Grade 3
In order to prepare students for the transition to middle school, the third grade curriculum emphasizes organizational skills, fostering greater independence, and completing longer projects.
The reading program in third grade focuses on how to understand text from a more complex perspective. We read works that are longer and more challenging in content. Students continue to meet in reading groups, and they also respond to comprehension questions in written form. Book projects are introduced as the first long-term assignments where students map out their plans, make choices about what books they will read, write summaries, and decide how they will present their books to the class.
The third grade participates in a yearlong study on New York history, focusing on historical context and the sequence of a timeline. Teachers introduce primary sources as a way to investigate the past. Our collaboration with The New-York Historical Society enhances the study.
In third grade, students continue to solidify foundational math skills that they will use in middle school to solve more complex problems. Teachers emphasize multiplication and division to answer multi-step word problems. Students are proud mathematicians who are able to show their work and explain their thinking as part of the mathematical process.
Third grade is challenging because things are new; it is no longer review. But students are able, by the end of the year, to meet the challenge, and they feel proud of their ability to do independent work.”Paula Lee, Third Grade Teacher, Faculty Since 2001
Third Grade Highlights
“What I love about third grade here is that it is so content-heavy, particularly in social studies. Students become experts in ways they never have before. Content is so explicit, and there is real excitement about social studies, which they learn through storytelling. Students become experts in the story of New York. We piece together the total narrative. They become masters at their multiplication facts. They are jazzed.”Nicole Johnson, Lower Division Director, Faculty Since 2015, Alumna 2005