3rd Grade Curriculum Overview

Religion

We discuss many different topics in Religion such as the Holy Spirit, God and His Word. We as a class do the lesson, discuss it, and fill out the worksheets. Students do need a Bible for this class. We will be following the One in Christ book produced by Concordia Publishing House.

Memory

In third grade students learn about many different verses. They learn and review the verses from the Bible.

Math

We follow the Big Ideas Math. Big topics for third graders include rounding, multiplication, and division. We enjoy making Math fun so we will sometimes do Math centers or use MobyMax to encourage learning. MobyMax can be accessed from home as well!

Reading

For reading we will read our story as a class on Monday. There will be many activities that go along with the stories to teach comprehension, fluency, listening, and speaking. We use a book made by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt called Journeys. The class also reads Because of Winn Dixie as a book study.

Spelling

For spelling, we have a new spelling list each week. There is a pretest every Monday and a final test every Friday. The students will complete at least one workbook page with the spelling words so that the students will become familiar with them. In addition to the worksheet page, we do many different activities throughout the week to enhance our knowledge of the words. We use a workbook published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt called Journeys.

English

Our English curriculum talks about the grammar of the English language and I display to the students how we can use it in our everyday writing. To help teach the rules of the English language the students will be doing practice pages in class after the lesson. We use a book called English which is produced by Houghton Mifflin.

Science

In Science we cover many topics, some including how scientists work, the engineering process, life cycles, technology, Earth’s changing surfaces, and climate. This curriculum uses visual learning, as well as hands on learning. We will be doing experiments, using a lot of technology and testing our knowledge through these experiments. We have chosen to follow the Ontario and British Columbia Curriculum found on TeachersPayTeachers.com.

Physical Education

We have PE every Monday and Thursday for thirty minutes. While at P.E. students participate in a large array of activities that use different muscles and parts of their bodies.

Music/Choir

Third graders have two ways once a week when they are exposed to the making of Music. One way is through the music curriculum that we use here in class. Students have a broad opportunity to experience music through a wide arrangement of music, and genres of music. Music class will be guided by Macmillan/McGraw-Hill’s book called Spotlight on Music. Third Grade also joins 3^rd-5^th Grade for Choir once a week. We have the chance to occasionally sing at choir or in church on Sunday morning.

Social Studies

In this class students learn how to read history and understand it. They also learn how history is applicable to us today. During the school year we will be learning about how our country was founded and about the war that gained our freedom. The learning tools used in this class include worksheets, projects, maps, and books. Our curriculum for social studies a based on a book called Our Communities by McGraw Hill.

Art

Third grade has art every Thursday and Friday. We go through many different art skills and learn to appreciate art. Some of the skills taught include patterns, textures, and shape/form. We enjoy learning the skill and then practicing it. We use a DVD series called Arts Attack.

Computer

Computer takes place every Wednesday and Friday for thirty minutes. They focus on computer terminology and parts, Microsoft Word, and keyboarding. We will also use the computer lab for doing research projects.

Field Trips

Our first trip is to Metro East Lutheran High School in Edwardsville where we participate in their Field Day along with about 300 other Lutheran school students. We go on this trip with the fourth graders.

In May we take two field trips, one of them is to the City Museum where we are able to explore and learn a lot about many different things. We also love having the chance to see the many different levels that are in the City Museum.

Our second field trip in May is the Bike Around Bethalto trip. On this field trip, we take our bikes to school and bike to the Library, Bethalto Park, and also to the Police Station and Fire Station. At the Library we learn about the Summer Reading Program and get the chance to explore the children’s’ section of the library. While at the Police Station, we get to go on a tour and learn about the job of a Police Officer. We may even get the chance to go in a cell! At the Fire Station, we learn about the job of a Firefighter, as well as getting a tour of the Fire Station!