Religion
Third graders will discover more about the Catholic faith through learning about Scripture, the sacraments, personal prayer, and how to live Christ-centered lives. We utilize the Christ Our Life curriculum. Students will celebrate Mass weekly with the whole school community.
Language Arts and Handwriting
We will be following the Science of Reading research in our reading curriculums. UFLI Foundations is an explicit and systematic phonics program that teaches students the foundational skills necessary for proficient reading. Seton Catholic School also uses Heggerty for phonemic awareness instruction.
The Wit and Wisdom curriculum consists of four modules that further build the students’ knowledge in the arts, science, and social studies through diverse and culturally relevant texts. The four modules for third grade are The Sea, Space, Immigration, and Artists.
Writing and grammar are embedded into the Wit and Wisdom program. Students will be composing opinion, narrative, and informative pieces, as well as a small research project. Students will be learning the writing process of planning/organizing, revising, editing, rewriting, and publishing. Special emphasis throughout the year will be placed on grammar, writing mechanics, and parts of speech. Students also practice cursive handwriting skills using Handwriting without Tears.
Spelling/Word Study
The goal of our word study is to enable students to read and write fluently by learning common spelling patterns. Lessons are organized around different spelling patterns and coordinate with our UFLI Foundations phonics instruction. We will study and practice the patterns in class during the week. Unlike traditional spelling tests, the students are expected to know how to apply the spelling pattern rather than memorizing a list of words. We will incorporate “heart” words each week, which are words that need to be learned by heart.
Math
The third grade follows Everyday Math, which is a spiraling program. Once a concept is introduced, it continues to appear in mixed practice. Third graders will work regularly in centers and use hands-on manipulatives to assist in their learning. Topics include addition and subtraction computation, place value, fractions, geometry, and measurement. Regular practice of basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts is essential to helping students become efficient in multi-step math problems.
Social Studies
Third grade social studies uses the Share the World textbook series to explore history and geography. Students will learn about various communities and incorporate themes of economics, government & civics, and culture & society. Students will have opportunities to create projects and share their discoveries.
Science
Our science program is Mystery Science. This program provides students with many opportunities for hands-on experiments as they learn the importance of designing investigations, making detailed observations, improving their designs, and communicating their discoveries.
