Grade 3

In third grade, children deepen their understanding of core subjects such as math, reading, and writing, while also exploring more complex topics in science and social studies. They'll engage in hands-on learning experiences and collaborative projects to enhance problem-solving skills and critical thinking abilities, preparing them for academic success and lifelong learning.

In third grade, students will attend art and the school library one time per week.  They will also have the guidance counselor provide instruction in their classroom every other week.  Students will attend PE two times a week. Students will attend music three times per week.  Breakfast and lunch are offered for first grade students.  Students will have multiple opportunities for brain breaks and recess throughout their day.

Examples of Your Child’s Work at School:

• Compare the most important points and key details presented in two books about the same topic.

• Independently conduct short research projects that build knowledge about various topics.

• Ask and answer questions about information they hear from a speaker or while participating in classroom discussions; and offer appropriate elaboration and details that build on what others have said.

• Read stories and poems aloud fluently, without pausing to figure out what each word means.

•  Distinguish the literal and nonliteral meanings of words, such as “something’s fishy” and “cold shoulder.”

• Spell correctly and consult a dictionary to clarify the meanings of words.

How to Help Your Child at Home:

• Make reading for fun a part of your child’s daily routine. Set aside quiet time, with no phones, computers, or other distractions, when your child can read for pleasure.
• Encourage your child to find a picture from a newspaper or magazine, cut it out, paste it on paper, and write a story about it.
• Start a family vocabulary box or jar. Have everyone write down new words they discover, add them to the box, and use the words in conversation.

The most important topics are multiplication, division and fractions, which are the building blocks for many skills, such as percentages, that students will learn in later grades. Students also need to master these topics to be ready for algebra and advanced math, so it is essential to get a good start.

Examples of Your Child’s Work at School:

• Multiply and divide up to 10 × 10, and know the times tables from memory.

• Solve word problems by using addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

•  Begin to multiply numbers that have more than one digit (e.g., multiply 9 × 80).

•  Understand fractions and how they relate to the familiar system of whole numbers (e.g.,recognize that the fraction ½ lies on the number line between the whole numbers 0
  and 1; recognize that 3/1 and 3 are the same number).

• Develop reasoning in regard to shapes and their attributes (e.g., shapes that share an attribute, such as those with four sides, fit into a category called quadrilaterals).

• Find perimeter and area of shapes and relate area to multiplication (e.g., why is the number of square feet for a 9-foot-by-7-foot room given by the product 9 × 7).

How to Help Your Child at Home:

• Notice those everyday occasions when you use times tables, such as determining how many days there are in four weeks. Ask your child for the answer.
• Involve your child when you use division to “work backward” in the times tables. For example, determine how many candies each child will get if 36 candies are shared equally among nine children at a party, or determine how many six-inch lengths can be cut from a string 18 inches long.

In third grade, students use their advancing understanding and skills to study the interactions in earth systems, environments, humans, and the designed world. They begin to formulate answers to questions such as: “How do equal and unequal forces on an object affect the object? How can the impact of weather-related hazards be reduced? How do organisms vary in their traits? What happens to organisms when their environment changes? How can magnets be used?”  Third grade students use and develop models and organize data when investigating how different entities and systems interact and influence behaviors, reactions, and traits of various organisms.

Examples of Your Child’s Work at School:

• Plan and conduct investigations to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion or to predict future motion.

• Develop models of the life cycles of various plants and animals to identify commonalities and differences.

• Explore how plants, animals, and environments of the past are similar to or different from current plants, animals and environments.

• Organize and use data to describe typical weather conditions expected during a particular season and to describe climates in different regions of the world.

How to Help Your Child at Home:

• Keep track of temperature and rainfall over several seasons to identify and describe patterns.
• If you travel to other places, help your child identify similarities and differences in climate.

• Provide a variety of magnets for your child to use in exploration. Ask your child to identify if the strength of a magnet is always related to the size of the magnet.

• Visit zoos and parks and use hiking, biking and cross-country trails. Observe groups of animals and discuss how the group works together to help all members survive. Identify as many different plants and animals as possible and encourage your child to discover more information about plants or animals he/she is particularly interested in.

In third grade, students study how and why people move from one place to another with the theme “Immigration and Migration.” Students look at the geographic, political, and cultural reasons that people move to a new place as well as what they experience during the transition. They understand that a society is a complex and a changing place shaped by laws and the civic virtues of the citizens who live there.

Examples of Your Child’s Work at School:

• Compare individual cultural traits to those of other diverse groups and the treatment of various groups of people in the past to the present.

• Describe how rules and laws impact society.

• Use geographic tools to explain how the characteristics of a place might impact migration. 

• Investigate historical patterns by focusing on the cause and effect of events within the history of Iowa and the United States.

•  Use deliberative and democratic procedures to take action to address local, regional, national, or global problems.

How to Help Your Child at Home:

•  Visit museums and cultural institutions, and discuss the causes and effects of events.

• Expose children to a wide variety of careers and interests.

• Attend local community celebrations and talk about the cultural practices that make that community unique. Look for the unique foods that people from different cultures enjoy.

What Are 21st Century Skills?
21st-century skills are essential knowledge, life abilities, career aptitudes, habits, and traits crucial for student success in the modern world. WDMCS creates age-appropriate learning opportunities to grow these skills in all students.

Your child will continue to practice fitness skills and begin to understand the long-term benefits of being physically active. Students will learn to accept constructive criticism, strive to complete high-quality work and collaborate with classmates. They will explore concepts related to good financial decision making and responsible citizenship.

Examples of Your Child’s Work at School:

•  Identify opportunities for leadership and service in the classroom, school, state and nation.

• Apply prior knowledge of technology to learning how to use new technologies/software.

• Identify and organize materials needed for a task.

• Explain the difference between short-term and long-term financial goals and why it is important to have both.

How to Help Your Child at Home:

• Help your child select physical activities to keep moving and have fun.
• Show your child how to appropriately use technology to find games, activities and information.