Back to School ELA Review for 3rd Grade | 20 Daily Lessons

Make the first month of school smoother with this 3rd Grade Back to School ELA Review! Designed to revisit essential second grade reading, grammar, vocabulary, word study, and writing skills, this comprehensive resource gives students 20 structured daily lessons plus 16 print-and-play literacy games. The predictable four-part routine helps third graders rebuild confidence, establish strong classroom routines, and prepare for Grade 3 learning.

Each daily lesson follows the same student-friendly structure: Read & Think, Language & Grammar, Word Work, and Write About It. Students read short fiction, nonfiction, and fable passages, answer comprehension questions, practice text-based thinking, review essential language skills, strengthen vocabulary and word knowledge, and complete a connected writing task. Skills spiral from lighter foundational review into more complex reading, language, and writing practice.

The resource includes 20 daily ELA review lessons, 40 pages of structured student practice, short fiction and nonfiction passages, fables, reading comprehension questions, text evidence activities, grammar and language review, phonics and word study, vocabulary practice, daily writing prompts, 16 print-and-play literacy games, a complete answer key, teacher guide, 20-day pacing overview, four-week planning guide, differentiation ideas, progress-monitoring tools, a family letter, student reflection, and a Reading Star Award.

Students revisit essential Grade 2 comprehension skills including main idea and details, character traits, setting, sequence and plot, theme or central message, inference, cause and effect, compare and contrast, author’s purpose, point of view, text features, fact and opinion, text evidence, context clues, making connections, and summarizing.

Grammar and language practice includes complete sentences and fragments, subjects and predicates, common and proper nouns, verb tense, adjectives and adverbs, pronouns, subject-verb agreement, possessive nouns, capitalization, commas in a series and dates, quotation marks, conjunctions, compound sentences, contractions, irregular plural nouns, irregular past-tense verbs, sentence combining, and editing.

Word study and vocabulary activities strengthen r-controlled vowels, diphthongs, prefixes, suffixes, root words, long vowel teams, compound words, syllables, synonyms, antonyms, context clues, multiple-meaning words, homophones, shades of meaning, word relationships, comparatives, similes, and academic vocabulary. Daily writing tasks provide meaningful practice with sentence and paragraph writing, opinion writing with reasons, informative writing, sequencing, comparison, text-based responses, summarizing, personal connections, dialogue, sensory description, and reflection.

The 16 included literacy games add engaging partner, small-group, and center practice. Students can reinforce key skills with Parts of Speech Sort, Contraction Match, Synonym Match, Roll-an-R-Controlled Word, Tricky Word BINGO, Tricky Word Roll & Read, Vowel Team Sort, Same & Opposite Match, Reading Road Race, Main Idea Baskets, Fact or Opinion Sort, Sentence Building Tiles, Fix-It Cards, Sequence Cards, Homophone Match, and Syllable Sort.

A built-in Game-to-Skill Quick Map makes it easy to match each activity to a targeted learning need, including parts of speech, contractions, synonyms, r-controlled vowels, high-frequency word fluency, long vowel teams, antonyms, main idea and details, fact versus opinion, sentence building, editing, sequencing, homophones, and syllables. Games can be printed on cardstock, laminated, and stored for repeated literacy-center use throughout the year.

Use this resource for third grade morning work, back-to-school ELA review, second grade skills review, literacy warm-ups, reading comprehension practice, grammar review, vocabulary development, word study, literacy centers, partner work, small groups, intervention, early finishers, formative assessment, homework, or home practice. Each complete lesson is designed for approximately 15–25 minutes, making it easy to fit into a busy classroom schedule.

Perfect for teachers looking for a structured first-month literacy routine, this 3rd Grade Back to School ELA Review combines 20 days of ready-to-use academic practice with 16 hands-on literacy games. It helps students strengthen comprehension, grammar, vocabulary, word study, and writing while building the confidence, independence, and routines they need for a successful start to third grade.