Level 3: Connect

Dear Level 3 families, 

What a busy fortnight it has been. The highlight was certainly the Level 3 Fun Day. It was a fantastic day in so many ways. We relished the chance to connect with students beyond the confines of the classroom, encouraging them to embrace challenges outside their comfort zones. It provided an excellent platform for forging new friendships and strengthening existing ones. Tree surfing and tube sliding were definitely a hit judging by all of the excited conversations the following day. 

We want to say a huge well done to all of the students who participated in the House Cross Country last week. What amazing persistence, team spirit and positivity they displayed. Go Esperance!! We look forward to the next house event. 

Literacy

In Spelling, we have focused on the suffix -ing and how it changes a root word's meaning. We have also looked at the 'ir' spelling choice. The Spelling Mastery program continues to develop phonemic awareness and embed knowledge of common spelling patterns. 

The students have been enjoying our 'A Rock is Lively' Writing unit. We have been discussing the language choices of the author, including her use of similes, metaphors and personification and enjoyed creating some of our own examples of each. If they come home telling you that your eyes shine like diamonds or that the trees are dancing in the wind, you know why! 

Maths

Over the last fortnight, we have been developing a range of strategies to use when subtracting numbers. We've used hands-on methods, such as MAB blocks, practised the below strategies, as well as using our knowledge of addition and doubles to help us mentally subtract. 

We love Maths games in Level 3. Below is a link to a number fluency game the students have learned this week, called 'Terminator'. I'm sure they would love to challenge their grown ups or siblings at home to a game. We suggest making a 1-27 game board so that multiplication of numbers can also be used. 

https://youtu.be/Wap96WDHqUc  

Inquiry

The students have continued to discuss what sustainability means and the difference between renewable and non-renewable energy sources, as well as how we can use less of the Earth's natural resources in an aim to live more sustainably. We have studied Indigenous perspectives of 'Caring for Country or Place', focusing on the way in which four different groups lived their lives as hunter-gatherers in a variety of environments (riverine plains, desert regions, rainforests and alpine highlands). 

Cyber Safety

The students have been faced with a variety of 'digital dilemmas' to discuss. It prompted them to consider possible problems with uploading photos online and ended with some very meaningful and thought-provoking discussions. 

Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships

Escalating emotions have been the topic of discussion in our RRRR lessons. We have created 'emotion thermometers', thinking of examples of when we have experienced extreme emotions and what has caused them. This has enabled us to reflect on how we could have handled situations differently and also how to recognise where others are on their thermometer scale. 

Gardening and Cooking

Students thoroughly enjoyed their dumpling making workshop with Mr Marco, especially using the spring onions they picked and sorted in gardening during the previous weeks. We learnt how to finely chop the key ingredients in a dumpling mix and how to fold and press the dough so that they cooked perfectly. What a treat! Well done to the students who stepped out of their eating comfort zones to try them...they were delicious. 

In gardening, we have been learning different potting methods when planting seeds and look forward to seeing if they grow differently depending on how they were planted.

Looking Ahead

Literacy

We will continue to explore the power of figurative language and embed our knowledge of similes, metaphors and personification. We will also start to unpack the grammatical features and structure of the text, as well as continue to research the different aspects of rocks. In Reading Groups, we will be focusing on fluency, summarising and comprehension strategies. 

Maths

We will continue to work on our maths fluency and developing tools to help us with multiplication problems. Students will use arrays, doubling knowledge and decomposing (breaking down) numbers into smaller parts to make multiplying larger numbers more manageable. 

Inquiry

Students will be studying environmental and human influences on different locations in Australia. We will also be discussing the notion of them as consumers and how to differentiate what we want from what we need in an aim to build awareness around sustainability. 

Cyber Safety

We will be discussing actions to take if we don't feel safe online, including identifying and responding to tricky people or people that make us feel uncomfortable. 

Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships

Students will be learning techniques to cope with angry feelings, as well as understanding the consequences of their actions on others. As part of this, we will learn all about the strong apology model. 

We're ready for another two weeks of great learning and hope the students are too. 

-The level 3 team: Claire, Jana, Lizzie, Amanda and Eileen