updated 02-14-10

Classroom Highlights - Grade 3/4

Grade 3

• Literature: Biblical stories as introduction to ancient history
• English and Grammar: Sentence structure, verbs, nouns, adjectives, punctuation and spelling is introduced
• Math: Multiplication tables, measurement, learning time, patterns, carrying and borrowing
• Science: Farming: soils, farm life, grains, study of root, stem and flower, vegetables, garden work
• Geography: House building: cave, tent, cliff, lake dwellings and modern homes
• Foreign Language: (Spanish and German) Counting, animals, parts of the body, food, seasons, and months of the year
• Music: Recorder, violin, music notation, and folk dances
• Art and Handwork: Form drawing, watercolor painting, crocheting, embroidery, and beeswax modeling
• Physical Education: Jump rope, non-competitive games, and large muscle activities

Grade 4

• Literature: Norse mythology, local history through geography area development through settlers
• English and Grammar: Adverbs, pronouns, writing compositions and reports, grammar rules, vocabulary and spelling
• Math: Word problems, fractions, long division, averages, factoring
• Science: Zoology, comparison of man and animal
• Geography: State and local geography and mapping
• Foreign Language: (Spanish and German) Grammar, writing, reading, dictations, and individual expression
• Music: Recorder, choir, violin, harmony, rounds and canons, and reading music notation
• Art and Handwork: Form drawing, watercolor painting, geometric drawing, cross stitch, and clay
• Physical Education: Rhythmic exercises, gymnastics, kickball, and softball

Update from our teacher

In our story, “The Long Winter”, The Ingalls family is out of kerosene, there is no more meat in the town and the trains have stopped running.  It is January and there won’t be another train until spring.  It really is a long winter! 

Last week, we had class outdoors and practiced adding fractions on our slates.  We built a well and campfire, racked the train tracks and bought goods at the local grocer with pennies.  Everyone enjoyed the soup and buckwheat pancakes and let their imaginations live into the story.

We experience and are practicing the use of capitals, prepositions and conjunctions.  Everyone is learning to edit their work.  The adventure continues and we will experiment by making a button lamp this week.  Pa also made sticks out of hay by bundling up the grasses.  We are drying bundles of grass in class and will experiment with that this week, as well. 

Thursday we are learning the benefits of raw chocolate.  As part of the Third Grade Curriculum, our class is learning different trades.  Two entrepreneurs will come to school and help us make chocolate candies, which will be on sale this Friday for Valentine’s Day.   We are only selling to adults and educating the children about healthy treats.