3rd Grade · Reading · L.3.2.F, L.3.2.E

Spelling Lesson Plan for 3rd Grade

A ready-to-teach spelling lesson for 3rd Grade, built around long vowel and vowel team spellings, r-controlled vowels, homophones, rules for adding endings, silent letters, sight words with tricky spellings, word scrambles and hidden letters puzzles. Print the plan, print the practice pages, and you are set.

Approximately 47 minutes

Learning objective

Read and comprehend spelling list practice passages independently
Build spelling vocabulary and fluency at the 3rd Grade level
Apply key reading strategies through spelling list practice practice

Materials

Word Scramble - Human Body
Long A Spellings
Vowel Teams Ai and Ay
Spelling Words With Ar
To, Too and Two
Adding Ed and Ing
Pencils, and whiteboard space for the modeled examples

Lesson steps

1. Build the background (5 min)
Say it before you show it. Give three spoken examples of spelling and have students repeat, then one that does not belong.
2. Read aloud and think aloud (I do) (10 min)
Write two examples of spelling while sounding them out slowly. Point to each part as you say it so the sound and the letters stay connected.
3. Guided practice (we do) (12 min)
Read a second passage together. This time students find the evidence and you record it. Push every answer back to the text with "what words told you that?"
4. Independent practice (you do) (15 min)
Hand out "Word Scramble - Human Body". Students read and answer on their own. Circulate and ask individuals to point to the line in the text that supports their answer.
5. Share and close (5 min)
Two or three students share an answer and the evidence behind it. Restate spelling one final time in the students' own words, not yours.

Check for understanding

Ask each student to point to the evidence in the text for one of their answers. A student who has the right answer but cannot find the line has not yet learned spelling.

Differentiation

Extra support. Students who stall: pull them into a small group and rebuild spelling with concrete materials or a simpler text before asking for the written work again. Do not send the page home as homework, it will just rehearse the misunderstanding.

Extension. Students who finish early: ask them to write their own spelling problem for a partner to solve, then check the partner's work. Creating a problem is harder than solving one and it surfaces whether they really understand spelling.

Skills covered in this lesson

Spelling list practice · Trace and write spelling words · Identify correct spelling · Color & spell · Word scrambles · Missing letters · Word shapes · Spelling word searches · Hidden letters · Spell rhyming words · Spelling crosswords · Long vowels

Questions teachers ask about teaching spelling

What spelling patterns do 3rd graders learn?

3rd graders spell long vowels and vowel teams (rain, team, boat), r-controlled vowels (star, fork, bird), common homophones, and words with endings, where the rules for dropping a silent e, doubling a consonant and changing y to i come in (CCSS L.3.2.E and L.3.2.F). Silent letters in words like knee and write round out the year.

How do I know when to double a consonant before adding ing?

Double the last consonant when a one-syllable word ends in one short vowel and one consonant: hop becomes hopping and sit becomes sitting. Words with two vowels or a final e do not double: rain becomes raining and hope becomes hoping. The adding endings pages practice all three rules.

In what order should I use these spelling worksheets?

Start with long vowels and vowel teams, since they are the most common patterns, then r-controlled vowels. Move to adding endings once those feel easy, and use the homophone and silent letter pages as review. Long vowels, r-controlled vowels, homophones and silent letters hold four sheets each, while vowel teams and adding endings hold more.

How should my child study sight words that break spelling rules?

Find the tricky part first, like the ough in through or the ie in friend. Then trace, copy, fold the page, cover the word and write it again. The four sight word lists hold 12 words each, and four more pages check them in sentences, a proofreading note and a story.

Is there an answer key for each worksheet?

Yes. All 55 sheets have an answer key that shows each spelling, so children can check their own work.