The third grade curriculum at Sacred Heart School has the students taking a faithful leap into independence. It reinforces the groundwork provided by the two previous primary grades. This year the students learn to be more responsible and function more independently in the classroom.
The curriculum consists of:
- Religion: Thethird grade students explore stories from the Bible and identify meaningful historical and biblical people throughout the year. They learn the meaning of the rosary and practice praying the rosary. Students identify the importance of God’s call and the meaning of becoming a disciple. The students celebrate the Sacrament of Penance at least twice during the school year.
- Reading/Language Arts: The Reading/Language Arts Curriculum includes both an on-level and accelerated program. This program allows the teacher to focus on each child’s individual learning style and ability. Students will be working alongside their peers who demonstrate similar instructional needs. This will provide them with the opportunity to flourish and build their skills within guided reading groups.
In Reading, literacy skills are honed to prepare the students for the upper grades where reading becomes paramount to learning. The integration of reading comprehension and the study of informational text will incorporate all the elements of speaking, listening, vocabulary development, and fluency. Different forms of media will be utilized to differentiate instruction within the classroom.
In Language Arts, the third grade students focus on refining their writing skills. Instruction is given in paragraph structure, thought organization, grammar, spelling and penmanship techniques. These skills are demonstrated as the children respond to various writing prompts throughout the year.
- Math: The Math curriculum includes both an on-level and accelerated program. This program allows the teacher to focus on each child’s individual learning style and ability. Students will be working alongside their peers who demonstrate similar instructional needs. This will provide them with the opportunity to flourish and build their computation and problem solving skills.
The curriculum is based on The Archdiocese of Newark’s Mathematics Curriculum Map which identifies the content to be taught and student skills to be mastered at each grade level. The 3rd grade map includes:
- Place
- Addition and Subtraction
- Money
- Problem Solving
- Multiplication
- Vocabulary
- Multiplication and Division Facts
- Multiplication and Division Properties
- Fractions
- Measurement
- Time
- Data and Graphing
- Geometry
- Geometric Measurement
- Probability and Statistics
- Multiplication and Division
- Fractions
- Decimals
- Basic Algebra
- Science: The Science curriculumincludes Earth, Physical and Life Science. The curriculum incorporates S.T.E.M – an acronym that stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. STEM Education attempts to transform the typical teacher-centered classroom by encouraging a curriculum that is driven by problem-solving, discovery, and exploratory learning. It requires students to actively engage in the situation in order to find its solution.
- Social StudiesThe Social Studies curriculum includes an introduction to American History. The third grade students also become familiar with various communities around the world.
- Music
- Computers
- Physical Education
- Art
- Library
- Health
- Introduction to World Language (Spanish)
