Unit Plan 23 (Grade 3 ELA): Performance Poetry and Fluency

Grade Level: 3

Subject Area: English Language Arts (Reading Fluency, Speaking & Listening)

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

I. Introduction

This week turns poets into performers. Students learn to read aloud with purpose, accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression. They mark poems for phrasing and pauses, adjust rate/volume/pitch to match meaning, and use context to self-correct tricky words. They also practice brief spoken introductions in complete sentences. By Friday, each learner performs a short poem or excerpt with clear prosody and gives a concise intro at an understandable pace.

II. Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives — Students will be able to…

1. Read on-level poems with purpose and understanding, using phrasing, punctuation pauses, and expression.
2. Demonstrate accuracy, appropriate rate, and expressive prosody through repeated readings.
3. Self-monitor and use context (meaning/structure/visual cues) to confirm or self-correct; reread when needed.
4. Present a poem with a brief intro and closing in complete sentences, speaking clearly.

Standards Alignment — CCSS Grade 3

• Reading Foundational Skills: RF.3.4a–c
  • a. Read on-level text with purpose and understanding.
  • b. Read on-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.
  • c. Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.
• Speaking & Listening: SL.3.4 (report/speak clearly at an understandable pace)
• Speaking & Listening: SL.3.6 (speak in complete sentences appropriate to task/situation)

Success Criteria — student language

• I can say why I’m reading this poem and show I understand it.
• I can read with smooth phrasing, clear words, and a just-right pace.
• When I get stuck, I can use context and reread to fix it.
• I can give a short introduction and closing in complete sentences, speaking clearly.