Grade 3 - Nonfiction Writing Unit Plan & Printables

A Complete Unit Plan of 3rd Grade Writing Lessons, Printables, and Nonfiction Writing Activities

Help your students to develop and improve their nonfiction writing skills with 6 weeks of lessons and creative nonfiction writing activities, aligned with Common Core Standards for Grade 3. The unit plan covers instructional writing, explanatory writing, and opinion writing, and includes everything you need from detailed teacher guidance, to ready-to-use activities and worksheets - simply print and go!

What’s Included in This Unit Plan?

For the teacher

• Fully-guided nonfiction writing unit plan with writing activities for 3rd common core
• Lesson plans with detailed, step-by-step instructions, timings, suggested materials, standards alignment, and accompanying printable teaching resources
• Suggestions for warm-up activities, main teaching activities, assessment opportunities, and ideas for support, extension and homework
• Five ‘sessions’ or lessons that explore three main nonfiction text types: instructional writing, explanatory writing, and opinion writing.

For the student

• Creative nonfiction writing activities - choose from independent and collaborative tasks
• Opportunities to monitor and assess students’ writing skills and knowledge with an assessment sheet for each section
• Support with grammar throughout the unit to build and develop students’ grammar skills
• Ideas for displaying students’ learning journey and providing support via a Working Wall.

What’s Inside the Unit Plan?

Introduction (page 3)

Standards Alignment (pages 4-5)

Section 1: Instructional Writing (pages 6-24)

• Session 1 - Sequencing Instructions
• Session 2 - Using Subordinating Conjunctions
• Session 3 - Shared Reading of a Recipe
• Session 4 - Modeled Instructional Writing
• Session 5 - Shared Writing
• Assessment Sheet for Instructional Writing
• Example Text - Recipe for a Marvelous Medicine
• Instructional Writing Activity
• Who’s the Audience?
• Sequencing Instructions Activity
• Subordinating Conjunction Hunt
• Combining Sentences Activity

Section 2: Explanatory Writing (pages 25-47)

• Session 1 - What is an Explanation?
• Session 2 - Using the Present Perfect
• Session 3 - Shared Reading
• Session 4 - Modeled Explanatory Writing (1)
• Session 5 - Modeled Explanatory Writing (2)
• Assessment Sheet for Explanatory Writing
• Example Text - Why Are Gnomes So Small?
• The Key Features of an Explanation Text - Answer Sheet
• Explanatory Writing Activities
• Transition Words
• Modeled Writing Activities
• Homework - Puzzling Questions
• Advervial Phrases
• Paragraph Planner - Planning an Explanation
• Homework - The Subordinate Clause

Section 3: Opinion Writing (pages 48-57)

• Session 1 - How Are Opinion Pieces Constructed?
• Session 2 - Planning an Opinion Piece
• Session 3 - Nouns and Noun Phrases
• Session 4 - Modeled Opinion Writing (1)
• Session 5 - Modeled Opinion Writing (2)
• Assessment Sheet for Opinion Writing
• Example Text - Cinderella’s Speech
• Finding Noun Phrases and Pronouns
• Possessive apostrophes — spot the difference! 
• Homework - Alliteration
• Planning an Opinion Piece