Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
- Capitalize appropriate words in titles.
- Use commas in addresses.
- Use commas and quotation marks in dialogue.
- Form and use possessives.
- Use conventional spelling for high-frequency and other studied words and for adding suffixes to base words (e.g., sitting, smiled, cries, happiness).
- Use spelling patterns and generalizations (e.g., word families, position-based spellings, syllable patterns, ending rules, meaningful word parts) in writing words.
- Consult reference materials, including beginning dictionaries, as needed to check and correct spellings.
| Name |
Description |
| Marshmallow Mania | After experiencing measuring objects to the nearest one-fourth inch, students are given diagrams of the results from using different colors of paper to cook marshmallows in a solar oven. Students measure diagrams' lengths to the nearest quarter inch and record the data on a line plot. Next students determine which color showed evidence of the melted marshmallows' lengths closest to the ideal 2 inches and use this information to make a proposal to a fictional company for the best color to use in their solar ovens for s'more making. |
| How Long is Your Music Lesson? | In this MEA, third graders will be required to rank musical instrument lesson packages based on the length, frequency, and quality of the lessons. Part of the task involves students figuring out the elapsed time of the lessons based on their start and stop times. They will also need to figure out the total weekly cost of the lessons based on the number of lessons offered per week. Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom. |
| Time to Play! | This is a 3rd grade MEA that asks the students to determine elapsed time to find the ideal day for another student to stay in and do chores. Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom. |
| Sparks of Color | Using a variety of colors, students will practice the art of "revision" in the writing process. |
| Raincoats Are Us | Students are asked to interpret and graph data in order to design a method for choosing the best raincoat company to supply a distributor in Florida. Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom. |
| Animal Habitat MEA | Animal Habitat MEA is where the students will help a pet store choose which habitat they should buy to house their snake and lizard families. The students will solve an open-ended problem and give details on the process that they used to solve the problem.
Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. MEAs resemble engineering problems and encourage students to create solutions in the form of mathematical and scientific models. Students work in teams to apply their knowledge of science and mathematics to solve an open-ended problem, while considering constraints and tradeoffs. Students integrate their ELA skills into MEAs as they are asked to clearly document their thought process. MEAs follow a problem-based, student centered approach to learning, where students are encouraged to grapple with the problem while the teacher acts as a facilitator. To learn more about MEA’s visit: https://www.cpalms.org/cpalms/mea.aspx |
| Scheduling a School Day: Creating your own classroom schedule. | A group of students has been chosen to help create the classroom time schedule for the school year. The students will have to use the parameters set forth by the teacher and principal, as well as their own expertise about how they learn best, to create a schedule for the school day that includes all subjects and works around time set aside for lunch and special areas. Then the students will have to adapt the schedules they created to accommodate additional considerations by the teacher and principal. This MEA will require students to use their math skills to measure time intervals and their ELA skills to write a letter justifying and explaining the schedule they created. Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom. |
| Picking Pets | Using information about the needs of different animals, students will help choose which pet would be best to purchase for a classroom.
Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. MEAs resemble engineering problems and encourage students to create solutions in the form of mathematical and scientific models. Students work in teams to apply their knowledge of science and mathematics to solve an open-ended problem, while considering constraints and tradeoffs. Students integrate their ELA skills into MEAs as they are asked to clearly document their thought process. MEAs follow a problem-based, student centered approach to learning, where students are encouraged to grapple with the problem while the teacher acts as a facilitator. To learn more about MEA’s visit: https://www.cpalms.org/cpalms/mea.aspx |
| I-SPY Something Important | This lesson is designed to help students identify the central idea and relevant details of a text using the topic of inventions. |
| Rocking through the Regions (of the United States) | Rocking through the Regions (of the United States) is a 27-day third grade research project on the five regions of the United States and the states that are located within the regions. Students will begin by writing letters to states" Departments of Tourism requesting information about their state. Then, students will work in groups to use the information received along with other print and digital resources they locate to gather information about their region. Once all information is gathered, students will begin writing an informative report and publish their report in an engaging presentation. By the end of this unit, students will be able to identify all five regions on a blank map of the United States and label all 50 states. |
| Crickwing: A Lesson in Using Strong Words to Convey Precise Meaning | Using the book Crickwing, students will demonstrate understanding of the connection a writer needs to make between the words they use and the meaning they would like the reader to secure. |
| Teaching Sequential Organization of a Narrative Essay Using a Picture Book | Wendell and Floyd are late to class once too often and their teacher gives them an ultimatum. They decide to take a secret shortcut to school which proves to be anything but a shortcut. In this lesson, students will use the picture book The Secret Shortcut by Mark Teague as a model to write narrative fiction focusing on the organization of the text using sequencing /transitional words and phrases. |
| Name |
Description |
| Vocabulary: Abbreviation Match-Up | In this activity, students will identify common abbreviations. |
| Advanced Phonics: Double Time | In this activity, students will write corresponding spelling patterns for long vowels in multisyllabic words. As an extension activity, students will write the correct vowel for the schwa sound. |
| Advanced Phonics: Sound Choice | In this activity, students will decode and spell words containing vowel diphthongs while playing a board game. |
| Advanced Phonics: Inflection Reflection | In this activity, students will make new words by combining words with inflections. |
| Advanced Phonics: Compound Construction | In this activity, students will produce compound words that begin with a specific letter. In an extension activity, students will read and segment multisyllabic compound words into two words. |
| Advanced Phonics: The Write Word | In this activity, students will produce words with different spelling patterns while playing a game. |
| Advanced Phonics: Word-O-Matic | In this activity, students will make words using letter cards containing digraphs, silent letter combinations, vowel teams, and vowel diphthongs. |
| Advanced Phonics: Star Search | In this activity, students will decode and spell words with r-controlled vowel patterns. |
