During third grade, student interaction with text often increases and becomes more complex in areas like comprehension, interpretation and evaluation. After reading novels, have students create book reports in the form of a book jacket. Instruct students to create a cover that illustrates the main idea of the book to practice interpretation. Have students write a summary inside the front flap to demonstrate their comprehension of the story. The summary can continue on the back flap, if needed. On the back cover, students create an advertisement for the book that states why others should read it. The advertisement serves as an evaluation of the book.
Students typically cover concepts related to civics, economics, history and geography in third grade social studies. Have students create a biographical journal based on a specific historical figure related to the major social studies concepts of civics, economics, history and geography. For example, if studying western exploration, students choose a prominent figure of western exploration and write a few journal entries in the voice of that person. The journal entries should include factual information about historical events of the time.
Have students practice math skills with a survey and graph. Ask students to make a generalized statement about classmates that they believe is true, such as stating that all students love chocolate ice cream. Students then take a survey to find out if the statement is true. Instruct students to gather data by asking all classmates if they agree with the statement and writing down classmate answers. Afterward, students create a poster-sized graph of the results of the survey data then present it to the class.
As reading and writing skills develop, third graders become more capable of research. Ask students to choose a culture of interest, such as Native Americans or the Japanese. Students then use age-appropriate books and websites to research the culture. Instruct students to locate information about the culture's language, location, food, customs, family life, homes and other areas of interest. Provide students with a blank paper booklet or computer resource for creating a short picture-book about the culture. Require that students include both illustrations and text in the book.