Third Grade

Mrs. Heather Johnson

Mrs. Johnson loves that she gets to be a part of a child's journey, watching them grow, thrive and succeed at their own pace academically and spiritually. Mrs. Johnson and her husband have two children. They enjoy going on family runs, bike rides, and attending OKC Blazers hockey games. She also enjoys reading and sewing. Mrs. Johnson feels blessed to be able to teach in a Lutheran School and share her gifts and love of God with others.

3rd Grade Overview

Our curriculum aligns with and often exceeds the Oklahoma State Standards for instruction.

The Integrating the Faith (Concordia Publishing House) curriculum helps to incorporate Christian living in all of our subject areas, even when there is a secular perspective.

Language Arts
The McGraw Hill curriculum is the basis for our reading, grammar, writing, and spelling instruction. Other resources are also utilized.

Reading
Expanding on newly acquired reading skills is a primary objective in third grade. Emphasis is placed on developing efficient decoding strategies, vocabulary, and comprehension. Phonics and structural analysis of words are used to decode unknown words. Students apply comprehension strategies (making connections, formulating questions, visualizing, using context clues, and summarizing) as they read a variety of genres. We use guided reading and selected novel studies as well as the basal reader. The Accelerated Reader program is used to assess individual reading levels and comprehension. Students are given a reading goal to earn each nine weeks. 100 minutes of outside reading time is required each week.

In third grade, the focus of reading shifts from learning to read, to reading to learn.

English
We focus on grammar skills: sentence types, capitalization, punctuation, word usage and expression, the parts of speech, and apply these skills in the writing process.

Students learn to write a well developed paragraph with a main idea and supporting details. Student experiences in writing include poetry, narratives, descriptive, letters, and journal entries.

Spelling
Weekly spelling words focus on different types of word patterns. When appropriate, lists are individualized to accommodate student levels. Spelling practice is given daily, and tests are given weekly.

Handwriting
Cursive handwriting is taught from the very beginning of the year and is practiced throughout the entire school year. Near the end of the year, children will be completing all written assignments in cursive.

Math
We use the Saxon Incremental Math Series to emphasize math concepts, process skills and problem solving. Students focus on whole numbers up to 10,000, fractions, place value, geometry, decimals, money, measurement, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, estimating, word problems, graphing, and probability. Basic Math skills are practiced daily with timed tests. Students are expected to memorize the multiplication facts.

Social Studies
The McGraw Hill series, Communities, is used. We learn about similarities and differences among some communities of our country and world. An understanding of the importance of natural resources in the development of communities is taught. We examine the purposes of government, and the rights and responsibilities of individuals in and to their communities. Geography and map skills are also taught. Students will know the seven continents, four major oceans, and use the Equator and Prime Meridian to identify the four hemispheres. A study of Oklahoma history is completed near the end of the year.

Science
The Scott-Foresman Series is used to help develop the processes of science including observing, predicting, measuring, experimenting, collecting and interpreting data. Units of Life Science (Plants, Animals, Ecosystems and Environments, Systems of the Human Body), Earth Science (Water Cycle, Weather, Earth’s Surface , Natural Resources), Physical Science (Matter and Heat, Electricity and Magnetism, Sound and Light, Motion and Simple Machines), and Space and Technology are studied.

Bible
Christian education is incorporated into all subject areas. We use the Concordia Publishing House series Voyages: Exploring God’s Word. Students learn through study of the Old and New Testaments. Memory is assigned each week. Students memorize Bible verses, the Books of the Bible, Ten Commandments, the Apostle’s Creed. The importance of our salvation as God’s gift through faith in Jesus Christ is the key element in our Bible studies. We have daily prayer and devotion time and attend chapel once a week. As a ministry outreach we visit the elderly in a local nursing home several times throughout the school year to share God’s love in word and song.

Computer/Technology
Third graders go to the computer lab each week for instruction in keyboarding. We use Type to Learn 3 series. Students also use Easy Tech which is a leveled, self-paced program covering basic computer terminology and skills. Students are taught how to access and use the Internet as a resource.

Other Subject Areas
Students go to Music and Physical Education twice a week. They have Art and Library once a week.

Communication/Parent Involvement
A vital part of a successful school year is open and consistent communication between home and school. A weekly newsletter is sent home containing information on the week’s activities and any test/project assignments. Agendas are used daily. Student progress is formally discussed over report cards at parent/teacher conferences held at the end of the first and third quarters. Mid-quarter grade reports are also sent home for all students each quarter. Parents are encouraged to discuss any aspect of their child’s learning throughout the year by phone, meetings, or e-mail. Taking an active role in your child’s Christian education is an important part of the home/school relationship.