3rd Grade Curriculum Overview

Language Arts

Reading

Text: Treasures. The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 2011

Primary Units: Consonant;, vowels; plural nouns; possessives; ed, ing, est, er, s endings; contractions; compound words; spelling changes; suffixes/prefixes; synonyms/antonyms; main idea/details; sequence

Skills taught: getting information from text; constructing and organizing meaning; metacognition; story structure; genres; author’s craft; vocabulary phonics; structural analysis; context clues; learning from graphic aids; dictionary

Teaching methods and resources used: Promethean Interactive Boards, iPads/Chromebooks, novels; class discussion; computer resources; art projects; charts; maps; peer tutoring; writing projects; Accelerated Reader Program.

Grammar

Text: Treasures. The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 2011

Primary Units: grammar; parts of speech; usage; mechanics; punctuation; spelling; handwriting; vocabulary; speaking; literature; listening; study skills; thinking skills

Skills taught: Creative writing; poetry; literature circles; Accelerated Readers assigned by points and reading level

Teaching methods and resources used: Promethean Interactive Boards, iPads/Chromebooks, Dictionaries; Thesaurus; letter writing; group work; games; workbooks; computers; journals; resource books

Spelling

Text: Treasures. The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 2011

Primary Units: Consonants; hard and soft c and g; short vowel sounds; consonant blends; y as a vowel; vowels with r; suffixes added to root words; regular plurals; irregular plurals; double o; silent consonants; consonant clusters; consonant digraphs, prefixes un- and dis-; prefix re-; contractions; homonyms

Skills taught: Spelling list words pointed out across the curriculum

Teaching methods and resources used: Promethean Interactive Boards, iPads/Chromebooks, Teacher generated materials, group activities, workbook, games, magazines, dictation sentences, and newspapers.

Math

Text: Saxon Mathematics

New concepts are developed through hands-on activities that engage students in the learning process. Concepts are introduced, reviewed and practiced over time. Students move from the concrete to the pictorial to the abstract.

Saxon capitalizes on daily mixed practice, frequent assessments, daily homework assignments and opportunities for students to make concrete connections to everyday life.

Social Studies

Text: Our Communities

Primary Units: People working together; Living together in a community, state, nation; Communities over time; Communities grow and change; People working in a community; What is a community?; Learning about communities; Where people start communities; Citizenship and government; Many people of a community; Communities are everywhere

Skills taught: Current events; maps; time lines; critical thinking; citizenship; vocabulary; charts; graphs; tables

Teaching methods and resources used: Promethean Interactive Board, iPads/Chromebooks, teacher generated material;, maps; globes; peer learning; visuals; workbooks; computers,; lecture; class discussions; group projects; charts

Science

Text: MacMillan McGraw Hill Science 2005

Primary Units: Life Science: Looking at Plants and Animals; Life Science: Where Plants and Animals Live; Earth Science: Our Earth; Earth Science: Cycles on Earth and in Space; Physical Science: Forces and Motion; Physical Science: Looking at Matter and Energy

Skills taught: Hands on experiments; scientific method; peer learning; writing skills and team work skills; caring for live animals and plants.

Teaching methods and resources used: Promethean Interactive Board, iPads/Chromebooks, lecture; class discussion; guest speakers; videos; maps; charts; other books

Religion

Text: e My Disciples RCL Benziger: 2014.