Celebrating Third Grade
What’s Happening in Bradfield’s Third Grade?
First Six Weeks: August 23rd ~October 1st
Reading
Through our new basal reader, we will begin our reading study by looking at what makes a good citizen. Students will read several examples of both fiction and nonfiction. We will focus on the skills of story structure, summarization, drawing conclusions, inferences and characterization.
This six weeks we will also study realistic fiction through our genre and author study. The students will read the novel Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary. Our book report this six weeks is over a realistic fiction book and is due by Friday, September 24th.
Independent reading, both silent and orally, is an important goal for all third grade students. Our goal is to read for at least thirty minutes each day in the classroom. We will be working with the students to build their stamina and endurance. Students will choose books from both the school library and classroom.
Home reading is also an important part of our third grade goals. They are responsible for reading 30 minutes a day, five days a week.
Writing
This year we will study the six traits of writing. We will cover one trait each six weeks beginning with the “ideas” trait. We will use various strategies such as journaling, pre-writing, and editing. We will also focus on using complete sentences, capitalization, and punctuation. Our main goal is to help our students enjoy the writing process.
Handwriting
We will begin by reviewing the lower case cursive letters that were taught in second grade. As the year progresses, we will also learn the upper case cursive letters. Please practice at home, in the air, and on chalkboards.
Spelling
The students will receive their list of words each Monday. Students will do their spelling homework in their spelling spiral. Spelling homework is due on Friday. We will also have a spelling test each Friday.
Math
In Math, we will begin the year with a focus on problem solving and number concepts. This will include place value through hundred thousands, comparing and ordering numbers, patterns, mental math and number sense. We will also work on addition, subtraction, rounding and estimation. Daily, we will work on a spiral math review that supports and reviews the basic concepts. We will assess these skills each Friday. We will also practice problem solving daily with our “Problem of the Day” and the UPS Check strategy. We will also work on improving speed and accuracy with basic addition and subtraction facts. Please help your child by practicing these at home.
Science
We will study living things. This includes plants and animals. Mrs. Ezzell has many exciting labs planned in the Science lab each week to enrich this study.
Social Studies
This six weeks the students will study different types of communities. We will also begin to learn about map skills as Geography will be a focus throughout the year.
Character Education
This six weeks the students are learning about Respect. This is an important part of our daily curriculum here at Bradfield.
Homework
Homework will be assigned Monday through Thursday. We will usually follow the following schedule:
Monday-Spelling Spiral, Math and bring home reading sheet
Tuesday-Spelling Spiral and reading comprehension
Wednesday-Spelling Spiral and Math
Thursday-Spelling Spiral and study for spelling test and math check
We are looking forward to a great year! Please let us
know if you have any questions or concerns!
The Third Grade Team
Upcoming Dates to Remember
- Bike Rodeo-September 16th
- Book Report Due-September 24th
- Family Picnic/Carnival Kickoff-September 24th
- Individual School Pictures-September 27th
- Bradfield Carnival-October 1st
- End of First Six Weeks-October 1st