ACADEMICS
Third grade seems to be a transitional year. It is a year when there will be less emphasis on children learning to read and more emphasis on children reading to learn. Here is a brief overview of the program.
· You may notice that Third Grade reading books have harder vocabulary, longer stories, and more difficult content and skills.
· In English we will concentrate a great deal on grammar, word usage, and proper mechanics. I expect students to use these skills through written AND verbal communication.
· A list of 15-20 spelling words and vocabulary words will be given out every week. Look for Friday Notes (my newsletter) for test dates.
· Cursive writing will be thoroughly taught, and practiced.
· Math concepts will become increasingly more difficult. A deeper understanding will be required in such concepts as time, money, measurement, simple geometry, and algebra along with word problems in each area. Memorization of multiplication facts to 9x10 and basic division is required by the end of the school year.
· Writing proper paragraphs will be a major concern. There will be special emphasis on spelling correctly and English skills such as sentence form, paragraph indentation, punctuation, and capitalization, as well as, content. After brainstorming ideas, students will use a graphic organizer to plan before beginning to write their five paragraph essays. You will hear children using words like expository, topic sentence, details, elaboration, wrap-ups,and zinger as they discuss their writing.
· Science and Social Studies units will also be taught this year with assignments and tests given on a regular basis.
Cooperative Learning
I wholeheartedly believe in cooperative learning in the classroom. I place my students in mixed ability groups so that they may help each other during the learning process. Research has shown that all students do better when they are allowed to discuss and defend their ideas as they learn. Working in small groups also helps students learn valuable social skills they will need throughout life. Parents are often concerned about grades in the cooperative learning classroom. Don’t worry! All grades come from individual assignments and tests. No student's grade will be raised or lowered based on the performance of others in the group. I welcome the opportunity to discuss cooperative learning with anyone who has questions or concerns. I've had great success with this technique in recent years.
Third grade seems to be a transitional year. It is a year when there will be less emphasis on children learning to read and more emphasis on children reading to learn. Here is a brief overview of the program.
· You may notice that Third Grade reading books have harder vocabulary, longer stories, and more difficult content and skills.
· In English we will concentrate a great deal on grammar, word usage, and proper mechanics. I expect students to use these skills through written AND verbal communication.
· A list of 15-20 spelling words and vocabulary words will be given out every week. Look for Friday Notes (my newsletter) for test dates.
· Cursive writing will be thoroughly taught, and practiced.
· Math concepts will become increasingly more difficult. A deeper understanding will be required in such concepts as time, money, measurement, simple geometry, and algebra along with word problems in each area. Memorization of multiplication facts to 9x10 and basic division is required by the end of the school year.
· Writing proper paragraphs will be a major concern. There will be special emphasis on spelling correctly and English skills such as sentence form, paragraph indentation, punctuation, and capitalization, as well as, content. After brainstorming ideas, students will use a graphic organizer to plan before beginning to write their five paragraph essays. You will hear children using words like expository, topic sentence, details, elaboration, wrap-ups,and zinger as they discuss their writing.
· Science and Social Studies units will also be taught this year with assignments and tests given on a regular basis.
Cooperative Learning
I wholeheartedly believe in cooperative learning in the classroom. I place my students in mixed ability groups so that they may help each other during the learning process. Research has shown that all students do better when they are allowed to discuss and defend their ideas as they learn. Working in small groups also helps students learn valuable social skills they will need throughout life. Parents are often concerned about grades in the cooperative learning classroom. Don’t worry! All grades come from individual assignments and tests. No student's grade will be raised or lowered based on the performance of others in the group. I welcome the opportunity to discuss cooperative learning with anyone who has questions or concerns. I've had great success with this technique in recent years.