Your Third-Grader and Writing
In Your Child's Classroom
What will my third-grader learn about writing?
Third-graders write daily for different purposes. Your child may write formal letters, creative stories, answers to math word problems, personal narratives, journal entries, scientific observations, research reports and responses to literature. She writes fiction in different genres such as fables, poetry and science fiction.
Third-graders learn to use different literary devices such as dialogue, point of view and figurative language (similes and metaphors). There is an emphasis on learning to write a paragraph with a topic sentence, supporting details and a conclusion. Paragraphs are incorporated into longer written pieces. Your child works on writing more-complex sentences and using transitions, such as "in the meantime" and "afterward," to show sequence and create flow. She edits her writing for grammar, capitalization, punctuation, spelling and sentence structure.
Your third-grader uses the following steps of the writing process:
- Prewriting
- Drafting
- Revising
- Editing
- Publishing
- Sharing
This process helps your child with the organization and thinking required to write a story. Your child becomes more aware of the audience he is writing for and the goal of writing. He understands the purposes of different genres. For example, a report's purpose is to inform and a narrative's is to entertain or share a story. To reinforce this at home, you can discuss different purposes of writing as you encounter them, such as those for recipes, letters and programs for concerts or plays.
Karen Heath, our consulting teacher and the 2005 Vermont Teacher of the Year, notes: "Over the course of the third-grade year, most students go from largely teacher-supported writing pieces to far more independent writing. The biggest key to success with this is lots of practice, so give your child regular opportunities to write at home, whether composing thank-you letters, keeping a journal or writing a seasonal poem for a gift."
What will my third-grader learn about spelling?
In third grade, spelling is reinforced through the use of literature; writing, oral and written exercises; and games. Third-graders build on their spelling knowledge by learning more-complex spelling rules and patterns.
Weekly spelling lists
Often third-graders bring home weekly spelling lists they will be tested on. These lists may be from a prescribed spelling program or chosen by the teacher. They may include word families, or groups of words that have a common feature or pattern. For example, words with a long e that is spelled ea, ee or ie. The lists may also contain "challenge words," which are more difficult to spell, or thematic words that are used around the holidays or in specific subject areas. Third-graders typically do activities with the spelling words, such as writing a sentence using each word to understand its meaning and reading stories that include the terms.
"To reinforce what your child is learning at school," suggests Heath, "find out what spelling program is being used in the classroom. If there is no weekly list, ask the teacher for lists of word families to work on each week."
Moving beyond invented spelling
By the end of third grade, your child will use many conventional spellings of words. The class may still use invented spelling (also called inventive spelling), or spelling words as they sound, for complex and unfamiliar words, but students will usually look up correct spellings in a dictionary. When children use invented spelling, they are demonstrating their knowledge of the sounds letters make and of spelling patterns. Research shows that letting children use invented spelling allows them to focus on the purpose of writing: communication. As they learn the rules of spelling, they begin to apply them and make the transition to conventional spelling.
