Through the course of the year, both reading and writing workshop are connected to and interact with social studies topics (including the building of a strong community). Reader’s Workshop Third graders begin the year building their reading life. Students reflect on their experiences as readers, identifying their reading habits and establishing goals. For the first...

Mathematicians in third grade will develop their skills in three discrete areas – conceptual understanding, computational fluency, and habits of mind. Conceptual Understanding Through a variety of real world contexts, games, and authentic problems, students develop their conceptual understanding of: -the four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) and their relationships to one another -2-D...

Social studies in third grade is all about situating the self in relationship to history and the world. The units of study for the year are intentionally sequenced to capitalize on student development and interest. These units include, in order: Identity: Who am I?: Using their social studies notebooks, students begin to think about who...

In third grade we start our year taking a deep dive into materials that help us understand floating, density and buoyancy. Student use this knowledge to design, construct, test and redesign a boat that will hold as many pennies as possible. As they learn about the distribution of water on the planet and calculate their...

Third graders at Moses Brown learn about the internet, and how to be a safe and responsible digital citizen.  With MacBook Pro laptops, iPads, Google Drive, and G Suite for Education, they have a robust suite of hardware and software to help them with regular coding assignments.  A Digital Passport (through Common Sense Media) helps...

Third graders study Spanish in half groups for 30 minutes three times a week.  We use a multisensory program based on Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences.  They sing songs, perform skits, read comics, and play games using materials published in Italy.  Designed for European children, the activity directions are exclusively in Spanish, with no...

Third grade musicians begin to make more sophisticated musical sounds both alone and as a group. They learn to play instruments as an ensemble, listening critically to make artistic musical choices. They continue to make associations between musical sounds and written notes on the page. By the end of the year, third graders have learned...