THIRD GRADE HIGHLIGHTS

RELIGION: The third grade program of the Christ Our Life series presents the main truths Catholics believe and express in the Creed.  The children are led to realize that they are called to belong to a faith community, the Church.  They are helped to develop a clearer, deeper faith in their study of God as revealed in creation, his dealings with the chosen people, and the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.

ART: Grade 3 Using the elements and principles of art the students begin to identify balance, unity, and emphasis in creating art.  A larger variety of materials is used to draw, paint, model, cut, and color.

COMPUTER: Primary grades (first – third) learn basic computer vocabulary and basic computer usage skills with an emphasis on keyboarding skills and word processing.  They use software to enhance and reinforce the classroom curriculum.  The level of computer skills and software is determined by the grade level and computer knowledge of the students.  At all grade levels, time in the lab is used to reinforce skills of the basic curriculum.  Computers are also available in the classroom for students to use.

HANDWRITING: Using the Scott Foresman – Addison Wesley program we review all the lower-case cursive letters learned in second grade and then move on to learn the capital letters.  As the school year progresses, we do more and more of our work in cursive.  Everyone works hard to earn their cursive writing certificate.

LANGUAGE: Our language study emphasized speaking, listening, and writing skills for good communication.  Through grammar and usage we sharpen these skills even more.  We work on reference skills, too, using the dictionary and the thesaurus.

MATH: In our Saxon Math Program, concepts are presented in increments that build on previously introduced concepts.  Daily fact practice, frequent assessments, guided class practice (with homework practice worksheets) cover skills such as adding and subtracting multiple digits and money, problem solving and mental math strategies, multiplying and dividing, fractions, and measuring.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION: We have a Physical Education Specialist who works with all students.  The program is designed to spiral so that a student may progress through different skills, from emerging to proficient levels in an activity unit.  The emphasis is on developing hand/eye and foot/eye coordination which will be especially helpful in the team sports played in the upper grades.  Basic skills such as basketball, volleyball, soccer, floor hockey and football are also introduces.

READING: Skills and strategies are taught for vocabulary, work-study, comprehension, and literature.  We read for understanding and appreciation of a wide variety of fiction, nonfiction and poetry.  We participate in both the “Book It!” and Scholastic Reading Counts programs.

SOCIAL STUDIES: Our main focus is on communities: what are communities, how are communities alike or different, how do they grow and change, and what are the differences between urban, suburban, and rural communities.  At Thanksgiving we study the historical community of Plymouth Plantation.  We also learn map skills.

SCIENCE: We begin the year with an in-depth study of spiders!  As the year progresses, we investigate two units through our FOSS Science Program – “Structures of Life” (plants & crayfish) and “Water.”  We also have fun learning about turkeys at Thanksgiving and hares and rabbits at Easter!