Third grade is an exciting, transitional grade for the children at MNS. In social studies, they study Asia and China extensively. They learn about China’s rich history and culture, and how the geography affects the people, economy and daily life.  They enjoy incorporating the arts and dance to understand China’s culture. This year the grade participated in a ribbon dance workshop, and a Chinese paper-cutting workshop. They culminated this year’s study with gorgeous murals and essays depicting their knowledge of this important country.  They continue learning about other cultures throughout the year, and small groups work together to do research on a variety of countries in South America, Asia, Europe and Africa. They end the year learning about the history of our area, and study the Eastern Woodland Indians.

Throughout the year, the students are invested in a variety of literary units. They learn skills to read both fiction and non-fiction, and learn the features of both genres.  They are encouraged to express their thoughts and reactions to the texts they read, and to show evidence from the text to support their ideas. Partnerships, and book clubs foster rich conversations of the books that our third graders read.

Our students learn to express themselves as writers and write in a variety of genres throughout the year. They enjoy beginning the year writing personal stories, and they learn the characteristics of the elements of a complete story. They write daily in their writer’s notebook, and generate territory topics to help them have ideas to write about.  As a grade we also study feature articles, poetry and learn crafting techniques from mentor authors.