Shared Reading: Students will read as short piece of literature selected by the teacher and complete a series of activities such as: vocabulary, skill reinforcement, comprehension questions, and graphic organizers.  Students will be given a reading strategy to focus on which will carry over to guided reading.  Ex: Creating mental images as you read.

Guided Reading: Students will be divided into groups based on skills they need to focus on to improve their reading fluency and comprehension on their instructional reading level. Students will be guided by the teacher through a trade book or excerpt and focus on using specific reading strategies. Student groups may change after each selection.

100 Book Challenge: Students will read at their independent reading level to develop and improve their fluency and comprehension.   Every 15 minutes a child reads counts as 1 line.  Students will receive lines daily in school.  Students are also required to read at least 2 lines per night at home.  KidBiz counts toward 100 Book Challenge.  Please log and initial the materials read at home.   The goal for third and fourth graders is to reach 586 lines by June.

Word Study:   Words Their Way is a research-based developmental word study program.  Word study will be a student centered approach to phonics, spelling, word recognition and vocabulary instruction.   The teachers and the building reading teachers will assess the students to determine their individual spelling stage.  The children will then be instructed and further assessed at their instructional level.  The activities in the program allow the children to better understand word patterns and features with opportunities to manipulate sounds and letters.

Writing: Students are taught a mini lesson on writing skills and mechanics.  Some mini lessons are taught through literature and read alouds.  Students will be given time to write about a topic of their choice.   Students are encourage to use concepts taught during the mini lesson but are not forced.  Students will be taught revision skills and work on publishing a few of their favorite pieces.  Students are given the opportunity to share their writing pieces during the last ten minutes of the writing block.  All written pieces will be gathered in the students’ Writer’s Notebooks and folders which are kept in school.

Math: Students will use the Envisions Math Series to practice computation skills and problem solving skills.  Lessons may include a problem of the day, a daily spiral review, a lesson quiz/review, or an introduction of a new skill or concept.  The Envisions Math Series has a wonderful digital component to support the program.  Practice books are provided.  Math will be differentiated to meet the needs of individual students.  Students will be given math homework to reinforce the skills taught in class.  Math homework may slightly differ between students but will all be based on the same skill or concept.   It is important that all students learn their multiplication and division facts.  Home practice is highly encouraged and appreciated..

Science and Social Studies:  The science units taught in third grade include plant growth and development, the solar system, rocks and minerals, animal habitats, and ecology.  The Social Studies curriculum consists of people and government, landforms, and communities.  Science and Social Studies are taught through hands on learning and trade books.  These subjects are taught quarterly.