Third Grade

Theme

“The Lord is the Divine Provider and Lawgiver”

Overview

Third graders have an increasing capacity for abstract thinking, and are developing an awareness of cause-effect relationships and sequencing, yet there is a strong need to have everything grounded in the concrete. Third grade is a transitional year from childhood to pre-adolescent beginnings. Trying to fit in and be accepted by peers may become important as the year continues. The child needs to feel that the Lord loves him, and will help him in times of trouble. The child needs to gain a feeling of respect for the Lord’s laws, and for His miraculous power. A highlight of third grade is the grandparent friends program. It helps the children to develop connections with older people in the community.

Worship

Worship is the beginning of our day. It is the time set aside for religious instruction. The major part of our year is devoted to the exodus of the Children of Israel from Egypt and their wanderings. The students also study the Israelitish Church. A highlight of the fall term is when the children are presented with their own copy of the Word. Children delight in reading from it in worship each day.

Reading

For reading and writing we use “The Daily Five” and the “CAFÉ” menu. The five activities in the Daily Five are: Read to self, Read to someone, Work on words, Work on writing, and Listen to reading. The CAFÉ is a menu of strategies the children use to improve their skills. The skills are Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, and Expand vocabulary.  By using these activities every day and being sure the children are reading books that fit their reading level, they enjoy reading, build stamina, and become better readers and writers.

Composition

Students continue developing their writing skills by writing detailed sequential stories that contain beginning, middle, climax and end. We also work on friendly letter format, poetry, and factual reports. We work on correct sentence structure that includes capitals and ending punctuation.

Spelling

Our program is based on the 150 core words from the BACS spelling curriculum. The students learn 15 words a week, with regular reviews.

Handwriting

We review the lower case cursive letters and teach the upper case letters in cursive and improve confidence with cursive in general. Sometime within the winter term the expectation is that the children will use cursive in all their daily work.

Math

In math we study place value, multi-digit addition, subtraction, multi-digit multiplication, geometry, simple division, number sense, problem solving, estimation, measurement, time, graphing, money, basic math facts, and fractions using the Envisions math program. Students also frequently practice basic addition and subtraction through the continuation of the Rocket Math program.

Social Studies

Our focus in social studies is Life in a Community—The Children of Israel and Ancient Greece. We learn about heroes and heroines from various cultures and periods in history. We also practice some introductory map skills. Highlights of our social studies program are performing mythology plays and our hero celebrations.

Science

A major theme of third grade is seeing series and cycles in the Lord’s kingdom.  The students learn about insects, astronomy, the five senses and precious gems. We also explore the circulatory system, amphibians, reptiles, and dinosaurs. In our studies of the solar system, we measure and create a scaled down solar system in the hallways of the school and spend a day “on the moon.”

Library—led by librarian

In 3rd grade, students visit the library once a week.  The librarian reads a book aloud and then students have the chance to find books to check out and take home.  Read aloud books cover a wide range of topics including humor, heroic and courageous behavior, helping others, diversity, and friendship with a focus on true stories and folk tales from around the world.  Librarians book talk several books a month following certain themes and genres such as seasonal stories, animals, holidays, mystery, adventure, and fantasy.  3rd graders practice finding books that are a good fit for their reading level and interests.  In the context of love to the neighbor and good stewardship, students are reminded about book care and about having the responsibility to keep track of and return the books they borrow from the library so that many other students may enjoy the books as well.

Technology

Students use the Typing Pal program to develop typing skills. They do simple research projects using Encarta Kids and use Kidspiration for composition and to create graphic projects. They also play educational games to support their math and phonics skills. We use word processing to publish some written projects.

Art—specialist teacher

In third grade, students continue to learn new skills as well as build on the ones they have acquired. They do projects that integrate with studies from their classroom curriculum as well as projects that they have been exposed to from art history/appreciation. They have the opportunity to try many different mediums and approaches as they explore their own creativity.

Music—specialist teacher

In third grade music, students sing, move, actively listen, create music, and play a variety of pitched and non-pitched instruments. The content includes folk songs, hymns in notation, musical forms, solfege exercises, digital music, and music history.

Physical Education—specialist teacher

The physical education program provides the students with a standards based program that is developmentally and culturally appropriate and highly active. It fosters a lifelong commitment to a healthy lifestyle. The emphasis in the primary grades is on throwing, catching, eye-hand coordination, cooperation skills, running, skipping and activities that help children develop the ability to cross the midline of their bodies.

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