Third Grade

RELIGION

Students learn about the Catholic Church and its many parts.  Units cover the various sacraments, how they assist individuals in their spiritual progress and growth in holiness and contribute to the Church's growth in charity and in giving witness.  We talk about the different parts of the mass, different types of prayer, and how Jesus was the perfect example for all people.  Students also learn about an important saint through every chapter, along with feast days and seasons of the Church.  Students are assessed through a chapter test and various activities and projects.

LANGUAGE ARTS

The main focus of the year is the parts of speech, grammar, and process writing.  Students learn about the important parts of paragraph writing and its process.  Pre-writing, drafting, editing, revising, and publishing are emphasized to teach students that there are many different steps to proper writing.  Students also learn about the various parts of speech along with rules of capitalization and punctuation.  Weekly spelling lists are also part of the language arts program.

READING

Our reading program consists of weekly stories from an anthology along with chapter books that are read together as a class.  Students are assessed through comprehension tests on the stories and skills that are taught.  While reading the story, we focus on vocabulary and comprehension strategies.  We encourage independent reading with daily DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) time.  Teacher read-alouds are also incorporated into the daily routine.  Students are required to attain five Accelerated Reader points throughout the course of a quarter.  They attain the necessary books with weekly trips to the library.

MATH

Our Math program begins with a continuation of the addition and subtraction of 2-digit numbers with regrouping.  Students also learn more about money and time, including elapsed time.  Multiplication, from numbers zero through twelve, is taught for the first time along with an introduction to division.  Problem solving and logic skills also are reinforced.  Students are assessed on chapter tests, timed multiplication tests, and various other assessments.

SOCIAL STUDIES

The Third Grade Social Studies covers two main topics.  First, students learn about the Pilgrims and the first travelers to the New World, their encounters with the Native Americans, and how our country was founded.  This study culminates in an authentic Thanksgiving Feast with food and games relevant to that time.  Second, the latter part of the school year is devoted to studying the state and regions of the United States.  Students learn about each state and the important characteristics for which each region is known.

SCIENCE

In Science we focus on the scientific process and its steps.  We apply the method to experimentation.  In the beginning of the year we focus on plants and animals.  We complete ‘Endangered Species Reports’ to promote awareness of plants and animals that are being compromised in our world for various reasons.  As the year progresses we focus on the different ecosystems, food chains, and food webs.  We cover minerals, rocks, and fossils.  We also learn about the water cycle.  At the end of the year we study forces, motion, energy, and matter.