Ecosystem lessons for third grade are really hard to find. I don’t know about you all, but sometimes I find it hard to find resources for science or social studies. When I teach my third grade students about ecosystems, I wanted them to have a reading standards based method to learn about ecosystems. In conclusion, that’s why I created these Ecosystem lessons for third grade.
My mission was I wanted a meaningful way for students to learn about ecosystems during our reading block. These activities are found in our content area literacy centers.
Ecosystem Lesson Plans for Third Grade Read Alouds Ideas
You all know that I always look for a read aloud in each and every lesson! Even in Science, I want my students to be exposed to reading standards. Teaching third graders about ecosystems is the PERFECT time to start teaching students about text features. Furthermore, I put a list of read alouds for teaching ecosystems together over on my Amazon List!
Who Eats Who is a great informational text to use while teaching students about the food chain and ecosystems. This is a great book for students to use as a scavenger hunt. I encourage my students to restate the question in each and every answer.
In this book, students practice vocabulary and text features.
Ecosystem Lessons and Anchor Charts
First, teachers should start their ecosystems lessons on reviewing what a living and nonliving thing is.
Anchor charts are a fun and engaging way to introduce a lesson on teaching about food chains or ecosystems.
Literacy Centers for Teaching Ecosystems
During my literacy block, I included a content area center. This way students are able to practice the content area throughout the day. This could be reading passages or interactive notebooks.
Reading Passages for Teaching Ecosystems
For instance, I am big on teaching reading ALL day long. I want my students to have reading standards embedded into nearly everything we do. Furthermore, that’s why I created this unit on Ecosystems. This unit combines science standards with reading standards to ensure students get a strong grasp on how ecosystems and food chains work.
In conclusion, teaching about ecosystems doesn’t have to be limited to a 15 minute mini lesson at the end of the day. You can teach the concept during science and then give students the opportunity to practice the skill during literacy centers.