Academics

Third Grade

Third graders bring increased attention spans and capacity for inquiry to new learning opportunities this year, featuring activities ranging from student-led hand-puppet book reports, testing wind theory with an afternoon of kite flying, and making home-made applesauce from the seed to the spoon.

Our third grade homeroom teachers provide instruction in Language Arts, Math, and Social Studies.

Homeroom

Language Arts

• Literary excerpts for reading discussion
• Higher-level thinking skills of predicting, summarizing, comparing and evaluating
• Spelling
• Book reports with oral/written presentations
• Composition/creative writing with proofreading
• Cursive penmanship
• Poetry
• Listening and oral communication skills

Math

• Addition and subtraction up to five digits with regrouping
• Multiplication, division
• Column computation
• Logical thinking and reasoning
• Equation concepts
• Tables, graphs, fractions
• Algebraic functions, basic geometry
• Area and perimeter
• Measurement: time and money

Social Studies

• Themes related to the traditions, cultural events and history of countries around the world
• Comparing and contrasting lifestyles
• Identifying map elements and understanding geographic terms

Enrichments

Drama

Students learn the fundamentals of performance during 8 weeks of rehearsing a full-length musical theater performance. Each student gains self-confidence by actively performing on the stage. The students' efforts culminate in a final production with two live performances for students and parents.
• Learn memorization, characterization
• Develop acting and performance skills including music and singing, timing and choreography
• Learn costuming, set design, stage balance and stage directions
Drama teacher, 8 week unit

Music

Music at ACS incorporates tonal instruments, dance, and voice in the Orff Program.
• Basic music theory as a foundation for reading music
• Integrate movement and dance while developing their voices and discovering the joy of singing
• Learn the songs of our country and other cultures
• Experience the beauty of great works of music and learn about the composers who wrote them
Art teacher, 1 class per week

Art

Students explore their unique creative abilities while they experience and develop artistic skills using a variety of media and subjects; student artwork is displayed in ASSETS, our school-wide talent show, and in a variety of local art exhibitions.
Enrichment teacher, 2 classes per week

French

• Expand vocabulary and grammar
• Oral dialogue and role-play
• Integrate with Social Studies; French-speaking countries around the world
• Learn about French family life, culture and traditions
• Study of French Impressionist painters
French teacher, 2 classes per week

Science

• Data collection, using maps and graphs
• Cause and effect of natural events and human influence
• Energy as applied to objects and work
• Cartography and geography
• Biomes around the world
• Newton's laws of motion
• States of matter
• Earth and moon, including a visit to the Star Lab
Science teacher, 3 classes per week

Technology

Students visit our fully-equipped computer lab to learn about technology and apply skills. Third grade students use the lab’s Promethean ActivBoard and classroom iPads for projects, research, and demonstrations.
Technology teacher, with lab visits as scheduled

Library

Third grade students visit the library once a week. Our full-time librarian reads stories to the class, and students are encouraged to check out books to bring home.
Librarian, 1 class per week

Physical Education

Regular weekly P.E. instruction builds fitness, coordination and skill progression, while increasing students' readiness to learn in all subjects.
P.E. teacher, 3 classes per week
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And that’s not all …

In addition to its developmentally based instructional program and a wide selection of enrichment activities, ACS features special co-curricular activities that supplement instruction at every grade level:
 

ASSETS

Our All School Student Exhibition and Talent Showcase (ASSETS) has been a popular ACS tradition for more than a decade. This three-day event is a lively celebration of student success and skills in a wide variety of activities. Each May, ASSETS exhibits and performances highlight school artwork, enrichment projects and unique performing talents of individual students and groups across the grade levels.

Fall Fun

Third grade students create scarecrows in partnership with second grade students as part of their Fall science unit. The completed scarecrows are scattered throughout the garden and used as decoration during the annual Pumpkin Carving school-wide family party. In addition to scarecrows, third graders conduct a hands-on autumn science activity using the school’s organic garden. They start by tending the garden’s orchard section, harvesting the apples when they ripen; after washing and peeling them with an old-fashioned apple peeler they process them into apple sauce that they enjoy at the project’s end.
 

Field Trips

Third grade students embark on one or more offsite field trips during the year. In recent years, they had a behind-the-scenes tour of the San Francisco Zoo, a guided nature hike through Uvas Canyon, and an afternoon watching “The Nutcracker” ballet.

Kite Day

In the early Spring, students, teachers and parents gather on the playground to fly kites in an effort to apply their tests of wind theory, which they’ve been studying in science. The Kite Day tradition is marked by bright sunshine, big smiles, and ACS science in action.

International Faire

International Fair is a culmination activity for third graders who have spent their year traveling the globe in the classroom. Across the continents, they’ve learned about culture, history, geography and literature. Students travel from booth to booth with passports to learn about the traditions, customs and food of various countries around the world. Proud parents and family members staff the booths and bring family heirlooms, old photographs and home-made food from their family’s heritage to share with the students.