TEACHERS & FAMILIES WORKING TOGETHER TO INSPIRE SUCCESSFUL LEARNERS

Welcome to Third Grade Curriculum Night!

3rd Grade: A Transition Year

3rd graders are asked to be much more independent learners. They read & follow multi-step directions without teacher guidance, self-assess, & set many of their own learning goals.

Across all curricula, students are asked to synthesize information, think on a deeper level, ask questions, draw conclusions, and support complex inferences with evidence. It is not about memorizing facts, but about learning critical thinking skills & applying them to different content areas.

Compared to 2nd grade, the pace is a lot faster, and students are asked to master a lot more academic content.

Students are asked to write extensively in all content areas.

What is Common Core?

Common core is a set of national standards for what students should learn and be able to do in each grade.

It replaces the set of standards that Washington State already had.It is not a specific curriculum, but a list of learning goals.North Thurston School District is implementing several new

curricula in order to help students meet these new & more rigorous standards.

This year’s 3rd graders have not been taught according to these standards necessarily until this year, but they will be tested according to these standards. They are in the group of transitional students.

The Big Picture: 3rd Grade Math

We are using the Stepping Stones math curriculum, which is brand-new, has a huge technology component, and is Common Core aligned. It is divided into 12 modules, or units, that cover a variety of topics. Every quarter (or every 3 units) students take a quarter test to see how well they’re retaining skills.

It is specially designed to “spiral.” Students are taught a topic for a small amount of time, then they move on, and come back to that topic.

3rd grade math has 4 main areas according to Common Core: (1) developing understanding of multiplication and division and strategies for

multiplication and division within 100 (2) developing understanding of fractions, especially unit fractions (fractions with

numerator 1) (3) developing understanding of the structure of rectangular arrays and of area (4) describing and analyzing two-dimensional shapes.

3rd graders also use place value to add and subtract 2 and 3 digit numbers

The Big Picture: 3rd Grade Reading

In 3rd grade, the focus moves away from phonics, letter sounds, and decoding strategies. Reading instruction focuses on comprehension skills such as analyzing author’s purpose,

understanding characters, etc. The main goal of reading instruction is to help kids develop a complex tool box of skills

that they can apply to understand a variety of fiction & non-fiction texts. Students are constantly asked to make an inference/draw a conclusion based on what they

read & support it with evidence (ex: What is the message of this story? Why do you think so?)

A new component in Common Core reading is that students are being asked to analyze why authors do certain things (reading as writers). For example, they might be asked, “Why did the author use italics in this paragraph? Explain with evidence from the story how you formed your conclusion.”

3rd grade teachers are using a variety of resources. Most of us are doing a combination of mini-lessons, small skill group instruction, one-on-one conferencing, and reader’s workshop.

The Big Picture: 3rd Grade Writing

We have a brand-new Common Core aligned writing curriculum called Units of Study.

It has four major units: narrative/story writing, informational/non-fiction writing, opinion/persuasive writing, and a 2nd narrative writing unit in which students will create their own fairy tales

There is a focus on student independence. In each unit, students are taught a variety of strategies, and asked to create extended, multi-paragraph pieces which they edit and re-write.

Across all units, students are asked to elaborate with interesting details, and organize their ideas in a way that makes sense to their readers.

They are also being taught conventions, including spelling, handwriting, periods, capitals, apostrophes, and dialogue with quotation marks.

What is SBAC?

SBAC stands for Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium. It is the new state test that is being used across Washington to measure students achievement according to the Common Core standards.

It will replace the MSP/WASL. It will be taken entirely on the computer. This is the very first year students will take this test. It is much harder and more rigorous

than previous tests. Please keep in mind that this is a year where benchmarks will be reset. These test results

can’t be compared with old MSP scores, because this is a different and harder test. 3rd grade students are evaluated in 2 main areas: English Language Arts (which includes

reading, writing, grammar, and listening) & math. Each area has 2 days of testing/2 types of tests.

North Thurston teachers & staff are not very familiar with this test yet. We just started seeing sample items in December. This is a learning year not just for students, but staff as well.

SBAC Reading—CAT (March 16th)

This is basically a set of passages with accompanying questions that students will read & answer.

It also includes a listening section, where students will listen to pieces and then answer questions about them. It also includes writing & grammar questions, which is all new and unlike the MSP.

It is designed to take about an hour and a half.It includes very complex, deeper level questions in which

students are asked to evaluate text and use a variety of text evidence.

*Packets & example question

SBAC Reading-Performance Task (March 17th)

This is brand-new and unlike anything students were asked to do on the MSP.

Teachers will teach a 30 min. lesson on a topic to be announced on the day of the test. (For example: The solar system.)

Students will then read a variety of pieces about the topic, and respond to a deeper level writing question about the topic, in which they will be expected to reference what they’ve read.

This writing piece is expected to be multi-paragraph, and could be narrative, informational, or opinion.

This is designed to take about 2 hrs.*Example

SBAC Math-CAT (March 23) & Performance Task (March 24)

On the first day of math testing, students will be asked to answer a variety of 3rd grade level math questions, very similar to the MSP.

On the second day, students will do a math Performance Task. This is brand-new and unlike anything on the MSP. It will start with a 30 min class lesson about a topic (such as a lemonade stand). It will then require many problem solving and computation tasks all designed around that real-life math situation.

*Packets/examples

Should I be concerned?

Short answer, no! This is a brand new test that has never been given to a large group of students before. This is completely a learning year. Teachers and even district administrators didn’t even know what the test was going to look like until December. We still don’t have all the information about the test.

This test is much harder than the MSP, and is measuring students on Common Core standards, which they haven’t been taught until the last year or so. This year’s test results are a new baseline, and shouldn’t be compared to old MSP results.

Test Results

Students who receive a score of level 1 (Below Basic) on the 3rd grade English Language Arts (ELA) assessment will be provided the opportunity to discuss additional support with the teacher and principal.

Due to the increased rigor and change in testing, it is likely fewer students will meet grade level standards than in years past.

These results will not indicate that students are “doing worse.” Rather, the scores will represent a “new baseline” that provides a more accurate indicator for the work to be done for students to achieve college and career readiness.

What can I do at home to help my child be successful? (Not just on the test, but in 3rd grade in general?)

How to help your child at home: side by side teaching is the best! Go over graded work, correct errors, discuss with your children Let them read the directions/questions/passages themselves. Teachers

can’t help students on tests.Curriculum websites

Games, test practice, skill buildingTesting vocabularyTest tips

Tenacity & grit pays off!