Our expectations are high for our third graders. We build on the social & emotional learning skills taught in previous years. We start to assign homework, and students are asked to continue to build good learning habits outside of the classroom. We continue to teach an inquiry-oriented mindset, and start to teach how to scope and sequence work.
You’ll find more information on our third grade plans below. Please scroll down, or click on a link, to learn more.
Please feel free to email your student’s teacher directly to discuss any questions or concerns.
Students learn about force and motion through practical applications!
Our field trips support our social studies curriculum
We will be working with our classmates on a number of projects in third grade. Working together well requires patience, empathy, focus, and determination. Students can expect to use and be hearing language that facilitates positive interactions among students, teachers, and parents. It is very important that students come to school everyday on time and ready to learn. This means that they have slept well, eaten well, brought the correct materials, completed all of your homework, and are ready to do their best. This will make the learning process all the more rewarding.
Our curriculum in third grade will include:
Students will continue learning foundational skills to become life-long readers and writers. They will share and record their responses to what they read during discussions and in their journals. Students will also communicate their ideas in a variety of written formats: friendly letters, research reports, biographies, and stories. It is important for students to practice reading EVERYDAY, and so will be expected to fill out a weekly reading log.
Our goal is for students to master their multiplication facts this year. As the year progresses, students will need those basic facts to be able to tackle word problems, and multiple step challenges.
Students will learn about Life Cycles as they study the metamorphosis of a monarch butterfly. They will learn about the habitat and adaptations of a number of animals, and will also focus on force and motion.
Our yearlong study of Chicago starts as students learn about the first inhabitants to the area, Native Americans. They will investigate the social, political, cultural, economic aspects of their daily lives, paying special attention to their relationships with the natural world.
As a Fine and Performing Arts Magnet School, we also strive to integrate the arts into the curriculum wherever possible. This means collaborating with our art, drama and dance teachers to deepen our understanding of subjects, and to broaden the ways in which we learn. In addition, we will engage students through a process of inquiry, which focuses on students developing their own questions, researching, and then sharing what they learned in a variety of ways.
Students learn through activity.
Though every day in third grade is a bit different, and we’re always learning new and interesting things, our typical day goes a lot like this:
8:45 - 9:10am - Literacy, including daily edit and independent reading
9:10 - 9:30am - Social Emotional learning, including our class community meeting
9:30 - 10:45am - Literacy, including reading workshops, reading aloud, and small group leveled reading
10:45 - 11:45am - Essentials classes
11:45 - 12:40pm - Recess & lunch
12:45 - 2:15pm - Math
2:15 - 3:15pm - Science & Social Sciences. Each week, we’ll spend 2 days on one subject and 3 days on another.
3:15 - 3:40pm - Writing.
Students in 3rd grade recieve standard letter grades in reading, writing, math, science and social studies.
Those grades are based on student performance in each subject, and weighted by the following percentiles:
Reading: Reading Response (Rubric) 25%, Reading Level 40%, Habits of Reading 10%, and End of Unit Assessments 25%
Science: Tests 25%, Notebooks 25%, Lab Sheets 25%, Inquiry Process 25%
Writing: Final Drafts 40%, Process 30%, Spelling Quizzes 20%, Daily Edit 10%
Social Studies: Notebooks 30%, Inquiry Process 30%, Summative Assessment 40%
Math: Tests 30%, Open Response 20%, Lessons 20%, Boxes 20%, Games 10%
Third grade field trips are a great way for parents to get involved with the class!
We welcome all parents, guardians and family of third graders to join our classroom community! You can join us in a variety of ways.
Our teachers send out a monthly newsletter. Please send them your email address to get the latest news and updates.
We need chaperones for our many field trips! This is a great way to meet other parents and students.
If you’re on Facebook, please join our class Facebook page. You’ll find playdate and party invites, discussions, and questions posted here. Please note that this is a closed Facebook group, so conversations are private, and we will ask you to confirm your student’s name.
We always need help getting organized. Please note that, per CPS policy, you do need to be a registered volunteer.
You can also send a note to our room parents for more great ways to get involved.
We take a lot of great field trips in 3rd grade! Please keep an eye out for updates from your teacher and room parents.
We appreciate your financial support of our classrooms!
We’ve sent out supply lists to all of our 2019-2020 third grade families. We ask each family to buy one thing (pencils, notebooks) for the whole class. This lowers costs for everyone and ensures every student has the supplies they need!
We wish our school supplies lasted all year. Since they don’t, our teachers may share lists of items they need replaced. If you can, please support our students with these additional purchases.
For larger classroom purchases, or for capital supplies like bookcases or seating, we request grants and funding from Donors Choose. Your support of our projects helps our students and may be tax deductible.
Parenting is never easy. We’re here to help.
Our school counselor provides counseling, free of charge, to all Ravenswood students. Families are encouraged to reach out at any time.
If you have any questions or concerns about your student’s schoolwork, classroom behavior, social & emotional skills, or academic performance, please feel free to email your teacher.
You can download introductory presentations from our teachers by clicking on the button below.
