Third Grade Curriculum
Religion
Students will learn the marks of the Church or the signs that identify it: one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic. Students will understand that Jesus teaches them about the undying faithfulness of God. Students study the Apostles' Creed. Students will recognize that we respond to God both individually and as a community. Prayer is seen as an important part of our response to God's love for us. Students study the Sacraments of Initiation, Healing and Vocation. Students will learn about Jesus' commandment to love God first and secondly to love others as God loves us. Students will study the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy. Students will learn that they have the responsibility to pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit to foster community in the Church.
Language Arts
The student will read and comprehend longer stories and short books. Using phonics skills and context clues the student will decode new words.
The student will write (in cursive) letters, words and sentences using correct slant, spacing and letter formation.
The student will be able to define and use various sentence types. Writing skills will include sentence formation with correct punctuation and verb usage.
The student will compose paragraphs of up to five sentences. The paragraph will contain a main idea, supporting details and a conclusion. The student will be able to proofread, revise and create a final copy of the paragraph.
The student will increase auditory skills by being able to detect syllables, accent and stress in words.
The students will present oral reports emphasizing proper speaking etiquette, voice level, pacing and expression.
Math
Students skip count by whole numbers; compare and order numbers; identify place value; identify ordinal position to twentieth; identify and compare patterns, solve routine and non-routine problems; master all basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts; work with square roots; add and subtract multi-digit numbers; multiply a multi-digit number by a single-digit number; divide by single-digit divisors; add positive and negative numbers; picture, name and order fractions; add and subtract fractions with common denominators; measure to the nearest quarter inch, millimeter, foot and yard, identify volume by standard measurements; measure perimeter and area; tell time to the minute; determine elapsed time; count money, make change for a dollar, identify lines of symmetry; identify function rules; graph ordered pairs on a coordinate graph; tally; and create, read, and write observations from real graphs, pictographs, bar graphs, Venn diagrams and line graphs.
Science
The student will investigate the physical environment of the Earth, its surface features and weather. The students will explore the sun, Earth and moon as a system. They will discover their roles and how they affect each other (including day, night, seasons and monthly cycles.) The student will explore living things and their relationships with each other and their environment. They will learn what makes up an ecosystem and the important role each part has in it. The student will explore systems of the body and their function. The student will learn to record data, formulate hypothesis and use simple science tools.
Social Studies
The student will recognize the geographic concepts of land forms, map symbols, people and customs. The student will explore coastal areas, rivers, woodlands, grasslands, mountains and deserts. The student will learn how we adapt to our surroundings by studying the life styles of Northwestern, Plains, Southwestern, First American People and Early Settlers. The student will explore the concepts of communities, trade and elections.
Physical Education
Our physical education curriculum builds on the basic skills learned in previous grades. Skills involving team sports (softball, kickball, soccer, volleyball and basketball) are enhanced at this level. Skills of responsibility, leadership, tolerance for others, and cooperation in small groups and teams foster an appreciation of recreation and physical fitness as part of healthy living.