This book, from the Center for Gifted Education at William & Mary, provides gifted and advanced learners challenging activities to master and engage with the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts through four mini units. Each mini unit is packed with activities that enrich and extend grade-level ELA content for grade 3. Included texts have messages and characters that are developmentally suitable for students. Through higher order reasoning questions, resulting discussions, and student-created products associated with these texts, gifted and advanced students' needs are met while still maintaining messages and characters to which students can relate. Students will be exposed to themes such as choices, culture, beliefs, and perseverance. Each theme was chosen with advanced third-grade students in mind and their emerging need to learn more about themselves, their world, and how to work through adversity to accomplish their goals.Grade 3

INTRODUCTION 1 Unit I: Choices Lesson 1.1: What Do You Think While Reading? Lesson 1.2: Characters Make Choices Too Lesson 1.3: Learn About Lincoln Lesson 1.4: Central Choices Unit I: Culminating Essay Prompt Unit II: Culture Lesson 2.1: Cultural Traditions? Lesson 2.2: Are We All the Same? Lesson 2.3: What Cultural Traditions Can Tell Us Lesson 2.4: Cultures of the Past Lesson 2.5: Can Cultures Change a Person? Unit II: Culminating Essay Prompt Unit III: Beliefs Lesson 3.1: Belief in the Unknown Lesson 3.2: Shoot for the Moon Lesson 3.3: Believe in Yourself Lesson 3.4: People Hold Beliefs Unit III: Culminating Essay Prompt Unit IV: Perseverance Lesson 4.1: The Importance of Perseverance Lesson 4.2: The Power of Perseverance Lesson 4.3: Perseverance for a Cause Lesson 4.4: Perseverance by Children 17 Lesson 4.5: Flying High With Perseverance Unit IV: Culminating Essay Prompt ANSWER KEY REFERENCES ABOUT THE AUTHOR COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS ALIGNMENT