Auld Lang Syne [Common Core Aligned Literacy Activities for the New Year]

Looking for a creative, yet rigorous set of reading and writing activities for the week after winter break that goes beyond the usual New Years Resolution writing task?

This common-core aligned pack (aligned to Grade 3 standards, but appropriate for 2nd-5th grade) is a great way to get your students back into the routine of school. Watch your kids light up as they connect new ideas and information to the familiar tradition of singing “Auld Lang Syne” at midnight on New Years Eve!

Included:
1. The History of Auld Lang Syne Reading Comprehension Passage
2. Reading Response Questions
3. Cup O' Kindness Writing Craftivity with brainstorm sheet and 5 writing templates - a GREAT winter bulletin board idea!!
4. Shared Text Reading and Writing Activities - Teaching Sequence, Questions for Discussion and 2 student response sheets included for main idea and vocabulary
5. Opinion Writing Response - Students list traditions in their own lives and then formulate an opinion about whether it is important to maintain traditions from year to year.


3rd Grade Common Core Standards Addressed
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.1 Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.2 Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.5 Refer to parts of stories, dramas, and poems when writing or speaking about a text, using terms such as chapter, scene, and stanza; describe how each successive part builds on earlier sections.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.1 Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons.