THIRD GRADE CURRICULUM NIGHT September 2012

Common Core and Essential Standards  Effective in all subject areas  WS/FCS began using Science and Social Studies Essential Standards last year.  Focus on what students “must know” and less on what would be “nice to know”  In depth knowledge and rigorous

English Language Arts  In this unit, students will ask and answer questions while reading and recounting a variety of texts and genres to better determine main idea, identify specific details within the text that support the main idea, and to clarify the meaning of new words. Students will also participate in a variety of collaborative discussion groups that will encompass discussion rules and manners, asking and answering questions for clarification,and explanation of own ideas. Through the use of narrative writing students will develop written products that show development of ideas and story structure.

English Language Arts  In this unit students will explicitly refer to text, both literary and informational, to support answers to questions. Students will engage in analyzing a variety of text features to gain understanding of characters; their traits, motivations, or feelings. They will formulate opinion pieces in writing. They will learn to state and support opinions with reasons through organizational structure that includes the use of research.

Mathematics  3.OA.8. Solve two-step word problems using the four operations. Represent these problems using equations with a letter standing for the unknown quantity. Assess the reasonableness of answers using mental computation and estimation strategies including rounding. 3  3.OA.9. Identify arithmetic patterns (including patterns in the addition table or multiplication table), and explain them using properties of operations. For example, observe that 4 times a number is always even, and explain why 4 times a number can be decomposed into two equal addends.  3.NBT.1. Use place value understanding to round whole numbers to the nearest 10 or 100.  3.NBT.2. Fluently add and subtract within 1000 using strategies and algorithms based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction.

Mathematics  3.MD.8. Solve real world and mathematical problems involving perimeters of polygons, including finding the perimeter given the side lengths, finding an unknown side length, and exhibiting rectangles with the same perimeter and different areas or with the same area and different perimeters.  3.NF.1. Understand a fraction 1/b as the quantity formed by 1 part when a whole is partitioned into b equal parts; understand a fraction a/b as the quantity formed by a parts of size 1/b.  3.NF.2. Understand a fraction as a number on the number line; represent fractions on a number line diagram.

Mathematics  3.NF.3. Explain equivalence of fractions in special cases, and compare fractions by reasoning about their size.  Understand two fractions as equivalent (equal) if they are the same size, or the same point on a number line.  Express whole numbers as fractions, and recognize fractions that are equivalent to whole numbers. Examples: Express 3 in the form 3 = 3/1; recognize that 6/1 = 6; locate 4/4 and 1 at the same point of a number line diagram  3.G.2. Partition shapes into parts with equal areas. Express the area of each part as a unit fraction of the whole. For example, partition a shape into 4 parts with equal area, and describe the area of each part as 1/4 of the area of the shape

Mathematics  3.MD.3. Draw a scaled picture graph and a scaled bar graph to represent a data set with several categories. Solve one- and two-step “how many more” and “how many less” problems using information presented in scaled bar graphs. For example, draw a bar graph in which each square in the bar graph might represent 5 pets.  3.MD.7. Relate area to the operations of multiplication and addition.  Find the area of a rectangle with whole-number side lengths by tiling it, and show that the area is the same as would be found by multiplying the side lengths.

Social Studies  Understand the earth’s patterns by using the 5 themes of geography:(location, place, human- environment interaction, movement and regions). Identify the absolute and relative location of places within the local community and region. Compare human and physical characteristics of a place. Exemplify how people adapt to, change and protect the environment to meet their needs. Explain how the movement of goods, people and ideas impact the community. Summarize the elements (cultural, demographic, economic and geographic) that define regions (community, state, nation and world). Compare various regions according to their characteristics

Science  Remember the function of the following structures as it relates to the survival of plants in their environments: Roots – absorb nutrients Stems – provide support Leaves – synthesize food Flowers – attract pollinators and produce seeds for reproduction  Explain how environmental conditions determine how well plants survive and grow.  Summarize the distinct stages of the life cycle of seed plants.  Explain how the basic properties (texture and capacity to hold water) and components (sand, clay and humus) of soil determine the ability of soil to support the growth and survival of many plants.