Third Grade

Language Arts: To motivate young readers and writers to express themselves by drawing from their own experiences, selected author(s) will be studied to show how life experiences are subjects for their writings. Students begin to identify writing style and purposes and are able to state a preference for various writing genres, based upon their own reading and research of authors and texts. Third graders are introduced to at least four authors and four genres of reading and writing.   The writing process allows students to gain an understanding of the components of a good paragraph as they share their drafts with peers, and others. Cursive writing is also taught during the third grade year.

Mathematics: Third graders build on their math skills in the following strands: number sense, algebra and functions, measurement, geometry, statistics, data analysis and probability, and mathematical reasoning. Students deepen their understanding of place value and their understanding of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of whole numbers. Students estimate, measure, and describe objects in space. They use patterns to help solve problems, and they learn to represent number relationships and conduct simple probability experiments.

Science: Third graders learn the fundamental scientific principles of Physical, Earth and Life sciences. In Physical Science students learn to understand that energy and matter have multiple forms and can be changed from one form to another, and that light has a source and travels in a direction. Students study how adaptations in structure or behavior may improve an organism’s chance for survival. They will learn that objects in the sky move in regular and predictable patterns relative to the Earth. Students develop their own questions and perform investigations in each content strand.

Social Studies: Students in grade three learn more about our connections to the past and the ways in which local, regional and national government and traditions have developed. Emphasis is on the physical and cultural landscape of California, including the study of Native American Indians, the subsequent arrival of immigrants, and the impact they all have had in forming the character of our contemporary society and common memories.

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Meet Awilda Logan ...

Third Grade Teacher, Two-Way-Immersion, Room 202

I was born in Puerto Rico and raised in Brooklyn, New York.  I was raised speaking Spanish as a first language and  learned English with my peers in school.

I worked as a social worker in the County of San Mateo for ten years and saw many unhappy school and home situations; consequently I returned to school to become certified as a teacher.  I wanted to help children learn and feel positive about themselves. 

As a young student,  I loved math, especially algebra.  Inspired greatly by a teacher in Mount Holyoke College, I gained confidence and learned to love Latin American literature.  I enjoy my students because they often share their impressions about their friends and family as well as those of characters in their readings. 

I am a mother of three children who I exposed to a variety of interests. They have rewarded me with their challenges and abilities.  I think that it is important to teach children to accept who they are and embrace life. 

Nací en Puerto Rico y crecí en Brooklyn, Nueva York.  Crecí hablando español como lengua materna y aprendí el inglés con mis compañeros en la escuela. 

Trabajé como trabajadora social para el Condado de San Mateo durante diez años y vi muchas situaciones familiares y escolares tristes; como consecuencia, volví a estudiar para obtener el certificado de maestros.  Quería ayudar a los niños a aprender y sentirse positivos de si mismos. 

Como una estudiante joven, me encantaba la matemática, sobre todo algebra.  Inspirada por un profesor de
Mount Holyoke College, desarrollé confianza en mi misma y me empezó a encantar la literatura latinoamericana. Me gustan mis estudiantes porque con frecuencia me cuentan sus impresiones de sus amigos y sus parientes y también las de los personajes en sus lecturas.  

Soy madre de tres hijos y les he expuesto a una variedad de intereses.  Ellos me han recompensado con sus retos y sus habilidades.  Creo que es importante enseñar a los niños a respetar a si mismos y acoger la vida.

Please watch this video of two songs sung by my daughter, Moraima, with music and lyrics by first-grade teacher Debbie Barer's and her husband Gary Nelson.

 

I Still Walk Alone

Endless Summer

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Meet Alexandra Tyshler ...

Third Grade Teacher, Room 205

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Meet Charity Johnston ...

Third Grade Teacher, Two Way Immersion, Room 207