Third Grade uses a faith based approach to teaching academics through instilling Catholic values and encouraging students to respect others, take responsibility for their own actions and follow rules.  Students learn in an environment where they feel confident to create and problem solve.  Our goal is to help students become academically and socially independent.

Third Grade Curriculum

Students learn about God’s love through classroom experiences, weekly attendance at Mass, weekly participation in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, daily prayer, and using our daily religion program materials, Blest Are We.  Students learn different components of our church and all that she embodies, most importantly that Catholics are united to spread God’s Good News.  Students also work through a Child Lures School Program, which is designed as a safety program to teach children that they are empowered to protect themselves and to teach them skills they can use for a lifetime.

Language Arts

We use the SRA Imagine It Reading Program which is a research based comprehensive program.  The program includes daily activities in phonemic awareness, comprehension and language arts.  The phonemic awareness component focuses on learning about blending, syllabication, decoding and word structure.  Comprehension skills are focused on helping students achieve a better understanding of what they are reading.  Skills and strategies include: author’s purpose, asking questions, clarifying, visualization, making predictions, comparing and contrasting, fact and opinion, literary elements, relating prior knowledge, making connections, adjusting reading speed and cause and effect.  The language arts component includes spelling, grammar and writing.

Math

The EnVisions Math program uses a wide variety of hands on materials and resources such as manipulatives, scales and center games.  It also uses online visuals and interactive stories to help students understand the different math concepts being taught along with writing.  The third grade concentrates on number sense, fractions, multiplication and division, time, measurement and geometry.  We use Rocket Math as a supplement for strengthening students’ basic math facts.

Science

There is a focus in understanding the scientific method in each area of earth science, life science and physical science.  Earth science concepts include climate, patterns in weather, weather hazards and weather technology.  When looking at life science the students will learn the concepts of life cycles of all living things, animal and plant survival, learning about the past through fossils, animals and habitats and nature inspired technology.  For physical science the third graders look into force and motion, electric and magnetic forces, as well as balanced and unbalanced forces.  In all these different areas, STEM activities are used to encourage a multidisciplinary approach. 

Social Studies

Teaching and learning happens in five different topics:  Michigan history, government/civics, geography, economics, history focusing on Native Americans and the voyagers coming to America.

Handwriting

Students are taught developmentally appropriate strategies for cursive handwriting.

Workshop

Students are offered a variety of activities to enhance skills they are working on or need additional support in mastering.