Third Grade Teachers

The teachers in the third grade are committed to preparing the students to become more independent as well as making the curriculum exciting and challenging. We stride for respect among all students and make sure that there is an emphasis on character education. We integrate character education and the teaching of moral values throughout the curriculum. We develop a positive classroom community through individual social responsibility as well as classroom activities and discussions.

Reading

Third graders use the SRA Imagine It! Series grade level four. All units in the SRA Imagine It! are organized around a central theme. Some units allow students to expand their perspectives on universal themes, such as taking risks and consequences, by relating what they read to their own experiences. Other units involve students in the research process, giving them tools they need to discover and learn individually and as part of a collaborative group. Each selection in a unit adds more information or a different perspective to students’ growing knowledge of the unit theme or concept. All lessons are divided into three parts.

Part 1: Preparing to Read focuses on learning about the structural elements of words.

Part 2: Reading and Responding addresses vocabulary, comprehension, and inquiry.

Part 3: Language Arts contains spelling, the writing process, grammar, usage, mechanics, penmanship, as well as listening, speaking, viewing, and study skills.
 

Students enjoy reading the various genres within this reading series. They are consistently building their comprehension skills via discussions, writing activities, cooperative group projects, vocabulary games/activities, and technology related to these selections.

Grammar

In the third grade, we are using the Shurley English series to teach grammar. Students will learn different parts of sentence structure and how all sentence parts fit together.

The student will:

• Identify types of sentences
• Classify sentences
• Identify parts of speech (noun, verb, pronoun, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, interjection)
• Learn sentence punctuation
• Identify subjects and predicates
• Identify article adjectives
• Recognize homonyms
• Identify and use adjectives and adverbs
• Learn to use abbreviations
• Recognize synonyms and antonyms
• Recognize and use subject, possessive, and object pronouns
• Use possessive pronouns
• Label helping verbs and verb transitives
• Identify direct objects
• Capitalization and punctuation rules
• Distinguish between common and proper nouns
• Use contractions correctly
• Learn subject-verb agreement
• Identify indirect objects
• Identify prepositions and objects of the preposition
• Fragments, simple sentences, compound sentences, and run-on sentences

Writing

Students in third grade continue practicing their manuscript and cursive writing using the Zaner–Bloser series.

Students will:

• Understand the concept and importance of the trait of ideas and be able to use a graphic organizer to brainstorm possible ideas for writing.
• Given a topic, write a paragraph containing a topic sentence, details, and a concluding sentence.
• Include in their paragraphs strong leads, voice, figurative writing, vivid descriptive language, compound sentences, and take-away endings
• Write a 5 paragraph piece using a graphic organizer following the writing process
• Produce writing pieces using all the types of writing (narrative, personal, persuasive, expository, poetry, descriptive)
• Write for a variety of purposes and audiences
• Use writing rubrics and editing checklists to edit their own writing and the writing of their peers
• Present and/or share journal entries, responses to literature, show don’t tells
• Use the writing process in their writing 

Mathematics

Students in the third grade use the Singapore Math Series. Emphasis is placed on the use of manipulatives and mental math. The goal is to meet the individual needs of each student and encourage confidence and strong foundation of number sense. Throughout the series, there are various checkpoints to ensure that the students have a clear understanding of the material that has been taught. Each chapter is followed by a chapter test.

Whole Numbers

• Place-value models to represent numbers to 10,000
• Read, write in words, standard, and expanded notation, identify place values of digits, and compare and order numbers within 10,000
• Count on and back in steps of 1, 10, 100, and 1000 and complete or extend regular number patterns within 10,000
   

Addition and Subtraction of Whole Numbers

• Add/Subtract numbers within 10,000
• Relate division to multiplication
• Recognize and extend regular linear patterns
• Understand quotient and remainder
• Understand the properties of 0 and 1 in multiplication and division
• Multiply/Divide by 6’s, 7’s, 8’s, and 9’s
• Learn multiplication/division facts for 6’s, 7’s, 8’s, and 9’s
• Multiply numbers within 1000 by a 1-digit number
• Divide numbers within 1000 by a 1-digit number, including situations where there is a remainder

Mental Math Strategies

• Use the commutative and associative properties to perform mental calculations and check results
• Use the distributive property to perform mental calculations and check results
• Add/Subtract numbers within 100
• Add/Subtract 1’s, 10’s, or 100’s to numbers within 1000
• Subtract from 1000
• Add and subtract money in compound units when the cents are multiples of 5 or close to $1.00
• Add/Subtract measurements in compound units
• Multiply and divide tens, hundreds, and thousands by a 1-digit number

Fractions

• Compare and order fractions with the same denominator or with the same numerator
• Find equivalent fractions and simplest form of a fraction
• Compare and order fractions with different denominators
• Recognize and name the fraction of a set
• Find the value given the fraction of a set, using objects or drawings
• Find the fraction of a set where the answer is a whole number
• Money
• Use decimal notation to add and subtract money with $100.00

Time

• Tell time to the minute (analog clock face)
• Find the duration of time intervals
• Find starting or ending times, given a time and the interval
• Know relationships of time (years, months, days, weeks, hours, and seconds)
• Convert between units of time

Length, Weight, Mass, and Capacity

• Measure and estimate length of objects in meters and centimeters, yards, feet, and inches
• Understand and estimate length in kilometers and miles
• Measure and estimate weight in kilograms, grams, pounds, and ounces
• Measure and estimate capacity in liters, cups, pints, quarts, half-gallon, and gallon
• Measure and estimate capacity in milliliters
• Convert units within a metric system using multiplication
• Add/Subtract measurements in compound units

Perimeter, Area, and Volume

• Find the perimeter of polygons
• Find the area of shapes by covering them with unit squares or by counting squares
• Understand and use units of area, such as square centimeter and square inch
• Geometry
• Identify common 3-dimensional shapes within compound shapes
• Identify right angles and compare angles to right angles
• Word Problems
• Solve 2-step word problems which involve the four operations on whole numbers

Data Analysis and Probability

• Represent and compare data bar graphs
• Ask and solve questions related to data representation, including finding the range and mode
• Algebra
• Solve problems involving numeric equations or inequalities
• Select appropriate operational symbol to make an expression true
• Use boxes and other symbols to stand for unknown numbers in expressions and equations
• Represent unknown quantities with bar diagrams and solve word problems involving whole numbers using bar diagrams

Social Studies

• Students will be able to differentiate and comprehend the concepts of towns, cities, states, counties, countries, and continents
• Students can identify time frames and participate in projects of major historical events (Revolutionary War, Constitution, Civil War, Slavery, etc.)
• Students will be able to interpret various types of maps and keys
• Students will study ancient civilizations and learn about the cultures and contributions via group projects.

Special Area Classes

Art: Drawing skills and techniques (shading, crosshatching and a more complex use of line, motion and color) are emphasized. Calligraphy is introduced and Art history is expanded upon. Individuality and confidence are always emphasized.

Computers: Students will begin the year with the Touch Typing method of keyboarding. Each class is equipped with a complete computer system. These students will be instructed on the Microsoft Office Suite, Internet research skills and some grade appropriate educational software. Student will research the Arctic and Antarctic regions in science and pull research from the library and Internet to create a PowerPoint about these two regions. Another creative PowerPoint will follow that will have them researching Famous Americans.

Library: Skills for Student Success-Grade 3 is the text used for teaching students skills for success in the classroom. The focus is on organizational skills, specific learning strategies, textbook reference skills, and the use of reference materials. This program uses a spiral curriculum: skills that are introduced at one level are reviewed at each subsequent level with more difficult applications, and additional skills are introduced in each subsequent level. Students also practice being independent library users by utilizing the free-flow circulation system and independently completing book searches on the library’s automated catalog.

Music: Students meet with the music specialist twice a week. They engage in singing activities, and play rhythm instruments, recorders and keyboards. They participate in a musical production and perform at assembly programs.

Physical Education: We stress the importance of lifetime fitness to our third grade students. In addition to fitness, we work on fundamental ball skills, encourage team and individual fair play, give students opportunities to further develop hand-eye coordination and make students aware of the space around them. We also begin basic track and field activities such as jumping, exchanges and hurdles.

Science: Students explore physical, Earth and life sciences in the science lab through hands-on activities, an interactive Smart Board and instruction following the Harcourt Science curriculum. Students observe, measure, classify, infer and predict while following the scientific method of investigation. Third graders conduct an intensive study of the Arctic and Antarctic regions. The study includes people, animals, resources and landforms of the regions. Research is completed in the science lab, library and computer lab. Students create a PowerPoint in the computer lab summarizing their research and then present their findings to other students and parents.

*Field Trip: University of Florida Fisheries and Fresh Water Habitats
 

Bingham Science Activity Award

An award is given at the end of the year to students who voluntarily complete three projects at home during the course of the year. The students are given guidelines and due dates for their projects which are presented in class and then displayed.

Spanish: Each third grade class has Spanish twice a week. The children will develop listening skills and Spanish comprehension through an immersion experience in which the class is conducted almost entirely in Spanish. Age-appropriate reading, songs, games, and hands-on activities are used to reinforce each unit. The children will learn greetings, colors, numbers 1 - 100, body parts, animals, the alphabet and letter sounds, classroom objects, adjectives, days of the week, seasons, months of the year, and a number of verbs. They will begin to write and speak using the vocabulary in each unit. The concept of number and gender agreement will be reinforced throughout the second half of the year and a few common verbs will be introduced in present tense and command forms.