Classrooms

• Pre-School

• Child Care

• Kindergarten

• First Grade

• Second Grade

• Third Grade

• Fourth Grade

• Fifth Grade

• Sixth Grade

• Library

• Music

• Physical Ed

Email Web Master

Updated: 6/10/2008

The Language Arts curriculum in the third grade focuses on written expression, handwriting, the writing process (first draft, revisions, and final draft/publish), spelling, word analysis, improved listening skills, and dictionary skills. During the school year, the students will transition from manuscript writing to cursive writing in all of the curriculum areas.  In addition, writing assignments occur throughout the curriculum as well.  Students will practice and expand their knowledge of graphic organizers and the writing process to inform, describe, persuade, summarize, and entertain.  These writing activities will also be used to reinforce concepts learned in the language arts, i.e., capitalization, punctuation, parts of speech, and spelling patterns.  Students will continue to practice word families, spelling patterns, Word Wall and high frequency words.  Throughout the year, students will be expected to use their knowledge of dictionaries, glossaries, and their texts to help build spelling proficiency.  They are encouraged to participate in the Cre-Act Speech Festival.                

In the third grade Reading program, students will continue to expand their reading skills in the different genres.  For example, throughout the school year students will be exposed to diaries, Native American legends, historical fiction, biographies, fantasy, and informational stories.  The students will practice points of view, symbolism, and paraphrasing.  They will work on prediction and taking clues from the context. With the diverse types of literature they are exposed to, students will learn to identify and use the different parts of a book, such as the table of contents, glossary, and the index.  The Accelerated Reader program is a fun and competitive way for the students to improve their reading skills as they listen to a number of stories and then take a test to determine their level of comprehension. 

In the Accelerated Math program, the students in third grade can excel in Math if they choose and are able, through the process of testing and re-testing to build on previously mastered skill sets. Like the Accelerated Math, the mathematics curriculum also builds on previously acquired skills.  The focus is on addition and subtraction computation with an introduction into multiplication concepts.  Some will progress into fractions and double digit algorithms, but again it is presented at the individual students’ pace.  They practice addition and subtraction facts through twenty and they are introduced to large numbers up to four digits.  With an emphasis on critical thinking, the students apply their math skills to solve word problems and discover real life applications of math.  They will also order numbers, using comparative symbols and language, and learn about place value.  There is patterning, measurement, time, counting with money, math models and graphs.  Lastly, an introduction to basic Geometry helps the students to understand more about common shapes such as polygons.

In the third grade Science curriculum, the students study and do experiments with seeds and plants.  They study the life cycles of animals and insects as well, with hands on activities like discovering how a tadpole turns into a frog.  There is an extensive unit on space in which the students will explore, study, and write about different aspects of space.  They understand more fully the scientific process and learn to apply it by hypothesizing, testing and then analyzing the results.  They study the different states of matter and volume.  They are taught about different environments and how they affect organisms, animals, plants, and climate.  In recent years, they’ve been going to Dee’s ceramics for a mini science and craft lesson.

The Social Studies program in Holy Spirit’s third grade exposes the students to different types of communities.  Students will learn not only how people have adapted to their environments, but many of the struggles they faced.  One way to cement this unit is by going on a field trip to the Bannock Historical Museum.  In addition to studying peoples, cultures, and communities, the third graders will work with different types of maps, time lines, and flow charts.  The curriculum has an emphasis on Native American people and the Lewis and Clark stories. 

The third grade is very exciting with respect to Religion as they present the “Passion Play” each spring.  Also, they focus in detail on David, Moses, Ruth and Abraham, some of the most endearing figures in the Bible.