Third Grade

• Third Graders learn about the Catholic Church from its beginnings and what it means to be a member.
• They study the four marks of the Church: that it is one, holy, catholic and apostolic.
• Students learn the individual parts of the Mass, and celebrate a Teaching Mass.

• Good literature, silent reading, and group discussion are used to build a love of reading.
• Students express ideas and thoughts to others through speaking, writing, and drawings.
• They learn cursive handwriting, and begin to use it for all assignments.
• Students spell frequently encountered multi-syllabic words, contractions, and compound words.
• For less frequently encountered words, they use structural cues, dictionaries, and spell checkers.
• Students use subjects and verbs in correct agreement, verb tenses, nouns, possessives, and quotations marks & capitalization in dialogue.

• Students use mental math, estimation, computation and calculators to add/subtract whole numbers.
• They identify fact families, solve inequalities, use inverse operations to check, and apply operational and relational symbols.
• To interpret data, students use bar graphs, line graphs, and tables.
• Students use manipulatives and drawings to understand fractions.
• They learn geometric terms such as parallel, perpendicular, circumference, area, and perimeter.
• Students learn place value up to 1,000 and expanded notation up to 10,000.
• They use patterns to make predictions, identify numbers on a number line, and round.
• Students add/subtract with regrouping, memorize multiplication facts, and divide without remainders.

• The curriculum emphasizes the exploration of the world beyond the student’s immediate environment as they study earth and space.
• The following topics are covered: astronomy, chemistry, physics, meteorology, geology, botany, and zoology.
• The science curriculum is based on national standards, develops literacy and vocabulary, encourages inquiry and exploration, has challenging and engaging content.

• Third graders learn social studies through the context of our communities.
• Students will investigate how people in a community relate to their environment.
• Students study how communities have changed over time.
• Students learn about the American culture and cultures around the world.
• Students explore maps and our physical and human geography.
• They learn about our government and their role as citizens. They distinguish the roles of state and local governments.
• Students learn about working in our community and saving and spending money.
• Students will explore maps of Michigan and learn early periods of Michigan history.

Third Graders attend weekly specials classes including art, library, music, Spanish, physical education, and technology.