Grade 3 Curriculum

3-5 Philosophy:

All students learn from a balanced approach to literacy, one that includes a responsive approach to the teaching of reading and writing. Students learn to self-assess, set goals, work with partners, and receive and apply feedback. Students learn to use the writing process to write for real purposes and audiences, write the kinds of texts that they see in the world, and to put meaning onto the page. Students develop critical thinking skills, write daily with greater independence, stamina, and fluency, and create pieces of writing across the genres of narrative, informational, and opinion with increasing complexity.

As readers, students engage deeply with texts by having daily opportunities to read high-interest, accessible books independently, in partnerships, small groups, and book clubs.  Students have access to increasingly complex texts appropriate for their grade level and build comprehension, analytical thinking, grammar, word solving skills, and vocabulary through a variety of texts.

Third graders focus on fact families in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. They continue developing strategies for multi-digit addition and subtraction problems. Learning multiplication facts through the 10s is a goal this year. Other third-grade skills include understanding large numbers in addition to working with small numbers using equivalent fractions and decimals (to the thousandths). They continue the study of geometry, negative numbers, calculator skills, telling time, and geometry.

Practical application of measurement skills includes linear, weight, and capacity with customary and metric units. Students perform probability experiments that provide information for analyzing data and predicting outcomes. Third graders will have Home Links homework on a regular basis.

• Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them
• Reason abstractly and quantitatively
• Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others
• Model with mathematics
• Use appropriate tools strategically
• Attend to precision
• Look for and make use of structure
• Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning

Students in kindergarten through fifth grade begin to develop an understanding of the four disciplinary core ideas: physical sciences; life sciences; earth and space sciences; and engineering, technology, and applications of science. In the earlier grades, students begin by recognizing patterns and formulating answers to questions about the world around them. By the end of fifth grade, students are able to demonstrate grade-appropriate proficiency in gathering, describing, and using information about the natural and designed world(s).

The third grade social studies curriculum focuses on regions. Students begin by examining regional communities in Michigan and then go on to explore the five regions of the United States. Students actively participate in inquiry-based lessons that emphasize knowledge of history, geography, economics, and political science as they compare and contrast the US regions. Third graders continue to expand their knowledge of citizenship as they further explore the core democratic values.

The third-grade visual art curriculum continues to focus on the sequential study of the elements and principles of art, including color, line, form, shape, pattern, composition, space, and texture. Students are provided activities to stimulate their imaginations and refine as well as expand their artistic skills, visual acumen, and historic and aesthetic awareness. Students at this level can talk about and produce a high quality of art. They are able to discriminate and form artistic judgments about their art and the creative efforts of their peers.

During the year, student art may be displayed in individual school buildings and throughout the community.

In third grade, students continue to build upon their musical knowledge-base as more complex songs, musical notation, and vocabulary are presented by the music specialist. Students actively demonstrate their awareness of the elements of music through their successful use of dynamics, tone color, melody, and harmony in the songs they sing and in the accompaniments and compositions they create. Students deepen their understanding of the world around them and hone their critical-thinking skills by tracing a song's geographic, historical and cultural roots, as well as listening to, analyzing, interpreting, and responding to a variety of songs and musical works.

Exposure to a variety of music allows students to formulate attitudes and values about music. A public performance is often an outcome of the third-grade curriculum.

Students in third grade review and reinforce the decision-making steps and process in choices they make. The students are introduced to the various body systems. The major parts and functions of the skeletal and muscular systems are identified. Peer pressure in relation to smoking is discussed, and students learn to select the appropriate choice of behavior in a given situation.

Students go to Physical Education class twice a week, once for 25 minutes and once for 30 minutes. Students continue to work with their Gross Motor skills, spatial awareness, and coordination. They will explore the principles of eye, hand, and foot coordination through a variety of activities. Students continue to develop traditional team sports based skills through culminating activities and game play.   They will be assessed in certain skills throughout the year. Students will develop positive characteristics and attitudes, a sense of fair play, teamwork concepts, and cooperation with others. At this level, there is an increased emphasis on cardiopulmonary fitness, muscular strength, flexibility and coordination through the T.R.O.Y. Fitness Program. Students are assessed twice a year in Continuous Jog, Jump Roping, Plank, Sit and Reach, and Flex-arm Hang. Every student will have a personal fitness log that they will set goals for themselves in each of the fitness tests. After every assessment, student will reevaluate their goals and set new ones.

The English language development program helps ensure learning for all students, specifically students who are multilingual and in the process of acquiring English as an additional language. The ELD specialists provide small group instruction for English language acquisition outside the grade level classroom with frequency based on the students’ unique instructional needs. They also support access to classroom content by pushing into grade level classrooms.