Religion - In third grade we focus on what it means to be disciples of Jesus Christ.  We learn more about the sacraments and the mysteries of the rosary.  We review the prayers that were learned in previous years, and learn the Apostles’ Creed.  We also learn about the Four Marks of the Church and the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy, and we interact with real people who have answered God’s call to different vocations (priesthood, religious life, married life, and single life).  Participating in all of the responses during Mass is a strong focus, as well.  Including God in our decision-making is vital to living a good moral life, so we often discuss what would Jesus do?  We use the Sadlier We Believe textbook.

Reading - We begin shifting more of our focus from learning to read, to reading to learn.  Using the McGraw Hill Wonders reading series, as well as several novels, we build upon the foundational skills learned in preschool through second grade.  In a typical week, students will read, discuss, and respond to several stories all tied together with a common theme.  Lessons address phonics, word attack skills, comprehension, and fluency, with the goal of not only becoming a better reader, but to enjoy reading.  Students will have opportunities to conference with the teacher to talk about the books they are reading independently.  A favorite all-class novel we read is Charlotte’s Web.

Language Arts & Writing - Third graders build upon their knowledge of the structure of our English language to become better writers.  Some grammar and language lessons are taught as stand-alone lessons, while others are taught in conjunction with our Wonders reading series.  Students write daily for a variety of purposes, including journals, stories, written responses to questions, informational paragraphs, etc.  Speaking and listening skills are consistently practiced and reinforced, as well

Spelling - Weekly spelling lists focus on particular skills based on phonics or word structure.  We use differentiated lists from our Wonders reading program.  Practicing the words at home is recommended as part of the students’ daily homework.  A variety of activities are used throughout the week to learn the spelling words and to apply the skills to spelling other words.  The goal is not to just memorize the words for the tests, but to truly understand the spelling rules so they can apply those rules when spelling unfamiliar words.  Students take their spelling tests on tablets using the program Spelling City.

Math - Third grade is the year of learning multiplication and division, which are taught in tandem.  Using the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Math Expressions program, we do LOTS of work with hands-on manipulatives to actually build expressions (i.e. 3 groups of 4 cubes) to make sure we understand the concepts.  Then we move to a drawing stage before representing them solely with abstract numerals. Fractions are another big part of our third grade curriculum - understanding what they mean and being able to represent them with hands-on models, drawings, shapes, and number lines.  Other third grade math concepts include: rounding, displaying data in various types of graphs and charts, area, perimeter, and geometry.

Science - Our third grade curriculum includes exciting experiences learning about plants and animals (traits, adaptations, and life cycles); energy and forces; health; human body systems; and the basics of electricity and magnetism.  Hands-on STEM activities are an important part of our lessons.  We use the Savvas Elevate Science book along with the Mystery Science online program.  Students also get the opportunity to explore a science concept of particular interest to them by taking a turn as the Scientist of the Week!  Each student prepares a science experiment to demonstrate and explain to the class.  Our learning reaches outside the classroom with a field trip to the Paper Discovery Center to make our own paper and do a variety of STEM activities.

Social Studies - We review what students learned about communities in second grade and delve deeper into the specifics of some of our Fox Valley communities and other northeast Wisconsin communities, including geography, economy, government, and history.  Students learn to identify the midwestern states, the Great Lakes, and significant rivers in the United States.  They also learn more about the history of our country, including Native Americans, Pilgrims, and the beginning of our country’s government.  Our textbook is My World from Savvas.  A field trip to Hearthstone Historic House and/or the History Museum at the Castle is a favorite part of our third grade year.