Welcome to Grade Three at SSIS!   This year we have five homeroom classes and teachers, supported by three ESL specialists. Our experienced team comes from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States.

 
The fall of Grade Three is the first time SSIS students have the opportunity to go to camp, called “Sleepover” in Grade Three.  The Sleepover is an opportunity for the students to have a camp experience, bond with students and staff, and learn to be independent, while in the familiar setting of the school.  The Sleepover begins after school on a Thursday with activities such as swimming and art, followed by dinner and a disco.  The students spend the night in the gym and wake up to more fun on Friday, with outdoor and indoor activities, and ending with a movie in the theater.  They return home on the school bus on Friday afternoon, tired but more confident from time spent getting to know their teachers better, making friends in other classes, and learning new activities.

Grade Three also has many exciting field trips to enhance student learning for our Units of Inquiry.  For the “City Systems” unit, we travel to the Changzhou City Planning Museum to see films, models and demonstrations of how the city systems in Changzhou work together.  Twice every year the third grade students travel to Shanghai for a soccer tournament with other area schools.  Other field trips and activities have included visits to other Suzhou sites, a student poetry reading, and a science fair. 

In Grade Three we continue to learn the PYP Learner Profiles and Attitudes, with particular emphasis on the Profiles and Attitudes that complement our units.  When we study “Who We Are”, the students come to understand respect and tolerance as they learn about beliefs, values and cultural practices of people around the world.  Our Science unit, “Forces”, stimulates the students’ curiosity as they create and present experiments that inquire into the characteristics of forces such as air resistance and tension.    While learning about “Saving the Planet”, the children learn to be caring about our environment and the earth’s resources.  Additionally, the Sleepover fosters risk-taking and independence as the students experience time away from their families for a night.  Throughout the Grade Three year, SSIS students are able to build on their understanding of the PYP profiles and attitudes to become better students and citizens.

Grade Three is a year of transition as the students become more independent, better able to express themselves through writing and oral presentations, and learn to use inquiry to answer questions they have about the world around them.  Students from many countries come together at SSIS to work together, learn together, and get to know each other and themselves better in the process.  The staff at Suzhou Singapore International School warmly welcomes you to our community and looks forward to spending a year of learning with your Grade Three student.