The Grade 3 Religion curriculum uses the Blest Are We text published by Benziger and is supplemented by the Benziger Family Life lessons and activities. There are five main themes in the program: We Gather As Believers, We Ask God’s Forgiveness, We Celebrate the Word of God, We Celebrate the Gift of the Eucharist and We Go In Peace. Lessons and activities focus on: the Holy Spirit as our guide, the Sacraments of Christian Initiation, forgiveness, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the Great Commandment, the importance of gathering for Mass, the different types of prayer, the Church as a witness of justice and peace, and the lives of Catholic Saints.  As Catholics, we learn we are open to all, called to serve and pray for others,

 Benziger Family Life focuses on the family and its importance.  The program also meets all requirements for safe environment lessons for children

Reading

The Grade 3 Reading program introduces the Pearson series entitled Reading Street.  The students are introduced to a wide variety of literary genres including fiction, nonfiction, fantasy, expository text, biographies, and poetry. Different strategies are used to support comprehension such as; predicting, visualizing, making inferences, and making connections to the text by using background knowledge.  Students are involved in guided reading groups, as well as, independent reading. They will learn to identify elements of a story including characters, setting, problems, resolutions, cause and effect.

Most importantly, a goal of the Reading program is to foster a love of reading as students explore the various genres.

Language Arts/ Writing

The Grade 3 Language Arts program follows Voyages in English, published by Loyola Press.  The students focus on learning language mechanics and the conventions for strong writing. They will be practicing writing different genres such as personal narratives, descriptive, persuasive, expository, poetry, and friendly letters.

Expectations include:

• Daily oral language activities
• Grammar lessons
• Sentence structure
• Weekly spelling tests
• Process Writing: Prewriting, Drafting, Revising, Editing, Publishing

Our Language Arts curriculum emphasizes the importance of oral communication skills as well as written communication.

The Grade 3 Social Studies program focuses on Communities. The curriculum topics include the people, the location, the history, and governments that make up a community. Students learn about United States and world communities, why people move, how they learn new customs, where our ancestors came from and how they adjusted to new life in America. Students also study different cultural celebrations, environments, climates, and resources. They are introduced to the first Spanish, French and English explorers. Students determine the changes in communication, transportation, inventions and medicine over time. The students learn about governments in the past and our own government. Students continue to develop an understanding of map skills, hemispheres, and using globes. The students also receive Scholastic News to learn about current events.

The Grade 3 the Math curriculum focuses on the Sadlier Progress In Mathematics.  The skills introduced, reviewed and practiced include: addition and subtraction of larger numbers with and without regrouping, mental math, place value, reading and writing numbers to 1,000,000, obtaining and graphing data, time, money, problem solving, linear measurement including weight, and capacity using both the metric and customary systems.  Students are also exposed to statistics, probability including making predictions based on information given.  In geometry students will manipulate shapes and solid figures.  Fractions, decimals, and negative numbers are introduced.   Great emphasis is placed on multiplication.  Students are introduced to multiplication and division facts in January and they continue to be reviewed and practiced.  It is expected that all third grade students will have their multiplication facts through the 12s memorized by the end of the school year.

The Grade 3 science program continues to follow the Nancy Larson Science curriculum introduced in kindergarten and used in grades 1 and 2. The topics include astronomy, chemistry, physics, meteorology, geology, botany, and zoology. In Astronomy students study the solar system, the sun, moon, earth, the eight planets, asteroids, comets, meteoroids, meteors, and meteorites. In Chemistry students are introduced to the Periodic Table of Elements, the properties of certain elements, compounds, atoms, and molecules. In Physics students explore chemical and physical changes, measuring matter, solids, liquids, and gases, measure temperature and changing states of matter. In Meteorology students learn the layers of Earth’s atmosphere, the water cycle, types of clouds, wind, recording and reporting the weather, tornadoes, hurricanes, and typhoons. In Geology students explore the Earth’s structure. They investigate the Earth’s surface, the layers of the Earth, Earthquakes, volcanoes, rock formations, weathering, erosion, soil, clay, silt, and sand. In Botany students will be exposed to growing plants from seed, parts of a seed, understanding vascular plants, and photosynthesis. In Zoology students will investigate amphibians and reptiles. Students will study the life cycle of each group of animals as well as compare and contrast the characteristics of each