Year Three News

Term 1 in Grade 3

Welcome to all the students and their families in Grade Three! The Grade Three teachers are looking forward to a fun year and we have a lot of exciting things planned for 2024. We will spend the first couple of weeks getting to know each other through a range of engaging activities and games, aiming to develop relationships, build confidence and set the expectations for the year to come.

Reading

This term, the Grade Three team is focusing on developing our love for Literature and reading! We have created welcoming Reading Corners in our classrooms and are encouraging students to choose their own books to read. We will discuss how to pick a ‘Just Right Book’ and the importance of reading for enjoyment. Students will keep a record of the books they read throughout the year and will often engage in discussions with their peers about what they are reading. These conversations are vital in order for students to build a community, develop important speaking and listening skills, deepen their understanding of books and most importantly, recognise that reading is fun! Our first class novel will be ‘As fast as I can’.

Writing

At FWPS, we focus is on the 6+1 Traits of Writing and how to use these to create a range of effective and engaging pieces of writing. In Term One, we will be concentrating on the traits of Organisation and Ideas, focusing on narratives and persuasive texts. We will also be incorporating The Writing Revolution method, an evidence based approach to writing sentences.

Numeracy

In Mathematics, students in Grade Three will learn about a range of topics, such as place value, addition and subtraction, multiplication and division and time. Staff at FWPS aim to ‘gamify’ many aspects of the Mathematics curriculum in order to create engaging, fun and memorable lessons. Throughout the year, Grade Three students will learn a range of new and fun Maths games with the aim of building confidence, deepening Mathematical understanding and creating a fun learning environment! We will also be continuing the school wide instructional method of Daily Review. This practice of reviewing previously learnt content on a daily basis helps to strengthen recall and memory.

Units of Work

For units of work this term, we are looking at the importance of health and wellbeing. We will explore many aspects vital to a healthy and happy life, such as sleep, mindfulness, a healthy and balanced diet, friendships, physical activity and the effects of too much screen time.

NAPLAN

NAPLAN will occur in Weeks 7 - 9 of Term One this year. We know the idea of formal assessment can be very overwhelming for students, especially in Grade Three. Therefore, we will spend time preparing the students for what they can expect during the tests and what is expected of them during test conditions. Students will have the chance to ask lots of questions and share any concerns or anxieties they have. We will also run through some practice tests that will not be graded, so students know what the format of the tests will look like. If your child is worried about NAPLAN, it’s important to reassure them that it is simply a test that everyone in the country will be doing. We do not wish to put any extra pressure on our Grade Three students, especially this early in the new year. Please speak to your child’s classroom teacher if you or your child has any concerns.

Camp:

This year the Grade Three classes will be lucky enough to experience a night at the Melbourne Zoo! Each class will go one at a time, spending the night at the zoo, as well as the following day exploring all the zoo has to offer. The dates for this excursion are as follows:

• Tuesday, 20th February - 3TN
• Wednesday, 21st February - 3KT
• Monday, 26th February - 3MP
• Tuesday, 27th February - 3TM

A deposit was due during the January school holidays to confirm your child's place at camp. The remainder of the money is due before the 15th of February. A slide show about camp, including what to pack, was uploaded to Compass.

Homework

Students in Grade Three will be required to complete homework tasks each week. We will begin this in Term Two, after we have settled into the new school year. We will let you know more about the expectations for homework at a later date. For now, we would like students to get into the routine of reading at home 5 nights a week. Students will be provided with a document to record their reading each night. This document can be accessed by students at home, via Google Classroom.

Parent Helpers

We are delighted to hear that many caregivers have completed the online modules that allow them to come into the school as helpers. If you would like to volunteer in your child's classroom to provide additional support, please contact your child's class teacher via compass.

Tissues

We would greatly appreciate donations of tissue boxes for your child’s classroom. Thank you in advance.

Tess, Trang, Kim and Michael

The 2024 Grade 3 Team