Language Arts

We work on language arts most of the morning, starting with phonograms. Spelling dictation quickly follows and we typically have 30 words a week that are assessed every Friday. Dictation is important due to the fact that the kids sound out and segment each word and apply spelling rules. Writing comes next and consists of sentence building, vocabulary building, grammar, and many other areas outlined in the state standards. Cartwright School District has adopted the "Treasures" reading series as our reading curriculum and I am very excited to start using it. There are whole group and small group lessons with students being leveled according to reading ability in small group. I will be meeting with those students who are approaching grade level everyday for extra support and instruction. We focus on the mental actions involved with reading which include monitoring comprehension, making connections, and predicting. We read a variety of narrative and informative texts, during which we cover the state standards.

Math

Saxon math is a comprehensive program which covers most of the state standards. The standards that are not included in the program are supplemented by independent lesson created by me or by other third grade teachers. The math lessons begin with a math meeting that covers skip counting, calendar, time, money, temperature, patterns, and word problems. The lessons start with an introduction of the concept, followed by modeling, and then practice. Many include activities to gain a deeper understanding of the lesson and involves higher-level thinking. The lesson ends with guided practice which has six questions that review that day's lesson along with previously learned concepts. The other side of the guided practice is the homework. It is intentionally similar to the guided practice so that students can practice with support. Assessments are given after every 5 lessons.

Science

Cartwright School District uses FOSS kits for the science curriculum. The third grade kits cover the physics of sound during the first half of the year and earth materials during the last part of the year. We also study the layers of the earth and other areas within the standards.

Social Studies

My students typically do a project that explores a world culture. It's usually based on a student's own culture in our classroom. Other areas we cover is U.S. government, specifically the Bill of Rights, economics, and others that are based on Arizona's State Standards.