Grade 3 Community News

Hello Grade 3 families! We are quickly approaching the end of the term, and our students have been working extremely hard on their learning. There have been many exciting things happening throughout the Grade 3 cohort over the past few weeks.

Reading: 

In Reading, we are currently learning about Ancient Rome. The students have learnt about the history of Rome, such as Romulus and Remus, Gods and Goddesses, like Isis,  the goddess of healing and magic, Neptune, the god of the sea and Pluto, the underworld god. We also talked about the Roman Republic and how they drove out their king in 509 BCE, the Punic Wars, including Hannibal, and Julius Caesar, and how he waged civil war.

They have been participating in a variety of activities to help consolidate their knowledge on this content. The students have used comprehension strategies to build literal and inferred meaning and have begun to evaluate texts by drawing on a growing knowledge of context, text structures and language features.

Writing:

Grade 3 students have completed their fantastic free verse poems! They edited their work for spellings and revised for meaning. Then they had the amazing opportunity to read some of our wonderful poems in assembly. 

We have started learning how to plan an information report focusing on incorporating information from our Ancient Rome unit. The students have brainstormed their ideas about Ancient Rome on the brainstorm wheel. They then highlighted the 3 that they want to write about and added keywords. Students have learned how to use research skills to gather information from various sources and how to present it effectively. They have completed their SPO to plan their paragraphs effectively. The Grade 3s are producing incredible paragraphs and we look forward to seeing their published writing in later weeks. 

Maths:

This month, the Grade 3s continue to explore the two fundamental concepts of addition and subtraction. They have learnt to connect addition and subtraction fact families and explain the connection between them. The students are able to find the difference between two numbers and apply this knowledge using different strategies. In classroom discussions they are encouraged (and expected) to share their strategies and then attempt to use another student’s strategy they had not tried before. Students have been supported to form an understanding of the important mathematical ideas of addition and subtraction using materials, drawings and symbols to assist their development of efficient mental strategies for computation.

We encourage you to support your child's mathematical journey at home by practicing math facts together and encouraging a growth mindset towards problem-solving. Provide opportunities for students to play games where they have to score. Card games, dice games, commercial board games and some computer programs provide good practice. 

Morphology/ Vocabulary: 

Students continue to add new words from their mentor text, 'Our Race for Reconciliation', into their writing and oral language. We have explored the words ‘reconciliation, policy, misery, immediate and generation’; discussed their meanings, synonyms, antonyms, and practiced how to use them in sentences.

Friendly Reminders: 

• As the children are now in Grade 3, it is recommended that students walk to the classroom on their own in the morning. 
• Please ensure that uniform is worn correctly and according to the school policy.
• Please make sure that students bring their iPads fully charged to school every day as we are incorporating this through all our learning.
• Students are encouraged to be reading at home each night. Don’t forget to log all the reading in the reading journal and sign it. We need to see the students' journals on a weekly basis.
• Please ensure that your child brings a water bottle with them to school and is only bringing water in their drink bottle. 

Attendance:

It is crucial that all students are attending school every day so they can work on their learning goals and don’t miss important lessons. Please book holidays during school holiday periods rather than during the school term to make sure valuable learning time is not missed. 

The Grade 3 PLC team