Fluence Learning
Writing an Opinion: Buddies that Bark or Purr-fect Pets?
Which animal is best for you—a dog or cat? Why? Engage third graders in an opinion writing assessment that prompts them to read facts about both pets, and then write and decide which pet is best for them.
Curriculum Corner
Area and Perimeter
Get third graders excited to work find area and perimeter of unit squares, rectangles, and irregular shapes. A 36-page packet comes with task cards, graphic organizers, practice worksheets, printables with squares, exit tickets, and word...
Illustrative Mathematics
What is a Trapezoid? (Part 1)
Challenge your class to construct a definition for trapezoids. Looking at four examples and four non-examples, students individually create definitions and use them to classify an unknown shape. Allow for small group and whole-class...
Illustrative Mathematics
Fractions and Rectangles
Visual models are excellent teaching tools when explaining equivalent fractions. Looking at a rectangle cut into twelfths, students first identify the shaded fraction, and then explain whether the fraction is equal to one-fourth....
Illustrative Mathematics
Listing Fractions in Increasing Size
Increase the depth of your class's fractional number sense with this number-ordering activity. Given four fractions, each with different numerators and denominators, young learners are asked to place them in order from smallest to...
Illustrative Mathematics
Who is the Tallest?
A simple question, with a not-so-simple answer. Working with whole and mixed number measurements in inches, feet, and yards presents a problem with many possible solutions. A great activity that challenges the minds of young...
Illustrative Mathematics
Finding the Line of Symmetry
Can you find the line of symmetry? That's what your students will demonstrate by completing this worksheet. The task gets increasingly difficult as shapes are included that have one line of symmetry, no lines of symmetry, and multiple...
Illustrative Mathematics
The Geometry of Letters
Use the alphabet as a tool for teaching your class about geometric figures. Break apart capital letters into line segments and arcs. Classify angles as right, acute, or obtuse. Identify parallel and perpendicular lines. An excellent...
Curated OER
The Class Trip
Mrs. Moore's class is trying to earn money for a trip to the science museum, but how much more do they need? Solve this problem with your own class as they develop their ability to model real-life situations algebraically. As an added...
Curated OER
Symmetry of the Addition Table
Help your class discover the commutative property of addition with this exploration of the addition table. By folding and coloring the table, a symmetry is found that directs students to an understanding of this crucial mathematical...
Curated OER
Snow Day
It's a snow day, and two brothers attending schools with different schedules each got a late start to the day. But who had the shorter school day? That's what your class will find out as they apply their knowledge of fractions to this...
Curated OER
Halves, Thirds, and Sixths
An excellent activity that effectively pulls together the concepts of area, fractions, and equivalent fractions! Using 3x2 rectangular arrays, 3rd graders are introduced to the concept of area in terms of square units. Building on this...
Curated OER
The Square Counting Shortcut
An excellent lesson plan that encourages students to discover how complex figures can be broken into simpler shapes when measuring area. Working with block letters, learners are given the freedom to develop their own strategies for...
California Education Partners
Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel
A three-part assessment tests scholars' reading and writing capabilities. Young readers listen to and read an excerpt from Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel. After drawing pictures of what is memorable, learners discuss their notes...
California Education Partners
Follow the Water by Arthur Dorros
Assess scholars' reading and writing capabilities with an exam that challenges learners to respond to an informative text. Through note-taking and peer discussion, pupils analyze a passage from the story, Follow the Water from Brook to...
California Education Partners
Covers by Nikki Giovanni
Over three days, scholars listen to and read the poem, "Covers" by Nikki Giovanni. Learners complete a graphic organizer by sketching their visualizations from each stanza then discuss their pictures with a peer. Pupils answer...
California Education Partners
My Five Senses by Aliki
An assessment designed to examine scholars' reading comprehension skills takes place over three days. Starting with a read-aloud of My Five Senses by Aliki, learners then take notes and discuss their most memorable moments with a peer....
California Education Partners
Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes
A 3-day exam assesses readers' comprehension. After hearing a passage from the story Kittens First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes, scholars work with a partner to discuss and sketch what they found memorable. Peers share their final products...
EngageNY
Mid-Unit Assessment: Close Reading of the "Spadefoot Toad"
A mid-unit assessment challenges scholars to use their close reading skills to identify the main idea and key details. After reading a brief excerpt, learners answer a series of questions—multiple-choice, short answer—complete a graphic...
California Education Partners
Window Washers
Aim high with a task on window washers. An assessment task challenges learners to determine the number of windows two people wash. They do this using a given number of window rows on each side of a building. In addition, they find the...
California Education Partners
Tile Mural
Paste this resource into your lesson plans like you'd paste a tile onto a mural. Given a diagram of a tile mural with rectilinear figures, future artists determine the perimeters and areas of the figures. They must then develop their own...
California Education Partners
Theater Field Trip
Here's an assessment task that's better than watching a show. Young mathematicians solve word problems involving multiplication and division with equal groups. They must find the total number of attendees on a trip to a theater based on...
California Education Partners
Lashelles Garden
Let knowledge grow bountifully like plants in a garden. Given a diagram of a rectangular garden split into plots, scholars determine the area of the entire garden and the areas of the individual plots. As a culminating activity, they...
California Education Partners
Fun on the Farm
Let imaginations run wild as participants design animal pens. A performance task challenges young mathematicians to determine the perimeter or a missing side length of different animal pens. They then design pens that meet given...