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Third Grade Curriculum Guide
Religion:
Your child will learn:
- Creation, Catholic Foundations, Church history, People of Faith, Ways to Worship, The Commandments, Sacraments, Celebrating the Catholic year
- Planning and participating in school liturgies
- Saints research
- Writing prayers
- Bible Verses
- Family life
- Stewardship
- Community
- All children attend our school Mass every other Friday in addition to Holy Days of Obligation and special prayer services and liturgies.
Writing:
Your child will learn:
- These forms of writing: narrative, explanatory, expository, adventure,
comparing-contrasting, persuasive, poetry, friendly-business letters, plays and prayers - Author studies
- Research reports
- Writing for an audience
- Emphasis on the six traits of writing: conventions, ideas, content, sentence fluency, word choice, voice, organization
Reading:
Your child will learn:
- Decoding, word attack skills and vocabulary development to build fluency
- Skill building:
- Author’s perspective
- Cause and effect
- Classify and categorize
- Compare and contrast
- Context clues
- Details
- Drawing conclusions
- Elements of fiction/non-fiction
- Fact and opinion
- Glossary
- Literary concepts and forms
- Main Idea
- Making inferences and predictions
- Predicting outcomes
- Proofreading
- Reality and Fantasy
- Research skills
- Sequencing
- Story elements
- Summarizing
Grammar:
Your child will learn:
- Sentences: subject and predicate
- Sentence types
- Nouns: common, proper, singular, plural, and possessive
- Abbreviations
- Pronouns: subjects and object
- Adjectives
- Verbs: present, past, main and helping
- Irregular verbs
- Contractions
- Adverbs
Spelling:
Your child will have:
- Weekly spelling word lists interrelated with our current reading series and phonics series.
- Cumulative spelling test following each reading theme
Math:
Your child will learn:
- Addition and subtraction facts
- Place value and number sense
- Addition and money
- Addition and subtraction to 3 digit numbers
- Time, Data, Graphs
- Multiplication facts from 0 to 9
- Division facts from 0 to 9
- Multiply and divide by 1 digit numbers
- Measurement
- Geometry
- Fractions
- Decimals
- Problem solving strategies
- Probability
- Logic
Science:
Your child will participate in:
Inquiry-based LASER Science units of:
- Chemistry
- Rocks & Minerals
- Plant Growth and Development
In addition, your child will study:
- Matter, electricity, and magnets
- The Polar Regions with a focus on penguins
- The circulatory, skeletal, and digestive systems of the human body
- Nutrition and health
- Endangered species, ecosystems, and experience first-hand salmon habitats and water quality
Social Studies:
Your child will learn about:
- Oceans, continents, land forms, maps, Graphs and globe skills
- Different points of view
- Cause and effect
- Natural resources
- Adaptations
- Native Americans, Pilgrims and Pioneers
- U.S. History and Government
- Citizenship
- Ecology
P.E.:
Students receive 30 minutes of P.E. two times a week in which the focus is on gross and fine motor skills, learning new games, participation and respect for others.
Art:
The elements and principles of art will be integrated into the classroom
curriculum
through one hour of art instruction each week with our school’s
art teacher. Your child will create numerous art activities related to
the social studies and science curriculum:
- The seasons
- Native American studies
- The rain forest
Your child will also study the Impressionist movement in art history.
Your child will learn skills involved in:
- Contour drawing
- Printmaking – block and mono-prints
- Collage
- Sumi watercolor
- Color theory and Impressionist painting
- Paper making
- Chalk drawing
- Paper sculpture
- Proper use and care of art materials
Music:
Your child will enjoy music classes for 30 minutes twice a week. Singing
is a primary
focus, and learning about other cultures through their songs. More emphasis
on musical terminology and understanding is expected. Students learn to
act out songs also. Time is spent learning to play recorders in a group
– requiring more ability to read and use written music, more careful
listening, and learning to follow a conductor.
Computer Technology:
Your child will:
- Use word processing to create, edit, and publish
- Use computer programs to practice and review various math and reading skills
- Participate in the Accelerated Reader program
- Use the Star Reading & Math Assessment program
- Use technology to aid in research
- Use technology to create multimedia presentation
Activities:
The children will enjoy class field trips which are supplemental to the classroom experiences.
Our students participate in the ITBS assessment, which is a National Standard assessment tool.
Our students participate in the Second Step program
- Empathy Training
- Impulse Control
- Anger Management
Message to Parents:
Welcome to the world of Third grade! Responsible thinking, self-respect,
and caring for others are a part of our classroom’s faith community.
Concepts are presented in a combination of traditional skills and inquiry-based
learning. Each child is expected to achieve, be challenged, and contribute
to the classroom environment using his/her unique abilities. Parent Volunteers
are a welcome addition to our classroom learning. Please contact your
child’s teacher for more details.
February 2005