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Third Grade Standards of Learning

English | Math | Science | Social Studies

English

Oral Language

3.1 The student will use effective communication skills in group activities.

• Listen attentively by making eye contact, facing the speaker, asking questions, and summarizing what is said.
• Ask and respond to questions from teachers and other group members.
• Explain what has been learned.

3.2 The student will present brief oral reports.

• Speak clearly.
• Use appropriate volume and pitch.
• Speak at an understandable rate.
• Organize ideas sequentially or around major points of information.
• Use grammatically correct language and specific vocabulary to communicate ideas.

Reading

3.3 The student will apply word-analysis skills when reading.

• Use knowledge of all vowel patterns.
• Use knowledge of homophones.
• Decode regular multisyllabic words.

3.4 The student will use strategies to read a variety of fiction and nonfiction materials.

• Preview and use text formats.
• Set a purpose for reading.
• Apply meaning clues, language structure, and phonetic strategies.
• Use context to clarify meaning of unfamiliar words.
• Read fiction and nonfiction fluently and accurately.
• Reread and self-correct when necessary.

3.5 The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of fiction.

• Set a purpose for reading.
• Make connections between previous experiences and reading selections.
• Make, confirm, or revise predictions.
• Compare and contrast settings, characters, and events.
• Identify the author’s purpose.
• Ask and answer questions.
• Draw conclusions about character and plot.
• Organize information and events logically.
• Summarize major points found in fiction materials.
• Understand basic plots of fairy tales, myths, folktales, legends, and fables.

3.6 The student will continue to read and demonstrate comprehension of nonfiction.

• Identify the author's purpose.
• Make connections between previous experiences and reading selections.
• Ask and answer questions about what is read.
• Draw conclusions.
• Organize information and events logically.
• Summarize major points found in nonfiction materials.
• Identify the characteristics of biographies and autobiographies.
• Compare and contrast the lives of two persons as described in biographies and/or autobiographies.

3.7 The student will demonstrate comprehension of information from a variety of print resources.

• Use dictionary, glossary, thesaurus, encyclopedia, and other reference books, including online reference materials.
• Use available technology.

Writing

3.8 The student will write legibly in cursive.

3.9 The student will write descriptive paragraphs.

• Develop a plan for writing.
• Focus on a central idea.
• Group related ideas.
• Include descriptive details that elaborate the central idea.
• Revise writing for clarity.

3.10 The student will write stories, letters, simple explanations, and short reports across all content areas.

• Use a variety of planning strategies.
• Organize information according to the type of writing.
• Identify the intended audience.
• Revise writing for specific vocabulary and information.
• Use available technology.

3.11 The student will edit writing for correct grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.

• Use complete and varied sentences.
• Use the word I in compound subjects.
• Use past and present verb tense.
• Use singular possessives.
• Use commas in a simple series.
• Use simple abbreviations.
• Use apostrophes in contractions with pronouns.
• Use correct spelling for high-frequency sight words, including irregular plurals.
  

Number and Number Sense

3.1 The student will read and write six-digit numerals and identify the place value for each digit.

3.2 The student will round a whole number, 9,999 or less, to the nearest ten, hundred, and thousand.

3.3 The student will compare two whole numbers between 0 and 9,999, using symbols (>, <, or = ) and words (greater than, less than, or equal to).

3.4 The student will recognize and use the inverse relationships between addition/subtraction and multiplication/division to complete basic fact sentences. Students will use these relationships to solve problems such as 5 + 3 = 8 and 8 - 3 = ____.

3.5 The student will

• divide regions and sets to represent a fraction;
• name and write the fractions represented by a given model (area/region, length/measurement, and set). Fractions (including mixed numbers) will include halves, thirds, fourths, eighths, and tenths.

3.6 The student will compare the numerical value of two fractions having like and unlike denominators, using concrete or pictorial models involving areas/regions, lengths/measurements, and sets.

3.7 The student will read and write decimals expressed as tenths and hundredths, using concrete materials and models.

Computation and Estimation

3.8 The student will solve problems involving the sum or difference of two whole numbers, each 9,999 or less, with or without regrouping, using various computational methods, including calculators, paper and pencil, mental computation, and estimation.

3.9 The student will recall the multiplication and division facts through the nines table.

3.10 The student will represent multiplication and division, using area and set models, and create and solve problems that involve multiplication of two whole numbers, one factor 99 or less and the second factor 5 or less.

3.11 The student will add and subtract with proper fractions having like denominators of 10 or less, using concrete materials and pictorial models representing areas/regions, lengths/measurements, and sets.

3.12 The student will add and subtract with decimals expressed as tenths, using concrete materials, pictorial representations, and paper and pencil.

Measurement

3.13 The student will determine by counting the value of a collection of bills and coins whose total value is $5.00 or less, compare the value of the coins or bills, and make change.

3.14 The student will estimate and then use actual measuring devices with metric and U.S. Customary units to measure

• length - inches, feet, yards, centimeters, and meters;
• liquid volume - cups, pints, quarts, gallons, and liters;
• weight/mass - ounces, pounds, grams, and kilograms.

3.15 The student will tell time to the nearest five-minute interval and to the nearest minute, using analog and digital clocks.

3.16 The student will identify equivalent periods of time, including relationships among days, months, and years, as well as minutes and hours.

3.17 The student will read temperature to the nearest degree from a Celsius thermometer and a Fahrenheit thermometer. Real thermometers and physical models of thermometers will be used.

Geometry

3.18 The student will analyze two-dimensional (plane) and three-dimensional (solid) geometric figures (circle, square, rectangle, triangle, cube, rectangular solid [prism], square pyramid, sphere, cone, and cylinder) and identify relevant properties, including the number of corners, square corners, edges, and the number and shape of faces, using concrete models.

3.19 The student will identify and draw representations of line segments and angles, using a ruler or straightedge.

3.20 The student, given appropriate drawings or models, will identify and describe congruent and symmetrical, two-dimensional (plane) figures, using tracing procedures.

Probability and Statistics

3.21 The student, given grid paper, will

• collect and organize data on a given topic of his/her choice, using observations, measurements, surveys, or experiments;
• construct a line plot, a picture graph, or a bar graph to represent the results. Each graph will include an appropriate title and key.

3.22 The student will read and interpret data represented in line plots, bar graphs, and picture graphs and write a sentence analyzing the data.

3.23 The student will investigate and describe the concept of probability as chance and list possible results of a given situation.

Patterns, Functions, and Algebra

3.24 The student will recognize and describe a variety of patterns formed using concrete objects, numbers, tables, and pictures, and extend the pattern, using the same or different forms (concrete objects, numbers, tables, and pictures).

3.25 The student will

• investigate and create patterns involving numbers, operations (addition and multiplication), and relations that model the identity and commutative properties for addition and multiplication; and
• demonstrate an understanding of equality by recognizing that the equal sign (=) links equivalent quantities, such as 4 • 3 = 2 • 6.

Scientific Investigation, Reasoning, and Logic

3.1 The student will plan and conduct investigations in which

• predictions and observations are made;
• objects with similar characteristics are classified into at least two sets and two subsets;
• questions are developed to formulate hypotheses;
• volume is measured to the nearest milliliter and liter;
• length is measured to the nearest centimeter;
• mass is measured to the nearest gram;
• data are gathered, charted, and graphed (line plot, picture graph, and bar graph);
• temperature is measured to the nearest degree Celsius;
• time is measured to the nearest minute;
• inferences are made and conclusions are drawn;
• natural events are sequenced chronologically.

Force, Motion, and Energy

3.2 The student will investigate and understand simple machines and their uses. Key concepts include

• types of simple machines (lever, screw, pulley, wheel and axle, inclined plane, and wedge);
• how simple machines function;
• compound machines (scissors, wheelbarrow, and bicycle);
• examples of simple and compound machines found in the school, home, and work environment.

Matter

3.3 The student will investigate and understand that objects are made of materials that can be described by their physical properties. Key concepts include

• objects are made of one or more materials;
• materials are composed of parts that are too small to be seen without magnification;
• physical properties remain the same as the material is reduced in size.

Life Processes

3.4 The student will investigate and understand that behavioral and physical adaptations allow animals to respond to life needs. Key concepts include

• methods of gathering and storing food, finding shelter, defending themselves, and rearing young;
• hibernation, migration, camouflage, mimicry, instinct, and learned behavior.

Living Systems

3.5 The student will investigate and understand relationships among organisms in aquatic and terrestrial food chains. Key concepts include

• producer, consumer, decomposer;
• herbivore, carnivore, omnivore;
• predator - prey.

3.6 The student will investigate and understand that environments support a diversity of plants and animals that share limited resources. Key concepts include

• water-related environments (pond, marshland, swamp, stream, river, and ocean environments);
• dry-land environments (desert, grassland, rain forest, and forest environments);
• population and community.

Interrelationships in Earth/Space Systems

3.7 The student will investigate and understand the major components of soil, its origin, and importance to plants and animals including humans. Key concepts include

• soil provides the support and nutrients necessary for plant growth;
• topsoil is a natural product of subsoil and bedrock;
• rock, clay, silt, sand, and humus are components of soils;
• soil is a natural resource and should be conserved.

Earth Patterns, Cycles, and Change

3.8 The student will investigate and understand basic patterns and cycles occurring in nature. Key concepts include

• patterns of natural events (day and night, seasonal changes, phases of the moon, and tides);
• animal and plant life cycles.

3.9 The student will investigate and understand the water cycle and its relationship to life on Earth. Key concepts include

• the energy from the sun drives the water cycle;
• processes involved in the water cycle (evaporation, condensation, precipitation);
• water is essential for living things;
• water supply and water conservation.

Resources

3.10 The student will investigate and understand that natural events and human influences can affect the survival of species. Key concepts include

• the interdependency of plants and animals;
• human effects on the quality of air, water, and habitat;
• the effects of fire, flood, disease, and erosion on organisms;
• conservation and resource renewal.

3.11 The student will investigate and understand different sources of energy. Key concepts include

• the sun's ability to produce light and heat energy;
• sources of energy (sunlight, water, wind);
• fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas) and wood;
• renewable and nonrenewable energy resources.

History

3.1 The student will explain how the contributions of ancient Greece and Rome have influenced the present world in terms of architecture, government (direct and representative democracy), and sports.

3.2 The student will study the early West African empire of Mali by describing its oral tradition (storytelling), government (kings), and economic development (trade).

3.3 The student will study the exploration of the Americas by

• describing the accomplishments of Christopher Columbus, Juan Ponce de Léon, Jacques Cartier, and Christopher Newport;
• identifying reasons for exploring, the information gained, and the results from the travels.

Geography

3.4 The student will develop map skills by

• locating Greece, Rome, and West Africa;
• describing the physical and human characteristics of Greece, Rome, and West Africa;
• explaining how the people of Greece, Rome, and West Africa adapted to and/or changed their environment to meet their needs.

3.5 The student will develop map skills by

• positioning and labeling the seven continents and four oceans to create a world map;
• using the equator and prime meridian to identify the four hemispheres;
• locating the countries of Spain, England, and France;
• locating the regions in the Americas explored by Christopher Columbus (San Salvador in the Bahamas), Juan Ponce de Léon (near St. Augustine, Florida), Jacques Cartier (near Quebec, Canada), and Christopher Newport (Jamestown, Virginia);
• locating specific places on a simple letter-number grid system.

3.6 The student will interpret geographic information from maps, tables, graphs, and charts.

Economics

3.7 The student will explain how producers use natural resources (water, soil, wood, and coal), human resources (people at work), and capital resources (machines, tools, and buildings) to produce goods and services for consumers.

3.8 The student will recognize the concepts of specialization (being an expert in one job, product, or service) and interdependence (depending on others) in the production of goods and services (in ancient Greece, Rome, the West African empire of Mali, and in the present).

3.9 The student will identify examples of making an economic choice and will explain the idea of opportunity cost (what is given up when making a choice).

Civics

3.10 The student will recognize why government is necessary in the classroom, school, and community by

• explaining the purpose of rules and laws;
• explaining that the basic purposes of government are to make laws, carry out laws, and decide if laws have been broken;
• explaining that government protects the rights and property of individuals.

3.11 The student will explain the importance of the basic principles that form the foundation of a republican form of government by

• describing the individual rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and equality under the law;
• identifying the contributions of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Rosa Parks, Thurgood Marshall, and Martin Luther King, Jr.;
• recognizing that Veterans Day and Memorial Day honor people who have served to protect the country’s freedoms.

3.12 The student will recognize that Americans are a people of diverse ethnic origins, customs, and traditions, who are united by the basic principles of a republican form of government and respect for individual rights and freedoms.

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