Current Students - Third Grade

Third graders have been busy, busy, busy! In Math they worked as teams, planning a
Thanksgiving dinner. They had to find the cost of the dinner, and then they had to write
checks and keep a check register. Also for math, the class is learning how to play cribbage. What a fun way to polish up those math skills!

Recently the students wrote descriptions of a beautiful castle in the woods. To go with their
writing project, they designed a title page on the computer.

Every month third graders learn a different form of prayer for their afternoon prayer. During
November they learned about some of our heroes of faith and prayed the Litany of Saints.
They’ve been singing the Magnificat and praying with the Advent wreath during the season of
Advent.

Speaking of Advent, the third graders are working on some special Christmas ornaments.
Mrs. Mousseau will be having a class sewing bee to accomplish this. We hope they have them finished before Christmas!

Class Curriculum:
Third grade is a transition to a higher level of thinking. The textbooks are written at a higher reading level and the format is more detailed than in second grade. Emphasis is placed on math and learning multiplication facts, learning cursive writing, finding the fifty states on a map and developing organization and study skills. The work is supplemented with a variety of activities that promote learning and stimulate interest.

Religion - Topics include the parts of the Mass; sacraments, especially Reconciliation and Eucharist, Apostles’ Creed and God’s plan for us. Included in Religion are anti-bullying activities.

Math - Concepts are taught using a variety of instructional styles and many hands-on manipulatives. Concepts taught include addition and subtraction with regrouping, multiplication, geometry and fractions.

Reading - Continued phonics study along with improved comprehension and oral reading skills. Emphasis on drawing conclusions, making inferences, sounding out words, topics, main ideas and details.

Science - Topics covered include plant and animal growth and change, environments, matter, forces and machines, energy, sound, changes in the earth’s surface, solar system and body systems. There are many hands-on activities to reinforce the concepts taught.

Social Studies - Third graders learn about communities, government, citizenship, American culture, geography and economics. Map skills are a part of the Social Studies curriculum.

English - Emphasis is on grammar with several units on writing skills.

Handwriting - Learning cursive letters and writing in cursive.

Also included in the third-grade program are physical education, music, art, Spanish and technology.