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Third Grade Curriculum
Developmental Description As children move through the Lower School there is an ever increasing sense of independence and personal responsibility. During the third grade year, in particular, students make a giant leap in these and other areas of development. Physiological and neurological changes bring about an increase in physical stamina, attention and memory. Large and fine motor skills are better developed and more under the control of the individual. Many students, especially girls, experience a growth spurt with beginning changes in body shape and form. All of these aspects of development work in concert to make it possible for children to manage a longer school day and increased academic expectations. Friendships with classmates of the same gender or different gender take on a whole new dimension. They are beginning to be quite vocal about that age-old question, "Can girls and boys be friends?". Girls' and boys' relationships as friends and partners tend to be somewhat transient, but there is a willingness to work in cooperative groups and team play is of high consideration with this age group. Girls are more willing to take on leadership roles in games and classroom activities. Eight and nine-year old children enjoy resolving their own disputes but still, at times, need adult intervention. They are beginning to understand and to appreciate racial, ethnic, religious and gender differences. There is also a caring attitude and respect for each other that makes its appearance at this age.
As one might imagine with so many changes occurring at once, there is a lot of questioning, uncertainty, exploration, and trying on of new roles. What is acceptable? What are the boundaries? What do I do when my best friend is mad at me? What should I do with my time? All of these are questions they will ask themselves many times throughout their lives and the answers will vary at each stage.
With all that they are managing, physically, socially, and emotionally, there is still an openness that makes third grade children especially teachable. Their vitality, willingness to take risks, to explore new territory and to invest themselves in all aspects of learning is especially gratifying for their teachers.
Lower School Language Arts Philosophy and Goals Language Arts consists of the broad subject areas of reading, writing (including spelling, grammar, mechanics, language usage and penmanship), listening and speaking. From the earliest days of life children are learning to use language to make sense of the world. Our goal in literacy instruction is to give them the tools to communicate and effectively interpret the spoken and written word. Language is powerful -- students need to be taught to develop that power with care, thoughtfulness and consideration while being encouraged to find their own voices. "Literacy goes beyond basic skills and includes enhanced abilities to think critically and creatively, to reason carefully, to inquire systematically into important matters, to analyze, synthesize and evaluate information, to communicate effectively to a variety of audiences in a variety of forms".1
The following general goals are ones adapted from the International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers' of English Standards for the English Language Arts. "These standards assume that literacy growth begins before children enter school as they experience and experiment with literacy activities -- reading and writing, and associating spoken words with their graphic representations. Furthermore, the standards provide ample room for the innovation and creativity essential to teaching and learning." 2
1. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
2. Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among the texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
3. Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique and discuss print and nonprint texts.
4. Students use spoken, written and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion) and for the exchange of information.
5. Students use a variety of technological and informational sources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
1 Zemelman, Daniels, Hyde, Best Practice, Heinemann, Portsmouth NH, 1993.
2 International Reading Association and National Council of Teachers of English Standards for Language Arts
Third Grade Language Arts Reading "The essence of reading is a transaction between the words of and author and the mind of a reader, during which meaning is constructed. The main goal of reading must be comprehension. Reading is a sense-making process. It is an active, constructive, creative, high-order thinking activity that involves distinctive cognitive strategies before, during, and after reading."
Reading instruction should provide children with many opportunities to interact with print: listening to stories, participating in shared book experiences, making language-experience stories and books, composing stories through play, enacting dialogue through drama and reading and writing books. Independent reading is the best practice for learning to read. Children are given access to a variety of interesting and informative books. They are permitted to choose many reading materials, activities and ways of demonstrating their understanding of the texts they have read.
Our goal is to provide children with the necessary skills to be able to use reading for information and pleasure. We want reading to enable our students to be mature, effective, self-motivated, fluent and skillful, lifelong readers.
Decoding skills will help students understand the orthography of our language and use it to gain information and pleasure. The expectation is that they will learn to effectively communicate orally, as well as in writing. The following skills are taught:
pronunciation
Strategies are taught in the literacy context. They include:
pronunciation
Comprehension leads our children to interpret, evaluate, analyze and apply knowledge in the following ways:
Range of Materials - Children enter third grade with a wide range of reading skills, abilities and interests. Each classroom has a rich variety of literature so that students are able to find materials that match their interests and abilities. The variety is composed of:
Affective Approach - Our expectation is that a student's experiences with these varied activities and materials will encourage and foster the appreciation, natural enthusiasm and interests of each child about reading.
Writing
Experimenting with the ingredients of written language is one of the prime ways of advancing reading achievement and mastering the conventions of language. Teachers guide children to find real purposes to write. When the topic matters to them, children work hard to express themselves well and are willing to invest time and effort in crafting and revising their work. The best language occurs when students attempt actual communication and see how real listeners/readers react. Our writing programs involve the complete writing process. As in reading, grammar and mechanics are best taught and practiced in the context of writing. Writing extends throughout our curriculum.
The following skills are taught in the context of writing and in discrete lessons:
Listening/Speaking
Listening attentively and speaking articulately are goals which we continue to develop at third grade. Successful interactions inside and outside of the classroom, and throughout one's life, depend upon these skills. There are a variety of experiences provided for students to develop their abilities to listen and speak well.
Shared Activities/Topics/Books/Materials
In support of our integrated approach to teaching we share/use common resources, activities, projects and materials. These activities may vary from year to year and are determined by children's interests, world and local events, and availability of resources. Other shared language activities include:
Lower School Mathematics Philosophy and Goals
"Mathematics is the study of quantities and relations through the use of numbers and symbols." Classroom practices are organized so that students have many and varied experiences with numbers and symbols. The development of a sense of number is part of the daily discourse and woven into the fabric of each classroom. Number sense can best be described as "good intuition about numbers and their relationships." It develops overtime with opportunities to explore numbers, to visualize them in a variety of situations, and to relate them in ways that are not limited to traditional algorithms. Number sense builds on students' natural insights and helps them understand that mathematics makes sense, that it is not just a collection of arbitrary rules to be applied.
We have adapted five general goals from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics. The intent of these goals is to develop mathematically literate individuals who understand the role of mathematics in our daily lives. We want our students to be skillful in the application of mathematical concepts as they relate to the occupations that fashion our world and our lives. We also want them to be appreciative of mathematical principles where they are manifested in the arrangement of the petals of a sunflower, the ebb and flow of the tides, and the creation of beautiful music.
1. Students learn to value mathematics. Students' mathematical experiences should be frequent and related to other disciplines whenever possible.
2. Students become confident in their own abilities. Mathematical experiences should enable students to make sense of new problem situations in the world as they encounter them.
3. Students become mathematical problem solvers. Learning to solve problems individually and cooperatively is a primary goal of our mathematics instruction.
4. Students learn to communicate mathematically. Students learn to use signs, symbols, and terminology in problem situations so this language becomes natural and logical.
5. Students learn to reason mathematically. Students' ability to make conjectures, gather evidence, and build supporting arguments is a primary goal of our mathematics instruction.
Third Grade Math I. Numbers, Numeration, Place Value
A. able to write and order numbers; 0-1,000,000
B. continue working on expanded number sequences, series and patterns
C. working on Roman numerals up to 1,000
D. continue working on an understanding of place value through 10,000
II. Operations
Skills and Goals A. working on the addition of multi-digit numbers with regrouping
B. working on the subtraction of multi-digit numbers with regrouping, along with the addition check
C. working on the multiplication facts up to 11 using arrays, manipulatives, counting by like numbers and organizing the facts in graph form
D. introduction to the multiplication of multi-digit numbers
E. working on division up to the division of three-digit numbers by one-digit numbers with remainders
F. expanded use of fractions and decimals 1. working on fractions and equivalent fractions 2. an introduction to the operations of addition and subtraction using common denominators 3. an introduction to the link between fractions and the decimal system
G. continue working on missing term problems (algebra), the inverse qualities of addition and subtraction and multiplication and division, the combining of operations and the use of relational signs in equations
H. refining computational skills
Terms remainder algebra decimals denominator/numerator common denominator
III. Geometry
Skills and Goals A. construction of two-dimensional and three-dimensional geometric figures using appropriate instructions
B. determination of the area and perimeter of a rectangle and square and the volume of a simple cube
C. introduction to the properties of a circle (360); geometry
D. continued work on symmetry and congruency; geometry
Terms perimeter area simple cube circumference diameter radius pi
IV. Measurement Skills and Goals
A. continue working on linear measure (in, ft, yd, mi, mm, cm, m, km), two dimensional measure (sq, in, sq ft, sq. yd, mi, sq mm, sq cm, sq m, hectare)
B. working on mass (oz, lb, g, kg)
C. working on volume (cup, pt, qt, gal, cc, ml, l)
D. working on direction by extending it beyond the cardinal points of the compass to mapping and the development of coordinates in degrees
Terms millimeter square units coordinates hectare milliliter/liter ounce/pound quart/gallon gram/kilogram cup/pint cubic cm degrees
V. Applications Skills and Goals A. Estimation 1) approximating answers to computation probability 2) approximating measurement (length, volume, mass)
B. Story Problems 1) making inferences (logic-prob. reading) 2) distinguishing relevant and irrelevant information 3) recognizing when insufficient information is given (logic problem)
C. Probability and Statistics 1) working with the outcomes of random and non-random events 2) gather and analyze statistics
D. Scale Drawing 1) mapping 2) dimensional drawing
E. Money 1) continue working on operations involving decimal point and large numbers $100,000,000.00
F. Time 1) working on time to the minute 2) telling time two ways (before and after the hour)
Terms tenths hundredths thousandths
VI. Collecting, Organizing and Recording Data Skills and Goals A. continue working on collecting data, depicting data in graphs (bar line, pie, pictograph), studying data, and reading and interpreting graphs
B. introduction to averages
C. continuing to work with calculators (large number notation, computation) and computers (logical thinking about number data)
Terms line graph bar graph pictographs averages
VII. Mental Math
"Mental arithmetic is not restricted to doing computations entirely in one's head. Instead, children are encouraged to develop a variety of flexible solution strategies using whatever means are familiar - counting fingers, doodles, diagrams, notes with partial answers, and so on. The emphasis is on children solving problems in their own way, on being open to a variety of approaches that are appropriate for the particular problem." (UCSMP). It is hoped that children will have at their disposal, and be able to determine, the most efficient method for solving a particular problem - paper and pencil, calculators, or mental math.
VIII.Writing
Writing about math is an important part of thinking about math. The writing process helps students clarify and organize ideas and make connections. Students should be encouraged and given opportunities to use their writing skills to further their math development.
Third Grade Math (cont'd)
Materials dominoes geometric forms pentaminoes calculators hexaminoes flash cards geoboards 100 Chart tape measures Multiplication Chart clocks posters scales coins, bills (realistic) balances thermometers tessellation manipulatives counters tangrams protractors fraction pieces unifix cubes number line rulers/straight edges calendars dot matrix paper games cards dice pattern blocks
Lower School Computer Department Philosophy Statement and Goals The primary goal in the Lower School computer classes is to help the students become technologically literate. This is achieved by exposing students to a wide variety of hands-on computer experiences which includes programming, simulations, information gathering, and working with applications and subject area software. By providing a broad range of computer experiences, we help students understand how computers can facilitate learning in all subject areas.
We encourage students to respect one another's learning styles and different levels of computer expertise. Cooperative learning is encouraged so that the computer is viewed as a tool, not a companion.
An effective computer program provides students with the opportunity to be self-directed, to pose and pursue their own questions, to explore, construct and create. We encourage students to feel confident enough to explore and build on what they know.
Goals
Skill Development for Grade 3
Lower School World Languages
Third and Fourth Grades The teaching goals of the world language department for lower school students are:
The specific objectives at third and fourth grade levels are:
Third Grade Curriculum
In working to achieve these goals and objectives, teaching at this level focuses on two areas:
A. Language:
accurately
(comprehension)
Methodology/Activities - Various techniques are used to teach language to this age student, including:
new language preceding its active use
B. Culture - An important aspect of our program is to instill in students an understanding and appreciation of foreign cultures. This is done in a variety of ways and include
Lower School Library Philosophy and Goals The lower school library program is designed to nurture children's love of literature and their enthusiasm for investigating the existing body of knowledge on any given subject of interest. The program builds skills incrementally over the years, giving students the ability to independently use and enjoy library resources. While the ability to use the library independently is encouraged, support from librarians is always available. Knowledge and skills gained through the program help to form a strong foundation for lifelong learning.
The lower school library program also provides support to classroom and special area teachers and attempts to integrate library goals and objectives with their curricula when possible.
Goals
Independent use of the library:
Awareness and Appreciation of Literature:
Classroom teacher support:
Library Curriculum Third Grade Goals for the third grade library curriculum include the following:
Literature appreciation:
Library skills:
By the end of third grade, students should have a basic understanding of the steps necessary to independently locate books in the library:
--Learn to search by title, author, subject, & "any word". --Understand the differences between these types of search. --Learn to move from the general to the detailed information screen. --Learn to interpret information on the detailed screen: Location of call number. Name of library in which book can be found. Author and summary information. Lower School Science Program Philosophy Statement Science is much more than a body of facts and a collection of principles. It involves asking questions and systematically obtaining answers to gain a better understanding of the world. Just as reading is a fundamental process for exploring whatever is written, so science is a set of processes for exploring our environment. An effective science program encourages and nurtures curiosity, interest and creativity. It provides an opportunity for all students to use the science processes, learn skills, and develop an understanding of key concepts through direct experiences. With the ability to investigate scientifically as a way of finding answers, students can apply these procedures in science and other areas without limit.
Goals
* To promote the use of scientific processes as a method of inquiry
Third Grade Science Processes and Skills * making careful observations using all of the senses, except taste
Third Grade Science Topics
Visual Arts Department
Philosophy and Goals The primary objective of the Visual Arts program is the development of creative and aesthetically aware individuals. Our first task in the Visual Arts program is to foster the growth and development of visual literacy in each student. Our aim is to enable students to express ideas that are otherwise inexpressible through conventional language. We encourage each child's development on a perceptual and conceptual level through individual artistic discovery. Through direct involvement in a the visual arts, students can understand, value and respond to their own emotions, perceptions and intuition. Knowledge is developed through the process of giving ideas artistic form through individual creative exploration.
Students are encouraged to "discover" through a variety of media appropriate at each age level and to develop technical skills and competency. Also, the scope and sequences of classroom instruction are designed to include art appreciation. Students look at art through a variety of cultural and historical perspectives.
Writing and verbal skills are complemented with the language of art and visual literacy. Only then is a student's imagination truly supported and only then does he or she reconcile the power of the emotional and intuitive self with intellectual understanding.
Third and Fourth Grade Art The need to use visual imagery has been present in all cultures throughout the ages. The ingenuity, creativity, problem-solving and artistic skills so evident in prehistoric art still persist today as highly desired goals in art education.
The planning of this curriculum began with the knowledge of the developmental level of third and fourth grade students in terms of their needs, interests, and capabilities. At these grade levels, students' perception and knowledge begin to expand beyond their immediate personal environment to the broader context of the world around them. As students move away from the interest in art solely for personal expression and toward improving the quality of visual form and technical skills, the formal elements and principles of design can then be introduced and reinforced.
Goals
Students will become knowledgeable about the elements and principles of design and understand how they apply to visual forms of expression.
Students will be able to identify significant works of art from major historical periods and describe how they relate to and reflect the societies, cultures and people of the period.
Students will master the vocabulary of art to enable them to critique and discuss their art and that of others.
Shared Activities and Experiences
Curriculum is organized around two units of study consisting of modes of art production - painting/drawing and sculpture. Related media such as fiber art, printmaking and photography are also introduced. Within each of these two units projects will include definitions of the underlying concepts, the elements and principles of design, techniques, materials/tools. There will also be appropriate references to art history, culture, criticism and aesthetics.
Painting and Drawing - Students create landscapes, still lifes and painting and drawing from their imagination. They will be given instruction and experience in composition, scale, proportion, point of view. Included also is instruction in foreground, middle ground and background, overlapping, center of interest, locating the horizon line, opacity and transparency. Students will also
prehistory to the present.
and cool colors.
and acrylic paint.
to draw different qualities of line.
Sculpture - Students will have experiences making masks, papier mâché, constructing "found objects", and wood and clay structures. The elements and principles of design will be emphasized. Students will also
to the present.
form (pinching, slab, coil, joining with slip).
Lower School Physical Education Philosophy and Goals
The physical education program is designed to offer a wide variety of experiences and exposure to many activities for its participants. The focus is on success, a high level of participation, enjoyment and the development of cooperative skills to enable our students to work well with others and to achieve group goals. The third and fourth grade level is a time when sportsmanship and cooperative learning are stressed. Students participate in a wide variety of activities from individual manipulative skills to team sports. It is hoped that these activities will help develop the health and vigorous energies of the students. Social and emotional development is recognized as being an important adjunct in the educational process. A main concern is to instill a love for physical activity along with an understanding of the health benefits to be gained from involvement. The goals for the Physical Education Department are student-centered. The emphasis on each varies from one grade to another and from teacher to teacher. In general, students are expected to develop:
Activities for third grade include:
Soccer, football, track, throwing/catching skills, jump rope, tumbling, rhythms, basketball, fitness concepts daily, softball, gymnastics, volleyball, bowling, recreational activities, pilo polo, paddles/tennis lead up, floor hockey, games
Homework Homework is a means of extending the learning that goes on in school by affording students an opportunity to practice and apply skills and concepts learned during the school day. It may take a variety of forms depending on the grade level, subject area, and the needs of individual students.
Regular homework assignments in the Lower School do not, as a rule, begin until third grade. However, younger students are expected to practice, with their parents, reading materials sent home by teachers. There should also be time set aside for regular review of math facts. A few minutes of practice with number facts several times a week is important in developing automaticity and facility with numbers. There may be other occasional assignments for first and second graders, such as the "homelinks" that are part of the University of Chicago School Math Program (UCSMP).
Third and fourth grade students will have homework assignments almost daily. Assignments may focus on a particular skill or concept development. There may also be longer tasks that encourage students to expand on ideas presented in class, while integrating skills and subject areas. Reading for enjoyment is one of the best ways to become a skillful reader and should be a part of every child's day, after school, as well as during the school day. Review of math facts should continue and parents should consult with teachers about the variety of ways to do this.
The process of understanding and taking assignments home, planning time for their completion, and returning them to school on time provides the underpinnings for success throughout one's school and work life.
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