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3rd Grade Speaking and Listening Resources

38 3rd grade speaking and listening resources: 22 activities, 9 worksheets, 6 Common Core Lessons and more. How teachers use these

3rd Grade Speaking and Listening Resources

38 3rd grade speaking and listening resources: 22 activities, 9 worksheets, 6 Common Core Lessons and more. How teachers use these

Worksheet
Worksheet3rd GradeCollaboration Discussion Worksheet

A 3rd Grade collaboration discussion worksheet that guides students through group talk with a six-rule checklist and note spaces for others' ideas, their own thinking, and what they learned.

Worksheet
Worksheet3rd GradeInformal vs Formal Worksheet

This Informal vs Formal Worksheet helps 3rd graders decide when to use formal or informal language across real examples and everyday situations. A complete answer key is included for quick, no-prep speaking and listening practice.

Worksheet
Worksheet3rd GradeWriting Formal vs. Informal Letters Worksheet

This Writing Formal vs. Informal Letters Worksheet gives 3rd Grade students practice labeling letter lines, swapping casual phrases for formal ones, and matching a letter to its reader. An answer key is included.

Worksheet
Worksheet3rd GradeIs it Formal or Informal Worksheet

The Is it Formal or Informal Worksheet helps 3rd graders sort everyday sentences by how polite they sound, then rewrite the casual ones. An answer key is included, so it works as no-prep speaking and listening practice.

Workbook
Workbook3rd GradeSmarter Balanced (CAASPP / SBAC) 3rd Grade ELA Practice Test Workbook

A Smarter Balanced (CAASPP / SBAC) 3rd grade ELA practice test workbook for teachers, with a pretest, skill practice for all 24 standards, mixed review and 2 full-length practice tests. Answer key included, so test prep is ready to go.

Activity
Activity3rd GradeWhat Does it Mean Literal Non-Literal Language Activity

This what does it mean literal non-literal language activity has 2nd to 4th grade students sort 16 food sentence cards and explain idioms. A practice page and answer key are included.

Activity
Activity3rd GradeLet's Talk Classroom Speaking Activity

This Let's Talk classroom speaking activity gives kindergarten through 3rd grade students role cards, topic cards and a self-check for small group talks. A practice page and answer key are included.

Worksheet
Worksheet3rd GradeGroup Researching Worksheet

This Group Researching Worksheet helps 3rd graders plan a team research project, choose a group job, list the books they used, and write what they learned and how they helped.

Activity
Activity3rd GradeFeeling Words Activity

This feeling words activity has 1st to 3rd graders read a story, match clue cards to feeling words, and practice naming how characters feel. An answer key is included.

Worksheet
Worksheet3rd GradeCollaborative Research Worksheet

A Collaborative Research Worksheet that helps 3rd graders plan a group project: one topic, four research questions, the sources they used, and how they will share what they learned.

Activity
Activity3rd GradeTotal Recall Activity

This total recall activity for Kindergarten to 3rd Grade has kids tell about real memories, spin for a question word, and draw and write about one memory.

Worksheet
Worksheet3rd GradeGreen Eggs and Ham Reader's Theater

Using Green Eggs and Ham Reader's Theater, students act out different parts in the story Green Eggs and Hall to learn more about Dr. Seuss.

Activity
Activity3rd Grade5 Minutes of Fame Read Aloud Activity

With this 5 minutes of fame read aloud activity, 1st-3rd Grade students practice and perform short poems with a paper microphone. A practice page and answer key are included.

Worksheet
Worksheet3rd GradeMake an Audio Recording Worksheet

This make an audio recording worksheet gives 3rd graders one page to plan the story or poem they will read aloud, their audience, and how their voice will sound, so every recording is clear, expressive, and easy to listen to.

Common Core Lesson
Common Core Lesson3rd GradeSL.3.1 Third Grade Common Core Lesson

Using this SL.3.1 Third Grade Common Core Lesson, students engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussionswith diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.

Common Core Lesson
Common Core Lesson3rd GradeSL.3.6 Third Grade Common Core Lesson

Using this SL.3.6 Third Grade Common Core Lesson, students speak in complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification.

Common Core Lesson
Common Core Lesson3rd GradeSL.3.3 Third Grade Common Core Lesson

Using this SL.3.3 Third Grade Common Core Lesson, students ask and answer questions about information from a speaker, offering appropriate elaboration and detail.

Activity
Activity3rd GradeHelp Me Out Asking Questions Activity

The Help Me Out Asking Questions Activity is a matching game where children pair classroom mix-ups with the clear question that fixes each one. Made for 1st through 3rd grade, with an answer key included.

Activity
Activity3rd GradeGold Medal Reading Strategies Activity

This gold medal reading strategies activity gives 1st to 3rd grade students a model story and four organizers for story maps, retelling and connections. Answer key included.

Activity
Activity3rd GradeRead it Aloud Activity

This read it aloud activity has 1st-3rd Grade students order Three Little Pigs story cards, then read them aloud with expression. A buddy checklist, practice page and answer key are included.

From our teachers' playbook

Big voices, better listeners

What do 3rd graders learn about speaking and listening?

Third grade is when classroom talk grows up. Kids learn to come to a discussion prepared, wait their turn, and build on what a classmate just said instead of starting a brand new topic. They practice asking real questions ("Can you say more about that?"), retelling the main ideas of something read aloud, and speaking in complete sentences at an understandable pace. They also start to notice that we talk differently to the principal than to a best friend. The click moment? When a student says "I agree with Maya, and I want to add..." all on their own.

Our favorite ways to build speaking and listening skills

Good talk is taught, not caught. These moves give every child a script, a role and a reason to listen.

Model the discussion first

Before kids discuss, we fishbowl it. Four students talk in the middle while everyone else watches for one thing, like "Who built on someone else's idea?" Then we name what we saw and post the sentence stems on the board.

Why it works: handing over the work step by step, from teacher to student, is one of the most widely used teaching frameworks (Pearson and Gallagher, 1983).

SL.3.1 Third Grade Common Core LessonTry it withSL.3.1 Third Grade Common Core LessonCommon Core LessonsOpen it →

Give everyone a job

Hand out roles before a small-group talk: starter, questioner, connector and summarizer. Rotate them each day so the quiet kids get the floor and the chatty kids practice listening. Groups that have jobs stay on topic far longer.

Why it works: kids understand an idea best when they touch it, then draw it, then write it, the order the U.S. Department of Education recommends for elementary math.

Roles of Conversation ActivityTry it withRoles of Conversation ActivityActivitiesOpen it →

Formal or informal?

Read two quick lines aloud, like "Hey, what's up?" and "Good morning, Mrs. Lee." Kids hold up an F or an I card. Mix in texts, letters and announcements so they hear how audience changes our words.

Why it works: shuffled practice teaches kids to choose the right strategy, not just repeat one, and it improved test scores in research (Rohrer and Taylor, 2007).

Informal vs Formal WorksheetTry it withInformal vs Formal WorksheetWorksheetsOpen it →

Questions parents and teachers ask us

What are the speaking and listening skills for 3rd grade?

Third graders take part in group discussions, follow agreed-upon rules, ask and answer questions, and build on others' ideas. They also retell main ideas from read-alouds and media, and speak clearly in complete sentences when they report on a topic.

How do I get shy 3rd graders to speak up?

Start with partner talk before whole-class sharing, and give them a sentence stem to lean on. Assigning roles in small groups helps too, because a "questioner" has a reason to talk. Celebrate the attempt, not just the polished answer.

How can I practice listening skills at home?

Read a short story aloud and ask your child to retell it in three sentences. At dinner, play "repeat and add": each person repeats what the last person said, then adds one idea. It is surprisingly hard and a lot of fun.

What is the difference between formal and informal language?

Formal language is what we use with adults we don't know well, in reports and in letters. Informal language is for friends and family. Third graders learn to pick the right one for their audience.