Grade 3

This document outlines the Grade 3 curriculum. West Hartford’s comprehensive program is based on standards for teaching and learning adopted by the Connecticut Board of Education/State Department of Education including Connecticut Core Standards, Connecticut Social Studies Frameworks, and Next Generation Science Standards. The West Hartford curriculum also includes integration of state standards for visual and performing arts, physical education, and library media services. These standards guide development of curriculum and instruction to support student learning necessary for success on district and state assessments and for students to have the knowledge, skills and dispositions for future college and career readiness.

Through seven units of study, your child will focus on both the content of Math Standards (WHAT they will learn) and Mathematical Practices (HOW students engage in learning of mathematics) that are both part the CT Core Mathematics Standards for Mathematics.

In Grade 3, instruction focuses on five critical areas of mathematics content learning:

• using place value understanding and properties of operations to solve multi-digit problems (Number & Operations in Base Ten)
• developing an understanding of fractions as numbers (Number & Operations - Fractions)
• understanding multiplication and division and using strategies for multiplication and division within 100 (Operations & Algebraic Thinking)
• solving problems involving measurement, intervals of time, liquid volumes and masses of objects as well as understanding concepts of area and relating area to multiplication and to addition (Measurement & Data)
• reasoning with shapes and their attributes (Geometry)

Click here for some helpful resources that you can use to gain a better understanding of the elementary math curriculum as well as ways in which you can support your child in math at home.

• The changes organisms go through during their life form a pattern
• The organisms and their habitat make up a system in which the parts depend on each other
• The effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object
• The cause-and-effect relationship of electric or magnetic interactions between two objects not in contact with each other
• How differences in characteristics among organisms may provide advantages for survival
• Organisms have different inherited traits and that the environment can affect the traits an organism develops

Your child will demonstrate their understanding of these core ideas by engaging in eight science and engineering practices throughout their science units of study.

This year, your child will develop an understanding of and mastery toward Grade 3 Common Core Standards for English-Language Arts. These standards integrate all aspects of Language Arts development and are categorized under reading, language, and speaking & listening. Your child will participate in whole and small group reading lessons to support progress toward mastery of these standards. An outline of the year's units are included below.

Unit 2: The Heart of a Story

Unit 3: From Coast to Coast

Click here for some helpful resources that you can use to support your third grader with reading at home.

Writing instruction is now embedded into the literacy block. Teachers will use both sentence-level writing routines, as developed through The Writing Revolution, along with a gradual release model for process writing to guide their writing instruction. Students will continue to engage in process writing and complete narrative, informational, and opinion pieces.

Click here for some helpful resources that you can use to support your child with writing at home.

Wilson Fundations is a program used daily in every Grade 3 classroom. Your child will engage in systematic instruction in the following foundational literacy skills: phonemic awareness, phonics/word study, high frequency word study, reading fluency, vocabulary, comprehension strategies, and spelling.

Handwriting is a key component in the Fundations program. Your child will learn correct posture, paper position, and pencil grip. Children also learn to write the upper- and lower-case cursive alphabet with proper letter formation.

Your child will engage in weekly lessons from the Second Step social-emotional learning curriculum as well as a Morning Meeting structure (greeting, sharing, group activities) implemented in all Grade K-5 classrooms provide West Hartford students with a consistent social-emotional learning progression. As part of our WHPS commitment to equity and anti-racism, your child will also engage in supplemental lessons that support Second Step programing as it relates to identity, diversity, justice, and action. Students build the following social-emotional learning (SEL) concepts and skills throughout their WHPS elementary experience:

• Self-Awareness: Develop a positive self-concept
• Self-Management: Identify, understand, and regulate emotions of self and others
• Responsible Decision-Making: Make constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions
• Relationship Skills: Develop positive interpersonal relationships
• Social Awareness: Develop an understanding of rules and responsibilities within communities

Your child will engage in an integrated social studies curriculum developed with guidance from the Connecticut Elementary and Secondary Social Studies Standards passed by the State Board of Education in October 2024. The Grade 3 & 4 standards, which include Inquiry, History, Geography, Economics and Civics, are embedded into Course Questions and Course Topics.

Course Questions:

• How do people depend on and shape their environment?
• What influences the movement of people, goods, and ideas to the United States?

Course Topics:

• Understanding Regions
• Regional Interdependence

As part of the English/Language Arts curriculum, your child will will participate in two integrated Social Studies units.

• Your child will both listen to and read Native American folktales in order to recount stories and share them with others.

• Your child will study the regions of the United States including landforms, climate, natural resources, and people.

Instruction about Religion:

• Introduction to Native American storytelling and folk literature, aligned to the Connecticut Core Standards.

Grade 3 Dictionary Program: With the generous support of the West Hartford Rotary Club, all West Hartford third graders are provided with their own personal Merriam Webster Dictionary. Check out the video below from our friends at the Noah Webster House to learn more about our local historic figure.

• The typing.com program introduces foundational letter and keyboarding skills. Muscle memory of the keyboard is developed with frequently used letter combinations. Your child will learn to type words and sentences using engaging and changing themes.

  
  

  Click here to learn more about keyboarding practice at WHPS.

Handwriting:

Students are introduced to the cursive alphabet during Fundations, and continue to learn, review, and practice the cursive alphabet throughout the year.

Visual Arts: The visual arts curriculum provides a sequential and meaningful focus on skills and concepts while emphasizing art production, art history, aesthetics and art criticism. Your child will engage in inquiry, exploration and development of visual literacy skills, technique and expression of personal style through child-centered experiences.

Physical Education: The department strives to help children create healthy, active lifestyles through a balance of activities in a positive, responsible and cooperative environment. Your child will engage in activities that include the movement areas of body management, use of manipulatives, educational gymnastics, dance, fitness and adventure/cooperative education.

Music: The study of music fosters artistic development, critical thinking, intellectual curiosity, and the pursuit of life-long learning. Through performing and responding to music, your child will develop individual skills, realize a sense of belonging, and establish connections to the community.

Library-Media: The library-media department provides instruction, resources and services necessary for students to become lifelong learners in a global community. Your child will engage in weekly sessions with the library-media specialist to develop a flexible set of skills throughout their elementary experience to prepare them to be independent knowledge-seekers, critical thinkers, and creative-problem-solvers.

World Language: The world language department enables students to communicate effectively in the target language, and develop an understanding of the cultures of the speakers of that language.

Computer Science

Early Childhood (PreK)

QUEST(Gifted and Talented)

Additional information on the district website (whps.org):

Elementary Handbook

Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Office

Information and Technology Services: Tech Tips for Families and Staff

West Hartford Cares Crisis and Community Resources

Handwriting Practice Videos