Pacing Guide for 3rd Grade English Language Arts

Our Literature and Science and Social Studies units should be taught concurrently across two 60-minute reading and writing blocks; one focused on Literature and one focused on Science and Social Studies. Literature units are built around core texts that allow students to grapple with and explore themes and topics that are relevant to their day to day lives. Science and Social Studies units use content-rich nonfiction texts to help students build specific knowledge about historical, cultural, or scientific topics. To ensure students engage in a depth and breadth of reading, an additional 45-minute independent reading block should also take place daily.

See this blog post to see what a full school day could look like with these three blocks incorporated.

Our 3rd grade Literature units span 146 days and our 3rd grade Science and Social Studies units span 135 days. We intentionally did not account for all 180 school days to allow teachers to fit in additional review or extension, teacher-created assessments, and school-based events. Each unit includes a specific number of lessons, including writing and discussion lessons, and a day for assessment. 

A suggested breakdown of a typical lesson is shown below; however, this time allotment will vary depending on the lesson and lesson structure chosen by the teacher.

• 5 minutes: Building Knowledge and Skills
• 30 minutes: Engaging with the Text
• 25 minutes: Building Deeper Meaning