Our third graders were recently honored by the Legacy Project for their entry into a national election contest. Please go to our newsletter section and read all about it in the "new articles" section.

Third Grade Curriculum Overview

Language Arts
Third grade students consolidate their K-2 reading and writing skills and take a giant step toward becoming independent learners. They learn about how to get themselves organized and focused on the task at hand by learning study tools and personal tools for success. They learn to identify personal issues and to focus on methods for improvement. They begin to think more creatively, "outside the box." 

Third grade students focus on a variety of reading, writing, listening, and speaking opportunities. They continue to learn the writing process of prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and creating a final draft, and on writing clear and coherent sentences and paragraphs. They use topic and supporting sentences to develop a central theme, as they consider their audience and purpose. A variety of writing projects are explored at this level: Book reports, personal narratives, letter writing, explanations and instructions, research reports, opinions and persuasions, poetry, journal writing, and creative writing.

Research tools, including the dictionary, thesaurus, atlas and encyclopedia are used as aids in the writing process. Both library and computer sources are used for reports. Sentence structure, punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and grammar are stressed in drills and writings. Spelling and vocabulary are expanded through word studies and vocabulary-building exercises.

In third grade, students explore a variety of literary genres, such as well-known children’s stories from around the world, myths and mythical characters in Norse mythology, biographies of famous people, poetry through the Open Court series, and other literature. They may also learn about and produce a play. Comprehension and thoughtful consideration of the literature’s meaning are stressed. Students continue to learn to distinguish between the structural features of the text and the literary elements of plot, setting, characters, and theme.

Students also continue to learn speech techniques and to do formal declamations (memorizations) and speeches.

Math
Third grade students master basic multiplication facts, learn long division with remainders, and continue to expand their knowledge of units of measurement and basic algebraic problem solving. They learn to use fractions and decimals, negative numbers, and geometric measurements such as volume, circumference, perimeter, angle, symmetry, congruency, parallel and perpendicular lines, etc.

Throughout the third grade, emphasis is placed on the need to apply math in daily situations. Daily math games and activities, in both whole class and small groups, teach and reinforce important skills, such as strategy, problem solving, cooperative work, and logical and critical thinking. Tangrams, patterning, and math puzzles, graphing, probability, statistics, and word problems stretch student limits in logic and problem solving.

Science
Life science concepts covered in third grade, some of which deepen themes viewed in second grade, include the classification of animals through structural and behavioral characteristics, ecosystems and biomes, conservation, adaptations, and various human body systems. Earth Science concepts include the properties of soil, rocks, and minerals, the changes in landforms through volcanoes and earthquakes, and astronomy. Physical science concepts include the physical properties of matter, magnetism, electricity, light, sound, and optics. Hands-on experiments, reading literature, and videos are a regular part of the curriculum. Each year the students do an individual science project for the annual Science Fair, helping them to learn the important concepts of observation, prediction, gathering information, recording results, creating a display, and sharing their information with others.

Social Studies
Third grade students study United States history including the exploration and colonization of America, the native American cultures and conflicts, the struggles of the young American nation, the formation of a constitutional government, the push westward, Civil War including its causes, conflicts, and consequences, and an overview of the events in the twentieth century.

Third grade students also deepen their understanding of the United States, its regions, resources, states and capitals, major cities, land features, and its national and state parks. They do state reports and learn to distinguish the different regions because of their geographic features and their historical background. They also learn more about the history of the United States, including major conflicts, westward expansion, and how the Native Americans and their culture were impacted by it.

Finally, third graders learn about Scandinavia and the early civilization of the Vikings in an effort to better understand the whole world and its history.

Spanish
Students in third grade expand the basic vocabulary they have already learned in Kindergarten through second grades. They learn information questions, adjectives, professions, time, commands, forms of the verb to be, and the present tense conjugation of -ar verbs. Students have Spanish three times a week.

Art
Students in third grade learn to observe how artists use light and shadow and two- and three-dimensional shapes in their art. They continue to discuss different kinds of pictures, sculpture, and architecture and study American Indian art in conjunction with their Social Studies topics. They continue to explore their abilities with hands-on projects in different fields of art, including pottery, weaving and sculpture. Students have art class once a week.

Music
Third graders continue their instrumental instruction on the recorder and various percussion instruments. Students learn to sing more complex rounds and harmonies while singing character and patriotic songs. Students begin an overview study of the various historical musical periods and a study of the important composers associated with those periods. Students have music once a week.

Physical Education
The physical education curriculum for third grade increases students' basic knowledge and skills in sport activities. They gain precision with increasing control and accuracy. They develop habits of teamwork, learn how to apply the basic rules of various sports, and participate in the Presidential Physical Fitness Program each year. Students have physical education 2-3 times a week.

Technology
Students continue to explore word processing and computerized slide-show presentations in conjunction with writing projects. They use the computer to provide more depth in a fun way to their studies in language arts, science, and social studies and explore various educational software for practice and enrichment.

Research
Students research topics which revolve around their science and social studies themes and, with guidance from the teacher, prepare finished reports. They learn how to use reference materials including a dictionary, an index, an encyclopedia, and internet resources. They formulate questions, locate information, take notes, and organize their information into simple reports.

Character Education, Environmental Education, and Community Service
Third grade students talk about many character issues presented in their books: Cooperation and competition, liberty, tolerance and equality, hard work, courage, and individualism. They participate in at least one all-class service learning project during the year, as determined by the teacher. One example from past years is the management of a worm compost project in which they collected leftover food scraps from lunches and “fed” them to the worms in order to create rich soil. They also do some sort of project which promotes environmental awareness and the preservation of ecosystems or teaches how we can help our country by making wise use of our land and its renewable and nonrenewable natural resources.