3/4 News 

As the year is underway and the term almost over this newsletter is about giving some insights into life in 3/4.

RE - Reconciliation

We have had a lovely time preparing for this important milestone in the faith journey of some of our students. It has been lovely seeing the year 4’s supporting and sharing their experience from  last year, reassuring and encouraging their classmates. We have done some rotations around various tasks to help explain the various aspects: Ms Levy explained the symbols of this sacrament and the children created candle holders with the designs as a keepsake for this time. Ms Tench created a beautiful display of purple hearts and gave an opportunity to learn about the steps involved in receiving the sacrament for the first time. It was good for the students to be able to learn about the expectations and the process when they go before Father, seeking forgiveness and reconciliation. Ms Collins immersed them in the structure and format of the bible and we learnt about how Jesus used parables to teach, we investigated the parable of the lost sheep in the gospel of Luke and discussed the lesson to be learnt there.

The culmination of all this preparation was a beautiful and prayerful night on Wednesday and we hope the families were as moved as we were by the reverent behaviour of the students. 

NAPLAN practice test

As we explained to the students this was about ‘testing the systems not the students’. We are well and truly ready to go for May when we do the NAPLAN testing. It was also about familiarising the students with the format and process involved and they were great. All the Year Three's got to see how the test was accessed, what the questions looked like and how to answer them. They also now know the importance of taking their time and to review their answers when they are finished. Sadly we don’t get any results from this practice but we are extremely proud of their efforts.

It has highlighted the need for having working headphones kept at school and having our ipads fully charged. In May (10th, 11th and 12th) we will ask for chargers to be left with ipads at school again so that we can charge and have ipads ready to go for testing each day.

Literacy - Narratives

As seen at Assembly last week, we have been writing amazing narratives using scaffolding to include sizzling starts, great descriptions, tightening tension, clever climaxes and exciting endings. The children have amazed us with their work and we hope they have been sharing ideas with you at home too.

When reading with your child, highlight great descriptions or phrases that catch the attention of the reader; discuss how the author paints a picture and images that keep you as the reader engaged. When discussing the story there are three levels of questioning

1. Recall of direct facts or details
2. Making inferences about what has happened  

but there is also  

       3. Author's craft

Author's craft is about how they describe, how they explain, the language they chose, the picture they paint in your mind as you read. Ask “why does the author use those words to describe…?”

REMEMBER: In year 3 and 4 it is expected that they read EVERY night, even if it is in bed before lights out, on their own. Once or twice a week they should read aloud to an adult; this is a different skill to reading in your head and is important. When they read aloud we ask that you add your signature to that entry in their diary.

Diaries need to be signed once a week and the activity task must be completed before Friday each week.

Maths 

2D &3D: 

We have been learning that 2D means two dimensions and that they are flat shapes but 3D has 3 dimensions and are known as objects as they take up space. We have also used Nets to create our own 3D designs and learnt the names of the 2D shapes that make the net.

“

Hit The Button” Challenge

Each class has accepted the challenge to work on their timestables knowledge and recall through using a game on our ipads called ‘Hit The Button’. In 3/4, we are working through the tables from what is easiest to more complex and it is self paced, independent work. 

We have started with the 10’s, 5’s and 11’s.

Then we move to the 2’s and 4’s as they are related (4’s is doubles of 2’s)

Then the 3’s and 6’s, (another set of doubles).

Finally we work on the 7’s, 8’s, 9’s and 12’s.

You may have seen this as a homework task on our homework grid too. Please talk to your child and remind them that the concept of ‘groups of’ is timestables eg 4 groups of 5 biscuits is 20 biscuits, a fork, knife and spoon for each person in a family of four is 3x4 and 12 items of cutlery.

For students that are confident with tables it is recommended that they focus on division facts, the inverse operation, eg 20 biscuits shared between 4 friends is 5 each.

Streaming

As you know we believe it is imperative to meet the students needs where they are at. We do pretests to inform us of what they already know, then group them according to their needs. This allows us to provide an environment where they are with similar levels of understanding and needs, be it high or low. It provides a safe environment to explore and develop their knowledge, ‘catching’ them at the right place and time. These 'catch groups' are fluid and often vary; someone who is strong in one facet may not be as strong in another. We are very fortunate to have extra support to take one of our groups so that we can provide 4 levels of engagement whenever we can. We do this for literacy and maths and your child may talk of being in groups, please be reassured that your child's best interests are of primary importance. Occasionally timetabling and staffing throws a spanner in the works but we do our best to maintain consistency. We use ‘Catch Groups’ for Spelling and Maths across the level and in CAFE reading groups within the class.

Homework

We have made a good start to homework and are very pleased with the efforts made, we are still getting parents seeking clarification though.

1. We use a grid with 8 tasks
2. They have two weeks to complete (the dates are on the top of the sheet )
3. All tasks are related to what we do at school 
4. They are open ended tasks so that we meet everyone's needs 
5. Students are expected to do their best and extend themselves where possible
6. Parents can write a note in the homework book whenever life gets in the way (we understand and know what that is like)

It is advisable to have a sort of timetable or plan so that tasks are done and out of school activities and commitments are also met.  A dedicated area with supplies such as colouring pencils, rulers, greyleads, (scissors and glue sticks occasionally) and minimal distractions would be great.  At this age, homework is about developing study habits and routines to set them up for future education. If it becomes a battle, please reach out to us and we will be happy to assist in anyway we can.

As always,

We are happy to meet and discuss your child or any concerns, please contact us via email to set up an appointment if necessary or come find us on the oval when we dismiss the kids each afternoon. 

Until next time, on behalf of the 3/4 team.

Joanne Collins jcollins@shsandringham.catholic.edu.au

Jacque Murphy jmurphy@shsandringham.catholic.edu.au

Tiffany Levy tlevy@shsandringham.catholic.edu.au

Gemma Fahey gfahey@shsandringham.catholic.edu.au

Matilda Tench  mtench@shsandringham.catholic.edu.au