Welcome to Third Grade!

Third grade is a huge year! We emphasize independence, accountability, self-control, and respect for self and others. We practice these personal growth traits while also focusing our academic development on many skills that will build the foundation for our future learning.

Our reading program is the Harcourt Storytown curriculum. In third grade, we continue to build reading fluency while working on comprehension techniques like predicting, questioning, inferring, connecting, and mental images. The selections in Storytown help us understand these techniques as well as genres, and an author’s purpose, while helping us build robust vocabulary and better understand our weekly spelling pattern.

Our spelling program in third grade is geared for success for everyone. Following our pretest on Monday morning, students build personalized spelling lists designed to meet their skill level. The lists use the prescribed Storytown words and the spelling theme being studied that week.

In addition to reading and spelling, our language arts program includes grammar practice to become more comfortable with parts of speech along with proper punctuation, and learning cursive writing. Our D’Nealian cursive handwriting program is provided by Scott Foresman.

Our math program changed last year to align with a nationwide effort to teach math with fewer topics in order to investigate each focus deeper. We will teach three topics this year: multiplication and division; fractions; and the geometry of two-dimensional shapes. We will continue to maintain addition and subtraction with and without regrouping, as well as, addition and subtraction facts. The text we will be using for math is the Scott Foresman enVision. Children are expected to know their multiplication facts through 12 by the end of the year.

Social studies curriculum is taught by Miss. Mac, our fourth grade teacher, while I teach fourth-graders religion. The focus of third grade social studies is on community, and the Portland community in particular. Students will learn many things about Portland and the surrounding area, as well as the importance of and responsibility associated with being a member of a community.

As with math last year, the science curriculum changes this year to three areas of focus: life cycles, space, and motion. We have adopted a new science textbook as a part of this process. The new text and accompanying program is published by Macmillan/McGraw-Hill and is titled Science - A Closer Look. We will learn and use the scientific method throughout the year as we investigate and explore many different themes within the three topics.

Blest Are We is the religion text published by RCL Benziger. We will learn much more about the church, prayer, service, and the Holy Spirit as we gain a better understanding of our purpose as God’s children.

To assist children in evaluating their week, they will complete a “Week-In-A-Peek.” This is your child’s opportunity for self-reflection about their behavior throughout the week, as well as three important things they have learned. This activity is completed entirely by your child and is a reflection of how they evaluate their own behavior, and what they have learned. I encourage you to use the Week-In-A-Peek as a tool to open dialogue with your child.

Letter grading begins in third grade. Assessments, projects, and reports will receive letter grades. Plus and minus marking codes will not be used. Grading will be as follows:

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About Ms. Glasgow
Hi, my name is Ms. Carol Glasgow. I received my Bachelor of Science degree in Resource Economics from Oregon State University in 1984. After working nearly 20 years in private industry, I returned to school and earned a Master in Teaching degree. I have taught in Portland area Catholic schools for nine years. I live in Portland’s east county near Blue Lake Park, and enjoy the many recreational opportunities available in the scenic Columbia River Gorge and Mount Hood. I am also very involved in community and church activities and services. I can be reached through the school office or by e-mail. Our Teaching Assistant this year is Mrs. Colette Rees. Mrs. Rees has been a member of the St. Clare community for many years and has a child attending middle school in the building.

Ms. Carol Glasgow
cglasgow@stclarepdx.org