Our energetic third-grade students are primed for a year of exciting changes. The first is their move to classrooms on the second floor of the Lower School wing, which symbolizes the increase in expectations for independence, collaboration, and application of the foundational skills they have gained in earlier years. By the end of third grade, students become self-assured, independent thinkers who are able to solve problems with creative strategies, set goals, and present their thinking with increasing clarity and precision. They know when to use their own resources and when to seek adult help.
In third grade, the amount of collaborative work increases, and guidance is provided for how that looks, sounds, and feels. This is the age when students begin to emerge as leaders; develop the language and thinking skills to more clearly formulate and express their viewpoints; and demonstrate the greater social acumen to vary their coping skills in challenging situations. It is also a time when they are vulnerable to frustration when faced with difficult tasks in areas of personal weakness. Faculty members are aware of scaffolding assignments and providing support and a sense of security for each student. Children practice combining skills and strategies to read fluently with meaning and purpose. Reading and writing occur across the disciplines, and stories and reports are increasingly more detailed as well as persuasive, informative, and/or entertaining. Comprehension skills in listening are also fostered as it is essential that students are able to answer questions about and infer information from what has been heard or read. We value the development of a child’s language and literacy skills as the groundwork for academic learning and achievement. Likewise, the early foundation that has been laid in mathematics is evident as they apply their conceptual knowledge to larger numbers and more sophisticated concepts related to place value, fractions and decimals, geometry, and patterns and algebraic thinking.
Highlights of the Third-Grade Experience
List of 7 items.
Pioneer Life
Reenact life in a nineteenth-century one-room school house for three days
Trading Rendezvous
Trade handmade items at a traditional Fur Trading Rendezvous
Relive History
Travel to The Grove, a living history museum and village in Glenview, IL
Developing Writers
Construct well-researched and developed essays, including animal adaptation reports
Building Relationships
Forge relationships in the School community through House events and activities with senior kindergarten buddies
Exploring our World
Studying diversity and adaptations of prairie plants and insects, and learn to identify tracks and signs of local animals on field trips to Lake Forest Open Lands
Design Thinking
Build, test, and modify the throwing distance of student-designed and student-engineered catapults
Curriculum Guide
Faculty
List of 9 members.
Scott Baeseman
Chair of the Fine Arts Department, Music Teacher, Chorus
(847) 615-6185
Katie Bowler
Grade 4 Teacher (4KB)
(847) 615-6146
Cindy Edwards
Third-Grade Teacher (3CE)
(847) 615-6143
Laura Gabriel
French Teacher
(847) 615-6240
Paul Moellering
Third-Grade Teacher (3PM)
(847) 615-6160
Kevin Nicholson
Early Childhood & Lower School Science Teacher
(847) 615-6154
William Scroggins
Physical Education & Wellness Teacher
(847) 615-6232
Suzanne Stanczak
Physical Education & Wellness Teacher
(847) 615-6122
Rhonda Venard-Darin
Visual Art Teacher
(847) 615-6180
A co-educational independent private school for students age 2 through Grade 8. Graduating students of strong character with a passion for learning since 1888. Schedule a tour!