Curriculum Overview
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Religion
In Grade 3, the Religion textbook focuses on the teaching that “We are the Church.” The Church is a community of believers who follow Jesus and his teachings. The students will learn about the early Church as well as the importance of the Church today. The seven sacraments will be studied as well as the seasons of the Church year: Advent, Christmas, Lent, the Three Days, Easter, and Ordinary Time. Discipleship and spreading God’s Kingdom of Love in the world today are emphasized. Third graders will deepen their understanding of the following:
- Jesus gives us the Church
- Christ will come again
- The Church has four marks
- God calls us to Holiness
- The parish celebrates the Mass
- The Church respects all people
- The Church is worldwide
- The Kingdom of God continues to grow
Science
Our Science program, "Elevate Science," incorporates the Next Generation Science Standards to help students engage the mind with phenomena, explore concepts and ideas, explain and elaborate understanding, and elaborate and evaluate arguments of topics within the realms of physical science, earth science, and life science. The following objectives will be explored:
- Relate the causes and effects of electric forces between objects.
- Describe factors that affect magnetic forces between objects.
- Describe some factors that affect climate.
- Describe ways in which climates can change.
- Explain how the global climate is changing.
- Describe climates in different parts of the world.
- Describe how all life cycles follow the same pattern.
- Explain that living things inherit many characteristics from their parents.
- Provide evidence showing that traits vary in a group of similar organisms.
- Explain that the environment can influence the characteristics of living things.
Social Studies
Third Graders will explore the civics, economics, geography, and history. We will focus on the following objectives:
- Citizenship: responsibilities, rights, and freedoms
- How celebrations of national holidays contribute to a sense of common history and patriotism
- The function of laws
- How different cultures live, celebrate, and interact with one another in different ways
- How government promotes the common good and protects the individual rights and freedoms
- The principle of supply and demand
- Economic patterns and systems, free enterprise, and entrepreneurship
- Describing locations
- How humans interact with their environments
- Identify resources and apply Catholic social teaching to practices of conservation
- Using a variety of geographic tools
- Explain how living in a particular environment and/or community affects behavior and experiences
- The significance of historical figures and events on the growth and development of the U.S.
- How people, places, and ideas change over time
- The shaping of communities, states, and nations
An integral part in the study of Social Studies are the following Catholic social teachings:- Life and Dignity of the Human Person
- Call to Family, Community, and Participation
- Rights and Responsibilities
- Option for the Poor and Vulnerable
- Dignity of Work and Rights of Workers
- Solidarity
- Care for God's Creation
Language Arts
Our Language Arts book is divided into six themes: School Days, Together We Can, As We Grow, Tales to Tell, A Place for All, and Discoveries. Throughout these themes, we will be covering a variety of concepts including:
- Inflectional endings, with and without spelling changes: plurals, verb tenses, possessives, comparatives-superlatives;
- Contractions, abbreviations, and compound words;
- Prefixes, suffixes, derivations, and root words;
- Lesson vocabulary;
- Read aloud accurately and with appropriate intonation and expression;
- Read aloud narrative and expository text with appropriate pacing, intonation, and expression;
- Read aloud prose and poetry with rhythm and pace, appropriate intonation, and vocal patterns;
- Antonyms;
- Synonyms;
- Homographs;
- Homophones;
- Context/context clues;
- Dictionary, glossary, thesaurus;
- Word structure clues to determine meaning:
- Inflected nouns and verbs, comparatives-superlatives, possessives, compound words, prefixes, suffixes, root words;
- Author’s purpose;
- Cause-effect;
- Compare-contrast;
- Details;
- Directions: one-, two-, multi-step;
- Fact-fiction;
- Interpret information from graphic aids;
- Book parts;
- Text features;
- Alphabetical order;
- Main idea and supporting details;
- Make inferences;
- Make predictions/predict outcomes;
- Retell stories and ideas;
- Sequence;
- Summarize;
Mathematics
We will be focusing on the following skills as defined by the Archdiocese of Hartford:
- Place Value
- Compare, Order, and Round Whole Numbers
- Money
- Add Whole Numbers
- Subtract Whole Numbers
- Graph and Analyze Data
- Probability
- Multiplication Concepts
- Multiplication Facts and Patterns
- Division Concepts
- Division Facts and Patterns
- Time and Temperature
- Customary Measurement
- Metric Measurement
- Plane and Solid Figures
- Congruence, Symmetry, and Transformations
- Perimeter, Area, and Volume
- Fraction Concepts
- Work With Fractions
- Decimals
- Multiply by 1-Digit Numbers
- Divide by 1-Digit Numbers