Year 3 Spotlight

Maths

This term we have been focusing on multiplication and division. We have been working to develop our recall of 2s, 3s, 5s and 10s multiplication facts and some students have extended beyond this. It is expected that by the end of Grade 3, students are able to recall these facts. 

To solve division problems students have been learning to use different strategies.

Strategy 1: Sharing items by 1s

Strategy 2: Using skip counting to share into equal groups

Strategy 3: Known facts using multiplication 

Student reflections

• I have learnt about multiplication and how to times numbers together. ~ Thomas, 3C
• I have learnt some strategies to solve multiplication problems. ~ Bonnie, 3C
• In maths this term, I have learnt the Known facts using multiplication and I have also learnt to solve large multiplication problems using the area method. ~ Lola 3C

Resilience, Rights, and Respectful Relationships

In Term 3, we are learning about stress management as part of our Resilience, Rights, and Respectful Relationships curriculum. We have been exploring how different people, situations, and events can influence our emotions and how to manage these feelings effectively. We have been learning about strategies to cope with physical, social, and emotional changes, especially in situations that might make us feel uncomfortable or unsafe. The unit encourages students to identify their personal strengths and develop coping strategies to build resilience.

Student reflections

• It has been good learning strategies to help us. ~ Sophie, 3B
• Some of the strategies help me when I am feeling stressed. ~ Seb, 3B
• It’s good we get to learn about this, because it can help children calm down. ~ Felix, 3B
• It is like therapy in the classroom. ~ Libby, 3B
• It is good because sometimes when I feel stressed, I have tried using a strategy and it helps me feel better. ~ Hamish, 3B
• Something that we do, that is very fun and I like it! ~ Charlotte, 3B

Inquiry

This term in Inquiry, Grade 3 is learning all about what makes us good historians. We have been exploring different sources of information, types of artefacts, differences in culture and perspective, all through the lens of First Nations history in Australia. This has meant investigating both primary and secondary sources of historical information such as creation stories, rock art, oral histories and ancient artefacts. 

To further develop our skills as historians, we visited the Melbourne Museum to participate in a First Peoples Gallery exploration and view other areas of the museum. This excursion was a great opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of First Nations history, as well as the importance of what historians do to preserve and pass down the knowledge, traditions, culture and values of communities both past and present. 

Whilst at the museum we were able to listen to the ‘Bunjil the Eagle’ creation story, play with historical indigenous toys, look at how tree bark was used to create canoes, explore music from indigenous artists, learn about how nets were used to farm eel, and hear stories from First Nations people throughout history. We also explored other museum areas like the Melbourne Story, Walk with Dinosaurs, Bugs Alive and Milarri Garden. We got to look at so many different types of natural and human-made artefacts, as well as photographs and letters from the past. 

Here’s what Grade 3 had to say about the excursion:

• I really liked the Bunjil story and wish we got to listen to more. ~ Alfie, 3A
• I liked learning about the Diprotodon, which is like a giant Wombat! ~ Harriet, 3A
• I liked seeing and learning about Phar Lap. ~ Nell, 3A
• There was a cool map that you could press on it and it would say the name of the Aboriginal community that lives there. ~ Jemima, 3A
• I liked going into the old houses and looking at all the items from the olden days. ~ Harper, 3A
• I got to see an old TV! ~ Isobel, 3A

For the remainder of this term, Grade 3 will be researching and presenting their understanding of a particular cultural celebration, myth, historical event or tradition through the use of stop motion animation, puppet shows or PowerPoints. Each class will have a viewing day at the end of term to watch each other’s presentations. We are looking forward to being amazing historians and sharing our findings!

Writing

This term in Writing, Grade 3 are researching all about the Olympics to write their own information reports. We started this term by analysing the features of informative texts such as fun facts, technical terms, paragraphs, images/diagrams, heading/subheadings and glossaries. We researched all about the 2024 Olympic Games, as well as Olympics of the past and each chose a topic related to the Olympics in some way to research and write about. We are currently in the planning phase of the writing process and will soon begin drafting. We are looking forward to publishing our reports and sharing them with you soon.

Reading 

Hello readers, Jojo and Penny here from 3D, in our classes we are doing work on comprehension. In reading we are learning about cause/effect and visualising.

Cause and Effect

Cause/effect is where something or someone experiences something and there is an effect. For example, say Jojo dropped a glass it would shatter. The cause is that you dropped the glass and the effect is it shattered. In some cases there is more than one effect. The other effects could be that you cut your hand or foot or that you would sweep it up. Well, that’s cause and effect for you!!

~ By Jojo and Penny, 3D

Visualising

Hi, I’m Matilda from 3D. And I’m going to talk about visualising. Visualising is where you see a movie in your head or a piece of action. We do visualising by really focusing on the words and imagining you’re in a book. We can use the five senses.

~ By Matilda, 3D

Visualise the following text. What do you imagine?

As I walk through the rainforest, I hear the crashing of the waterfall. I feel the wind pushing against me as it blows my hair back. As I get closer and closer to the splashing of the waterfall, I feel the spray of the river and see the sparkle of the lake. I sit down on the mossy rocks and read my favourite book. I hear the birds leading me to a place I’ve never been before. It lands me by a wonderful majestical pond surrounded by beautiful plants. The water is crystal clear and I can see myself in the reflection.

~ By Eve, Lara and Miranda, 3D

~ Year 3 Teachers (Millie, Monique, Jourdan, Steph and Brendan) and Students