Alyssa Pouliot
Professor LeDuc
Early Childhood Methods II
February 1, 2013
Developmental Profile: 3rd Grade
This quarter I am working with third graders at Fuller Elementary School in Keene, New
Hampshire. The school is public and serves children in kindergarten through fifth grade. In my
third grade classroom specifically, there are seventeen children who are eight and nine years old.
The children’s developmental levels vary and each child had his or her own strengths and
weaknesses, especially in terms of mathematics and literacy development.
Cognitive Development
Cognitive development in the primary grades demonstrates a significant shift in the
abilities of children between the ages of five and seven. At this time, children are more flexible
in their use of mental representation, which helps them to solve a wider range of problems
(Copple & Bredekamp, 2009 p.271). At this time, the brain is continuing to develop and the two
hemispheres of the brain begin to function more efficiently as learning occurs. By age seven,
most children will have achieved at least some of this brain restructuring (Copple & Bredekamp,
2009 p.271).
While some children are capable of solving abstract problems, these concepts are difficult
for them to grasp alone or solely through the use of text (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009 p.272). For
example, in my third grade classroom the students are learning about place values. In order to
fully comprehend the concept, the students rely heavily upon visual posters and manipulatives
such as base ten blocks. By age eight or nine, students are also beginning to grasp the concept of
syllogistic logic. In other words, they know that if pencil A is longer than pencil B, and B is
longer than pencil C, than A is also longer than C (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009 p.272). At this
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age children are also capable of reversing directionality (Copple & Bredekamp 2009 p.272).
Third graders are also able to understand part/whole relationships, which can be seen in my
classroom when students are studying fractions. By age eight, the understanding of one-to-one
correspondence is also fairly well developed (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009 p.273). For example, a
child is now capable of understanding that just because six pencils are broken up into three
groups of two, does not mean that there are more or less than six pencils. Jean Piaget also
explained this idea in his theory. Piaget created the concrete operational stage in cognitive
development. This stage occurred between the ages of seven and eleven and was a time when
children were better at understanding mental representations. For example, a child is better able
to understand that there is the same amount of water in two cups, even if the cups are shaped
differently.
As children enter the primary grades they are expected to start learning on demand
(Copple & Bredekamp, 2009 p.273). This was a concept that Lev Vygotsky endorsed. Basically,
children are now able to remember things on purpose. This can be seen quite often in third grade
when children are expected to solve multiplication problems on their mad minutes or define a
literacy term stated by their teacher. By the age of eight, children will also be pretty adept at
focusing their attention on demand and ignoring other information that they deem to be
distracting (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009 p.274). If you placed a bunch of preschoolers in a room
together, and told half of them to work on math problems while a teacher was ten feet away
reading to the other half of the children, the result would be chaos. In the primary grades
however, children are becoming increasingly better at focusing on the task at hand, despite what
is happening around them. This is a skill however, that is still being developed through
adolescence.
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Once students reach the age of eight, they are also fairly capable of placing events into a
time sequence (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009 p.274-275). However, they do so pretty generally.
Third graders can accurately identify past, present, and future events; but they often cannot place
historical events in order based on dates (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009 p.275). For example,
during literacy block today the class was doing a reading on Martin Luther King Jr. We were
discussing segregation and one of my students pointed out how blacks were “bought and forced
to be servants and work on farms.” This student was capable of understanding that the horrible
treatment of African Americans was something of the past, but did not understand that slavery
and Civil Rights were two separate historical events.
In terms of memory, students between the ages of seven and ten begin to understand that
they are capable of constructing knowledge, transforming information, and selecting memory
strategies (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009 p.275). Students younger than age nine are unlikely to
use these strategies on their own. However, teachers can promote it through the use of a variety
of strategies (e.g. math facts) (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009 p.275).
When it comes to moral development, around the age of seven children begin to realize
that not all rules are the same, and in some cases, breaking a rule is not necessarily wrong. They
can also make judgments about what is true and false (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009 p.276). One
specific characteristic of students around the age of eight is their ability to empathize with others.
They also understand that special treatment or consideration may be given to those who really
need it and that does not necessarily mean things are unfair (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009 p.277).
Some mathematical concepts that will be presented to children in the third grade include
understanding multiplication and division/coming up with strategies to solve those types of
problems, developing an understanding of fractions, and describing and analyzing two
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dimensional shapes (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009 p.280). When teachers are guiding children in
tasks such as these, they must remember to be specific and remind children when it is especially
important to pay attention (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009 p.281).
Language & Literacy Development
In the primary grades language and literacy development shifts from listening, speaking,
and emerging reading skills to what could be considered real reading and written self expression.
Through more constant exposure to reading, children’s receptive and expressive vocabulary
expands (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009 p.281). By the age of eight, many children have doubled
their age six vocabulary to about 20,000 words. Being in a primary school environment allows
children to learn words at a rate of about twenty words per day (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009
p.281). It is easier for children to learn concrete words (such as nouns) but with adult support,
children can learn more complex words (such as adverbs) as well. More exposure to words also
changes what six, seven, and eight year olds find humorous. Children at this age love jokes,
puns, and riddles (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009 p.282).
In terms of reading and writing, by the third grade, children can decode more advanced
words, read aloud with fluency, and decipher word meaning using prefixes, suffixes, and roots
that they are already familiar with (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009 p.282). Third graders are also
capable of summarizing fiction and nonfiction readings, identifying themes, read chapter books
independently, and identify the differences between fact and opinion and main idea and
supporting facts (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009 p.283). When entering my third grade placement,
the fact that these students were capable of reading chapter books was what I was most
impressed by. I talked with one student during library, and she navigated the room effortlessly
and showed me a variety of chapter book series that she enjoyed reading. Writing is also much
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more developed in third grade and students can produce reports, literature responses, journal
entries, and letters. By the end of the year, these children will be able to read aloud with
impressive fluency and comprehension, decode words they do not know, and read increasingly
longer books independently for extended periods of time (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009 p.283).
It is estimated that in 2030, 40% of school children will be English language learners
(Copple & Bredekamp, 2009 p.283). Young children have a large capacity to gain bi or
multilingual abilities and teachers are encouraged to support children’s literacy skills in both
English and their home language. However, if children are abruptly placed in an English only
environment they are more at risk of developing semilingualism (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009
p.284).
Social & Emotional Development
In terms of social development, as children enter the primary grades, they become more
aware of how their behavior affects others, their personal role in society, and the importance of
forming positive and caring relationships (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009 p.264). At this age,
children are very interested in their peer’s opinions in terms of social comparisons because it
results in whether or not they make friends. Within my third grade classroom, the friend
“groups” are much more apparent than they were in my first grade classroom. Children at this
age are also better at engaging in extended conversations with their peers (Copple & Bredekamp,
2009 p.265).
Children in the third grade are also more capable of playing cooperating/rule-based
games (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009 p.265). Students within my classroom are always discussing
how they will play football at recess or other types of organized sports. Reciprocal friendships
based on give and take, shared experiences, and mutual trust also begin to form in the primary
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grades (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009 p.265). Along with the formation of friendships however,
also comes an increase in physical and relational aggression, which can be influenced, by the
media, cultural mores, and family expectations (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009 p.266).
In terms of self-concept and self-esteem children in primary grades start comparing
themselves to their peers and will begin to describe themselves in terms of their traits and skills
(Copple & Bredekamp, 2009 p.266). By the age of eight, children tend to have a pretty
generalized image of themselves that they are capable of verbalizing (Copple & Bredekamp,
2009 p.266).
When looking at emotional development in the primary grades, children become much
better at reading others’ emotions as well as interpreting and managing their own (Copple &
Bredekamp, 2009 p.268). By age seven or eight, children begin to recognize that they can feel
two emotions at the same time and as stated previously, have a greater capacity for empathy. By
third grade, students are attuned to the expectations that adults and society hold for them (Copple
& Bredekamp, 2009 p.269).Primary grade children will continue to change their values and
standards as they figure themselves out (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009 p.269).
Physical Development
When looking at gross motor development, by the time children reach the third grade,
there is a growth spurt in the brain and is about 90% of its adult size (Copple & Bredekamp,
2009 p.261). Gross motor skills such as running and jumping are well established and children
become more purposeful and controlled in their movements and are better when it comes to
balance tasks and sequence movement skills such as dancing (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009
p.262). During this age children also become much more interested in active team sports, which
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has a lot to do with their increased coordination, endurance, and social skills (Copple &
Bredekamp, 2009 p.262).
In regards to fine motor skills, children enter the primary grades with fairly well
developed skills. The primary grades are a time for these skills to be refined and improved upon.
Children’s writing and drawing skills will become more controlled (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009
p.262). By the third grade, students who have had enough practice can produce creative products
that rival adults (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009 p.262). In my own third grade classroom, intricate
bracelet weaving is very popular and requires quite refined fine motor development.
Creative Expression
While creative expression is not as prominently discussed in the primary grades as it was
in preschool, I have still observed many different instances where the children in my third grade
class displayed creative expression. While children are still given opportunities to paint pictures
and create pieces of art, creative expression becomes much more prominent in children’s writing.
Now that children are able to express themselves through words, they can create stories that tell
us about their interests, feelings, and hobbies.
Sources
Copple, C. & Bredekamp, S. (2009). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood
Programs (3rd ed). Washington DC: NAEYC.