Grade Level Objectives

Mount Prospect School District 57

LANGUAGE ARTS

READING

A third grade student:

• Reads and comprehends unfamiliar vocabulary using:
• Phonics
• Context clues
• Structural analysis (prefixes, suffixes, and root words)
• Reads to understand different types of fiction:
• Realistic
• Fantasy
• Historical
• Reads to understand information in nonfiction text
• Identifies story elements including:
• Setting
• Character
• Plot
• Problem
• Theme
• Demonstrates the comprehension of a variety of reading materials by:
• Identifying main idea
• Making inferences
• Predicting
• Drawing conclusions
• Understanding cause and effect relationships
• Comparing and contrasting
• Summarizing
• Contributing to class discussions and activities

Resources:

Collections, Harcourt Brace, 2001 http://www.harcourtschool.com

WRITING/GRAMMAR

A third grade student:

• Writes in complete sentences
• Utilizes the mechanics of writing by using correct grammar, and proper capitalization and punctuation
• Identifies nouns, verbs, adjectives, and pronouns
• Expresses ideas through the writing process:
• Brainstorming
• Drafting
• Revising
• Editing
• Publishing
• Sharing
• Produces a coherent paragraph
• Produces persuasive, expository, and narrative essays
• Utilizes reference materials:
• Encyclopedia, dictionary, glossary, thesaurus
• Prepares and delivers an oral report

Resources:

English, Houghton Mifflin, 1995, http://www.eduplace.com/

SPELLING

A third grade student:

• Spells third grade word list correctly
• Applies spelling principles moving from developmental to conventional spelling in daily work

Resources:

Spelling is incorporated in the Harcourt Collections Reading Program.

http://www.harcourtschool.com

HANDWRITING

A third grade student:

• Forms upper and lower case cursive letters neatly
• Uses correct cursive form

Resources:

Palmer Method Handwriting, 1987, Macmillan

MATHEMATICS

A third grade student:

• Adds and subtracts 3-digit numbers using regrouping
• Knows the multiplication and division facts of 0's, 1's, 2's, 5's, 9's, and 10's
• Understands the concepts of time and money including:
• Telling time to the minute
• Making change
• Understands geometric concepts including:
• Measurement to the nearest half inch
• Area and perimeter
• Terms related to plane figures
• Terms related to 3-D figures
• Collects and interprets data using tallies, graphs, tables, and charts
• Understands place value
• Understands the concept of estimation
• Identifies parts of a whole (fractions, decimals)
• Uses a variety of problem solving strategies
• Computes simple number equations

Resources:

Everyday Mathematics, Everyday Learning Corporation, 2002, http://wrightgroup.com/

SCIENCE

The third grade student explores science through the following units:

• Life Science: Life Cycles (theme: models)
• Stages in the life cycles of animals and plants
• Changes in animals and plants as they mature
• Inherited traits
• Ways that animals and plants survive
• Earth Science: Sun, Moon and Earth (theme: scale)
• The physical features of the sun and moon
• The rotation and revolution of the earth and moon
• Planets of the solar system
• Earth’s physical changes
• Eclipses
• Physical Science: Matter, Energy, and Forces (theme: systems)
• Properties, states, and changes in matter
• Forms of energy and how heat energy moves and changes matter
• Forces and machines

Resources:

Discovery Works, Houghton Mifflin, 2003, http://www.eduplace.com

SOCIAL SCIENCE

Third grade students explore the concepts of an expanded global community, including Chicago and moving out to other cities in the world.

• Global community governments
• City economics
• Cultural contributions; immigration
• City development
• Global trade
• Supply and demand; buyers and sellers
• Geography; globe, map elements, relative and absolute locations, distances
• Environmental issues

Resources:

Social Studies Alive! Our Communities and Beyond, Teachers Curriculum Institute, 2005

http://historyalive.com/curriculum/curriculumSSA.asp

TECHNOLOGY

 
A third grade student:

• Utilizes home row and neighboring keys with proper fingering and posture positions
• Enters and edits word processing (ex: font, size, save)
• Uses "save as" to save a document
• Opens a previously saved document
• Uses spell check
• Uses tab keys
• Imports graphics
• Uses web searches to enhance curriculum projects
• Uses different types of educational software

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

A third grade student:

• Develops basic ball skills (kick, throw, roll, shoot, catch, dribble - hands and feet, etc.) through continued practice in organized games and activities
• Understands body relationships through rhythm and dance activities
• Participates in an environment that promotes physical fitness, sportsmanship, maximum effort, and enjoyment
• Understands basic rules and strategies to enhance participation and emphasize safety
• Develops basic skills to manipulate and control objects such as hoops, ropes, bean bags, bats, balls, parachutes, and scooters
• Has opportunities to work in partner activities using basic offensive and defensive strategies
• Displays control in educational gymnastic skills through the practice of stunts, tumbling, balance, and movement sequence
• Respects others' space by moving with control for safety considerations

MUSIC

A third grade student:

• Plays one pattern while singing another
• Recognizes and identifies major and minor tonalities
• Identifies and manipulates the basic tool of music notation
• Names lines and spaces on the staff and pitches placed on them
• Reads simple melodies from the staff
• Composes and performs original music
• Plays the recorder musically with good sound, technique, and posture
• Sings in two parts on pitch with good vocal technique
• Explores American folk dances using circle, square, alley, and line forms, changing partners
• Third Grade Chorus is offered before school one morning a week.

Resources:

Share the Music, McGraw-Hill, 1998, http://www.mhschool.com/

ART

A third grade student:

• Identifies primary and secondary colors
• Identifies and uses line, shape, space, color, and texture in a composition
• Identifies and uses repetition of shapes and pattern in a composition
• Recognizes mood, emotion, and pictorial representation
• Identifies media and properly uses tools when painting, drawing, printmaking, and assembling
• Identifies art as it relates to other subject matter in the third grade curriculum

CHARACTER COUNTS in District 57

http://www.charactercounts.org
A person of character is trustworthy, treats people with respect, is responsible, is fair, is caring, and is a good citizen.