From the Year 3 Classroom
Sacred Heart Primary School Yarrawonga
It has been another busy and exciting fortnight in our classroom! Students have been working hard across all learning areas, showing enthusiasm, resilience, and a willingness to challenge themselves. We are proud of the effort everyone is putting into their learning and look forward to sharing some of our highlights with you.
Mansfield Zoo Visit
This week, students enjoyed an exciting excursion to Mansfield Zoo as part of our Inquiry learning. The visit provided a valuable opportunity for students to observe a variety of animals up close and learn more about their habitats, behaviours, and care. Students were highly engaged throughout the day, asking thoughtful questions and making connections to our current learning about animals and captivity. The experiences and knowledge gained from the excursion will support our ongoing discussions, reading, and writing activities in the classroom. We extend our thanks to Coles Yarrawonga for the donation of sausages and bread for our lunch.
Reading:
This week in Reading, we are moving through our Novel The One and Only Ivan. This novel encourages students to reflect on themes such as friendship, freedom, and animals living in captivity. We are also extending our vocabulary by identifying and discussing interesting new words from the text, helping to strengthen both reading comprehension and writing skills.
We have also begun Literature Circles, which are a fantastic way for students to deepen their understanding of a text through meaningful discussions with their peers. Students are learning about the different roles within a Literature Circle, including the Passage Picker, Summariser, Text Connector, Discussion Director, and Word Wizard. These roles help students think critically about what they are reading, share their ideas, make connections, and build their comprehension skills in a collaborative environment.
Writing
We are currently in the midst of writing our persuasive letters to Georgie Purcell from the Animal Justice Party, sharing our viewpoints on why animals should not be kept in captivity. Students are thoroughly enjoying this authentic writing task and have been working hard to structure their arguments using the PEPS strategy (Point, Explain, Proof, Summarise). It has been fantastic to see students incorporating a range of persuasive devices, including emotive language, rhetorical questions, and strong supporting evidence to strengthen their arguments.
This week, students will conclude their letters, carefully edit their work, and publish their final piece. We look forward to sharing their thoughtful and persuasive writing!
Spell Ex- Tricky Words
New- Family, tried, interesting & probably
Old- Decide. Decided, celebration & dangerous
Maths
The next 2 weeks, students will be developing their mapping skills by moving from giving and following directions on maps and grids to exploring more complex map representations and perspectives. Building on their previous learning about creating and interpreting maps of familiar places, students are now learning how to use symbols to represent objects and features on a map. They have also been exploring how places can be viewed from different perspectives. Using a variety of maps and three-dimensional models, students will be creating their own maps and strengthening their understanding of how we represent the world around us.
Inquiry
We have been budding scientists during our Inquiry sessions, learning all about the Sun and the power of it’s heat. We investigated items that we predicted to melt in the sun and extended our knowledge of what happens to our bodies when we have too much sun. The students created some amazing posters promoting Sun safety.
RE
This week, students have been learning about forgiveness and reconciliation and their importance in building and restoring relationships. We explored the Four Steps of Reconciliation and discussed how these steps can be applied in everyday situations to help repair friendships and resolve conflicts. Students are developing their understanding that reconciliation is a process of restoring relationships through honesty, forgiveness, and positive action.
We have also been learning about the Sacrament of Penance and how Catholics celebrate God's forgiveness through this special sacrament. Students have explored the main parts of the sacrament and discussed why it is an important part of the Catholic faith.
In addition, students examined how Jesus modelled forgiveness through his words and actions. Through class discussions and activities, students identified examples of forgiveness in Jesus' life and considered how they can follow his example in their own relationships by showing kindness, understanding, and forgiveness towards others
Art
Last week in Art, students began a perspective drawing of a zoo, linking their learning to our class novel and upcoming excursion to the Mansfield Zoo. Students learnt about the key features of perspective drawing, including horizon lines, vanishing points, and creating depth within an artwork.
Students were thoroughly engaged throughout the lesson and demonstrated excellent precision and attention to detail as they applied these new skills. It has been wonderful to see their creativity shine while developing their understanding of perspective.
Next week, students will complete their artworks, and we look forward to showcasing their finished creations in our next newsletter.
Have a good week,
Year 3 Team
Kellie - kcowan@shyarrawonga.catholic.edu.au