3rd Grade Curriculum

Arithmetic

Third grade arithmetic will challenge students to think and apply concepts that have been introduced in previous grades as well as new math applications.

The following skills will be taught:

Place value to the millions Ordinal numbers
Rounding to the nearest 100
Counting by multiples of various numbers
Addition and subtraction (families 1-18, carrying, & borrowing)
Multiplication and division tables 1-12
Multiplication (up to four digits by a two-digit factor)
Long division
Symbols (<,>,=)
Simple Algebraic Equations
Problem solving
Money (counting, making change, rounding, & decimal points)
Graphs and statistics
Calendar components
Telling time
Fractions (adding, subtracting, comparing, reducing, & mixed numbers)
Decimals (adding, subtracting, & fractional equivalents)
Measurement (temperature, length, & dry/liquid units)
Roman numerals (1-1000)
Geometric Shapes (rhombus, trapezoid)
Averaging

Language

Each unit student's encounter consists of a reading-writing connection, composition, and language skills. In the reading-writing connection students will view a model of the composition to be studied. During the composition focus students will concentrate on the writing process (prewriting, drafting, responding and revising, proofreading, and publishing). The language focus gives students instruction in the parts of speech, word usage, mechanics, and vocabulary development. Dade Christian School's goal is that each student not only develop clear and effective oral and written.

Communication skills, but also gain confidence in his/her abilities. Topics are as follows:

Composition Focus
Personal Narrative
Information Paragraph
Friendly Letter
How-to-Project
Descriptive Paragraph
Story
Poem
Persuasive Paragraph
Language Focus
Sentences
Nouns
Verbs
Pronouns
Adjectives
Adverbs

Reading
The reading objectives in third grade include comprehension, critical thinking skills, identifying story elements, context clue usage, vocabulary acquisition, and decoding skills. These reading elements will be strengthened by guided and independent reading in class readers, children's literature, and content area books. Dade Christian School wants students not only to master reading, but also encourages students to independently pursue it.  

Spelling
To achieve the goals of challenging and expanding student's vocabulary and spelling development, students are taught strategies that target specific spelling patterns. The spelling words are successfully integrated throughout the subject areas which extend the meaning

Science
The science curriculum will enable students to become scientifically literate. Students will acquire knowledge, processing skills, and attitudes that will help them identify and solve science-related problems. Scientific knowledge will be acquired by observing, comparing, classifying, interpreting, estimating, communicating, planning and conducting simple investigations, measuring, predicting, inferring, drawing conclusions, hypothesizing, formulating, identifying and experimenting. Topics for study are as follows:

Life Science
Plants
Animals Interaction of Plants and Animals

Earth Science
Minerals, Rocks, and Fossils
Soil
Earth's Resources
The Water Cycle
Weather
The Solar System

Physical Science
Matter
Energy
Heat
Forces and Motion

Social Studies
Students will become aware of their communities and understand their importance. Throughout the year students will gain knowledge in history, geography, economics, government, citizenship, and

Culture. Topics for study are as follows:

Learning About Communities
Communities Are People
Communities Are Places
Citizenship And Government
People and Their Local Government
Our Nation's Government
Communities Are Everywhere
A Community's Geography
Thinking Like a Geographer
Many Kinds of People
American Culture
The Many People of a Community
Communities Over Time
Learning About the Past
Our Nation's History
People Working in a Community
Making and Selling Products
Being a Thoughtful Consumer