English

Grade 3 · fall eng.g3.f

Grade 3 Fall — Personal Narrative, Complex Sentences with Subordinate Clauses, and Morphology with Affixes and Roots

18 weeks 300 min/week 22 lessons 18 skills 51 exercises 5 assessments

Overview

Grade 3 Fall is the term children become NARRATORS. Four intertwined threads run across 18 weeks.

01

PERSONAL NARRATIVE
is the primary genre — children plan (heart-map), rehearse, draft, revise, peer-edit, and publish a 4-6 paragraph personal narrative with named character motivation, at least three sensory details per scene, and natural dialogue with mechanics. The Calkins Personal Narratives Unit (Bends I-III) and the Hochman SPO routine anchor the work. Children produce three narratives across the term: a 'small moment' (week 1-6), a 'turning point' (week 7-12), and a published 'narrative-that-matters' (week 13-18).
02

COMPLEX SENTENCES
with SUBORDINATE CLAUSES is the grammar centerpiece. Children meet nine subordinating conjunctions — WHEN, BECAUSE, ALTHOUGH, SINCE, AFTER, BEFORE, WHILE, UNTIL, IF — and learn the comma rule (fronted adverbial clause takes a comma; back-position clause usually does not). They sort simple, compound, and complex sentences (L.3.1.i) and combine kernel sentences into complex sentences during workshop.
03

GRAMMAR DEEPENING
across CCSS L.3.1: abstract nouns (courage, kindness, curiosity) as a new noun category; regular and irregular plural nouns expanded (children, women, men, feet, teeth, mice, geese, fish, sheep, deer, leaves, lives, loaves, halves, knives, wolves); abstract verbs (a refresher); comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs (taller/tallest, more careful/most careful; faster/fastest, more carefully/most carefully); article-choice a/an by following sound (Y3 NC).
04

MORPHOLOGY
with PREFIXES, SUFFIXES, AND LATIN ROOTS. Prefixes COM-/CON- ('together / with') and SUB- ('under / below'); suffixes -TION ('act, state, or result of') and -MENT ('act, state, or result of'). First five Latin-root introductions: ACT (do), PORT (carry), STRUCT (build), JECT (throw), FORM (shape). The root-meaning DETECTIVE routine — find the root, predict the meaning, check the dictionary — is the cornerstone strategy for vocabulary acquisition that will accelerate Grade 4 academic vocabulary growth. CONVENTIONS continue from G2: dialogue mechanics (L.3.2.c) taught FULLY — commas before/after dialogue tag, quotation marks around the spoken words, capital first word, end-of-quote punctuation INSIDE the closing mark, new paragraph for each new speaker. Commas in addresses (L.3.2.b). Possessives with apostrophes maintained from G2. CAPITALIZE TITLES (L.3.2.a — book titles, names of holidays, geographic names continued). REGISTER continues from G2 (L.3.3.a-b) with the spoken-vs-written contrast formalized. HFW Set 7 (next 25 high-frequency words transitioning toward academic vocabulary) and Tier-2 Set 7 (14 narrative-flavored verbs and motivation/feeling-precision words: whispered, muttered, exclaimed, hesitated, hurried, paused, glanced, replied, curious, anxious, determined, relieved, embarrassed, hopeful) anchor the vocabulary thread. The MULTI-DAY DRAFTING CYCLE is formalized: PLAN (heart-map and 4-box planner, days 1-2), REHEARSE ORALLY (day 3), DRAFT (days 4-6), REVISE WITH NAMED MOVES (days 7-8), PEER-EDIT WITH 6-MOVE PROTOCOL (day 9), FINAL DRAFT AND PUBLISH (days 10-11). Children name where they are in the cycle every day at the status-of-the-class check-in. The 6-MOVE PEER-EDIT PROTOCOL extends G2's 5-move version with a new sixth move: (a) listen all the way through, (b) compliment with a quote, (c) ask one question, (d) suggest one named revision move, (e) writer responds with their thinking, (f) writer decides what to change. The term closes with a published Class Narrative Anthology and an Author's Chair reception where each child reads one paragraph aloud.

Essential questions

What makes a small moment worth a reader's time — and how does a narrator pull the reader inside it?
How does a writer use subordinate clauses to layer time, cause, and contrast into a sentence — and when does the comma sit before vs. after the clause?
Why do abstract nouns (courage, curiosity, kindness) matter to a story even though you can't touch them?
What does dialogue do that narration alone can't — and how do the comma and quotation mark together signal what a person actually said?
How does a Latin root let you predict the meaning of a word you've never seen before?
What does a strong peer editor do — and why does the writer always pick up the pencil last?

Enduring understandings

A personal narrative places one named narrator inside one small moment, with sensory detail, dialogue, and named character motivation; it has an orientation, a complication, a peak, and a resolution.
A complex sentence is one independent clause plus one or more subordinate clauses joined by a subordinating conjunction; when the subordinate clause comes first, a comma follows it.
Subordinating conjunctions (when, because, although, since, after, before, while, until, if) signal time, cause, contrast, or condition.
Abstract nouns name ideas, feelings, and qualities (courage, kindness, friendship, curiosity); concrete nouns name things you can touch.
Dialogue is set off by quotation marks; commas separate the spoken words from the dialogue tag; each new speaker gets a new paragraph.
Affixes and roots are levers: knowing 'sub-' = under and 'struct' = build lets a reader predict 'substructure' without looking it up.
Comparative adjectives end in -er or take 'more'; superlatives end in -est or take 'most'; the syllable length of the adjective decides which form.
The drafting cycle is named, multi-day, and visible: PLAN → REHEARSE → DRAFT → REVISE → PEER-EDIT → PUBLISH. Writers know where they are.
A peer editor compliments with a quote, asks a question, suggests one named revision move, listens to the writer's thinking, and lets the writer decide what to change.
Spoken English and written English follow different conventions (L.3.3.b) — the audience and the medium decide what fits.

Visual reference library 15 assets


        MG-1

Illustration

Unit-opener: a Grade-3 writer at a workshop table with a HEART-MAP (a large heart-shape on construction paper divided into wedges with tiny drawings: a grandmother's hand, a soccer ball, a lost cat, a new-school classroom door, a kitchen, a beach), the 4-box NARRATIVE PLANNER tucked under it, and a stack of mentor texts (The Day You Begin, Thunder Cake, Grandfather's Journey, Tomás and the Library Lady) on the corner. Style: warm watercolor, multicultural classroom, eye-level shot, dyslexic-friendly classroom labels visible.


        MG-2

Chart Physical / non-image

Personal-narrative 4-box anchor poster: four labeled boxes in a 2x2 grid — ORIENTATION (blue, with a who/where/when icon), COMPLICATION (yellow, with a problem/uh-oh icon), PEAK or REALIZATION (red, with a heart-pounding icon), RESOLUTION (green, with a settle-back icon). Below each box: a sentence-frame ('It was ___. I was ___.' / 'But then ___.' / 'That was the moment ___.' / 'After that, ___.'). Print-ready 11x17, dyslexic-friendly font.


        MG-3

Chart Physical / non-image

Subordinating-conjunctions anchor chart: nine cards in a 3x3 grid color-coded by meaning category. TIME (blue): WHEN, AFTER, BEFORE, WHILE, UNTIL. CAUSE (yellow): BECAUSE, SINCE. CONTRAST (red): ALTHOUGH. CONDITION (green): IF. Each card has a sentence example ('WHEN the bell rang, we hurried inside.', 'BECAUSE the soup was cold, Mom complained.', 'ALTHOUGH I was scared, I climbed the rock.', 'IF you ask kindly, the librarian will help.'). Bottom rule: 'A SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTION joins a SUBORDINATE CLAUSE to an INDEPENDENT CLAUSE. Front + comma; back = no comma.' Print-ready 11x17.


        MG-4

Chart Physical / non-image

Simple / Compound / Complex sentence-types anchor chart (L.3.1.i): three rows. SIMPLE (one independent clause): 'The dog ran.' COMPOUND (two independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction with comma — FANBOYS reminder): 'The dog ran, and the cat watched.' COMPLEX (one independent + one subordinate, joined by a subordinating conjunction): 'When the dog ran, the cat watched.' Each row color-coded (simple=grey, compound=purple, complex=teal). Print-ready 11x17.


        MG-5

Chart Physical / non-image

Dialogue-mechanics anchor poster: four numbered rules with color-coded examples. Rule 1: Quotation marks (green) hug the spoken words. Rule 2: Comma (red) separates the tag from the quote. Rule 3: Capital first word of the quote. Rule 4: End punctuation (red) goes INSIDE the closing quotation mark (US convention). Worked example with arrows: 'Babushka whispered, "You can do this, little one."' Bottom rule: 'NEW SPEAKER → NEW PARAGRAPH.' Print-ready 11x17, dyslexic-friendly font.


        MG-6

Chart Physical / non-image

Abstract nouns anchor chart: a 2-column table with CONCRETE NOUN (touchable) on the left (apple, dog, chair, hand, kite, soup, jacket, library) and ABSTRACT NOUN (idea/feeling/quality) on the right (courage, kindness, friendship, freedom, curiosity, fear, hope, love). Bottom rule: 'Concrete nouns you can touch. Abstract nouns you can FEEL or THINK about but cannot touch.' Print-ready 11x17.


        MG-7

Chart Physical / non-image

Irregular plural nouns anchor chart: 16 base-plural pairs displayed as flap cards. child/children, woman/women, man/men, foot/feet, tooth/teeth, mouse/mice, goose/geese, person/people, fish/fish, sheep/sheep, deer/deer, leaf/leaves, life/lives, loaf/loaves, half/halves, knife/knives, wolf/wolves. Color-coded by pattern: same-form-plural=blue, vowel-change=yellow, -f→-ves=red. Print-ready 11x17.


        MG-8

Chart

Comparative and superlative adjectives/adverbs anchor: 2x3 grid. ROW 1 (short adjectives): base TALL → comparative TALLER → superlative TALLEST. ROW 2 (longer adjectives): base CAREFUL → comparative MORE CAREFUL → superlative MOST CAREFUL. ROW 3 (adverbs): FAST/FASTER/FASTEST and CAREFULLY/MORE CAREFULLY/MOST CAREFULLY. Bottom rule: '1-2 syllable adjectives usually take -er/-est. 3+ syllable adjectives usually take more/most. Adverbs of manner ending in -ly usually take more/most.' Print-ready 11x17.


        MG-9

Chart Physical / non-image

Affix and Latin root anchor poster: top section PREFIXES — COM-/CON- (means 'together / with') with examples combine, connect, compare, conduct; SUB- (means 'under / below') with examples submarine, subway, subtract, subzero. Middle section SUFFIXES — -TION (means 'act, state, or result of') with examples action, motion, attention, direction; -MENT (means 'act, state, or result of') with examples movement, payment, agreement, government. Bottom section ROOTS — ACT (do): action, react, actor. PORT (carry): import, export, portable. STRUCT (build): structure, construct, instruct. JECT (throw): inject, eject, project. FORM (shape): form, inform, transform. Each row color-coded; root family branches diagrammed. Print-ready 11x17.


        MG-10

Chart

Workshop drafting-cycle status-of-the-class wall chart: a 6-column grid PLAN | REHEARSE | DRAFT | REVISE | PEER-EDIT | PUBLISH. Each child has a small magnetic name-tile that they move into the column matching their current stage at the start of each workshop block. Each column has a 1-sentence definition and a tiny icon. Print-ready 18x24.


        MG-11

Video Physical / non-image

3-minute model of a Grade-3 writer working through one workshop block: builds a heart-map, picks one moment, fills the 4-box planner, rehearses orally to a partner, drafts the orientation, names where she is in the cycle at the wall chart. Voiceover narration explains the metacognitive moves. Multicultural child voice. Caption track on.


        MG-12

Video Physical / non-image

2.5-minute peer-edit model of the 6-move protocol on a Grade-3 narrative draft: timestamped overlays at each move (0:00 LISTEN, 0:25 COMPLIMENT-WITH-QUOTE, 0:50 QUESTION, 1:15 SUGGESTION, 1:40 WRITER RESPONDS, 2:05 WRITER DECIDES). Real-feel classroom; both children visibly use the MG-13 bookmark.


        MG-13

Chart

Peer-edit 6-move protocol bookmark (print-ready 2x7 inches): 1. LISTEN all the way through. 2. COMPLIMENT WITH A QUOTE. 3. ASK ONE QUESTION. 4. SUGGEST ONE NAMED REVISION MOVE (ADD SENSORY / STRONGER VERB / VARY LENGTH / COMBINE WITH SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTION / SHOW DON'T TELL / CHECK TENSE). 5. WRITER RESPONDS WITH THEIR THINKING. 6. WRITER DECIDES. Front color, back dyslexic-friendly B&W.


        MG-14

Photograph

Photograph set of 18 heart-map prompt-prime cards (visible only if a child gets stuck): a grandparent's hand on dough, a backyard swing, a school bus window, a new pair of shoes, a backyard tomato, a hospital waiting room, a public library shelf, a kitchen at dinner, a beach footprint, a winter coat zipping up, a stuck zipper, a fishing pier, a lost-and-found bin, a soccer goal, a piano keyboard, a stage curtain, a pet at the vet, a packed suitcase. Print-resolution, culturally inclusive imagery.


        MG-15

Chart

Revision-moves anchor (Grade 3 menu, expanded from G2's 5 moves to 6): 1. ADD SENSORY DETAIL (eye, ear, nose, hand, tongue icons). 2. STRONGER VERB (Tier-2 Set 7 list inset: whispered, muttered, exclaimed, hesitated, hurried, paused, glanced, replied). 3. COMBINE WITH A SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTION (when, because, although, since, after, before, while, until, if). 4. VARY SENTENCE LENGTH (short stack icon). 5. SHOW DON'T TELL (replace 'I was scared' with 'My hands shook and I held my breath'). 6. CHECK TENSE (clock icon). Print-ready 11x17.

Lessons (22)

#	Title	Min	Skills
1	Fall Launch — Heart-Map, Workshop, and the Year of Narrating	55	2
2	Zoom In — Picking One Moment and Writing the Orientation	50	1
3	Meet the Subordinate Clause — When, Because, and the Comma Rule	50	1
4	Narrator Verbs — Whispered, Muttered, Exclaimed, Replied	45	1
5	Although and Since — Contrast and Cause Subordinators + Sentence-Type Sort	50	2
6	The Complication — When Something Changes	55	1
7	Abstract Nouns — Naming What You Can't Touch	45	1
8	Before, After, While, Until — Time Subordinators in Workshop	50	1
9	The Peak — Writing the Heart-Pounding Center	55	1
10	Tier-2 Motion Verbs — Hesitated, Hurried, Paused, Glanced	45	1
11	If — Conditional Subordinator + Drafting the Resolution	55	2
12	Dialogue Mechanics — Commas, Quotation Marks, and New Paragraphs	50	2
13	Cursive Launch + Irregular Plurals (Same-Form, Vowel-Change, -f to -ves)	50	1
14	Feeling Words — Curious, Anxious, Determined, Relieved, Embarrassed, Hopeful	50	1
15	Revision Day — Apply All 6 Named Moves to Your First Narrative	60	1
16	Prefixes Com- and Sub- — Together and Under	45	1
17	Suffixes -tion and -ment — Turning Verbs Into Nouns	50	1
18	Commas in Addresses + Capitalize Titles	45	1
19	Latin Roots — Act, Port, Struct, Ject, Form: Detective Routine	50	1
20	Peer Edit — The Grade-3 6-Move Protocol	55	1
21	First Publication + Spoken vs. Written Standard English	60	2
22	Author's Chair Celebration + HFW Set 7 Review	60	2

Skills (18)

Strand · GR

Strand · VOC

Strand · WR

Assessments (5)

Summative With Self Reflection week 18 90 min covers 18 skills
Formative Summative Mix week 9 45 min covers 6 skills
Formative Observation week 10 and week 20 15 min covers 1 skill
Assessment As Learning week 18 during publishing 20 min covers 1 skill
Formative weeks 5 8 11 14 10 min covers 2 skills

Standards alignment

Framework

CCSS-ELA

            W.3.3W.3.3.aW.3.3.bW.3.3.cW.3.3.dW.3.4W.3.5W.3.6W.3.8W.3.10L.3.1.aL.3.1.b
            + 30 more
          

Framework

English National Curriculum

            Y3 V/G/P: expressing time, place and...Y3 V/G/P: expressing time, place and...Y3 V/G/P: introduction to paragraphs...Y3 V/G/P: headings and sub-headings...Y3 V/G/P: use of the present perfect...Y3 V/G/P: formation of nouns using a...Y3 V/G/P: use of the forms a or an...Y3 V/G/P: word families based on...Y3 V/G/P: introduction to inverted...Y3 Composition: discussing writing...Y3 Composition: composing and...Y3 Composition: organising...
            + 2 more
          

Framework

NCTE/IRA Standards

            NCTE-4 Adjust use of spoken,...NCTE-5 Employ a wide range of...NCTE-6 Apply knowledge of language...NCTE-11 Participate as...NCTE-12 Use spoken, written, and...
            
          

Framework

CEFR (early literacy adaptation)

            A2 Writing — can write a series of...A2 Writing — can write a short,...A2+ Writing (entry to B1) — can...A2 Speaking — can describe an event...A2 Speaking interaction — can ask...
            
          

Pedagogical anchors

The Writing Revolution / Hochman Method — sentence-expansion with subordinating conjunctions, single-paragraph outline (SPO) for narrative scenes, and 'sentence stretching' with because/but/so/when/although
Subordinating-conjunction sentence-expansion drills in lessons 3, 5, 8, 11, 14; SPO-for-narrative-scene (orientation + complication + resolution) in lessons 6, 9, 12, 15, 18; sentence-combining (simple + simple → compound or complex) in lessons 5, 8, and 14
Lucy Calkins' Units of Study — Writing Personal Narratives (Grade 3 Bend I-III: collecting, drafting, revising)
Personal-narrative arc across lessons 1, 2, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 22; heart-mapping launch in lesson 1; small-moment focus in lessons 6 and 9; revision-with-mentor-text in lessons 15 and 18; end-of-unit publication and Author's Chair in lesson 22
Handwriting Without Tears — Grade 3 cursive introduction (lowercase) + continued print fluency on single-line paper
Cursive lowercase introduction in lessons 1 and 13 (paper-type transition diagnostic and first cursive lowercase letters c, a, d, g); cursive maintenance in spiral_review_plan; final published narrative may be in print or beginning cursive at child's choice
Beck & McKeown 'Bringing Words to Life' — three-encounter Tier-2 vocabulary with narrative-flavored verbs and precision feeling/motivation words
Tier-2 Set 7 launches in lessons 4, 10, 14, 17 with narrative verbs (whispered, muttered, exclaimed, hesitated, hurried, paused, glanced, replied) and motivation/feeling-precision words (curious, anxious, determined, relieved, embarrassed, hopeful)
Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton, Johnston 'Words Their Way' — syllables-and-affixes sort routines for prefixes (com-, sub-) and suffixes (-tion, -ment)
Affix and root-word sorts in lessons 16, 17, 19; word-relationship maps in lessons 17 and 19; root-meaning detective routine in lesson 16
Strickland & Stahl — distributed retrieval for HFW automaticity
HFW Set 7 spaced rotation across all 18 weeks per spiral_review_plan; daily 5-minute retrieval routine
Routman 'Writing Essentials' and Atwell 'In the Middle' — workshop format with named writing-process stages, status-of-the-class check-in, and writer-driven conferring
Workshop format launched lesson 1; status-of-the-class daily check-in; teacher-writer conferring scheduled twice per week; peer-edit refined from G2 5-move protocol into 6-move G3 protocol (lesson 20)

Depth bar

Covers

CCSS

W.3.3.a-d: personal narrative with situation, dialogue/description, temporal words, sense of closure, in full multi-paragraph form
L.3.1.a: function of nouns/pronouns/verbs/adjectives/adverbs
L.3.1.b: regular and irregular plural nouns
L.3.1.c: abstract nouns
L.3.1.d: regular and irregular verbs
L.3.1.e: simple verb tenses
L.3.1.g: comparative/superlative adjectives and adverbs
L.3.1.h: coordinating and subordinating conjunctions
L.3.1.i: simple/compound/complex sentences
L.3.2.b: commas in addresses
L.3.2.c: commas and quotation marks in dialogue
L.3.2.d: form/use possessives
L.3.4.b: prefixes/suffixes: com-, sub-, -tion, -ment
L.3.4.c: root words
L.3.5: word relationships
L.3.6: acquire and use grade-appropriate vocabulary signaling spatial/temporal relationships, in full

Exceeds

CCSS by formally teaching 4-6 paragraph personal narratives with named character motivation and at least 3 sensory details per scene (CCSS W.4.3.b entry expectation), by introducing 9 subordinating conjunctions with explicit fronted-versus-end-adverbial-clause comma rule (English NC Year-4 V/G/P entry expectation), and by teaching the multi-day drafting cycle (plan-draft-revise-peer-edit-publish) with named revision protocols (CCSS W.4.5 entry expectation)