Welcome to Third Grade

Dear Visitor:

Welcome to the third grade classroom. Our classroom is a cooperative learning evironment and a family of friends. We strive for independence, critical thinking and resolving conflicts with positive discipline. We learn from each other and honor differences.

The following is meant to provide a brief overview of the key elements of our curriculum for the school year.

Laureate students use the Accelerated Reader (AR) computer software program. The results of research in schools across the nation show that the AR program has had great success in stimulating a child's enthusiasm for reading. (The office has a copy of the research summary issued by School Renaissance Institute if you would like to peruse it.) Teachers provide students with lists of books within their reading range and their particular interests. Once a book is read, the child takes a quiz for comprehension on the computer and is provided with immediate feedback

As part of our language arts curriculum, we use a variety of stories to reinforce skills such as reading comprehension, spelling, writing procedures, grammar, editing, and vocabulary (to name a few). We also practice three forms of writing – informative, persuasive, and expressive. Since third grade students begin the transition to cursive writing, we also stress the correct formation of cursive letters.

In Everyday Mathematics, the content strands for grade 3 are Number and Numeration, Operations and Computation, Data and Chance, Measurement and Reference Frames, Geometry, Patterns, Function and Algebra.

Social Studies in third grade involves learning map and globe reading skills, identification of land and water forms, directional terms, Native American cultures of North America, pioneers, communities, national symbols, and our national resources.

Science covers properties of matter; our solar system with an emphasis on the Earth, moon, and sun; energy and motion, air, water and land as natural resources; and adaptations in the physical structure of organisms that improve their chances for survival.

Ms.Rowlands, Teacher

TEXTS

Reading/Language Arts/Literature
Accelerated Reader Educational Software Program. Renaissance Learning .
English Workbook Plus. Houghton Mifflin, Atlanta, 1995
Spelling Workout Level C/D. Modern Curriculum Press, 2005.
A multitude of children's literature in a wide variety of reading levels.

Houghton Mifflin English, Level 3, 1998

Math
California Everyday Mathematics, The University of Chicago School Mathematic Project, McGraw Hill Wright Group,2008

History/Social Science
From Sea to Shining Sea. Houghton Mifflin, 1991.
Maps Charts and Graphs. Modern Curriculum Press, 1990.

Science
Discovery Works: California Edition. Houghton Mifflin, 2000