From the Year 3 Classroom
Welcome to Week Five!
It has been another busy and productive week, with students continuing to build on their learning across all areas.
In the classroom, we have been focusing on developing our skills and confidence, particularly in literacy and numeracy. Students have been working hard to apply new strategies, show resilience when tackling challenges, and support one another in their learning. It has been fantastic to see their growing independence and enthusiasm.
A reminder that Walk to School Day is happening this Friday. We encourage all students who are able to participate by walking, riding, or scootering to school. This is a great opportunity to promote healthy habits, reduce traffic around the school, and enjoy some fresh air before the day begins.
Thank you, as always, for your continued support. We look forward to another great week ahead!
Reading
In Literacy, we have just finished reading the engaging novel ‘Yirra and Her Deadly Dog, Demon.’ Students thoroughly enjoyed following Yirra’s journey and exploring the characters, setting, and key events in the story. This text provided a wonderful opportunity to build comprehension skills and have rich discussions about what we read.
We are now moving into a new focus on summarising, where students will read a variety of both fiction and non-fiction texts. Our goal is to strengthen comprehension by helping students identify the key ideas and most important parts of a text, rather than recalling every detail.
Students will practice retelling information in their own words, using the acronym TAM-K
T - Title & text type
A – Author and Action
M – Main idea
K – Key ideas
These skills are essential in supporting deeper comprehension and will help students become more confident, thoughtful readers. We look forward to seeing students continue to grow in their ability to understand and interpret a wide range of texts.
Reminder Reading Diaries are due each Friday. It is a minimum requirement for Grade 3 students to be reading for a total of 60 minutes over the course of the week, 1hr of reading and signed by a parent/guardian. For your child to develop and improve their reading, please ensure that it is a Good Fit book they read, i.e. one that is not too easy and not too hard.
Spelling
We have been learning about the role of the ‘e’ at the end of words – bossy e & ve, and the suffix rule – drop ‘e’.
Tricky words we are learning right now- every, please, chocolate, different, people, believe
Writing
In Writing, students have begun working on non-fiction information texts focused on an Australian native animal of their choice. As part of this unit, students have been developing their research skills by gathering information about their animal’s habitat, diet, and lifestyle.
It has been fantastic to see the enthusiasm in the classroom, with students really enjoying having ownership over their learning. They have been eager to explore books and other resources to find interesting and important facts, and many have taken great pride in sharing their discoveries with their peers.
Over the coming weeks, students will use their research to create their own structured information texts. They will focus on organising their ideas into clear sections, writing factual sentences, and presenting their information in a way that is easy for others to understand.
We are looking forward to seeing their final pieces come together and to celebrating the effort and curiosity they have shown throughout this project.
Maths
Over the last two weeks, students have been engaged in an exciting unit on measurement, with a focus on length. Throughout this unit, they have developed their understanding of how to measure and describe the length of various objects using informal and formal units. Students have practiced estimating lengths, comparing objects, and ordering them from shortest to longest. It has been wonderful to see them building confidence in using appropriate language such as longer than, shorter than, and about as long as, as well as improving their accuracy when measuring.
We are now transitioning into a new unit on patterns, where students will explore how numbers and shapes repeat and change. A key focus will be on doubling and halving, helping students recognize relationships between numbers and building a strong foundation for future mathematical thinking. Through hands-on activities and problem-solving tasks, students will investigate how patterns grow and how numbers can be split and combined.
We are looking forward to seeing students apply their knowledge creatively as they begin this new and engaging unit!
Timetables Challenge
Year 3 students have been enthusiastically taking part in our Times Tables Challenge, working hard to master each multiplication set with confidence and accuracy. Students will be tested, and they are only signed off once they can fluently and confidently recite the full times (out of order) they’re working on. To support their progress, students will be bringing home practice sheets to help build fluency. Strong times tables knowledge is important because it underpins so many areas of maths, including division, fractions and multi‑step problem‑solving, and gives students the number sense they need to tackle more complex concepts. It is also a curriculum standard to learn at least 2 X, 3 X, 4 X, 5 X, 10 X, 11X by the end of Grade 3. Please have your child practice daily to help improve their automatic recall. There are house points and exciting prizes up for grabs, adding an extra layer of motivation as students strive to achieve their personal best.
Congratulations to Harriet Inchbold, Penny Perkins and Elisha Nobin on becoming Multiplication Masters!
Library Schedule
Here is our Term 2 Library Schedule. Just a reminder that students are welcome to go to the library anytime to return or borrow books. Students still need a library bag to take books home with them.
Week 5- 3S
Week 6-3E
Week 7-3C
Week 8-3S
Week 9- 3E
Week 10-3C
Inquiry:
We have begun their inquiry unit “Where in the World Are We?” by learning about the states and capital cities of Australia and creating their own labelled maps. They have loved sharing the places they’ve visited and making connections to their own experiences. Over the coming weeks, students will continue exploring Australia by locating significant natural and human-made places on a map, researching a unique natural Australian location, and recording their findings in a report. This unit helps students build their geographical knowledge, develop research skills, and understand more about the country they live in.
Religion
Our first unit for Term 2 is ‘Circle of Life’, and students will learn that Jesus is with us during both joyful and difficult times. They will explore feelings of sadness, loss and change, as well as hope and new beginnings. Students will also learn that God is always with us and that people are sent into our lives to help and support us. A strong focus will be placed on showing care, kindness and support to others when they need it.
Regards
Team Year 3