Visions for the Future
Values for a Lifetime
Third Grade is a year of increased independence, responsibility, and academic growth. Students build upon foundational skills while becoming more confident readers, writers, mathematicians, and problem-solvers. Rooted in our Catholic faith and aligned with the New York State Learning Standards, the curriculum encourages students to think critically, communicate effectively, and serve others with compassion.
Using the Word of Life religion program, students continue to deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ through Scripture, prayer, the Sacraments, and the teachings of the Catholic Church. Students learn about the lives of the saints, Catholic traditions, and moral decision-making while participating in daily prayer, school liturgies, and service opportunities that foster faith in action.
Third Grade students strengthen their reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills through a balanced literacy approach. Students read a variety of fiction and nonfiction texts while developing fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, and critical thinking skills. Writing instruction focuses on opinion, informative, and narrative writing, with an emphasis on organization, grammar, punctuation, and the writing process. Students learn to support their ideas with evidence, summarize information, and communicate clearly through written and oral presentations.
Students deepen their understanding of mathematical concepts by developing fluency with multiplication and division while applying these skills to solve increasingly complex problems. Instruction includes place value, multiplication and division, fractions, measurement, geometry, time, money, data analysis, and multi-step problem-solving. Students are encouraged to explain their mathematical reasoning and apply concepts to real-world situations.
Students explore life, physical, and earth sciences through inquiry-based learning and hands-on investigations. Topics include scientific inquiry, ecosystems, weather and climate, forces and motion, matter, and the interdependence of living things. STEM activities encourage creativity, collaboration, engineering design, and critical thinking as students investigate real-world problems.
Students study communities, geography, history, government, and economics while developing a greater understanding of the world around them. Through investigations of local, state, national, and global communities, students learn about citizenship, civic responsibility, maps and geographic features, natural resources, and the ways people and cultures interact over time.
Students receive weekly instruction in:
These enrichment classes foster creativity, innovation, cultural awareness, physical wellness, and collaborative learning while complementing classroom instruction.
Third Grade students continue to develop responsibility, resilience, empathy, and respectful communication. Classroom experiences encourage collaboration, perseverance, self-reflection, and leadership while helping students build confidence as independent learners and compassionate members of the school community.
Our Third Grade classrooms provide a nurturing, faith-filled environment where students are challenged to grow academically, spiritually, and socially. Through engaging instruction, collaborative learning, and strong partnerships with families, students develop the knowledge, character, and confidence needed for continued success in the upper elementary grades.