Third Grade

Religion: We continue with the Sadlier We Believe series in third grade.  The focus of third grade Religion is on how we can be good members of the Church.

Reading: Third grade uses the Open Court basal reader and we read several novels throughout the year.  Tests on the basal stories are typically given on Fridays.  We will do activities in school with each story. Reviewing the story at home each week is highly recommended.
 
Spelling: Spelling words are related to the story of the week or to chapters in the novel we are reading.  Tests are given on Fridays.  Bonus words may be added and count as extra credit.

Language Arts: Students will learn the writing process which includes Prewriting, Drafting, Revising, Editing, Evaluating, and Publishing. Third graders will write fiction and non-fiction pieces over the course of the year.  We will also enter The Burlington Writer's Club contest in February. Students will also practice their skills by writing book reports each quarter. We use The Grammar Workshop book to learn about the parts of speech, punctuation and types of sentences.

Handwriting: Students will continue to build upon their skills of cursive writing. Much of the work in third grade will be required to be done in cursive.
 
Math: We continue with the Saxon Math series in third grade.  However, now we have a textbook as opposed to only worksheets.  Third graders also work toward the goal of becoming a Multiplication Master throughout the school year.

Science: LabLearner units for third grade include; The Solar System, Properties of Matter, The Human Body and The Sun and Your Skin.  Students use hands-on techniques to learn the concepts both in the classroom and our state-of-the-art Science lab.  A trip to Morehead Planetarium complements the third grade Science curriculum very nicely.

Social Studies: The focus of third grade Social Studies is "communities".  We use a weekly periodical called NC Communities Weekly.  We read the articles, complete the activites and use the online resources to enhance our study.