Curriculum Night 2007
Third Grade
Chris Eusebio and Beth
Harrell
Welcome! We hope this night is informative about the third grade year. We hope to give practical suggestions to let you help your child have a successful year in third grade. Below is an overview of the curriculum to give you an idea of what we will cover this year.
Language Arts
¨ Cement basic reading strategies and skills to become independent readers.
¨ Build reading strategies and critical-thinking skills to increase understanding of what is read.
¨ Use the writing process to learn to write skillfully in a variety of genres.
¨ Increase ability to communicate effectively through written work and oral communication.
¨ Learn high-frequency words to build knowledge of spelling patterns.
¨ Apply spelling pattern knowledge to new words within their writing.
Math
¨ Silver Burdett Ginn mathematics text provides the structure of our math program.
¨ Working often with problem solving using previous and new knowledge.
¨ Cover a wide range of skills from computation to fractions to geometry to graphing.
¨ Demonstrate understanding through work, discussion, and journal writing.
¨ Emphasize memorization of math facts as part of our math program.
Social Studies
¨ Focus on a variety of communities.
¨
Study
¨
Understand how geography impacted the
development of some early
¨ Construct maps, tables and charts to increase understanding of how they are used.
¨
Develop multicultural awareness through our
study of
Science
¨ Major emphasis on using scientific method.
¨ Investigate ecosystems and endangered animals.
¨ Study matter and its changes.
¨ Learn about Northwest geology, especially mountain formation.
¨ Investigate electricity and magnetism.
Religion
¨ Read from the Christian(new) and Hebrew(old) Scriptures.
¨ Build basic understanding of Catholic doctrine.
¨ Learn to participate in a faith community through prayer and liturgies.
¨ Review and build knowledge of the sacraments.
¨ Demonstrate respect for self, others and the environment.
¨ Practice skills learned in Second Step (conflict resolution) and Steps to Respect (Bullying Prevention).
Specialty Classes
Students attend specialty classes in Computers, PE, Music, Drama, and Library. If you have any questions regarding these subjects, please direct them to the appropriate teacher:
¨ Computers: Dylan Pouley
¨ PE: Eric Dresbeck and Steve Dougherty
¨ Music: Linda Reid
¨ Drama: Adam Othman
¨ Library: Laurel Throssel
Homework
¨ Purpose is to practice and build skills and to build responsibility.
¨ Should be no more than 40 minutes
¨ 15 minutes or more of reading (This can be silent or reading aloud)
¨ 5-10 minutes studying spelling and math facts
¨ 10-20 minutes on a homework paper or other task
¨ Assigned Monday through Thursday
¨ Unfinished class work may be sent home in addition to daily homework or may become weekend homework.
¨ Parents need to check that homework is completed and initial the assignment notebook.
¨ Please note if homework is taking much longer than the allotted time or child has great difficulty doing the homework.
¨ Work comes home each Friday in a red folder; please review this with your child.
Child will choose a Proud Paper and return the paper and folder to school on Monday.
¨ Students choose a topic based on their interest.
¨ Students will be given structure for each part of the project.
¨ Some work will be completed at school.
¨ Information about where your child should be in the process will be posted on the website and sent home in newsletters.
¨ Our sharing date is April 11, 2007.
Volunteer Opportunities
¨ Classroom Help (starting in October) – including Friday Folders and Wednesday Envelopes (on Thursday)
¨ Field Trips/Ida Culver
¨ Art Parents
¨ Big Toy
¨ Auction Project Coordinator
¨ Special Projects
Evaluation
¨ Students do not receive letter grades in third grade.
¨ Practice papers are marked with a symbol (such as a star or a happy face).
¨ This means the paper has been reviewed but individual items may not have been corrected.
¨ Emphasis is on progress, rather than perfection.
¨
¨ Progress reports and report cards will be sent home to track student progress.
Behavior
¨ Guidelines are to foster a positive, peaceful learning atmosphere.
¨ Behaviors are reinforced with affirmations and acknowledgement.
¨ Children who make poor choices are led through a process of self-reflection, which may end in a process of apologies or amends.
We appreciate your interest and involvement. Please keep the lines of communication flowing through emails, notes, phone calls, or conferences. We promise to do the same and look forward to a rewarding year.
Chris Eusebio Beth Harrell
(206) 524-7452 ext. 51 (206) 524-7452 ext. 56
ceusebio@asbschool.org bharrell@asbschool.org