The Third Grade art program is organized around universal themes relevant to students’ daily lives. Elements and principles of art, skills and techniques are learned not as isolated
concepts, but as tools that help students interpret the ideas of artists and express their own ideas through art.
The Third Grade units are:
- Alone and Together: Students create self-portraits, portraits of people with different facial expressions, and a clay sculpture of the human figure with correct proportions.
They learn about life of different artists (Renoir, Cassatt, and Kahlo) as they look and discuss their work.
- Invented Worlds Imagination and Wonder: Students use their imagination to see our world in new creative ways. In this unit they explore and develop ideas and images that show
us unexpected and unexplored territories, full of beauty and mystery. Students create imaginary creatures and places as they continue study the theory of color.
- Places and Spaces Architecture in Our Lives: Students learn about different styles of architecture, draw buildings, imagine a castle, carve a sculpture, and plan a park with
a playground.
- Forces of Nature Variety and Contrast: Students are delighted by the beauty and endless variety of the world, marvel at changing seasons, and are thrilled by the majesty of
nature and humbled by its power. Students create colorful watercolor paintings inspired by Japanese “pictures of the floating world,” collages of wild animals and mixed media
drawings of landscapes.
Every unit is enriched with images from artists that reflect the real world in order to inspire students.
References: Explorations in Art, Davis Publications, Inc. and Wilton Art Appreciation CD-ROMs: “Elements of Art”, “Color”, and “Artists at Work.”
In the Lower School, we weave the principles of God’s Word throughout our entire curriculum; we also teach it intentionally, using Cherie Noel’s Positive Action Bible curriculum,
Growing with God. Biblical literacy is foundational to a true Christian education; our major goal is to make the Bible meaningful in students’ lives. Beginning with factual knowledge
of the Trinity, parts of the Bible, the life of Joseph in the Old Testament and progressing through the life of Daniel, each weekly lesson emphasizes the comprehension of Scriptural
concepts, as well as life applications. Engaging, relevant stories and character trait activities are designed to help students analyze the principles taught, integrate knowledge
into their personal lives, consider various viewpoints, and interpret values. Each week we memorize a new Bible verse and vocabulary and take a quiz on the lesson.
“Sword drills” enhance the students’ working knowledge of where to find things in the Bible. Each class leads the Lower School in a Chapel program once a year. These programs
give students an opportunity to perform for others and to teach Biblical values in daily living. Every morning, when we pledge allegiance to the Bible, we reiterate our belief
in God’s “love letter” to us.
(
In Failure to Connect: How Computers Affect our Children’s Minds – for Better or for Worse, by Jane Healy, it states that …“30 years of research on educational technology
has produced almost no evidence of a clear link between using computers in the early grades and improved learning.” That along with other anecdotal evidence has determined our
computer curriculum. Thus, we begin the formal teaching of computer classes in third grade. Likewise, we do graduate high school students who can have taken AP computer science
in our upper school and gain admittance into some of the finest technological schools in the nation.)
Our computer classes begin in Third Grade in order to instill a love of reading, to appreciate hearing good literature read, and to have time for social interaction, both with
teachers and students, in the initial lower school grades. After thoroughly understanding Whitefield’s Computer Acceptable Agreement policy, and signing it, students in Third
Grade accomplish the following skills on Mac laptops, brought into their classrooms: know and name the basic component parts of the computer, learn proper finger placement and
practice keyboarding skills, learn the history of the internet, create power point and word documents, and use internet search engines in order to conduct research projects, relative
to their school subjects and assignments.
The Third Grade social studies curriculum is rich in fundamental knowledge of the history of the world and facilitates learning by making connections between and among well-known
events and people. This journey begins with learning the names of all of the countries of Europe, through the use of many tools, such as individual laptop computers. Knowledge
of European country locations naturally supports our study of the Ancient Roman Empire, in which students get an overview of each phase of the empire from kings, to the Republic,
to emperors. Students learn about daily life in Ancient Rome, key figures in its history, architectural and engineering accomplishments, and reasons for its rise and fall.
Next, through regular classroom learning and a special project, we study the explorers that opened up the New World. Students then get an understanding of life in the American
colonies. In addition to these historical eras, our curriculum sets out to inform students about a variety of holidays and their origins: Labor Day, Veteran’s Day, MLK Jr. Holiday,
Presidents’ Day, and Memorial Day. Patriotic songs are learned and appreciation for our men and women in uniform is taught and highly valued. Each year, veterans are invited to
be guest speakers. Special letters are written to our veterans, who are being cared for in the Veteran’s Administration Hospital in Decatur, and students conduct one-on-one interviews
with veterans.
Reading is the cornerstone to all other academic learning; therefore, the primary motivation for teaching children how to read is to enable them to read various genre including,
the Bible, short stories, chapter books and novels. By using a variety of reading strategies to comprehend, interpret, analyze, and evaluate what he or she reads in order to align
with a Biblical worldview. Based on our goal of teaching our students to read for the purpose of gaining knowledge and understanding, spiritual discernment, a sense of enjoyment,
and laying the groundwork for academic success, our program consists of application of explicit comprehension skills, responding to reading by writing, and practicing fluency.
The novels we choose reflect a standard of time-tested and/or quality literature. Each one possesses themes which inspire students to take the high road in their individual life
journeys. In addition, through these novels, vocabulary is built and strengthened, oral reading skills are practiced, comprehension/retention skills are assessed. Our study of
a novel, for example Charlotte’s Web is enhanced through experiential learning, with a field trip to an actual working farm.
We teach and apply explicit skills through direct instruction, such as making an inference, determining the sequence of events, and finding the main idea. These are reading skills
that students can apply broadly to many other disciplines. We also seek to strengthen oral reading skills through exercises that increase fluency, such as chunking or voice inflection
as determined by punctuations. Our philosophy drives a curriculum which supports helping students graduate from learning to reading, to reading to learn. Lastly, Third Grade students
complete summer reading requirements before entering their Fourth Grade year.
Third Grade
spelling begins with an emphasis on Core Words (each grade level in the lower school has its own unique list of 150 words). These words are “core” based on
their frequency of usage in students’ everyday writing. These words were determined by a committee of Whitefield teachers, and are not considered the same as words on other lists,
such as the Dolch Sight Word List. Students are expected to spell these words correctly within everyday assignments. In addition to the Core Word List, students regularly learn
and practice words that contain a particular letter, sound, or structure pattern. This provides the explicit phonics component of the curriculum.
Our Third Grade
writing curriculum builds upon the Power Writing foundation that began in grades K-2, in which students master writing paragraphs that include topic sentences
and supporting details. Now, students progress to putting paragraphs together to produce well-developed narratives. Students are first introduced to author’s techniques through
reading a variety of short stories, in order to begin to appreciate how authors accomplish a particular mood or tone. Next, students learn other techniques that enhance the style
of their writing; i.e. learning to expand a moment, using repetition for effect, creating hyphenated modifiers, etc. Once that groundwork is laid, students begin the writing process
of planning a story, writing a first draft, proofreading-editing-revising, and writing a second and final draft. There are six main criteria used to assess writing: overall development,
organization of writing, support, sentence structure, word choice, and mechanics. These criteria are based on the Writing Assessment Program (WrAP) available from the Educational
Records Bureau. Third Grade students are assessed each spring using the WrAP narrative assessment. Writing in the Third Grade is a challenging journey that equips each student
with a new set of skills and a sense of confidence with their writing proficiency.
Building a rich
vocabulary base in Third Grade is supported by using the systematic approach found in the Wordly Wise curriculum. We strive to instill in our students a
love for words and the way in which they are used in the English language. Additional words are supplied by the content areas, such as the Bible, Science, Reading, Math, and Social
Studies. The dictionary and thesaurus are popular books in our classrooms! Additionally, we encourage learning from context clues, using prefixes, suffixes, and root words, and
applying meanings in a variety of ways. The ability to speak, hear, and comprehend words is given to us by God in order to bring glory to Him.
Building on the foundation laid in Second Grade, cursive
handwriting is reviewed intensely the first two weeks of Third Grade. After that, cursive handwriting is assessed
through the spelling curriculum all throughout the year. All assignments and homework are completed in cursive throughout the remainder Third Grade.
The Shurley English curriculum is used to teach
grammar in Third Grade. Students begin learning the eight parts of speech by chanting jingles, which incorporate the definitions.
Rhythm, rhyme and movement enhance learning and retention of basic grammar concepts. In classifying sentences with the Question and Answer Flow, critical thinking is developed.
This is an oral class activity in which students ask questions to determine how each word is used in the sentence. Written exercises provide opportunities to practice new concepts
and apply capitalization and punctuation rules.
Our students gain more independence in Third Grade as they are encouraged to search for and locate books on their own by employing their knowledge of the Dewey Decimal organizational
structure of the library. Table of contents and indexes are explained and guide words are used to find information and topics. Students are able to cite bibliographic information
from a book.
Whitefield’s Third Grade math curriculum is designed not only to enable students to master the foundational knowledge and skills of mathematics, but to progress in applying more
complex mathematical concepts. For example, students transition from identifying a simple shape such as square, to classifying that square as quadrilateral, parallelogram, polygon,
and a type of rectangle.
We build upon the foundations of place value, rounding and estimation, money concepts, addition/subtraction, fractions, geometry, probability, measurement of time, temperature,
length, weight, and capacity, and problem solving strategies. These concepts are presented in a significantly more in-depth manner than in the earlier primary grades. Basic multiplication
facts up to 12x12 are presented, practiced, and memorized early in the year. Quick recall of these facts is critical to success with multiplying larger numbers and performing
long division, both of which are essential parts of the Third Grade math curriculum. Manipulatives are utilized to teach or to enhance the understanding of concepts, and individual
laptop computers and the Smart Board allow for interactive opportunities when learning or practicing skills.
The Third Grade year is a culmination of skills and knowledge taught in PreK through Second Grade, resulting in our students’ opportunity to learn a “beginners” musical instrument—the
recorder. A regular week-to-week lesson book is given to students along with incremental, achievement-based solos. Class time is spent developing correct playing technique and
learning repertoire that demonstrates various musical concepts.
Our goal of physical education in Third Grade is to transfer motor skill and patterns into movements necessary for modified game play. Emphasis is placed on responsible personal
and social behavior during physical activity including proper sportsmanlike conduct, compassion for others, best effort, self-control, following directions, cooperation, and constructive
competition. The Presidential Physical Fitness Test is used to assess fitness status. Track competition is introduced and the top athletes in track/field are selected to compete
against other schools in a full day track meet. Nutrition education continues to focus on food groups, determining portion sizes and habits for healthy eating to “fuel” your body
for physical fitness.
The basis for our study of the world in Science in Third Grade is this: God has created everything and sustains it . . We use the Discovery Works Science curriculum, Concordia
Edition, to explore four major topics:
- Life Cycles of Animals – three stage and four stage life cycles
- Life Cycles of Plants – three parts of a seed, pollination, evergreens and conifers, and plant seedlings
- Sun, Moon, and Earth – features of the moon, astronomers, telescopes and probes, astronauts, sun as a star, rotation and revolution of Earth, tides, gravity, seasons, and lunar
and solar eclipses
- Earth’s Water – the water cycle and water resources, caves and their formation
Students become familiar with various methods of researching such as classification, inferencing, hypothesizing, and understanding properties. Hands-on activities and experiments
enhance the conceptualizations of these four units. Our culminating activity is the trip to DeSoto Caverns, where we spend the night in a 300-foot cave, learning about how water
and limestone shaped the structure.
Third Graders open each class with a
Gouin Series of Six Spanish sentences (“I greet my teacher. I ask my teacher.”How are you?”etc.) After some basic conversation and
number drills, three volunteers lead the class in learning new gestures with new vocabulary in past and present tenses via the Total Physical Response Storytelling (TPRS) style.
They role-play, answer questions, read, write, and draw their way through Volume 1 of the
Cuentame Gabi Series (about the misadventures of a crazy cat). A highlight is
getting a pen pal at the Fundación Amor y Esperanza (Foundation of Love and Hope School) in Quito, Ecuador and creating bilingual cards and letters, which connects back to the
Kindergarten service project and forward to the annual Upper School Ecuador Mission Trip.
