3rd Grade

Third Grade Syllabus

                                                                                                                                                  

 Third Grade Syllabus  

 

3rd Grade Happenings

Modules 6 & 7

Summary of Module 6: Animal Behaviors

Reading: In this module, students will listen to, read, and view a variety of texts and media that present them with information about animal survival. A genre focus on nonfiction provides students with opportunities to identify the author's purpose, central idea, and text structure in order to better understand unfamiliar texts. As students build their vocabulary and synthesize topic knowledge, they will learn more about the way animals utilize behaviors and characteristics, or traits, to help them survive.

Vocabulary Focuses: 

  • Prefixes: uni-, bi-, tri-, un- 
  • Suffixes: -ly
  • Vocabulary Strategies: Reference Sources: Thesaurus, Homographs/Homophones

Home Connections: 

Discuss the Topic: Set aside time daily for your child to share with you what he or she is learning. Use these ideas to help build your child’s knowledge about the topic: 

  • Talk about the ideas your child has added to the Knowledge Map each week.
  • Ask about the texts your child is reading, and what he or she has learned from them.
  • Share with your child your own questions about the topic, and work together to find the answers.

Explore the Genre: The genre focus in this module is nonfiction. Discuss with your child the characteristics of this genre. Ask your child to read to you each day and make time to read together.

Look for texts that: 

  • Spark your child’s curiosity.
  • Tie to the module topic.
  • Provide interesting facts and details about animal behavior.
  • Have unique formats and visuals that take readers into an animal’s world.

 

Summary of Module 7: Make a Difference 

 

Reading: In this module, students will listen to, read, and view a variety of texts and media that provide information about building communities. A genre focus on narrative nonfiction provides students with opportunities to identify the author's purpose, text structure, and text and graphic features in order to better understand unfamiliar texts. Students will also encounter historical fiction to build knowledge across genres. As students build their vocabulary and synthesize topic knowledge, they will learn more about the way a dedicated individual or group of people can help make a community stronger and better.

 

Vocabulary Focuses:

  • Suffixes: -ion, -ness, -able
  • Vocabulary Strategies: Analogies, Reference Sources: Thesaurus

 

Home Connections: 

Discuss the Topic: Set aside time daily for your child to share with you what he or she is learning. Use these ideas to help build your child’s knowledge about the topic: 

  • Talk about the ideas your child has added to the Knowledge Map each week. 
  • Ask about the texts your child is reading, and what he or she has learned from them
  • Share with your child your own questions about the topic, and work together to find the answers.

Explore the Genre: 

The genre focus in this module is narrative nonfiction. Discuss with your child the characteristics of this genre. Ask your child to read to you each day and make time to read together. 

 Look for texts that: 

  • Spark your child’s curiosity. 
  • Tie to the module topic. 
  • Tell the story of a real person who has made a difference in his or her community. 
  • Describe a clear sequence of events that explain the person’s contribution.

Module 7 Writing: Argument: Opinion Essay 

In this module students will think about how they can make school a better place for everyone. They will write an opinion essay about a way students can help make our school better for everyone.

Math Curriculum: Area & Multiplication

       Students will develop a deep understanding of the concept of area.  Beginning with concrete models and then moving to pictorial and abstract models, students come to understand how area is related to multiplication and addition.  

       Area is defined as the number of unit squares needed to cover a region with no gaps and no overlaps.  Students count unit squares to find the areas of a wide variety of shapes.  Students  continue to cover shapes with nonstandard square units and learn that the size of the unit square determines the area measurement.  Students begin using standard units (square inches, square feet, square centimeters, square meters) to find the areas of squares and rectangles.  

       Students find the area of a rectangle with whole-number side lengths by counting unit squares, and then show that the area is the same as would  be found by multiplying the side lengths.  They find the areas of rectangles with whole-number side lengths in real-world and mathematical contexts, and they also find a missing side length given the area of a rectangle and one dimension.  

       Lastly, students use area models to represent the Distributive Property in mathematical reasoning.  Students learn that area is additive.  They break apart irregular rectilinear figures into non-overlapping parts and add the areas of those parts to find the area of the original figure.  Most of these problems can be solved in several ways.  Students learn that they can also use subtraction to find the area of irregular rectilinear  shapes.  Addition and subtraction have similar relationships to area because addition and subtraction are inverse operations. 

Home Connection:  

During this unit you can help your child understand Area & Multiplication by 

  • Practicing multiplication facts 
  • Reviewing how Multiplication and Addition relate to one another. 
  • Continue to work on IXL skill plans 

Materials: notebook, enVision Volume 1 book, Math Tools that include: cubes, unit tiles, array boards, multiplication skip counting chart,

Science: In the Environments and Survival unit, students assume the role of biologists studying a population of grove snails to understand how the snails’ traits influence their survival in a changing environment. Students apply what they learn to plan, make, and test designs that solve problems. Reporting to the lead engineer at an engineering firm, students work to explain why the snails with yellow shells in the population aren’t surviving as well as the snails with banded shells. Motivated to figure out why some snails are more likely to survive than others, students use physical models, read informational texts, analyze data, and engage in student-to-student discussions to investigate factors affecting organisms’ survival. Students write scientific explanations about their findings to communicate ideas back to the engineering firm. At the end of the unit, to help the engineering firm design a robot that aims to reverse the effect of an environmental change, students use their newfound understanding of how the traits of organisms affect the organisms’ survival

Social Studies: 

In this unit, students will conduct a case study on Peru. Students will explore a multitude of perspectives on the geography, history and cultural practices of Latin America’s fastest-growing economy.  Students will also research the climate and vegetation of Peru’s three main physical regions, investigate the food, clothing, and homes of different regions in Peru, and explore symbols that are important to the community of Peru. They will also identify the perspectives in the Inca-Spanish conflict, and explore human rights in Peru. Also understanding how key events and people shaped Peru’s culture, economy, and government.  

Music Curriculum: 

Students in class 301 are beginning their music residency. The students will be assembling a performance of the story “Freddie the Frog and the Jungle Jazz” to tie to their HMH unit “Stories on Stage.” They will be performing for families on February 7th at 8:30am. Students should come to school dressed as their character on that day.

Home Connection: Students can practice their lines and songs with the materials posted on Google Classroom. 

SPARK New Victory Theater:

All students in third grade are participating in our partnership with SPARK New Victory Theater. Teaching artists from the theater will be leading our students in fifteen workshops on theater. The students will be learning a unit about Character Development and Puppetry to tie to their previous HMH unit “What a Character.” Students will be attending a performance at New Victory Theater in New York City entitled “Little Murmur” on January 15th. 

Art Curriculum:

Art Curriculum: Third grade will connect to their HMH module by creating a drawing that illustrates their ideas for improving our school. They will create a blueprint for a new school project expressing their idea while communicating their idea effectively to others creatively. This will empower students to become active participants in improving their school environment. By encouraging creative expression and critical thinking, this project can foster a sense of ownership and responsibility among students. 


Home Connection: Students will practice making a pose at home to demonstrate movement. Examples can be sports(throwing or kicking a ball), running, dancing. What other ideas can you think of to demonstrate movement?
Student Voice: Check out our Module 2 Wrap Up

 

Student Voice: Check out our Module 4 Wrap Up: Stories on Stage 

Link to MODULE WRAP UP

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