Curriculum
Classroom Policies and Procedures
Please expect homework 3 times a week. This will include studying Spelling words, Math, Grammar Workshop, Vocabulary Workshop, studying for tests, and reading 30 minutes a day.
We will take a break every morning to have a snack and chat with each other. Please send a snack with your child each day! A healthy snack is requested! This snack is very important to my students because they need an extra burst of energy mid-morning. They look forward to this time! Class snacks are always welcomed and appreciated!!!!
Birthday treats are always enjoyed by all! You can send a treat to school for us to enjoy. The birthday treat must be individually wrapped due to safety regulations.
Water bottles are allowed and encouraged!
Parent Communication: White envelpoes will be sent home on Wednesdays with papers that have been graded or checked. Please send back to school with your signature. The daily communicator is the blue folder. This is sent home each night with homework, notes, special event reminders, etc. If you send lunch money to school, SACC money to school notes to teacher, etc., put them in the blue folder.
If you would like to have a conference, please feel free to contact me and I would be happy to set up a time to meet with you. My e-mail address is tthornton@stjosephschoolbg.org. I check my e-mail at least once per day, usually in the afternoon!
I hope this gives you a good overview of what to expect in third grade. If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me. I am looking forward to a great year!
Conduct Grades:
1= usually and consistently attempts to follow school rules
2= inconsistent in following school rules
3= seldom follows school rules
4= almost never follows school rules
Religion
The text we will use is "We Believe". Each unit covers a major area of Catholic Faith. Your child will be learning about the Sacraments, Ten Commandments, Saints, and Prayers.
Language Arts
Our text book is "Journeys" by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Our "Journeys" series incorporates Reading, Grammar, and Spelling. This program includes reading/word skills, practice, and writing. Reading is taught through a literature based program, which involves oral reading, group reading, silent reading, and using techniques of review, enrichment, reference/study skills, decoding and phonics skills. I will also use chapter books to teach reading skills and to foster a love of reading within the students. Our grammar books primarily involve sentence construction, parts of speech, as well as the writing process. Students will write poems, descriptive paragraphs, stories, and friendly letters. We will also be doing Vocabulary Workshop after Fall Break every other week. This program provides lots of vocabulary practice.
Spelling
Spelling Words are from the 3rd grade curriculum guide. Students will work on Spelling skills in their Reader's Notebook each day.
Math
Our text book is "Go Math!" by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Go Math! Provides the opportunity for lifelong learning skills for students in the 21st Century by developing information and communication skills, higher order thinking skills, problem solving skills, independent learners, and real-world connections.
Science
Science by Harcourt. This course provides learning experiences that relate to their everyday world. Your child will be learning about the needs of living things and their environments, weather, types of energy, our solar system, rocks/minerals, etc… Hands on experiments are used as needed to help students understand and grasp abstract concepts.
Social Studies
Our text book is "Our Communities" by Harcourt. This course invovles the study of different types of communities, citizenship, map reading, structure of government, geography, cultural diversity, etc...