THIRD GRADE: A CRITICAL MILESTONE

Dr. Wendy Ghiora – Posting #103 – February 12, 2012

As a high school teacher, I often wondered why so many of the students who were way behind in their learning skills got stuck at the third grade level, especially in reading and math. There is an enormous leap in what is expected of a third grader compared to what is expected of a second grader. Consider some of challenges facing the typical eight-year-old student.

Reading is a skill vigorously stressed in kindergarten through second grade. But in third grade, it takes on a much more demanding role. In reading, students move from merely learning to de-code and read with limited comprehension, to using reading in every aspect of learning. Reading suddenly becomes integral to every subject in school, and will be that way throughout college and beyond. Teachers expect third graders to read lessons and chapters in all subject areas on their own and to be ready to discuss them in class. Fluency is crucial, as the child needs to read most words without having to sound them out in order to understand or comprehend the text.

Each state adopts its own learning standards. However, here are the main abilities students who are working at the standard level should have at the beginning of third grade:

•Read with understanding and fluency

•Figure out unknown words in context

•Recognize word patterns (prefixes and suffixes)

•Communicate in written form

•Retell stories with accuracy

•Correct themselves while reading

•Identify and spell many words

•Recognize parts of a story

•Read for more than pleasure

•Utilize a larger sight vocabulary


At the end of third grade, students should have attained the following skills and knowledge:

•Read with understanding and fluency

•Understand the meaning of synonyms, homonyms, and antonyms

•Identify the meanings of compound words

•Use punctuation cues to add meaning to the text

•Use graphic organizers to aid comprehension

•Make reasonable predictions

•Identify the main ideas of passages

•Identify character traits

•Summarize what they have read

•Have a larger sight vocabulary

A strong learning partnership with parents can ensure a third-grader’s success. A good teacher teamed up with caring parents can help a third-grade student negotiate and conquer the many challenges he will be expected to meet. Considering all the expectations in the area of reading, I can’t wait to see what awaits the third-grader in mathematics! (Next Posting)