Curriculum

RELIGION

Students learn about how to be followers of Jesus through Scripture stories and discussions of real life situations in which we are called to be disciples of Jesus.  They understand that the Holy Spirit was sent as a sign of strength and courage for us.  Third graders study the Sacraments of Healing, Initiation, and Service.  Students learn and study the seasons of the Church year and recognize the importance of each season’s meaning.  Students identify the marks of the Church and learn what it means to be one, holy, catholic, and apostolic.  Students learn and study the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Rosary.  They learn about the lives of the saints.  Third graders are given the opportunity to participate in weekly Mass and to serve as ministers in their class Mass.

Texts Used:
We Believe

LANGUAGE ARTS

Phonics and Spelling Program:

Our phonics and spelling program is tailored to enhance your child’s literacy skills. Using a systematic approach, 3rd graders engage in interactive lessons that reinforce phonetic principles and spelling rules. Through hands-on activities and targeted exercises, students develop proficiency in decoding words and spelling with confidence with weekly spelling tests.

Vocabulary Workshop Book:

Our vocabulary workshop book introduces an array of activities to enrich your child’s word knowledge. Students delve into synonym and antonym exercises, expanding their vocabulary while honing their understanding of word relationships. Completing sentence activities provide practical application, fostering language comprehension. Regular practice quizzes ensure continuous reinforcement of learned concepts.

Common Core Reading and Writing Program:

Aligned with Common Core standards, our reading and writing program focuses on small group instruction to cater to individual learning needs. Guided reading sessions enhance comprehension skills, while writing activities encourage creative expression and structured composition. Our goal is to nurture well-rounded readers and writers who can confidently tackle diverse texts and articulate their thoughts effectively.

Grammar Program:

In our grammar program, students embark on a comprehensive journey through language structure. They listen to engaging presentations that demystify grammatical concepts, followed by hands-on workbook activities for practical application. The program includes thoughtful reviews to solidify understanding, culminating in quizzes to assess mastery. This dynamic approach ensures that students grasp grammar fundamentals with depth and clarity.

Texts Used:
Grammar – Not So Wimpy Teacher

Sadlier Vocabulary Workshop

Being a Writer

Common Core Progress – English Language Arts

MATH

Students identify place value, ordinal position to twentieth, skip count by whole numbers, and compare and order numbers.  They also identify and compare patterns and solve a variety of word problems.  By the end of third grade, students master all the basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts.  They add and subtract multi-digit numbers.  They also learn to multiply a multi-digit number by a single-digit number as well as divide by single-digit divisors.  Students practice picturing, naming, and ordering fractions with like denominators.  They add and subtract fractions with common denominators.  Third graders also measure to the nearest inch, half-inch, and quarter-inch.  They measure perimeter and area and identify volume.  They learn to tell time to the minute and determine elapsed time.  Students count money and make change for a dollar.  They also explore geometry units to identify lines of symmetry, polygons, and the different types of angles.  Students in third grade also identify function rules, graph ordered pairs on a coordinate graph, and tally, create, read, and write observations from real graphs, pictographs, bar graphs, and line graphs.

Text Used:
Math Expressions

SCIENCE

SOCIAL STUDIES

Welcome to the world of Social Studies Alive! TCI – where the past comes to life, and learning becomes an interactive adventure. Our 3rd-grade social studies program is designed to engage students through group projects, dynamic Google Slides presentations, and a comprehensive exploration of the 3rd-grade social studies standards.

Hands-On Learning through Group Projects:

At the core of Social Studies Alive! TCI is the belief that history is best learned through active participation. Students dive into group projects, where they collaborate, investigate, and present their findings. These hands-on experiences not only reinforce historical concepts but also develop teamwork, communication, and critical thinking skills.

Digital Creativity with Google Slides Projects:

In an ever-evolving digital landscape, our program integrates technology seamlessly. Students engage in Google Slides projects, allowing them to showcase their understanding of social studies topics in a visually compelling way. This digital approach not only aligns with modern educational practices but also empowers students to express their creativity and present information effectively.

Meeting 3rd Grade Social Studies Standards:

Social Studies Alive! TCI is crafted to align with and exceed 3rd-grade social studies standards. The curriculum covers key historical events, cultural developments, and geographical concepts. Through engaging lessons, students gain a profound understanding of the world around them, fostering a sense of connection to the past and present.

Interactive and Inclusive Learning Environment:

Our program promotes an interactive and inclusive learning environment. Social Studies Alive! TCI caters to diverse learning styles, ensuring that every student can actively participate and thrive. Whether through lively class discussions, hands-on activities, or collaborative projects, we strive to make social studies a subject that captivates and resonates with each student.

Text Used:
Social Studies Alive! TCI

DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL SKILLS

Social skills are a daily part of our school community. Social skills include: following instructions, greeting others, getting the teacher’s attention, accepting no for an answer, accepting a consequence, staying on task, disagreeing appropriately, listening, working as a team, sharing, asking for permission, and saying an apology.

SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING PROGRAM

The Sanford Harmony Program is implemented in grades TK-8 and its core value is to build healthy peer relationships inside and outside of the classroom. The goal of Sanford Harmony is to create inclusive classroom communities, where teaching takes priority over resolving personality conflicts or issues among students. Students are empowered to communicate, cooperate, connect, embrace diversity, and resolve conflict. Students are taught meaningful and productive ways to interact and express themselves, which are irreplaceable skills that will last a lifetime.

TECHNOLOGY

Stella Maris Academy is dedicated to modern education by equipping every student in grades 3 through 8 with Chromebooks. This empowers students to excel in a digital era, fostering personalized learning experiences that encourage critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration. With Chromebooks, students engage in interactive lessons, explore diverse topics, and create and share knowledge through online platforms and applications. By integrating technology responsibly, we prepare our students to be digital citizens who navigate the digital world with integrity. Our commitment to Chromebooks reflects our mission to provide a well-rounded education that cultivates academic excellence and essential 21st-century digital literacy skills.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Our physical education curriculum is composed of physical fitness fundamentals, motion skills and movement, social skills and sportsmanship. Basic skills that enhance balance, endurance, strength and agility activities, ball-handling skills individually, with partners and in groups, and rope jumping are taught. Each skill involves creative thinking, sportsmanship, fairness, cooperation and following directions.

FINE ARTS

Stella Maris Academy provides a challenging, coherent, and relevant art curriculum, the goal of which is to help students experience and appreciate art and the beauty of the world around them, and to lead them to discover unique and constructive methods of self-expression. In keeping with the diocesan guidelines for a fine arts curriculum, Stella Maris Academy includes in its visual arts curriculum for each grade level elements of four components:  (1) exploration of the visual elements and principles of art and design, including line, color, shape, and composition, (2) creative expression through experimenting with various materials and processes, (3) examination of the cultural and historical contexts in which art is created, exploring cultural themes, works of significant artists, styles and processes; and (4)  development of skills and vocabulary for looking at and discussing art in terms of design elements, characteristics and appreciation.

SPANISH

Third grade students are guided, step by step, through a learning process where the listening, speaking, writing and reading activities become more accurate and in detail.

The target language is constantly used in class to create a full immersion experience.

Videos, songs, stories, pictures, acting, painting and games are the perfect combination to highly enhance acquisition and memorization of a bigger range of vocabulary and Spanish/Latino holidays and traditions. Students love moving and having fun while approaching and/or reinforcing a new topic in a totally stress-free environment. They are also very proud of the work they can create with their own hands. The interactive notebooks are a clear example of it.  Spanish classes start with prayers:  Glory; Hail, Mary and Our Father.  Through guided reading, they reinforce spelling and pronouncing words in Spanish.  Subject matter includes greetings and introductions, goodbyes and courtesy expressions, family, friends, descriptions of people using the verb “ser/to be” and adjectives, home, clothing and colors. School, activities associated with school, days of week, time telling, numbers 50-100, animals, are explored through music, physical interaction, video and a variety of selected readings.  Finally, students learn about parts of the body, food, healthy living, seasons, weather, and visiting places.  Expectations for third grade students are appropriately higher and more challenging.  Students are expected to write in complete sentences. 

Instruction is differentiated for native speakers at every grade level.

LIBRARY

The Stella Maris Academy Library/ Media program is built on understanding core knowledge instruction while also learning essential skills for critical thinking, problem solving, communication and collaboration.  Stella Maris Academy’s Library/ Media program fundamentally aligns itself with Common Core State Standards while working directly with each classroom teacher to align curriculum.  The main component of the Library Media program centers on building strong content knowledge and focusing literacy instruction directly to the text. Students in all grades (TK-8) are encouraged to draw direct evidence from the text itself in order to promote comprehension and cite evidence accurately and correctly.  A key component to the program includes an emphasis on interpretive and analytical skills within a range of texts, digital information and internet/ media.

Beginning in Third grade and through Fifth grade, students begin to use the Library Catalog to access information, locate books and select information appropriate to the problem or question at hand. Students build critical literacy and thinking skills to evaluate texts based on validity of information. Students begin to utilize the Dewey Decimal System for book classification as well as the Digital Content Portal to access research and information in a safe and reliable way. Students then are able to create direct references to the text and learn how to cite information collected from a variety of sources (internet, books, digital media, etc.).  Students in grades 3-5 also learn how to practice ethical behavior when using print and digital resources (Including freedom of speech, intellectual freedom, copyright and avoiding plagiarism).  Students practice the skills needed to promote their personal safety online and recognize that all networked environments are public as well as the importance of ethical behavior in regards to digital citizenship.

MUSIC

The music program at Stella Maris Academy exists to provide students with a safe environment in which to experiment with and perfect the God given gift of their voices.  Students will be encouraged to sing accurately, in tune, together, and separately.  They will be provided with a variety of performance and leadership opportunities through school productions, after school activities, and church services.  We want to give our students the opportunity to do something GREAT!