Year 3 News
English
Reading
During term two the grade three students will be focusing on summarising texts. Throughout this unit students will be learning to understand and summarise fiction and non-fiction texts. They will be learning how to use paraphrasing to be able to create a summary in their own words, whilst also including the important events or ideas from the text. During the summarising unit students will also be building their skills in determining important information, inferring, and identifying and understanding text structures and features of both fiction and non-fiction genres.
Writing
Students will begin this term learning about persuasive writing. During this unit the students will be learning about the features and structure of a persuasive text. Students will learn how to craft a persuasive text that includes their opinion or thoughts on a chosen topic with reasons and evidence for this opinion, as well as, using language features such as high modality words and emotive language to persuade their reader. They will then move onto a unit on poetry that will be our main focus for this term. During this unit they will be learning about free verse, Haiku and Cinquain poems, as well as, poetic devices such as onomatopoeia, metaphors, similes and alliteration.
Mathematics
We will begin the term by focusing on angles where students will be learning to identify a right angle and angles smaller and larger than a right angle. Along with continuing to revise our knowledge of place value throughout the first few weeks of term. We will then move into our focus of addition and subtraction. During this unit students will be learning to use multiple strategies to solve addition and subtraction problems. They will learn how to describe these strategies while developing a preferred method to solve addition and subtraction using a place value method e.g., jump strategy, fact families, mental recall. Students will then move onto a short unit on mass using metrics units grams and kilograms. We will finish the term with a focus on financial math looking at the equivalent value of coins and notes and providing change.
Inquiry
In year 3 and 4 students will begin the ‘everybody wants to rule the world’ unit. Throughout this unit we will be learning that decisions can be made democratically along with the role of local government. Students will recognise the importance of rules and distinguish the differences between rules and laws. We will review how people can be active citizens in their community and how the different kinds of authorities we may encounter. During this unit we will look at different cultural norms and the impacts that they can have on rules that are accepted within that culture.
Science
This term in Science, Grade 3 students will be focusing on the Earth and Space Sciences. Students in Grade 3 will be looking at different human activities that cause changes to the Earth’s surface (e.g. farming, mining, damming of rivers, development of cities). They will investigate the impact of these activities on Earth’s natural environment. Grade 3 students will also identify some of the effects, both positive and negative, that weather events have on the natural landscape(e.g. storms causing flooding and erosion, heatwaves contributing to drought and bushfires, earthquakes causing damage to Earth’s surface). The overarching key idea students will work towards is that Earth’s surface changes over time, as a result of natural processes and human activity.
LOTE – Chinese
During Term 1 in Chinese, Grade 3 will learn about Chinese New Year in first two weeks’ time and then make Chinese lanterns in the classroom. The topic for this term is Chinese Festivals and their food. Students will explored 4 main festivals in China and their related food in English and Chinese. Also they have good knowledge of Chinese zodiac especially 4 animal signs relate to their birth years.
Art
Welcome to Term 2, Art, 2023! In Art, the Grade 3 to 6’s have started the term off with Rock Painting. The students have been mapping out a pebble design and executing their masterpieces on rocks. One of the great benefits of Rock Paining is that it helps to relieve stress and anxiety as well as providing students with an opportunity to express their creative abilities by focusing on the task at hand. This term, we will be immersing and exposing students to Art from many different cultures including Aboriginal and Indigenous Art, Mexican Folk art and French Impressionism. We will dive into the world of renowned Artists like Frida Kahlo, Thaneeya McArdle, Albert Namatjira, Rover Thomas, Bill Whiskey Tjapaltjarri, Dorothy Napangardi, Tommy Watson and George Ward Tjungurrayi to better understand the history and background of their Art work and what inspired them to create such amazing masterpieces. The students will be experimenting with combinations of components and approaches, such as combinations of elements, design principles, composition and style. They will use these techniques to replicate and to create their own versions of the artwork.
We will continue to investigate how colours work together by looking at colour theory. The students will experiment with warm and cool colours, and participate in printmaking using leaves as stencils, taking into consideration the current season and tones of ‘Autumn’. Warm and cool colours play a vital part when designing, and particularly when painting to create a sense of mood in the artwork. This term will be very messy in Art. I look forward to more fun in the Art room with our students!
P.E.
During this term the grade 3 students will focus on different sports to help with an understanding of the fundamental movement skills required to play in different sports. Basketball and athletics track & field will be the two topics of focus during this term that the students in grade 3 will be working on. By the end of the unit on basketball the aim is that each student can apply the skills required for the sport in a games-based approach. Students will play in small-sided games of 3 v 3 basketball and be asked to apply the skills of bouncing a ball, throwing, catching, and shooting when playing in games. Students will have ample opportunity to play the game and learn as they play. For the second half of the term, students will participate in track & field events that will work on their running, catching, and throwing. These events include short distance running, relay running, discuss, shotput, and hurdles. Teamwork and working collaboratively will also be expected during this topic and seeing students develop their sportsmanship and fair play. Students will learn correct running form and participate in races. Students will also be introduced to shot-put and discus throwing and begin to develop the correct techniques for each of these events. They will also take place in competitive events for each class to simulate real athletic events. These skills will be built on through the different year levels as more depth will be added as the students’ progress through their learning in PE. This term should be heaps of fun and I can’t wait to be started with the grade 3 students! We have plenty of exciting learning ahead and I am looking forward to all of it.