3rd Grade

Third Grade

Religion: The third graders study the life of Jesus and the beginning of the Catholic Church. The students learn about the parts of the Mass, the seven Sacraments, and the lives of the Saints. Our class saint is St. Bernadette. She exemplifies the Schoolwide Learning Expectation (SLE) of being a faithful Christian. The students also learn about the importance of making moral choices and living a healthy life.

Reading: Students work in reading groups to build comprehension and fluency skills. In addition to the reading anthology, the students read novels, and work toward the achievement of accelerated reading goals. Students are required to do summer reading and may select books from the list provided by the school. 

Writing: The writing program includes formal writing instruction and practice on real narratives, imagined narratives, informative/explanatory writing, and opinion writing. The students also engage in informal and creative writing as well as poetry. Grammar and spelling are also included in language arts instruction.

Math: The foundation of third grade math is developing a foundation in multiplication and division. The students work toward fact mastery and retention. The students also work on place value, geometry, fractions, data interpretation, probability and algebra readiness. The students also work on developing strategies to solve word problems. 

Science: The students learn about force and motion, weather, plant and animal adaptations, and plant and animal life cycles. 

Social Studies: The students learn about geography, the regions of California, the California Native Americans, how communities began and grow, and government and citizenship.

Field Trips: Traditionally, third grade students participate in an annual religious retreat and spend time visiting The Ocean Institute which provides a hands-on experience aligned with the science unit.