Third Grade

Religion
Using a spiral learning method, the primary grades Religion courses follow the outline of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: Creed, Sacraments, Morality and Prayer. With language and concepts appropriate to their stage of development, the students cover topics such as God, the Holy Trinity, Jesus the Christ and the Church in the first unit. Next, students take up the topics of Worship, the Liturgy and the Sacraments, and how we participate in these sacred moments. The third unit calls the student to think about their actions, behavior, habits, personal interactions and relationships as they study topics of Morality. The final unit deals with the various forms and types of prayer available to the Catholic Christian in order to grow closer to the God we love. Service projects provide an opportunity to learn social awareness, while daily prayer, attention to Sacred Scripture and weekly Mass participation ensures a well - founded Catholic education.

Language Arts
Several different genre are used in third grade to increase fluency and build story and comprehension skills. The students are exposed to interactive materials which involve short stories and poems and encourage the student to become an active reader. Leveled books are also used to meet the student's individual needs. Teacher read novels and short stories are featured throughout the year. Multisensory grammar taught which allows the student to learn sequential steps in developing sentence construction and color coding of sentences to learn the eight parts of speech. Grammar skills are reinforced by the use of a weekly interactive bulletin board. The Six Traits of Writing are emphasized in journal and essay writing motivating the students to become more imaginative and creative writers.

Math
The students are taught the following concepts: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division to algebra and geometry. Also covered are measurement, standard and metric, probability and fractions. The students are also taught problem solving skills which help them break apart word problems.

Science
The science curriculum is integrated with equal emphasis being placed on Earth, Life, Physical and Environmental Science areas. Plants and animals are examined and then connected to habitats and ecosystems. In Earth Science, we study minerals, rocks and land forms with formation and change leading into how the students are responsible for keeping Earth clean and free of pollutants. After a unit on weather, Earth is expanded upon showing her place in the solar system. When Physical Science begins, all basic concepts are introduced including matter, machines, energy, magnets and power sources and uses. Since integrated science is standard through elementary grades, concepts introduced in third grade will be expanded on every year through fifth grade.

Spanish
The objectives of the Spanish program are to develop strong listening and speaking skills. Students begin to comprehend basic conversation and vocabulary about friends, classroom, house, family, animals and community. Vocabulary is reinforced and new words are added frequently. Most of the vocabulary is learned through hands - on activities, games, songs, charades and role playing.

Social Studies
The students focus on communities around the world, people in communities, locations of communities, history of communities, communities at work and community government. Skills reinforced during the year include map and globe skills, chart and graph skills and research and writing skills. On level and advanced reading materials are available every day in our classroom library as well as computers and other manipulatives to facilitate and motivate our students in the learning process.

Technology
Students learn basic software applications (Word, Excel and PowerPoint), research on the Internet, cyber safety and acceptable use, how to use educational search engines, keyboarding skills and basic computer knowledge and terminology.  Students are introduced to basic programming skills.