Year 3/4

The Year 3/4 students have continued on with the positive start that they have made in 2024.  As teachers in the year level, we could not be more proud of the start that our students have made and they are really starting to thrive in their new year levels. 

Reading

Students have been engaged in reading and listening to James and the Giant Peach the past few weeks.  They have learned an enormous variety of new vocabulary which we hope to see in some of their future writing pieces. Students practised using comprehension strategies such as visualising, predicting and summarising. Students ended the unit writing a Book Report sharing their favourite characters and opinions of James and the Giant Peach.

Continuing on in Reading, students are now learning about persuasive texts and the variety of ways these can be written and presented. They will also explore and identify what persuasive devices are used in a persuasive text and why. 

Writing

Students finished their fantasy narratives in week 4 of term 1. Students have uploaded their narratives on to seesaw if you would like to read and celebrate with your child their amazing work. 

Continuing on in writing, students are now working on persuasive pieces. Students first worked on forming an opinion about a topic, and practiced verbalising their arguments similar to a debate. For the remainder of the term, students will be learning about persuasive devises such as rhetorical questions, anecdotes, emotive language and modality. Students will then be writing a persuasive letter about a change they would like at the school. 

Maths

Students have just finished our first numeracy unit on Place Value.  A common assessment task, along with a marking rubric for the task will be uploaded to Compass in the last week of term.  We have begun a unit on money and financial maths and we will begin a project on Seesaw where students will need to budget, purchase and record transactions for a weekend in Melbourne. 

Humanities

Our Humanities unit for Term 1 is Geography. This term we are focusing on Australia. Students have started a large project on the states and territories, capital cities and unique places and landmarks of our country. The project links to our upcoming maths unit of graphing and data and allows students to work collaboratively in a team for the duration. 

Wellbeing

Across Moriac Primary School, we have placed a large priority in term 1 on the wellbeing of students. It is very important to the 3/4 team that students feel welcomed, happy and engaged at school and have a positive learning experience. Bellow are some of the things we have in place to contribute to this: 

Community Circles:  Each morning when students arrive, we begin the day with a community circle. This is where we discuss the daily schedule, allow students to make any announcements from their personal lives, have a 'question of the day' for all students to share, and finish off with a positive primer- this can be a riddle, a funny video, or anything to spread positivity and make students smile. We have found that doing this allows students to enter the classroom and know a predictable routine, it allows them to settle in a calm environment, it promotes relationship building among students, as well as regulates any students that may have entered the classroom not yet ready to learn. 

Mindfulness: This term we have promoted and used mindfulness across the 3/4 classes. This is completed daily by the students, as it allows them to regulate after possible escalation, stresses or conflicts they may have faced during their break. After recess, students can chose which mindfulness activity they would like, either colouring, reading or laying on the floor. After lunch, students complete a guided meditation using the app smiling minds. We have found that this mindfulness is very beneficial to students learning, as it calms students back to a state of focus and ready to learn. 

RRRR:  Students have explored the topics of catastrophe scales, how to describe factors that contribute to positive relationships with fellow students, being able to identify ways that they can positively influence others’ emotions as well as identify peer support strategies for the classroom and playground. We have found all of these topics important for our grade 3/4 students, as it established life long skills and positive school environments. 

Learning goals: Throughout the 3/4 classrooms students now have individual learning goals displayed on their desks. Students learning goals will relate to the unit being studied within Reading, Writing and Maths. Goals will be continuously monitored and changed throughout the year as students achieve their goals. 

Ready to Learn Scales: Another tool we are using the classroom is a ready to learn scale. When students enter the classroom, they are able to notify the teacher how they are feeling, by touching where they are on the scale. This will inform of us of students readiness, and allow us to make modifications/ support if needed. 

NAPLAN

This week our Year 3 students sat the first 3 NAPLAN assessments with the final test on Numeracy commences Monday.  We have been thrilled with the attitude and resilience shown by our students during the NAPLAN process.  Results will be made available to families as soon as the school receives them later in the year.

Phillip Island Camp

Information for the upcoming Phillip Island Camp (May 1-3) has gone home to families. Thank you to all of the families have begun to pay and given consent via Compass. If your child is not attending, we ask that you communicate this with your child/ren's classroom teacher so we can continue to plan for camp.  We also kindly ask that all families  to return the camp medical and dietary form to the office as soon as possible so we can continue our organisation. 

In the coming week your child/ren will take a cabin group preference sheet to be completed and signed off by parents and guardians. Whilst putting together cabin/activity groups can be a tricky task, we will ensure that your child receives at least one of their friendship choices.