In third grade students make the monumental transition from learning to read to reading to learn. Students have improved study skills, and are in the developmental transition of shifting thinking from concrete to abstract. In third grade more complex reading and writing expands upon students’ vocabulary. Third-graders will learn how to find information in dictionaries and other reference books. Independent reading emerges and students develop an understanding of a variety of more complex texts and their purpose. Students begin to write detailed essays and stories that flow logically and have a distinct beginning and end. Now, they are adding paragraphs or chapters to transition between ideas.
Third-grade students will continue to develop an understanding of multiplication and division and strategies for multiplication and division within 100. Students will develop an understanding of fractions, especially unit fractions (fractions with numerator 1). Mathematicians in third grade will develop an understanding of the structure of rectangular arrays and of area; and be able to describe and identify both two and three dimensional shapes.
Scientific experiments allow third-grade students to prove or disprove a hypothesis. Students will be asked to practice abstract thought to imagine the great beyond, learning about the solar system, the sun, and the moon. Third-graders practice learning where the states are on the map, and the names of the capitals for each. Lessons include maps and globes where they can locate places in their own neighborhood and across distant shores.