Unit Plan 27 (Grade 3 ELA): Writing Dialogue & Building Suspense

Focus: Pacing and character voice

Grade Level: 3

Subject Area: English Language Arts (Writing, Language)

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

I. Introduction

This week, writers craft short narrative scenes that sound alive and keep readers turning pages. Students learn to write dialogue that reveals character voice, weave in action beats and inner thoughts to deepen moments, and control pacing with temporal words and sentence length. Conventions lessons ensure dialogue is punctuated correctly and spelling is checked with resources. By Friday, each student will publish a suspenseful scene with clear voices, smooth pacing, and correct dialogue punctuation.

II. Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives — Students will be able to…

1. Use dialogue, actions, and thoughts/feelings to develop events and show characters’ responses.
2. Control pacing with temporal words/phrases, short/long sentences, and purposeful paragraph breaks.
3. Apply quotation marks and commas correctly in dialogue; check and correct spelling using references.

Standards Alignment — CCSS Grade 3

• Writing: W.3.3b–c (use dialogue, actions, thoughts/feelings; use temporal words/phrases to signal event order)
• Language: L.3.2c (use commas and quotation marks in dialogue)
• Language: L.3.2g (consult reference materials to check/correct spelling)

Success Criteria — student language

• My characters sound different and their words match who they are.
• I show the moment with action beats and feelings and move time with temporal words (then, suddenly, a moment later).
• My dialogue uses quotation marks and commas correctly, and I checked spelling of tricky words.