What's Happening in Upper Division
Welcome to another busy year in Upper Division. We warmly welcome our new students who have joined us in Year 3 and we hope they have enjoyed their first few days in their new classroom.
This year, we will be joining with most schools in NSW, implementing the NSW Department of Education's new English and Maths units which are aligned to the new English and Maths syllabus documents. English units are for 5 weeks and Maths units are for 2 weeks. We have grouped our students into two smaller groups for English and Maths to provide optimal learning conditions. Please see below a brief outline of some of the topics and programs we will commence working on this term.
English – Miss Miller’s Class
Unit 1 Narrative - Fantastic Mr Fox
Students will explore how narratives set up expectations for the reader using predictable structure and familiar characters and situations. They will analyse excerpts of the mentor text and use this as the basis for their own innovation. Students will also plan, draft and revise a narrative sequel using an orientation, complication, resolution structure.
English – Mr Hunt’s Class
Unit 1 Narrative – The Wild Robot
In this 5-week unit, students will explore the mentor concept of ‘narrative’ and the supporting concept of ‘characterisation’ through a deep analysis of the text The Wild Robot and the animation Origins. Throughout the unit students will develop a deeper understanding of how patterns in narratives set up expectations and notice when those patterns are subverted. Students will further explore narrative conventions and characterisation, then apply this knowledge when creating their own science-fiction narratives.
Mathematics - Both classes
Unit 1 - The number system extends infinitely to very large and very small numbers
This unit introduces the big idea that our number system extends infinitely to very large and very small numbers. In this 2-week unit students are provided opportunities to; read, represent and order numbers to thousands, apply place value to partition numbers up to 4-digits and generate and describe patterns to develop knowledge of multiplicative relations.
Science
The content focus will be heat, light and electrical energy. In this unit, students will explore how energy makes things happen. They will describe the effects of heat energy and explore ways that heat can be transferred due to conduction. Students will investigate the behaviour of light, including light reflecting on a variety of surfaces and shadows resulting from interruption of light by an object. They will also explore common sources and uses of electrical energy and describe different ways electrical energy can be generated sustainably.
Personal Development, Health and Physical Education
Students will explore factors that influence the development of personal identity, eg parents/carers, family, friends, school, gender stereotypes and expectations, disability, culture, religion and emerging world issues. Students will describe various factors that contribute to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander identity and propose ways to respond positively to challenge and overcoming adversity, eg positive self-talk, optimistic thinking and help-seeking behaviours and appropriate expression of feelings.
For Physical Education we will be focusing on Fundamental Movements Skills and later in the term…Cross Country! The strand Movement Skill and Performance focuses on active participation in a broad range of movement contexts to develop movement skill and enhance performance. Students will build on their confidence and competence to engage in physical activity. They will develop an understanding of movement concepts and the features of movement composition as they engage in a variety of planned and improvised movement experiences.
History
The unit ‘Celebrations and Commemorations’ will be our focus for this semester. This topic provides a study of identity and diversity in both a local and broader context. Moving from the heritage of their local area, students explore the historical features and diversity of their community. They examine local, state and national symbols and emblems of significance, and celebrations and commemorations, both locally and in other places around the world.
Creative Arts
In Visual Arts Students will be working with Mrs Schaeffer every second Wednesday (even weeks).
On Thursday afternoons we will continue our NECOM Music lessons with Jess. In Music, students will develop their knowledge, skills and understanding in performing music of different styles and from different times and cultures by singing, playing and moving, and in organising sound into musical compositions using musical concepts. They will also develop their knowledge, skills and understanding in listening to and discussing their own music and that of others.
It is with growing excitement that we are hoping to form and design a Rocky River Orchestra! These lessons will occur every Friday from Week 3 onwards.
As always, if you have any questions about your child's learning at school, please contact us at the school.
Teachers: Miss Leah Miller & Mr Brad Hunt