3rd Grade Curriculum

Essential Question:

How does studying the Hudson River and the peoples who live near it help us understand the richness and complexity of a culture, its connection to the environment, and how it adapts and changes over time?

 
Students seining in the Hudson River
at the Bezack Environmental Center
in Yonkers

Third grade students focus on the study of the Northeast Woodland Indians within the context of the Hudson River Valley. Students analyze the influences of environment on the way people live and the way people change and alter their environment. They examine the Native Americans relationship with the natural environment, as well as their rituals, myths, crafts, medicines, roles in daily life, and method of governing. Comparisons with contemporary life are made as well as the contrast with the colonial Dutch and English settlers. Many field trips are planned during the year to provide students with hands-on primary research and develop their observational skills. Special subject teachers deepen and integrate their curriculum with this study as much as possible. The science curriculum in particular parallels both the Hudson River and Native American studies.

Reading

The love of reading and strategies for comprehension of text are the goals of the third grade reading instruction. Students meet in reading groups led by the head teacher, the assistant teacher, or the language specialist. Students learn to become active, thoughtful readers by constructing meaning from the text by searching for personal and text connections,  asking questions while reading,  making predictions,  drawing inferences, and  distinguishing important from less important ideas.

Class novels are chosen for the richness of their content and language, and for the appropriate reading level of the students. While the focus of the small reading group is literature, the full class is involved in the reading of nonfiction texts related to the social studies curriculum theme.

Writing

The writing workshop is a place where individual voices are recognized and celebrated. Students write in a variety of genres throughout the year: personal narratives, poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and informational articles.

Math

Students continue to use the number system to add and subtract numbers to 1,000, while developing more efficient strategies. They also use this knowledge to begin an understanding of negative and positive numbers. Students continue to learn about 2D and 3D geometry, which then is used to begin their conceptual understanding of multiplication, division, and fractions. At the heart of our program is the curriculum Investigations in Number, Data and Space, which supports students as they progress in their mathematical thinking; manipulatives like color tiles, snap cubes, and array cards are used throughout the year.