Skip to content
Start My 3 Free Days $0 today · cancel anytime

3rd Grade Vocabulary Activities

23 3rd grade vocabulary activities. Teacher favorites: Idioms Figurative Language Activity and Dictionary Dive Activity. How teachers use these

3rd Grade Vocabulary Activities

23 3rd grade vocabulary activities. Teacher favorites: Idioms Figurative Language Activity and Dictionary Dive Activity. How teachers use these

Activity
Activity3rd GradeIdioms Figurative Language Activity

This idioms figurative language activity lets 2nd to 4th grade students match idioms to their real meanings in a fun card game, then draw and explain them. Answer key included.

Activity
Activity3rd GradeDictionary Dive Activity

This dictionary dive activity helps 2nd to 4th grade students look up multiple-meaning words and use context clues to pick the right meaning. A printed dictionary page and an answer key are included.

Activity
Activity3rd GradePlurals Activity

Using Plurals Activity, students add the proper word ending to make a plural noun for correct usage in writing.

Activity
Activity3rd GradeGreek Mythology Activity

This greek mythology activity helps 3rd to 5th grade students match characters, words and meanings to learn words that come from old Greek stories. Answer key included.

Activity
Activity3rd GradeVocabulary Jeopardy Activity

Using Vocabulary Jeopardy Activity, students determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text to build their use of vocabulary.

Activity
Activity3rd GradeDouble Dip Homographs Activity

This double dip homographs activity for 2nd to 4th Grade has kids match cone words to two scoop sentences, one for each meaning. Answer key included for quick checking.

Activity
Activity3rd GradeFood for Thought Idiom Simile Metaphor Activity

Students match food idioms, similes, and metaphors to their meanings and sort them by kind in this food for thought idiom simile metaphor activity for 2nd to 5th grade, with an answer key included.

Activity
Activity3rd GradeWhat Does This Word Mean Context Clues Activity

Students solve 12 task cards in this what does this word mean context clues activity for 2nd-4th Grade, with a tips chart, practice page and answer key included.

Activity
Activity3rd GradeUpwords Capitalizing Words Activity

Using Upwords Capitalizing Words Activity, students practice capitalizing days of the week, months of year, and names

Activity
Activity3rd GradeIt's Raining Cats and Dogs Idioms Activity

This it's raining cats and dogs idioms activity helps 2nd to 4th grade students match idioms to their real meanings in a rainy-day game. A practice page and an answer key are included.

Activity
Activity3rd GradeHelp From Other Author's Activity

Using this Help From Other Author's Activity helps, students collect story elements from literary or informational texts to write their own story.

Activity
Activity3rd GradeMuffin Tops Antonyms Activity

Using this Muffin Tops Antonyms Activity, students match the cards to make antonym pairs of opposite meanings.

Activity
Activity3rd GradeComparing Adjectives Comparatives and Superlatives Activity

This comparing adjectives comparatives and superlatives activity gives 2nd to 4th Grade students 12 picture clip cards for choosing -er and -est words. Answer key included.

Activity
Activity3rd GradePlaying With Idioms Activity

This playing with idioms activity has 3rd to 5th grade students match idiom cards to their real meanings, draw funny literal pictures and read idioms in stories. An answer key is included.

Activity
Activity3rd GradeDo You Want to Build a Snowman Contractions Activity

This do you want to build a snowman contractions activity has 1st to 3rd grade students match two-word body cards to contraction head cards, then practice on a worksheet. Answer key included.

Activity
Activity3rd GradeGet The Scoop On Confusing Words Activity

This get the scoop on confusing words activity has 2nd to 4th grade students match ice cream cone sentences to the homophone scoop that completes them. Answer key included.

Activity
Activity3rd GradeContributions to the Text Activity

Using Contributions to the Text Activity, students explain howthe information contributes to an understanding of the text in which itappears.

Activity
Activity3rd GradeCollecting Words For Writing Activity

This collecting words for writing activity teaches 2nd and 3rd grade students to use context clues on task cards, then collect new words while reading. Answer key included.

Activity
Activity3rd GradeL.3.4 Common Core Activity

Using L.3.4 Common Core Activity, students determine the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning word and phrases choosing from a range of strategies.

Activity
Activity3rd GradeBack to School Vocabulary Matching Activity

This Back to School Vocabulary Matching Activity is a fun addition to your students' back to school experience that can be used to learn key school vocabulary.

From our teachers' playbook

New words, every single day

What do 3rd graders learn about vocabulary?

Third graders become word detectives. They use context clues in a sentence to figure out an unknown word, and they use prefixes and suffixes to work out meanings: un + happy = not happy, care + less = without care. They learn synonyms, antonyms, and shades of meaning (knew, believed, suspected), and they start using glossaries and dictionaries on their own. They also notice literal versus non-literal language, like "take steps." The click moment comes when a child meets "replay" in a book and says "Oh, it means play again!"

Our favorite ways to grow 3rd grade vocabulary

Big vocabularies come from strategies, not just word lists. These moves teach kids how to figure words out.

Think aloud the clues

Read a sentence with a tricky word and say what you're thinking: "The dog was famished, and it gobbled the food. Gobbled tells me it was really hungry." Then kids underline the clue words in their own sentences. Naming the clue is the whole skill.

Why it works: showing first, practicing together, then letting kids try alone is the "gradual release" model teachers have relied on for decades (Pearson and Gallagher, 1983).

Context Clues WorksheetTry it withContext Clues WorksheetWorksheetsOpen it →

Synonym shades

Write a plain word like "big" and have kids rank synonyms from smallest to biggest: large, huge, enormous, gigantic. Hang the ladders on the wall for writing time. Kids start choosing stronger words on their own.

Why it works: children learn more from words and pictures together than from words alone (Mayer, 2009).

Synonym Match WorksheetTry it withSynonym Match WorksheetWorksheetsOpen it →

Analogy warm-ups

Start the day with one analogy: "Hot is to cold as up is to ___." Mix synonyms, antonyms and part-to-whole so kids have to figure out the relationship first. It's a great thinking stretch in under two minutes.

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).

Completing Analogies WorksheetTry it withCompleting Analogies WorksheetWorksheetsOpen it →

Questions parents and teachers ask us

What vocabulary skills do 3rd graders learn?

Third graders use context clues, prefixes, suffixes and root words to figure out meanings. They learn synonyms, antonyms and shades of meaning, and use dictionaries and glossaries.

What are context clues?

Context clues are hints in a sentence or nearby sentences that help a reader figure out an unknown word. They can be a definition, an example, a synonym or an opposite.

How can I help my 3rd grader build vocabulary?

Read together every day and talk about interesting words. Use new words at dinner and in everyday talk. Ask "What do you think that word means?" before looking it up.

What prefixes should a 3rd grader know?

Common ones include un-, re-, pre-, dis- and mis-. Knowing these helps kids understand hundreds of words, like undo, replay, preview, dislike and misspell.