Fluency:
This year we will begin digging deeper with our understanding while reading fiction and nonfiction texts. At this point in reading, students should be reading fluently (at least 70 words/min at the beginning of 3rd grade). FLUENCY is the key to COMPREHENSION!
Reading:
Your child will be receiving question stems to use at home while reading independently. Please use these questions stems to help them get familiar with the “wording” of these commonly used questions. They will see the question stems as they complete their homework each night. Completing reading homework every night is VERY IMPORTANT in order to give them extra practice and to get them familiar with the types of questions that WILL be asked on assessments!
Please refer to the link below to access the Common Core State Standards. Once you are there, you can navigate using the hyperlinks on the right side.
http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/
Writing:
Writing is an important part of learning. When students write, they are taking their learning to the next level of comprehension. This year we will be learning how to write various genres such as personal and imaginative narratives, journal writing, etc.
Writing WILL be a part of everyday activities, which makes our journals an integral part of our learning. We use our journals for many different reasons while we are reading such as to track our thoughts, ideas, and gather evidence through the use of stop-n-jots, stop-n-sketches, asking questions, growing ideas, charting information gathered from the text, etc. (just to name a few). The information gathered from reading helps students formulate ideas and/or opinions along with gathering evidence to support these ideas and/or opinions.
Each student WILL be required many times this year to compose a Brief Constructed Response (BCR) to their reading. Their journal entries will allow them to become successful with writing their BCR. Homework assignments should be written in BCR format. ALL students are in the process of learning how to write them in class. I expect for them to aim for the “bulls-eye” each time they write a BCR.
Vocabulary:
Vocabulary is developed through reading and every day usage. In 4th grade, we will be focusing on grade specific words that we can use every day and academic words that are geared toward specific subjects. In addition, we will be studying parts of words called roots (Greek and Latin) that will assist us with determining the meanings of words that we don’t know as we are reading. Students will be required to study these roots at home.
Social Studies:
The focus of the 3rd Grade Social Studies curriculum is Communities. We will be learning about how communities are comprised of diverse groups and how their contributions as citizens can have a huge impact on their community. In addition, they will also explore geography and how people in the community use the physical environment. For more detail, use the link below to access the Essential Standards.
http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/docs/acre/standards/new-standards/social-studies/3-5.pdf
This year we will begin digging deeper with our understanding while reading fiction and nonfiction texts. At this point in reading, students should be reading fluently (at least 70 words/min at the beginning of 3rd grade). FLUENCY is the key to COMPREHENSION!
Reading:
Your child will be receiving question stems to use at home while reading independently. Please use these questions stems to help them get familiar with the “wording” of these commonly used questions. They will see the question stems as they complete their homework each night. Completing reading homework every night is VERY IMPORTANT in order to give them extra practice and to get them familiar with the types of questions that WILL be asked on assessments!
Please refer to the link below to access the Common Core State Standards. Once you are there, you can navigate using the hyperlinks on the right side.
http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/
Writing:
Writing is an important part of learning. When students write, they are taking their learning to the next level of comprehension. This year we will be learning how to write various genres such as personal and imaginative narratives, journal writing, etc.
Writing WILL be a part of everyday activities, which makes our journals an integral part of our learning. We use our journals for many different reasons while we are reading such as to track our thoughts, ideas, and gather evidence through the use of stop-n-jots, stop-n-sketches, asking questions, growing ideas, charting information gathered from the text, etc. (just to name a few). The information gathered from reading helps students formulate ideas and/or opinions along with gathering evidence to support these ideas and/or opinions.
Each student WILL be required many times this year to compose a Brief Constructed Response (BCR) to their reading. Their journal entries will allow them to become successful with writing their BCR. Homework assignments should be written in BCR format. ALL students are in the process of learning how to write them in class. I expect for them to aim for the “bulls-eye” each time they write a BCR.
Vocabulary:
Vocabulary is developed through reading and every day usage. In 4th grade, we will be focusing on grade specific words that we can use every day and academic words that are geared toward specific subjects. In addition, we will be studying parts of words called roots (Greek and Latin) that will assist us with determining the meanings of words that we don’t know as we are reading. Students will be required to study these roots at home.
Social Studies:
The focus of the 3rd Grade Social Studies curriculum is Communities. We will be learning about how communities are comprised of diverse groups and how their contributions as citizens can have a huge impact on their community. In addition, they will also explore geography and how people in the community use the physical environment. For more detail, use the link below to access the Essential Standards.
http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/docs/acre/standards/new-standards/social-studies/3-5.pdf