate tool like the Scholastic Children’s Dictionary  — or you can even keep your own family dictionary, recording words and their definitions. Use the word yourself, or encourage your child to use that word in a sentence sometime during the day.

Learn About an Author : As your child develops favorite authors, look online for that author’s website. They can email or write a letter to the author (under your supervision).

Writing in 3rd Grade

Third graders continue to practice writing the pieces they learned to do in 2nd grade, but now also write longer ones with more detail. What’s more, 3rd graders learn increasingly sophisticated language, using phrases and terms to provide examples and make connections within their writing.

More time is spent on planning, revising, and editing texts in 3 rd grade — and as a result, your child learns the “writing process” authors go through. Students may spend a long period of time (say, a few weeks) working on one piece. They also practice writing pieces in shorter periods of time in class and through homework. Third graders continue to use and become comfortable with technology as they employ computers for writing pieces and doing research.

To build writing skills, your 3rd grader :

• Opinion Pieces : Students introduce their opinions, note the reasons for those opinions, and provide a conclusion.
• Narrative Pieces : Students write about an event, using descriptive details, feelings, and proper order — and ultimately provide a conclusion.
• Informative/Explanatory Pieces : Students introduce a topic and use facts, definitions, and, if helpful, illustrations to further explain the topic, eventually leading to a conclusion.  
• Uses terms such as:  because ,  since, for example, also, another , and  but  to elaborate on and make connections in their writing. 
• Plans, revises, and edits their writing, going through the same process that most writers do.
• Uses digital tools (under the guidance of the teacher) to publish their writing and interact and communicate with others.
• Begins to take notes and do research for short research projects.
• Spends various amounts of time writing a piece, ranging from a short period of time (such as 30 minutes) to working on one piece over the course of a few weeks.

Third Grade Writing Activities

Write About Your Lives : When your family experiences an enjoyable or important moment, you and your child can write about it together in a narrative piece. Describe the events that occurred using details and emotion, then send the piece to family members or friends to share the event and the writing.

Get Technical : Help your child use a computer to research a topic or communicate with friends and family. Your third grader can also use the computer to write their own pieces or pieces you write together.

Learn How to Do Something New : Pick something fun you and your child want to learn how to do, like drawing cartoons. Research the topic online or in a book together and create an informative piece, explaining the subject. You can then do the project yourselves or teach another family member or friend using the piece you and your child wrote.  

Shop the best resources for second grade below! You can find all books and activities at  The Scholastic Store . 

Explore other grade guides: 

• Kindergarten
• First Grade
• Second Grade
• Fourth Grade  
• Fifth Grade
• Sixth Grade
• Seventh Grade
• Eighth Grade

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3rd grade reading & vocabulary

Unit 1: pets, unit 2: homes, unit 3: extreme environments.

• Decoding multisyllable words
• Understanding most common prefixes and suffixes
• Recognizing common spelling patterns
• Recognizing common spelling errors
• Identifying nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, conjunctions, prepositions, and interjections
• Identifying singular, plural, and collective nouns
• Forming regular and irregular past-tense verbs
• Identifying punctuation and capitalization errors
• Using apostrophes and commas
• Spelling common words
• Recognizing common idioms
• Practicing subject-verb agreement
• Identifying homophones
• Identifying and forming compound words
• Identifying key details from a story
• Identifying character traits
• Identifying the parts of a basic letter or email
• Multiplying up to 100
• Dividing up to 100
• Identifying prime numbers
• Solving two-step word problems
• Understanding place value
• Comparing fractions
• Telling time to the nearest minute
• Measuring length and height using inches, feet, centimeters, and meters
• Recognizing quadrilaterals
• Relating shapes and their parts to fractions
• Measuring and reading angles
• Identifying the x-axis and the y-axis on a graph
• Reading longitude and latitude on a map
• Painting and coloring
• Illustrating a story
• Creating simple animations
• Identifying musical instruments
• Understanding color theory
• Recognizing rhythm and how it's represented in musical notation
• Recognizing pitch and how it's represented in musical notation
• Expressing themselves through art and design
• Counting money
• Organizing events on a calendar
• Identifying safe ways to use the Internet
• Naming the fifty U.S. states
• Identifying technological tools
• Identifying recyclable items
• Using a mouse, trackpad, or touchscreen
• Using a keyboard

For a full list of aligned Common Core standards, visit our Common Core page:

How to Get Students to Write by Themselves in the Age of AI Tools

W hen it comes so easy to write something using AI tools like ChatGPT or similar, it is important to use and improve your writing skills. Despite the active use of AI writing tools, teachers can still make it so that students want to improve their writing abilities. The humanities courses traditionally use student writing as the final grade and an assessment tool for student’s learning experiences. Writing is a measure that demonstrates superior thinking by a student in logical proof, chains of argumentation, arrangement, synthesis of information, and use of literary devices, thus making the writer improve their skills. One of the most important objectives when it comes to writing is to motivate students to keep on being reflective and deep thinkers. Creative thinking is important for students as AI tools cannot generate articles in human-like language.

Some online journals have already published various articles on topics like ‘The College Essay Is Dead’ and ‘The End of High-School Writing,’ which were perceived as possible threats to the essay assignments that act as powerful instruments for controlling students’ knowledge. To retain this critical thinking in our students, we must consider what we teach them. In other words, what actually happens in students’ brains when they sit in front of their teacher during classes? What occurs when they work on homework assignments?

One thing that every tutor should remember while taking intelligence into account is obtaining instant feedback on a student’s thoughts. It needs to be done throughout the classes or lecture tests so that the teacher can hear and see students’ original thoughts; it is also crucial to build a trustful relationship between student and teacher in which a teacher positions themselves as a go-between from where students start and how they progress towards their objectives.

Try to make in-class writing fun and understandable. Include less technology in classes and more engagements. This will improve students’ enthusiasm for learning how to think and write, even if it is a complex paper. Let’s check some other potential suggestions on how to save human writing in the classroom:

Also, if you allow some tools, you should fully explain what they are for, how to use them, and how to avoid undermining student’s work. Answer all questions the students may have. Otherwise, students will seek only simple solutions for tasks.

The feedback given will keep changing as the students make revisions and exhibit improved writing, thus making progress towards the final product. This kind of real-time grading eventually counts towards the final essay or test. By that time, teachers will be able to tell what students have learned from them and get familiar with how they write different papers, making teachers acquainted with students’ styles. All this information is then used to strategically plan the following lessons.

Still, AI should not be academic enemy for teachers. A number of students can get help with their papers, focusing on inspiration and guidance to become better writers. It is all about instructing students on how they can improve their writing. Whether you are a student or a teacher be attentive and open to various options. Only this way a student can forget about coping generated material and start thinking on their own.

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