Grade Three

List of 11 items.

• Mathematics

  The goal of Lower School mathematics is to encourage and support students as they develop number sense, computational fluency and efficiency, strategies for problem solving, and a beginning understanding of the connectedness of mathematical topics and procedures. The curriculum offers opportunities for self-discovery and exploration of concepts and personal strategies as well as exploring and understanding traditional algorithms. Students work with visual models at every level to make sense of abstract concepts.
  
  Grade three expands upon the goals and objectives of grade two mathematics with a continued focus on the conceptual and procedural understanding of whole number operations with a concentrated study of multiplication. The curriculum encourages students to think critically, question, and analyze, asking more than a recall of basic facts. Students learn to represent and explain their thinking using pictures, numbers, and words. Students continue to develop and extend mathematical proficiency in the following areas: number and operations; fractions, decimals, and percents; measurement, geometry; data analysis and probability; and algebraic thinking.
  
  Students who successfully complete the grade three mathematics program will be able to demonstrate fundamental understanding of topics in the following categories:

  
  Number and Operations

  • Reading and writing numbers using base ten materials, number names, and expanded form
  • Decomposing numbers to reason and calculate numerically
  • Using and applying concrete materials to re-grouping strategies for subtraction
  • Using place value concepts to perform multi-digit addition and subtraction
  • Solving addition and subtraction story problems
  • Connecting addition to multiplication
  • Multiplying one-digit numbers
  • Applying properties of operations as multiplication and division strategies (Commutative, Associative, and Distributive) 

  Fractions, Decimals, Percents

  • Developing an understanding of fractions as numbers and quantities
  • Relating visual representations of basic fractions to division (1/2, 1/3, 1/4)

  Measurement

  • Measuring and reporting elapsed time
  • Telling and writing time to the nearest minute
  • Recognizing and understanding concepts of area as related to multiplication and addition

  Geometry

  • Showing multiplication from a geometric perspective
  • Solving real-world and mathematical problems involving perimeter and area 

  Data Analysis & Probability

  • Analyzing statistical data as represented in bar graphs, line graphs, and circle graphs

  Algebraic Thinking

  • Identifying, writing, and repeating growth patterns on a hundreds grid
  • Connecting multiplication equations to concrete objects or images
  • Demonstrating understanding of patterns and multiples

• Reading

  In a classroom environment rich with literary materials, grade three students participate in a wide variety of reading experiences in guided and independent settings. Students read independently each day from books at their designated reading levels, choosing from a range of genres including fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. To improve comprehension, students apply grade-level and reading-level strategies that include prediction, connection, visualization, questioning, and summarizing. Teachers conduct one-on-one conferences with students to monitor individual progress and set individual goals. Guided reading groups are conducted where students practice oral reading skills, ask and answer questions, and learn how to have a book discussion. Students read in a variety of genres and are responsible for a number of independent reading projects throughout the year, which include discussions, reading logs, journals, and small partner projects. Enrichment activities are also an integral part of the reading curriculum.

• Writing

  The Lower School writing program encourages students to develop an understanding of and appreciation for creative and expository writing, poetry, and drama, and to communicate effectively through written and spoken language. Students complete assignments through a multi-step process known as the writing workshop, where they develop strategies for organizing their thoughts, revising and discussing their work in student/teacher conferences, and presenting completed assignments to the class. Throughout the curriculum, process writing and grammar study are designed to be parallel and interconnected methods of ensuring mastery of skills. Focusing on ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions, and presentation, students work through the various stages of the writing process, from writing simply to get ideas down on paper, to later and final drafts of publishable writing. From the earliest stages of writing drafts that can be read aloud, revision focused on these specific traits guides students as they work. The third grade spelling curriculum emphasizes mastery of frequently used writing words through a targeted word study program.
  
  

  Third graders are introduced to public speaking as each student writes and prepares a speech that they present to the Lower School community. Students carefully craft their speeches with the support of their teachers; students also explore and practice public speaking skills prior to their presentation.

  
  
  

• Social Studies

  Social studies in grade three focuses on geography. Students learn the “Five Themes” of geography: location, place, region, human-environment interaction, and movement. These themes provide a basis for understanding the world around them as students to explore not only where something is but also begin to answer the questions of what, why, how, and who. Students develop their understanding of the themes with studies of maps, atlases, and informational texts, as well as through a geographic study of Massachusetts and the regions of the United States.
  
  Students who successfully complete the grade three social studies program will be able to:

  • Understand and utilize maps and globes
  • Recognize the major physical features of the world, such as oceans and continents
  • Read and interpret a variety of informational resources, such as charts and graphs
  • Recognize and apply the Five Themes to new topics
  • Show a beginning understanding of the research process

• Science

  The Lower School science practices have been adopted from the National Research Council’s A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas (2012) and directly build upon skills and material covered in Primary School. Students who demonstrate success in Lower School science courses will be able to:
  

  • Ask clarifying and extending questions
  • Apply the scientific process to creative real-world projects
  • Create and follow a written plan for an investigation
  • Understand how to gather, organize, and explain data
  • Predict the outcome of an investigation and analyze the results
  • Collaborate effectively to complete investigations and solve problems
  • Use evidence from real-world observations to demonstrate conceptual understanding
  • Communicate concepts and observations through writing and drawing

  During the year, third graders engage in a study of magnetism, where they experience and learn how to articulate the properties and uses of magnets. Magnetic levitation is an area of focus as the students design and test MagLev train models. During their study of ecosystems and habitats, students explore the biological interdependence and the structures of living things. Students participate in a design thinking challenge related to endangered species in which they identify the current habitat of an endangered animal, assess how its habitat might change in the future, and generate three strategies to help the species thrive again. Using systems and models, students examine our solar system and learn about each planet’s environment as compared to Earth.

  
  
  

• Digital Literacy

  Digital Literacy provides students with key technology skills that they need to be successful both in and out of the classroom. Students learn how to leverage technology to achieve their goals; they also learn how to be responsible digital citizens by using technology in safe, legal and ethical ways. Digital Literacy also focuses on learning how to use technology as a tool for productivity, with a focus on construction, design, thinking, communication, and collaboration. The Digital Literacy curriculum is based on the International Society for Technology in Education Student Standards.
  
  Each Lower School student has access to a Chromebook for use in all classes throughout the day, and students use a range of Google Education tools, including Gmail, Google Classroom, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Drawings, Sites, Jamboard, and Keep. Students also participate in activities that utilize tools including Seesaw, Adobe Spark, Common Sense Media, and a range of coding and keyboarding practice applications.

• World Languages: Spanish and French

  Fay’s Lower School French and Spanish program is based on F.L.E.S. (Foreign Language in the Elementary School). The F.L.E.S. methodologies are based on the developmental progression of first language acquisition, which involves the active use of and exposure to the language being learned. The learning style is hands-on and activity-based with textual support. Listening and speaking skills are emphasized through interactive activities such as games, choral repetition, TPR (Total Physical Response), acting out dialogues, and music. Through the use of Francophone and Hispanic children’s literature, students develop basic reading and writing skills. The study of culture continues to be a highlight of the program, as it allows the students to learn and appreciate French and Spanish speaking communities. The students are encouraged to use French or Spanish to express basic ideas and to participate in brief conversations. Throughout the Lower School program, students develop and expand the four language skills of reading, writing, listening, and speaking. 

  
  At the beginning of grade three, students are exposed to a thorough review of the lessons taught in prior years. New lessons address themes relating to everyday life and encourage interpersonal communication in the target language. Group activities, skits, music, and theme-based projects help students become more comfortable speaking the language and applying what they have learned. The program focuses on the development of listening and speaking skills, and by the end of the year, it is expected that students are able to communicate more comfortably in their chosen world language.
  

• Music

  The Lower School music program is based on the educational philosophy of Zoltán Kodály and incorporates other methods, including Orff and Dalcroze. Children acquire musical skills and appreciation through singing, speaking, listening, games, movement, music reading and writing, improvisation, composition, and playing instruments. Students also perform in school concerts and plays. Students are exposed to a repertoire of music from folk songs and world music to classical music. As music is a language of emotion, the music curriculum supports Fay’s core value of Wellness of Mind, Body, and Spirit by educating the child’s emotional intelligence.
  
  Music goals in grade three include review of all grade two concepts; identification of the absolute pitch names on the treble staff; understanding of the do pentatonic scale; understanding of movable do (do = G, F or C); understanding of sixteenth note/eighth note combinations, and identifying tones below do (the extended do pentatonic scale). Third grade students also begin to study soprano recorder.

• Art

  In grade three, the fruits of developing eye-hand coordination begin to appear in students’ work on a more sophisticated level. Students have more control over the media and can incorporate more detail into their work. They begin to explore the art history timeline as they look at cave art, Egyptian art, Greek and Roman art, African art, and Native American art.
  
  Students who successfully complete the third grade art program will be able to:

  • Use media and tools appropriately
  • Understand the role of art in history
  • Respect the space of other students
  • Care for their materials and maintain a clean workspace

• Physical Education

  The goal of grade three P.E. is to encourage a lifelong appreciation for physical fitness, health, and sport. Students continue the developmental sequence for movement, exploration, cooperation, cardiovascular fitness, and sportsmanship. Teachers assess each student and give an effort grade every two weeks, which is based upon each child’s daily level of effort and attentiveness.
  
  Students change into proper physical education attire at the beginning of each class. They begin with warm-ups and stretching exercises, where they practice basic motor skills such as running, skipping, hopping, jumping, sliding, galloping, throwing, catching, striking, and kicking. Students learn about team sports, in which teamwork, cooperation, sportsmanship, and skill development are an important part of the program. Games and activities in this grade are more structured and competitive by the end of the year to prepare students for fourth grade P.E. There is a strong emphasis placed on the rules, skills, strategies, and expectations of all sports.

• Wellness

  Learning about yourself and the ways you relate to others is the focus of Wellness education in the Lower School. In grade three, classes address a number of important topics such as advocating for one’s needs, expressing emotions appropriately, resolving conflicts, mindfulness, and accepting others’ differences. Classes are structured, safe, and consistent environments where students can develop communication skills, self control, and interpersonal problem solving skills.