Third graders are immersed in a challenging, engaging and expansive reading curriculum. Throughout the year, students will read across the genres, develop critical thinking skills and deepen comprehension and respond to texts in a variety of ways. Check out what we'll be learning:

• Building a Reading Life 

  • • In this unit, readers set themselves up to be active and engaged readers in their lives. We set goals that we wish to work on throughout the year, including increasing our reading volume and strengthening comprehension skills. We also enjoy our first class read aloud, The Year of the Dog by Grace Lin.

• Mystery: Foundational Skills in Disguise 

  • • This unit is one of our favorites. While enjoying our studies, readers explore suspects, crimes, motives, red herring clues and so much more. One of the most exciting parts of this unit is making the connection between the way we read mysteries and the way we read all fiction. Our two class read alouds are, The Absent Author by Ron Roy and The Diamond Mystery by Martin Widmark.

• • Reading to Learn: Grasping Main Ideas & Text Structures

    • • This is our first nonfiction unit of the year. Readers will explore expository texts, examine text features and discuss author's craft. Additionally, we will explore main idea and find supporting details in the text.

• Character Studies

  • In this fiction unit, readers take a deep dive into character traits and elements of fiction. We will spend the majority of this unit using the beloved Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo as our mentor text. Readers will differentiate between character feelings and emotions, notice character changes and causes of those changes. We finish our unit by reading Make Way for Dyamond Daniel by Nikki Grimes.

• Poetry

  • • Our poetry unit is a mini unit and only encompasses a few short weeks. During this unit, we will read various types of poetry, notice the mood and tone of the poems and analyze the meaning behind the words.

• Research Clubs

  • • In our second nonfiction unit, students will be working in clubs to research various topics. Using what they learned earlier in the year, readers will gather main ideas and supporting details from their texts and become expert groups on various topics.

Our writing curriculum pairs wonderfully with the work we do in reading. Throughout the year, students will write across the genres, build their stamina as writers and use different structures in their writing and brainstorming. Check out what we'll be learning:

• Crafting True Stories

  • • In this unit, writers work through the writing process to author multiple personal narratives. Prompts include writing about significant people, places and events in their lives.

• Changing the World: Persuasive Writing 

  • • The persuasive writing units is one of my personal favorites. Writers have the opportunity to incorporate their opinion, include research to support their opinion and share about causes they care about.

• The Art of Informational Writing

  • • This informational writing unit pairs well with our informational reading unit. Students become experts on topics of their choosing and author pieces that showcase their expert knowledge using text structures of expository writing.

• Baby Literary Essays 

  • • This mini unit will be writers' first exposure to writing critically about texts. Authors will be reading a variety of picture books and discussing the stories. Prompts include character traits, discussing theme and comparing/contrasting characters across stories.

• Writing About Research 

  • • Writers will have the opportunity to research topics and showcase their expert knowledge of expository writing. 

In third grade, students continue to develop and strengthen their mathematical thinking skills through our Illustrative Math curriculum. We explore a variety of new topics that build on the foundational skills students have acquired in the younger grades. Check out what we'll be learning:

• Unit 3.1: Introducing Multiplication 

  • • Students represent and solve multiplication problems through the context of picture and bar graphs that represent categorical data.

• Unit 3.2: Area and Multiplication

  • • Students learn about area concepts and relate area to multiplication and to addition.

• Unit 3.3: Wrapping Up Addition & Subtraction Within 1,000 

  • • Students use place value understanding to round whole numbers and add and subtract within 1,000. They also represent and solve two-step word problems using addition, subtraction, and multiplication and assess the reasonableness of answers.

• Unit 3.4: Relating Multiplication to Division

  • • Students learn about and use the relationship between multiplication and division, place value understanding, and the properties of operations to multiply and divide whole numbers within 100. They also represent and solve two-step word problems using the four operations.

• Unit 3.5: Fractions as Numbers 

  • • Students develop an understanding of fractions as numbers and of fraction equivalence by representing fractions on diagrams and number lines, generating equivalent fractions, and comparing fractions. 

• Unit 3.6: Measuring Length, Time, Liquid Volume, and Weight

  • • Students generate and represent length measurement data in halves and fourths of an inch on line plots. They learn about and estimate relative units of measure including weight, liquid volume, and time, and use the four operations to solve problems involving measurement.

• Unit 3.7: Two-dimensional Shapes and Perimeter

  • • Students reason about shapes and their attributes, with a focus on quadrilaterals. They solve problems involving the perimeter and area of shapes.

• Unit 3.8: Putting It All Together

  • • Students consolidate and solidify their understanding of various concepts and skills related to major work of the grade. They also continue to work toward fluency goals of the grade.

Third grade social studies covers two major periods of time in American History and explores Natick history as well. Check out what we'll be learning:

• Unit 1: The Geography and Native Peoples of Massachusetts  

  • • Goals of the Unit:

      • Introduce basic map skills (cardinal directions, map title, legend, scale)

      • Introduce Native American tribes and their lands in the New England area

      • Introduce early Natick History.

• Unit 2: The Wampanoag and Pilgrim Colony

  • • Goals of the Unit:

      • Explore the Wampanoag people and their way of life (homes, clothing, food/farming, children/school, roles of women and men, beliefs)

      • Introduce the Pilgrims and their reasons for leaving Europe.  

      • Describe their journey on the Mayflower and how they established the Plymouth Colony (Mayflower Compact). 

      • Explore Pilgrims’ way of life (homes, clothing, food/farming, children/school, roles of women and men, beliefs).

      • Describe the first interaction between the two groups (Samoset, Massasoit). 

      • Explain the events that lead to a celebration to give thanks for the harvest (Thanksgiving).

• Unit 3: The Growth of the MA Colony 

  • • Goals of the Unit:

      • Identify how Massachusetts grows into a larger colony

      • Identify how Puritan life is different from the Pilgrims’ lives

      • Identify the roles of women, enslaved and indentured servants? 

• Unit 4: Beginnings of the American Revolution

  • Goals of the Unit:

    • Identify the events that led to the colonists wanting their independence from Great Britain

    • Explore colonial government and taxes

    • Identify Revolution leaders and new government

With newer science standards, third grade scientists explore engaging and interactive units that build on what they have learned in K-2. Check out what we'll be learning:

• Unit 1: Magnets 

  • • During our first unit of the year, students will explore magnetism and use foundational skills to experiment with magnets. We will discuss the poles, attraction and repulsion, and ways magnets are used in daily life.

• Unit 2: Weather, Climate and Human Interaction 

  • • The explorations during this unit are some of our favorites of the year! Using the engaging mystery science resources,  we explore climate zones across the world, clouds types and research locations in different climate areas.

• Unit 3: Pollinators

  • • In our final science unit of the year, we examine pollinators and their part in our lives. We will research different pollinators, such as bees, ants, and butterflies and share our findings with classmates.