Language Arts

Reading Goals:

In grade three, the students explore their own creativity and begin to respond to their world through the reading of many different types of books and many different authors. They are introduced to many stories that are used as the basis for discussion and creative writing. Vocabulary development and reading comprehension skills are developed through many mediums, including poetry, plays, word games and spelling/vocabulary activities. Comprehension and fluency are gained through oral and silent reading selections in whole class, small group, listening posts, and independent forums. Successful readers use decoding and comprehension strategies to help them create meaning from text. Independent reading is encouraged through daily student and teacher led interactions with literature, daily USSR (Uninterrupted, Sustained, Silent Reading), and regular visits to the library. The students are evaluated on many types of reading and a variety of reading comprehension exercises.

English
Language Goals:

The goal of the English program in grade three is to improve their communication skills, particularly in writing, word usage, listening, speaking and spelling. Each day the students engage in a variety of writing activities, usually based on the stories read in class. They use the “writing process” and the “Six Traits program” to create stories, and are encouraged to use proper punctuation, descriptive words, sentence and paragraph structure, and a logical and interesting style of writing. To improve listening skills and to appreciate the written word, teachers read aloud a wide range of texts, including fiction, non-fiction, student work, and poetry. Class discussions, plays, poems and productions are used to improve oral language development.

Texts:

Texts: Celebrate Reading (Scott Foresman)
Classroom library books: fiction, science, poetry, biographies
Third Grade Novel Sets

Phonics & Spelling:

Fountas and Pinnel Program

Writing:

Write Traits; The 6 Traits of Writing principles and rubrics

Handwriting Goals:

In grade three the students practice cursive writing formation introduced in second grade. Formal lessons are provided. Cursive writing is encouraged in every day work and becomes a requirement by the end of the year.

Students who successfully complete the Grade Three Language Arts program will be able to:

• Pre-write, (using brainstorming, outlines, clusters), draft revisions/conferences, editing/proofing, peer editing, and publishing final drafts
• Spell, including dictionary use and knowledge of plurals, homonyms, contractions, and possessives
• Use grammar skills, including the proper use and identification of nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs, as well as their function in a sentence
• Develop sentence structure, including the identification of subject and predicate, four types of sentences, run-on sentences and sentence fragments, punctuation and capitalization
• Write in paragraphs, including indenting, introduction, supporting details, and conclusion
• Write conversation and dialogue, including use of punctuation and quotation marks
• Speak in public, including speech writing and oral presentation skills
• Write in many different styles of poetry
• Write in prose, including personal memoirs, realistic fiction, book publishing, letter writing, journal writing, and “pourquoi” stories
• Spell well in all student writing and develop lifetime skills