Ms. Rebecca Fay
Teacher
Teacher
Third Grade
Introduction
Welcome! My name is Rebecca Fay and I am blessed to be a part of this wonderful St Ignatius community. With a passion for nurturing young minds, I strive to create a classroom where every student feels supported, nurtured, and excited to explore new ideas. In 3rd grade, our learning focuses on engaging science and social studies topics, such as space, community, and the city of Portland. Through hands-on activities, visual-based lessons, and plenty of opportunities for language development, I aim to help students acquire new concepts while becoming confident, independent learners. We will also focus on developing research skills, encouraging students to dive deep into topics and think critically about what they discover. My goal is for every student to feel confident, motivated, and passionate about their learning as they grow this year.
Literacy Embedded with Social Studies and Science
In 3rd grade, all literacy components are embedded into science or social studies topics to ensure students find meaning in all that they read and write. Our 4 big units are listed below.
Daily math instruction focuses on math in our everyday lives to ensure students are learning a mathematical concept rather than a memorized skill or pattern. We spend a lot of time talking about what it means to be a mathematician and the importance of communicating our ideas and questions so all learners can benefit.
Faith and service are a part of our daily curriculum. In 3rd grade, students learn about the parts of Mass, Sacraments, and the ways in which Jesus’s lessons can guide us to build a more just and compassionate world. For our service learning project, 3rd graders create monthly dog or cat toys for the Oregon Humane Society.
Art:
In 3rd grade, student engage in biweekly art projects that focus on an artist and their style. By learning more about the time period, the artist’s background, and the artistic genre, students are best able to embody the art style and piece. Some of our projects include..
Welcome! My name is Rebecca Fay and I am blessed to be a part of this wonderful St Ignatius community. With a passion for nurturing young minds, I strive to create a classroom where every student feels supported, nurtured, and excited to explore new ideas. In 3rd grade, our learning focuses on engaging science and social studies topics, such as space, community, and the city of Portland. Through hands-on activities, visual-based lessons, and plenty of opportunities for language development, I aim to help students acquire new concepts while becoming confident, independent learners. We will also focus on developing research skills, encouraging students to dive deep into topics and think critically about what they discover. My goal is for every student to feel confident, motivated, and passionate about their learning as they grow this year.
Literacy Embedded with Social Studies and Science
In 3rd grade, all literacy components are embedded into science or social studies topics to ensure students find meaning in all that they read and write. Our 4 big units are listed below.
- Diverse Communities & Culture
- Students spend the first few months of school looking at different types of communities, from our classroom community to a neighborhood community. We use this time to focus on the process of writing and sharing stories. Projects that ask students to read, write, and create are as follows:
- Special Student Stories
- A Day at St Ignatius School
- Summative: Neighborhood Dioramas and Short Essays
- Special Student Stories
- Students spend the first few months of school looking at different types of communities, from our classroom community to a neighborhood community. We use this time to focus on the process of writing and sharing stories. Projects that ask students to read, write, and create are as follows:
- Chinook Salmon and People
- In collaboration with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, 3rd graders participate in the Egg to Fry program which allows us to raise 200 chinook salmon in our classroom! At the end of the 2 months, students meet at a local river site to release the small fish into the ecosystem. Students learn how to conduct research and summarize their ideas to learn more about the salmon life cycle, salmon anatomy, salmon environments, and the positive and negative relationships between salmon and people. In this unit, students read, write and create the following projects:
- Migration Research Posters
- Food Web short essays
- Summative: “If I Were a Salmon” picture books
- Migration Research Posters
- In collaboration with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, 3rd graders participate in the Egg to Fry program which allows us to raise 200 chinook salmon in our classroom! At the end of the 2 months, students meet at a local river site to release the small fish into the ecosystem. Students learn how to conduct research and summarize their ideas to learn more about the salmon life cycle, salmon anatomy, salmon environments, and the positive and negative relationships between salmon and people. In this unit, students read, write and create the following projects:
- Astronomy
- Students spend the rest of winter learning about space! In this unit, students learn about their solar system, astronauts, and space discovery. We learn how to write opinion pieces with factual evidence, how to compare and contrast different accounts and perspectives, and how to interpret and implement editing procedures. Some of the big projects in this unit include:
- Aliens: An Opinion Essay
- Planet Trioramas
- Summative: Design and Space Board Game
- Aliens: An Opinion Essay
- Students spend the rest of winter learning about space! In this unit, students learn about their solar system, astronauts, and space discovery. We learn how to write opinion pieces with factual evidence, how to compare and contrast different accounts and perspectives, and how to interpret and implement editing procedures. Some of the big projects in this unit include:
- Portland Bridges
- Our final spring unit focuses on the Portland Bridge system. Students learn about basic structural engineering concepts and how to write about them. By the end of the year, students are able to conduct research on their own and write lengthy summarizations of their learning. Using these skills, students research one Portland Bridge which the create a poster and popsicle stick model of! This unit includes the following:
- Labs on friction
- A Tour of the Portland Bridges Field Trip
- Portland Bridge Model, Poster, and Essay
- Labs on friction
- Our final spring unit focuses on the Portland Bridge system. Students learn about basic structural engineering concepts and how to write about them. By the end of the year, students are able to conduct research on their own and write lengthy summarizations of their learning. Using these skills, students research one Portland Bridge which the create a poster and popsicle stick model of! This unit includes the following:
Daily math instruction focuses on math in our everyday lives to ensure students are learning a mathematical concept rather than a memorized skill or pattern. We spend a lot of time talking about what it means to be a mathematician and the importance of communicating our ideas and questions so all learners can benefit.
- Daily Number Talks to engage students in meaningful mathematical discussion
- Multi-digit addition and subtraction strategies
- Multiplication Foundations and Facts
- Measurement including time, mass, and capacity
- Rounding to the nearest 10, 100, 1000, etc.
- Place Value to the millions
- Basic fractions and various representations
- Basic division
- 2D and 3D Geometry
Faith and service are a part of our daily curriculum. In 3rd grade, students learn about the parts of Mass, Sacraments, and the ways in which Jesus’s lessons can guide us to build a more just and compassionate world. For our service learning project, 3rd graders create monthly dog or cat toys for the Oregon Humane Society.
Art:
In 3rd grade, student engage in biweekly art projects that focus on an artist and their style. By learning more about the time period, the artist’s background, and the artistic genre, students are best able to embody the art style and piece. Some of our projects include..
- Gustav Klimt’s Tree of Life
- Piet Mondrain’s Composition with Red, Blue, and Yellow
- Jen Aryani’s Winter Landscape
- Claude Monet’s Japanese Bridge
- Reggie Laurent’s DNA Series
- Students spend between 20 and 30 minutes per day on Chromebook. Activities include learning to type on Typsey, math practice on Prodigy, and researching using Newsela and other content related websites
- P.E. (3 times a week)
- Music (3 times a week)
- Library (2 times a week)