Third grade students become strong writers and begin to read novels, developing their comprehension and expanding their vocabulary knowledge. They master math facts so that they can solve real-world, multi-level problems and explain their thought processes.
Reading and Language Arts
Math
Science
Social Studies
We offer an excellent phonics-based reading program. Ongoing assessments ensure that the students are continually improving their reading fluency and comprehension. Students have many opportunities to read, analyze and respond to literature from a variety of genre. Students will:
- acquire and develop the skills of writing, reading, listening, speaking and critical thinking through diverse, multi-sensory experiences,
- learn to write fiction, non-fiction, biographies, research papers and poetry in many curriculum areas,
- perfect Listening & Speaking skills by organizing and delivering oral presentations; enhancing presentations through the use of appropriate props (e.g. objects, pictures, charts, and technology), and
- evaluate Media Communication by comparing ideas and points of view expressed in broadcast and print media, distinguishing between the speakers' opinions and verifiable facts.
Students work at their own rate of comprehension and math groups are fluid. Math instruction stresses:
- the fundamentals of number sense, giving students opportunities to use this knowledge to solve real world problems,
- hands-on learning through the use of manipulatives,
- deepening students' understanding of place value as well as understanding of and skill with addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of whole numbers,
- estimating, measuring, and describing objects in space, using patterns to help solve problems, representing number relationships and conducting simple probability experiments, and
- making decisions about how to approach problems.
Scientific concepts are taught through the use of state-adopted textbooks and discovery in our science laboratory. Students use the scientific method of discovery to conduct hands-on experiments and report data.
- Physical Science — Students learn that energy may be stored in various ways and that both living organisms and machines convert stored energy into heat and motion. Atoms are introduced as the smallest component of the elements that compose all matter.
- Life Science — Significant effort is made to enhance students' knowledge of the types of plants and animals in different environments as this understanding becomes an important base of knowledge. Students consider the effects of environmental changes on organisms. The concept of extinction is introduced, and organisms in the fossil record are compared to contemporary organisms.
- Earth Science — Students will focus on the concept that objects in the sky move in regular and predictable patterns. They will become familiar with the patterns and movements of the Sun, Moon, and stars, both as those bodies actually move and as they appear to move when viewed from Earth. Students will learn how seasonal changes correlate with changes in both the amount of daily sunlight and the position of the Sun in the sky, and that seasonal changes are caused by the tilt of Earth's axis of rotation and the position of Earth relative to the Sun. Students will also learn about the relationships between the phases of the Moon and the changes in the positions of the Sun and Moon.
- Investigation & Experimentation — Students begin to make predictions based on observations, prior knowledge, and logic. Predictions are not to be confused with random guesses. Students know that their predictions must be verified by experiments and the analysis of data gathered from careful measurements.
A variety of supplemental materials is used to enhance learning and bring the students to a better understanding of the world around them.
- Students identify geographical features in their local region (e.g., deserts, mountains, valleys, hills, coastal areas, oceans, lakes). Students then outline the ways in which people have used the resources of the local region and modified the physical environment (e.g., a dam constructed upstream changed a river or coastline).
- Students describe the American Indian nations in their local region long ago and in the recent past.
- Students understand the role of rules and laws in our daily lives and the basic structure of the U.S. government.
- Students demonstrate basic economic reasoning skills and an understanding of the economy of the local region.