3rd Grade

Reading

Students will READ, READ, READ! Our goal is for our 3rd graders to read independently while using a range of strategies to draw meaning from texts, make connections, ask questions, define challenging vocabulary, and learn new things! Whether they are reading for a purpose or for entertainment, our hope is for students to be able to discuss books with their teachers and peers in a meaningful way. Students end up forming a strong bond with their class community through a variety of diverse books. Third graders will also apply the following reading strategies independently to comprehend fiction and nonfiction texts:

• Making inferences
• Making connections
• Visualizing
• Summarizing
• Comparing and contrasting
• Identifying and using context clues to define unknown words
• Making predictions
• Identifying and utilizing text features
• Sequencing

Writing

• Applying vivid verbs and interesting adjectives to enhance writing
• Organizing ideas in paragraphs using transition words and phrases
• Paraphrasing
• Utilizing persuasive language
• Identifying and applying parts of speech
• Applying spelling strategies to everyday writing
• Writing in cursive

Our 3rd graders begin their journey of becoming geographers by learning essential map and globe skills such as using a compass, identifying landmarks, and reading map keys. With these skills they are able to locate continents, oceans, and gain perspective as to where they are in the world in relation to other places. Students will broaden their knowledge of geography by exploring the 50 states.

The second half of third grade is dedicated to ancient civilizations to help students gain an understanding of the past as well as the impact these places have had on society today. While learning about ancient China, Egypt, Greece, and Rome, students will read and write about the following areas: 

• Landforms & natural resources
• Religion
• Daily life & culture
• Art
• Government
• Travel
• Inventions and contributions

Students in 3rd grade learn through hands-on experiences and real world problems while exploring more complex concepts and relationships. Our goal is for our students to strengthen computational fluency (especially multiplication), spatial and numerical relationships, patterns, geometric concepts, data analysis, and algebraic reasoning. We want our 3rd graders to be able to articulate the process of finding answers to problems as well as the solution itself. Most importantly, throughout the following units, students will think critically to solve problems and approach mathematics confidently and capably.

• Place Value & Rounding
• Addition & Subtraction
• Multiplication
• Bar Models
• Fractions
• Area & Perimeter
• Time
• Graphs & Line Plots
• Geometry

3rd graders learn through exploration, a variety of multimedia resources, and collaboration to discover new things about the world around them. Students build conceptual understanding of science while developing skills in communication and collaboration through ownership of the “missions,” which are both interactive and team building. Collaboration is key, which allows students to work together to find solutions for specific engineering design challenges and approach these challenges through discovery, design, teamwork, critical thinking, and reflection. Third graders explore the following units:

• Plants
• Animals
• Weather
• The Human Body
• Dinosaurs

• Develop vocabulary, such as greetings, goodbyes, introductions, polite words, numbers, colors, 3D shapes, alphabet, days, months, seasons, animals, and some simple phrases, such as “I (do not) like” and begin to perform more complex linguistic tasks using this vocabulary

• Transfer motor skills and patterns into movements necessary for modified game play
• Promote development of self reliance and self directed skills
• Develop efficient, effective, and expressive movement combinations through the context of games, gymnastics, rhythms, and other physical activities
• Encourage physical activity, as well as student responsibility for health and well-being

• Build on previous understanding of the elements of art and principles of design to produce high quality art
• Use a variety of media, genres, styles, and techniques, and begin to use established guidelines to reflect upon and explain their artwork to others
• Develop visual thinking strategies as they create and respond to art and make connections across disciplines, cultures, place and time

• Develop proper vocal technique, performance of simple melodic, rhythmic, and chordal accompaniments, and identify instruments by sight and sound
• Learn musical concepts using a variety of Orff techniques and skill-based activities
• Read and play instrumental parts on classroom instruments; introduced the recorder