Grade 3

Eight-year-olds are full of energy and imagination and are always in a hurry! Their confidence has grown by the time their Grade Three school year starts and they are ready to go “tackle” their world.

Socially, Grade Three students love working in large groups. Gone is the desire for quiet time from the year before, and in its place curiosity and impulse abound. They tend to speed through their work, confident that the “what” matters more than the “how”.

A new focus on industriousness arrives during the Grade Three year. Unfortunately, they are also impatient and become easily frustrated. This can have an impact on their social circle. Teachers and parents must work together to provide eight-year-olds with support by encouraging grit and perseverance.

Grade Three students are very social. They love witty humor and are more open to trying a sleepover. Branching out from the safety of school and home, eight-year-olds love exploring new places in their world. They begin to be aware of fairness issues and contemplate morals and values.

Renbrook’s Grade Three teachers are well versed in the developmental stages and behaviors of their students. They balance nurturing demeanors with high expectations for kindness and empathy. Our teachers prioritize time for team building and the development of collaborative problem-solving skills through large-group games, small-group activities, and one-on-one coaching sessions, if needed.

At Renbrook, language arts instruction helps students develop the skills necessary to communicate effectively. Language arts includes listening, thinking, speaking, reading, and writing. We structure our curriculum and lessons so that our students have authentic experiences in those areas by integrating other subjects, using thematic units, project-based learning, and writing for the real world.

Language arts lessons are taught within a workshop model. This allows for a gradual release of responsibility from teacher to student. Workshops typically start with a teacher-led, whole-group, systematic instruction lesson of a foundational skill. Then, students practice the skill in small groups, with partners, and independently. Teachers use formative assessments to set up guided reading and writing groups to provide additional differentiated instruction, support, and feedback.

Renbrook Lower School teachers foster a love of reading in their students. Our students read and discuss a variety of engaging texts that allow them to think critically and make sense of the world around them. Our classroom libraries are full of high-quality books that offer windows into the diverse lives of people in communities close to home and far across the globe.

For students in grades one through three, the curriculum, Fundations®, from the Wilson Reading System, is aligned with the science of reading with an emphasis on phonics instruction. It focuses on reading, spelling, and handwriting using engaging, multisensory materials and techniques. The foundational skills emphasized are:

• phonological and phonemic awareness
• sound mastery
• phonics, word study, and advanced word study
• trick word (high frequency word) instruction
• vocabulary
• accuracy, automaticity, and fluency
• handwriting
• spelling

Reading comprehension is also taught and practiced by students in grades one through four. Teachers model comprehension strategies during whole class read alouds and work with small, guided reading groups, and they confer with each student individually to assess and provide feedback. The foundational comprehension skills emphasized are:

• summarizing
• sequencing
• inferencing
• comparing and contrasting
• drawing conclusions
• self-questioning
• problem-solving
• relating background knowledge
• distinguishing between fact and opinion
• finding the main idea, important facts, and supporting details

The workshop model is also used by teachers in grades one through four to provide students with systematic instruction of writing. They practice writing across a variety of genres such as fiction and nonfiction narratives, descriptive, expository, persuasive, poetry, and reflection. Our students take ownership over the writing process by planning, drafting, and revising their work. Teachers confer with their students offering personalized instruction helping students grow and develop writers. The foundational writing skills emphasized are:

• spelling
• capitalization
• punctuation
• handwriting
• keyboarding
• sentence structure

Renbrook Lower School students are taught mathematics using Singapore Math® Dimensions Math® and Math In Focus®. The approach to instruction focuses on a concrete, pictorial, and abstract (CPA) progression, number bonds, bar modeling, and mental math. CPA follows a progression starting with tangible manipulatives leading to pictures, and then abstraction. Number bonds show the part-whole relationship between numbers. Bar modeling helps students visualize a range of math concepts, such as fractions, ratios, and percentages, allowing students to determine the knowns and unknowns in a given situation. Mental math helps students develop number sense and flexibility in thinking about numbers.

Grade Three Math Content

• Numbers to 10,000
• Mental Math & Estimation
• Addition Up To 10,000
• Subtraction Up To 10,000
• Using Bar Models: Addition & Subtraction
• Multiplication Tables of 6, 7, 8, & 9
• Multiplication
• Division
• Using Bar Models: Multiplication & Division
• Money
• Metric Length, Mass, & Volume
• Real-World Problems: Measurement
• Bar Graphs & Line Plots
• Customary Length, Weight, & Capacity
• Time & Temperature
• Area & Perimeter
• Fractions
• Angles & Lines
• Two-Dimensional Shapes

Social studies in the Lower School at Renbrook provides first through fourth grade students with learning experiences that help them broaden their understanding and appreciation for the cultural diversity that exists in the world.

The four core social studies disciplines: civics, economics, geography, and history, as outlined by The National Counsel for Social Studies, help frame our social studies curriculum. Units are supported by library resources, technology, field trips, and experts in the field. Our students learn how to collect and organize information and interpret data. They work collaboratively to solve challenging problems with a project-based approach to demonstrate their learning.

Grade Three Social Studies Content:

• Westward Movement
  • cooperation and collaboration
  • route of travel
  • obstacles/hardships
  • landmarks along the way
  • reasons for moving out west
  • transportation
  • differences between life in the mid-1800's versus now
  • geography of the USA
  • the Native American perspective
  • life out west - creating a new life
• Immigration
  • immigrate vs. emigrate
  • push/pull factors for immigrating
  • process of immigrating to America
  • port of entry: Ellis Island and immigrant experience (late 1800's)
  • different means of travel
  • Statue of Liberty