Term 3 Curriculum Newsletters
Prep
The Prep area is sure to be abuzz with excitement in preparation for our 100th Day of School celebration in Week 3! We are absolutely amazed by their progress and enthusiasm as learners as they proceed past the halfway point of their first year of school, and we can’t wait to continue this journey.
Literacy
In Literacy this term, students will continue to develop their sound knowledge, letter formation and further expand their understanding of sentence structure. Students will continue to write complete sentences that begin with a capital letter, use appropriate finger spaces and punctuation such as full stops and question marks. We will continue our learning about how we can extend a simple sentence by adding adjectives, ‘when’ and ‘where’. We will also learn how to write compound and complex sentences using the conjunctions “because” and “but”. Handwriting of lowercase letters will be practised daily to help with correct sizing and direction.
Students will learn to read decodable texts with growing fluency and automaticity by practising reading with their reading partners regularly. They will also continue to expand their sound knowledge by building, writing and reading words with four and five sounds. They will learn how to read and write words with digraphs (two letters that represent one sound) such as ff, ch, sh, th and ng. We will also read a range of rich picture books together, such as Giraffes can’t dance, Farmer John’s Tractor, Wombat and the children’s classic Wombat Stew.
Mathematics - Skills (Counting, Addition, Subtraction & Measurement)
In Numeracy, students will continue to develop their number knowledge and skill in being able to count and compare collections of 20 or more objects. Through daily practise, we will revise handwriting of numerals and accurate pronunciation of two-digit numbers, particularly teen numbers, when counting forwards and backwards. We will build on our skills in interpreting and solving number stories, addition and subtraction equations and representing the solutions using concrete materials. We will begin to explore financial mathematics, exploring money using whole dollar amounts. Students will have the opportunity to expand on their knowledge of different measurement areas such as length, mass and capacity and learn how to use the correct vocabulary to measure and compare these units.
Inquiry: It’s Alive!
For our Biology unit ‘Features of living things’, we will be exploring the features of living things such as plants and animals. We will then use these features to help us classify, sort and group them based on their similarities and differences. We will plant seeds and use these to make observations of how they grow and form throughout the different stages. Students will visit the Werribee Open Range Zoo in week 6 of the term as our chosen excursion to complement all our learning about ‘living things’.
We ask that you please continue to read with your child every night, practise their handwriting, learn to name all of the uppercase and lowercase letters and count forwards and backwards to 20 and beyond. Please remember that blue folders are due back every Monday.
As always, please keep checking Compass and Seesaw for important information throughout the term.
Thank you for your support,
The Prep Team
Grade 1
Welcome to another exciting term of learning in Grade 1! We have many engaging experiences and learning opportunities planned for our students.
Inquiry
This term, our Inquiry topic is Needs of Living Things. Students will investigate what living things need to survive and thrive, exploring the similarities and differences between plants, animals and humans. As part of this unit, we will be visiting the Melbourne Museum, where students will participate in rich learning experiences that will deepen their understanding of living things and their environments.
Literacy
In Literacy, students will explore both imaginative texts and information texts, developing their understanding of different text types and their purposes. We will continue to strengthen reading, spelling and writing skills through our structured phonics program, while providing opportunities for students to apply these skills in meaningful reading and writing tasks.
Numeracy
In Numeracy, students will continue developing their understanding of addition and subtraction strategies, building confidence in solving mathematical problems. We will also focus on reading, ordering and representing two- and three-digit numbers, as well as exploring measurement, including comparing and describing the capacity of different containers.
Homework
We encourage students to continue their home learning routines throughout the term. Daily reading remains an important way to build fluency, comprehension and confidence. Students should also continue using NumBots regularly to strengthen their number knowledge and develop automatic recall of key mathematical facts.
Kind regards,
The Grade One Team.
Grade 2
A big welcome to Term 3! We hope everyone had a wonderful break and is feeling refreshed for another exciting term of learning. We are looking forward to seeing our Grade 2 students continue to grow in confidence, curiosity and independence.
In Reading, students will explore a range of engaging stories and informative texts, including The Stone Lion, The Snail and the Whale, Walking in Gagudju Country and The Gentle Genius of Trees. They will continue developing their comprehension skills by discussing characters, settings, themes and authors’ messages, while building their vocabulary and sharing their ideas about what they read.
In Writing, students will continue to strengthen their sentence construction by learning how to use pronouns, possessive words and conjunctions to create more detailed and cohesive writing. They will retell and create their own narratives, experiment with poetry, and finish the term by planning, writing and presenting an informative poster.
In Mathematics, students will continue developing confidence with addition and subtraction while building their understanding of multiplication and division through arrays, skip counting and the 2, 5 and 10 times tables. They will also explore number patterns, numbers to 1000, telling time to the quarter hour, and measuring and comparing mass through hands-on activities.
In Inquiry, students will learn about significant places, explore Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ connections to Country, and investigate the special features that help plants and animals survive in different environments.
In Wellbeing, our focus this term is on empathy, cooperation and gratitude. Students will continue to build positive relationships, practise mindfulness and develop strategies to support their wellbeing.
We are looking forward to another wonderful term of learning and thank our families for their continued support.
Grade 3
Welcome to another exciting term! We hope you all had a wonderful break and are feeling refreshed for the term ahead. We have lots of exciting learning planned for our Grade 3 students and can't wait to see them continue to grow in confidence, curiosity and independence.
In Reading, we will be diving into ‘The Iron Man’ by Ted Hughes (not to be confused with the Marvel superhero!). Throughout our novel study, students will develop their comprehension skills by asking and answering questions to deepen their understanding of the story, exploring important themes, and identifying how the author's language and literary devices help create meaning and bring the story to life.
Our Writing focus this term will be on creating information reports about iron as a metal. Students will research and gather interesting facts before planning, drafting, editing and publishing their own reports. Along the way, they will learn how to write clear and informative introductions using features such as present tense, descriptive vocabulary, precise nouns and noun groups, third-person pronouns and adverbials to explain and compare information.
Students will also continue to strengthen their reading and spelling skills through the ‘Sounds-Write’ program. This structured phonics approach helps students build confidence in decoding, spelling and applying their knowledge across all areas of literacy.
In Inquiry, students will become young scientists as they explore Geology, Life Cycles and Living Things. Students will explore rocks, minerals and soil and learn about the amazing ways our Earth has been shaped over time. They will also investigate how plants and animals grow and change throughout their life cycles, discover what living things need to survive. In each unit of study, students will take part in hands-on investigations that encourage curiosity, observation and scientific thinking.
In Mathematics, we will continue using our ‘Daily Review’ to reinforce key concepts while introducing a range of new learning. Students will build their understanding of multiplication and division, explore angles, measure and compare mass and capacity, make different amounts of money, practise rounding numbers, and collect and interpret data through statistical investigations. These topics provide plenty of opportunities for students to apply their mathematical thinking to everyday, real-world situations.
We will be sending home a weekly homework routine in the form of a sheet for students to complete. Please encourage your child to fill in the sheet as they complete the activities. It incorporates the following routines:
Supporting Reading at Home
Please encourage your child to read aloud daily for 10-15 minutes by reading fiction texts or other texts of interest (from the school library/local library).
Supporting Maths at Home
Short, regular practice helps build strong number foundations.
By the end of Grade 3 it is expected that students are able to recall multiplication facts of 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x and 10x times table and the related division facts. Practice on Times Table Rockstars a few times a week (for roughly 5 mins at a time) builds confidence and fluency with both multiplication and division.
Some students are also consolidating their recall of addition and subtraction facts. Number facts practice on NumBots supports your child’s automatic recall of basic number bonds, which is essential for later maths success.
We are looking forward to another fantastic term filled with learning, discovery and new experiences. Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to working together to make this another successful term for our Grade 3 students!
Warm regards,
The Grade 3 Teaching Team
Ainsley, Jemma, Jovana and Kate
Grade 4/5
Welcome back to Term 3! The 4/5s have settled in well are excited for a brand new term of learning.
In Literacy, we have begun a new novel called 'Tom Appleby: Convict Boy'. It is a story about a young orphaned boy and his experiences travelling to Australia and living as a convict. We are enjoying a view into the lives of the British settlers and will be writing an information report about life in the 17th century, the First Fleet, and life in the early Australian colonies.
In Maths, daily review continues to be a part of our routine, helping to consolidate previous learning. We will be learning about plenty of different topics, including building on fractions, division algorithms, decimals, and perimeter problems.
Our Inquiry unit will focus on life in Australia in the early 1800s, the impact of settlement on Indigenous Australians, and the journey of the First Fleet. We will continue to enjoy Resilience Project Lessons which help students to recognise and deal with different emotions and build strong, respectful relationships both at school and home.
Grade 6
Welcome to an exciting term three, where the students in grade 6 will venture down the highway, all the way to ‘Canberra,’ for our camp. This of course happens in week 9, (September 7-11) and we get to experience all Canberra has to offer. So much of this terms curriculum centres around the theme of ‘Canberra and Democracy.’
In Reading this first term, both grades will read through the Morris Gleitzman novel, ‘Once.’ Morris Gleitzman brings heart and humour to the difficult subject of the Holocaust in this ground-breaking children's book. Told in simple yet powerful language. Throughout the unit, the students will discuss a wide range of topics and themes with their classmates. We will analyse the way the author chooses to portray World War 2, through the eyes of a 10-year-old boy, named Felix.
In Writing, the students will be focusing on preparing ‘Information pieces.’ During this time, we will be focusing on sentence development by adding relative clauses and appositives. A large part of the teaching units will include planning, sentence structure, including sensory language and also revising and editing.
In Mathematics this term, the students will continue to work on the ‘Maths Hero’ program. Here we start sessions by undertaking daily reviews of the concepts introduced and also touching on future concepts. The main lesson areas that we will cover this term include working on simplifying fractions, working out the area of composite shapes (shapes with 2 or more basic shapes combined), multiplying fractions, area word problems, integers subtracting into negative and rounding decimals.
This terms Inquiry unit is titled, ‘The making of modern Australia’ Some of the topics that we will be looking at in this unit include Australian Federation in 1901, Australia becoming a nation, exclusion and inequality at Federation (looking at different views). We will also be having a mock election within the classroom as well as introducing debating to the grades.