Religion
Prayer and Scripture are interwoven into our class on a daily basis. We will also have the opportunity to explore the lives of some of the saints. In third grade, we will discover more about our Catholic faith through learning about Scripture, the sacraments, personal prayer, and how to live Christ centered lives. We use a combination of the Christ of Life curriculum, Family Life series, and the Ruah Woods: Theology of the Body curriculum. Since prayer is the foundation to developing a deeper relationship with the Lord, we encourage students to pray every day as a family and attend Mass every Sunday as family!
Language Arts Concepts
Reading: In order to cultivate experience and develop a deeper appreciation for a large number of genres and authors, we will be using a combination of novels and our literature-based series from the Houghton Mifflin Textbook. Teachers also conference with students individually regarding their reading progress and to help set personal goals for themselves. Most independent reading should be within the student’s Lexile Level. This is to ensure students are successful and continue to grow as readers. Seton Catholic School uses the Heggerty for Phonemic Awareness instruction as well as the Flyleaf Publishing Curriculum for small group instruction.
Spelling/ Vocabulary: Students will have a weekly individualized list. During the week there will be several mini-lessons, as well as hands on activities for the students to manipulate words and practice the patterns. Students should study their spelling words each night at home and bring their list to school each day!
Writing: Special emphasis throughout the year will be placed on grammar, punctuation, and parts of speech. Students will learn the stages of the writing process and demonstrate this process in their work. Part of this includes students taking on the responsibility of editing and revising their own work. We will be exploring the mechanics of writing and implementing this more as the year progresses. Third graders will set goals for themselves in their writing and teachers will conference with the students regularly to discuss their progress. The students will have the opportunity to write personal narratives, journal prompts, short stories, poetry, research reports, and more. The main goal is to write for authentic purposes and audiences, while taking into account and demonstrating the structures of the English language. We will also create projects that will integrate other subject areas across the curriculum. Occasionally, students will also be expected to perform oral presentations to sharpen their public speaking skills. Students also practice their handwriting skills using Handwriting without Tears.
Math
In Math, we will review place value, addition, and subtraction. We will be exploring multiplication, and division skills, operations with fractions, geometry, and measurement. We continue to use our “Everyday Math” curriculum and supplement as needed. Third graders will work regularly in centers and use hands on manipulatives to assist in their learning. Regular practice of basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts are essential to helping students become efficient in multi-step math problems.
Social Studies
In third grade social studies we will use the “Share the World” textbook series as we explore our history and geography. We will learn about various communities and incorporate themes of economics, government & civics, and culture & society. Students will have an opportunity to create projects and share our discoveries!
Science
In science classes we will focus on equipping students with 21st century skills through learning about a variety of different topics: motion and stability, molecules/organisms, ecosystems, heredity, engineering, and Earth’s systems. We will be using a combination of the Engineering is Elementary (EiE) Program, Mystery Science, and various supplementary materials. The third graders will have many opportunities for “hands on” experiments as they learn the importance of designing investigations, making detailed observations, improving their designs, and communicating their discoveries.
