Unit Plan 25 (Grade 3 ELA): Comparing Poems and Prose

Grade Level: 3

Subject Area: English Language Arts (Reading, Language)

Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 45–60 minutes per session

I. Introduction

This week helps students compare poems and prose on the same topic. Learners identify how poems are built (lines, stanzas, refrains) versus prose (sentences, paragraphs), and explain how those parts build meaning and reveal the author’s purpose (to evoke feeling, to inform, to tell a story). They also examine visuals and layout (illustrations, line breaks, white space) and use context and word parts to determine meanings of unfamiliar words. By Friday, students will analyze a fresh poem–prose pair, explain structure and purpose differences, describe how visual elements contribute to meaning, and clarify at least one word meaning with evidence.

II. Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives — Students will be able to…

1. Identify parts of poems (lines, stanzas) and prose (sentences, paragraphs) and explain how later parts build on earlier parts.
2. Compare how structure and author’s purpose differ between a poem and a prose text on the same topic.
3. Explain how illustrations and layout (including line breaks/white space) contribute to a text’s meaning or tone.
4. Use context clues and affixes (and, when needed, a student-friendly reference) to determine or clarify unfamiliar word meanings.

Standards Alignment — CCSS Grade 3

• Reading Literature: RL.3.5 (refer to parts of stories, dramas, poems; describe how parts build on each other)
• Reading Literature: RL.3.7 (explain how illustrations and other visual elements contribute to meaning/tone/beauty)
• Language: L.3.4a–c (determine/clarify word meaning using context, affixes, reference materials)

Success Criteria — student language

• I can point to lines/stanzas or sentences/paragraphs and tell how a later part adds to meaning.
• I can say how the purpose of the poem and the purpose of the prose text are alike and different.
• I can explain how an illustration or layout helps me understand or feel the text.
• I can figure out an unfamiliar word using context or word parts and tell which clue helped me.