Grade 3
Grade Leader – Jessica Gerson gersonj@weston.org
Tel: 781-786-5400
Teachers- Mikayla Quinlin, Jon Morong, Kristin Morrison, Jessica Gerson
Grade 3 Curriculum
Reading: In third grade students transition from learning to read to reading to learn. This work begins as students ramp up their reading skills by immersing themselves in “just right” fiction books while working on word solving, vocabulary development, character study and more. While reading expository nonfiction, students work on ascertaining main ideas, recognizing text infrastructure, comparing texts, and thinking critically, as well as the skills for reading narrative nonfiction, such as determining importance by using knowledge of story structure. The year ends with a research unit where students work in clubs to gather, synthesize, and organize information, and then use this information to seek solutions to real-world problems.
Writing: In third grade, students work with personal narrative while engaging in the writing process, with increasing emphasis on drafting and revising their work. As part of their information writing, students write chapter books that synthesize a wide variety of information and learn to section their topics into subtopics. In the persuasive writing unit, students learn to use their writing skills to change the world by writing letters, petitions and speeches. The year ends with writing fairy tales to explore techniques of fiction writing such as writing in scenes, employing an omniscient narrator to orient readers, using story structure to create tension, and crafting figurative language to convey mood.
Math: Third-grade students explore big ideas that include: developing understanding of multiplication and division and strategies for multiplication and division within 100; developing understanding of fractions, especially unit fractions (fractions with numerator 1); developing understanding of the structure of rectangular arrays and of area; and describing and analyzing two-dimensional shapes.
Science: Students continue developing their expertise in using the science practices through exploration, observation, data collection & analysis and recording of information in their science journals. During the year, students head-start Blanding’s turtles, investigate the impact of weather, and explore magnetism by creating testable questions, conducting investigations and analyzing data. They also learn about the impact of the environment on turtles’ ability to survive and be successful. Stude
Social Studies: Students focus on the history of Massachusetts both before it was Massachusetts, the evolution of Massachusetts Bay Colony and Massachusetts today. Utilizing the new practice standards, they discover the importance of looking at events in history through different lenses. They utilize multiple primary and secondary sources to analyze details of life during these timeframes.
