Year Three
Dear Grade 3 Families,
Welcome back to our final term of the year!
We hope everyone had a restful break and is ready for a fun and productive Term 4. This term is packed with exciting learning opportunities and events to finish off the year with a bang! Please remember that this term all students must wear a wide-brimmed hat when outside (No Hat, No Play). Baseball caps are not accepted, so a child wearing one will not be able to play outside.
Reading
In Reading, students have begun this term by sharing what they read over the holidays and enjoying buddy reading with a partner. They then continued exploring non-fiction texts about simple machines, including wedges and screws, and practised taking notes in their own words under headings. Students also watched Caine's Arcade and researched arcade and theme park designs to gather ideas for their own projects. Alongside this, they looked at how authors use precise vocabulary, synonyms and labelled diagrams to explain scientific ideas clearly.
Writing
In Writing, students explored the writing trait of Voice, using 'The Day the Crayons Quit' as inspiration to write humorous pieces from the point of view of an object from their school holidays. They also continued their explanation texts on simple machines, using cause-and-effect language and precise verbs to explain how each machine works. Students then edited and revised their work by expanding their sentences with more detail. Most recently, they have followed the design process to brainstorm, plan, label and begin building their own arcade or theme park game.
Numeracy
In Numeracy, students have been learning to identify, compare and estimate angles in their environment. They made their own right angle checkers to hunt for right angles around the classroom and were introduced to acute, obtuse and reflex angles. Students also investigated the angles made by the hands on an analogue clock. They then moved on to transformations, exploring how shapes can be slid (translation), flipped (reflection) and turned (rotation), and describing these movements using mathematical language.
Unit of Inquiry
Students are finishing our Unit of Inquiry under the Transdisciplinary Theme 'How the World Works', with the Central Idea: 'Understanding forces can help design effective machines'.
Throughout the unit, students have investigated forces and their effects, how simple machines work, and how forces and machines are used in the world around us.
To bring their learning together, students are now completing their final project: designing and building their own game boards that use simple machines and forces to make them work. They have followed the design process to plan, build, test and improve their creations, and they are very excited to share the finished products.
Zoo Excursion Dates:
Monday 19th October (Group A): 3A, 3B, 3F, 3G
Tuesday 20th October (Group B): 3C, 3D, 3E, 3H, 3I
Important Reminders:
Friendship preferences: please return by Monday 19/10/2026.
No Hat No Play: Students are reminded to wear their bucket hats (not caps) when outside the class at recess and lunch times.
Kind Regards,
Year Three Teachers