Third Grade

List of 11 items.

• Reading & Literature

  • Strengthen effective reading strategies
  • Practice critical thinking and comprehension skills
  • Read and discuss multicultural literature: Native American, African American, Asian, and Latino
  • Read literature about the Gold Rush
  • Study literature through independent reading, readers' workshop, literature circles, reading groups, and read alouds

• Writing & Language Arts

  • Utilize Writer’s Workshop
  • Write a formal, well-developed informational paragraph
  • Practice informational and report writing: bird census report, African American biography, and Ohlone report
  • Write book reports, personal narratives, letters, responses to literature, and opinion pieces
  • Use dialogue and similes in creative writing and poetry
  • Practice grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling rules
  • Learn cursive handwriting
  • Develop presentation skills by presenting work to class, parents, and school

• Social Studies

  • Hands-on study of the Ohlone Indians, featuring field trips to the Oakland Museum, UC Botanical Gardens, and all-day immersion at a regional park
  • Geography of the Bay Area
  • Study of cultural groups in the Bay Area through performances and field trips
  • African American biography project
  • Identity and heritage personal histories
  • Impact of explorers on the Bay Area
  • California Gold Rush interactive simulation, focusing on multi-cultural perspectives, with Gold Country overnight field trip

• Mathematics

  • Place value to 100,000
  • Telling time to the minute and determining elapsed time
  • Multiplication and division to 12, with single- and double-digit problems
  • Problem solving
  • Measurement: length, mass, and volume with standard and metric measurements
  • Fractions: identifying, ordering, and comparing
  • 3-digit and 4-digit addition and subtraction
  • Complex multi-step story problem solving
  • Geometry: 2D and 3D shapes, lines, angles, area, perimeter, and volume

• Science

  • Environmental impact of global climate change
  • Bird anatomy, habitats, and migratory habits
  • Electricity and circuits
  • Year-long bird census and study
  • Flight
  • Narcissus bulbs: measuring the effect of a variable

• Spanish

  • Participate in class reading of Edi el elefante book and related activities
  • Subject pronouns (yo, tú, él/ella/elle, usted, nosotros, ellos/ellas/elles)
  • Regular and Irregular verb conjugations
  • Spelling and vocabulary
  • Articles (masculine, feminine)
  • Expand understanding of culture through the study of geography and people of Latin American countries
  • Develop listening and speaking skills through guided conversations with peers

• STEAM

  • Introduction to coding and animation: Scratch Jr. and Code.org
  • Beginning keyboarding and word processing
  • Use of spreadsheets
  • Introduction to online catalog searches
  • Choosing information sources for research

• Fine Arts

  • Drawing: expressive lines and shapes
  • Painting: color wheel, color mixing
  • Clay
  • Bat study
  • Collage animals: Eric Carle
  • Sumi ink painting
  • Fruit/flower paintings: Georgia O’Keefe
  • Story quilt: Faith Ringgold

• Music

  • Third grade choir
  • Rounds, two-part music, extended vocal range
  • Rhythm work with hand percussion, movement games, and percussion instruments
  • Basic music terminology and theory
  • Performing arts elements: creative and folk dance, mime, and drama

• Physical Education

  • Using feedback to improve performance
  • Working independently and maintaining focus
  • Using physical activity as a means of self-expression
  • Sharing equipment appropriately with peers

• Service Learning

  Citizen Science: Conducting the Lake Merritt Bird Census of migratory birds for the City of Oakland