The focus of Grade 3 is the Church and its beliefs, Scripture with God's word and the liturgical seasons. Types of prayer, the Sacraments and the Commandments are interwoven throughout the series.
In primary grades the Language Arts program covers reading, English, writing and spelling. The emphasis is on the reading/writing connection.
The four topics are intertwined daily during a two-hour period.
The reading portion of the curriculum focuses on comprehension strategies, word skills, vocabulary and phonics/decoding. It introduces a wide variety of quality literature and "real world" materials (magazine articles, recipes, visual diagrams and poems) that expand student's knowledge of literacy and the world in which they live.
The Third Grade English curriculum covers grammar, usage, mechanics, the basic steps of the writing process, parts of speech, types of sentences and sentence structure.
Text: English Level 3. Houghton Mifflin, 1998.
WRITING
Writing skills are explored using the Six Trait Writing method. Students will have opportunities to use the six traits (ideas, organization, word choice, sentence fluency, voice and conventions) throughout the year as they practice their writing skills.
Text: English Level 3. Houghton Mifflin, 1998.
The Trait Crate. Scholastic, 2004.
SPELLING
The reading series incorporates a spelling unit. It correlates with the stories in the student reader. The spelling skills covered include short vowels, long vowels, vowel consonant/consonant vowel patterns; -ed endings, -ing endings, and changing final y to i. The students are given a pretest and a final test while learning spelling skills during the week.
HANDWRITING
In Grade 3, manuscript is quickly reviewed. Cursive is emphasized and will become the form of handwriting used for all written communication. Neatness is stressed as cursive will be used for daily work.
Text: D'Nealian Handwriting, Book 3. Scott Foresman, 2008.
MATHEMATICS – MRS. BOUQUET
The Houghton Mifflin Math program is organized into 8 units. Each unit has 2 – 4 chapters which begin with open ended investigation of student knowledge. It reviews what was learned in previous grades and builds from that point. There are daily "checks" to make sure students have mastered the previous day's lesson. There are also Mid-chapter, Chapter and Unit Tests. This encourages customized instruction to meet the needs of all students. The areas covered in third grade are: adding, subtracting with trading, decimals, fractions, facts (+,-,x,÷), problem solving, money, geometry, reading temperature, patterns, time, measurement, multiplication, division and probability.
Text: Houghton Mifflin Math, Grade 3. 2007.
Class meets 60 minutes five times per week.
SOCIAL STUDIES – MRS. BOUQUET
The focus for third grade is based on communities in the world. The areas we discuss include: types of communities, communities of the past and their history, communities and how geography influences them, communities have governments, linking communities (transportation and communication), and community needs and resources. While studying various communities, the course work also incorporates multi-cultural studies, technology, geography and history.
Text: Teacher prepared materials.
Scholastic News.
Social Studies lessons are presented as a subject area 75 minutes per week. Lessons are incorporated into the Language Arts program throughout the week.
SCIENCE – MS. PILARSKI
Grade 3 deals with Life Science, Earth Science and Physical Science. Science- process skills developed in first and second grades are built upon adding use of time/space relationships, hypothesis, formulating and using models, and identifying and controlling variables. Students do hands-on activities and experiments suggested in the textbook as well as instructor-based activities. Areas of study are geology (rocks, minerals, fossils, soils and landforms), meteorology (the water cycle), properties of matter, states of matter, physical and chemical changes and simple machines.
Text: Harcourt Science. Harcourt, 2000.
Class meets 45 minutes two times per week.
MUSIC – MRS. SCHWARTZ
The basic purpose of the Music program is to help children appreciate the value of music in their lives as an art form; as a source of enjoyment; as a part of their historical, cultural, and social awareness; and as a source of beauty and creative expression.
Again in Grade 3, the Orff approach is used to transfer rhythmic movement to instruments. The Kodaly hand signals are used to develop pitch awareness. At this level, the McGraw-Hill music series, Spotlight on Music, is used to teach the music concepts of rhythm, melody, harmony, form, tone color, tempo and dynamics with more difficulty than in Grade 2. Students are introduced to soprano recorders and are expected to build on material learned in second grade. Students are expected to practice their recorder at least 10 minutes 5 times per week. Liturgical music is taught as well. Attendance at Christmas and Spring Concerts is expected.
Text: Spotlight on Music. McGraw Hill, 2005.
Class meets 30 minutes four times per week.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE – MRS. ARATA & MS. HARMON
The French and Spanish languages and cultures are taught. During one semester half of the students study French while the other half study Spanish. In January, at the end of the semester, the students will explore the other language.
Text: Gerard et ses Copains. Symtalk Language Systems, 2004.
Text: Pablo Y Sus Amigos – Junior Book. Symtalk Spanish, 2004.
Class meets 30 minutes two times per week.
ART – MRS. WALTHER
The students are introduced to the elements of art - line, shape, texture, value, color and space. Through use of different media and techniques, the students will be able to incorporate these elements into their art work.
The class will meet for 60 minutes per week.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION – MRS. SITEK
The units taught in Physical Education are designed to develop the movement principles of space and body awareness, creative expression, rhythmic movement, leadership skills, self-esteem and a sense of fair play. Sport games through lead-up activities are introduced. These activities develop muscular strength, endurance, flexibility and overall coordination. Students run/walk the mile in the fall and participate in the Presidential Physical Fitness Testing in the spring.
Class meets 30 minutes four times per week.
HEALTH – MRS. SITEK
The program includes a comprehensive health, substance-abuse and violence- prevention program. The topics will include nutrition, illness prevention, drug and alcohol prevention, safety, etc. The Great Body Shop Program contains information to help the student understand her body, the way it works and the best ways to keep it healthy.
Class meets two times per month.
COMPUTER EDUCATION – MRS. WILEY
The curriculum begins with learning the PC desktop. Students choose from these applications: Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Access, Power Point and Publisher), Inspiration, Kid Pix, Kidspiration, Kid Keys and Internet Explorer.
The focus is one of incorporating these applications into project-based learning in the various subjects of the academic curriculum, which gives students experience using paint and draw programs, word processing and multi-media.
All students are taught to save and retrieve their projects from their own folder on the server.
All students, closely monitored by teachers, are taught to use the Internet with a focus on safety, the value and quality of sources, and copyright issues.
Grades 1-6 meet for 45 minutes twice a week with both the homeroom and computer teacher present.
LIBRARY
The purpose of the library is to excite the girls about reading, set the foundation for their research skills, and supply students and teachers with books. Students visit twice each week to check out books, hear stories, and participate in plays and puppet shows. The library provides teachers with classroom collections dovetailing areas of study to enrich the supply of materials they have available for the girls on a daily basis.
ACADEMIC POLICIES
PRIMARY GRADES
A. Progress/Performance
- Parent-Teacher conferences in fall and winter for Grades 1, 2 and 3
- Narrative reports in fall for Grades 1, 2 and 3
- Summative reports in spring for Grades 1, 2 and 3
B. Homework Expectations
Students in primary grades may expect homework assignments most evenings to develop a habit of study and to reinforce concepts learned during the day. Homework should be completed when assigned. Homework may consist of written work, study work or both. Reading is a very important part of learning. Becoming a fluent reader requires daily practice. Grade 1 students should read independently about 10 minutes each night. Students in Grades 2 and 3 are expected to read at least 15 minutes each night.
C. Primary Grade Standardized Testing
- Grade 1 - Stanford 10 Language Arts and Math is administered in the spring.
- Grade 2 - Otis-Lennon School Ability Test is administered in January and Stanford 10 (Language Arts and Math) is administered in the spring.
- Grade 3 – ERB Test of Basic Skills (Education Records Bureau) is administered in the fall.
