Level 3 & 4
Welcome back!
We hope all of our students and families have enjoyed a relaxing and happy winter break. As we look ahead to the start of Term 3, we are excited to welcome everyone back to school and are looking forward to another fantastic term of learning, growth and fun together!
CURRICULUM
Literacy
This week, students will learn and practise PhOrMeS Rule 111. This spelling rule helps children know when to double the final consonant in a one-syllable word before adding a vowel suffix (such as -ed, -ing, or -er).
For example:
- hop → hopping
- run → runner
- fit → fitted
During our PhOrMeS lessons, students are also strengthening their decoding skills by identifying sounds, reading words accurately, and applying spelling rules to both reading and writing. Understanding Rule 111 helps children become more confident readers and spellers.
What you can do at home: Ask them to explain the rule and practise adding -ing or -ed to simple one-syllable words such as hop, tap, rub, and plan.
In Reading this week, we are exploring Malala's Magical Pencil by Malala Yousafzai.
Students are learning about who Malala is and why her story is important. Before reading, they will make predictions about the text using the title, cover, and illustrations and as they read, they will identify and discuss Malala's personality traits using evidence from the story.
Through these activities, students are developing their comprehension skills by making predictions, asking questions and describing characters using evidence from the text.
What you can do at home: Ask your child to tell you who Malala is and why she is an inspiring person. You could also do some research at home, read and discuss her motivational story.
In Writing, students will be completing their biography on a famous Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person, using the research they have gathered to write an informative text with clear structure and accurate facts.
Later in the week, students will begin exploring autobiographies by shifting the focus to themselves. They will plan and write an autobiography, sharing important events, interests, achievements and experiences from their own lives while using the features of autobiographical writing.
What you can do at home: Ask your child to share what they learned about the person they researched and discuss why their contributions are important. To support them with their autobiography, encourage your child to talk about significant moments in their own life, such as a favourite memory, a special achievement or an important milestone. You could also look at family photos together and discuss memorable events, as these can spark ideas and support students in writing detailed personal recounts.
Numeracy
Grade 3 students will continue developing their understanding of multiplication and division. They will explore the relationship between these operations by using bar models to represent and solve problems. Students will then apply this understanding to solve equal groups multiplication and division word problems and 'times as many' comparison problems, helping them recognise when to multiply or divide in real-life situations. Throughout the week, students will explain their thinking using mathematical language and a range of problem-solving strategies.
At home, you may like to encourage your child to practise multiplication facts for the 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s and 10s. Look for opportunities to talk about equal groups in everyday life, such as sharing food or organising objects into groups.
Grade 4 students will be focusing on the concept of Addition and Subtraction. Students are building their understanding by finding unknown values in number equations. They are using their knowledge of number properties and operations to solve problems and explain their thinking.
Our learning focuses on using fact families to complete addition and subtraction equations, applying a range of learnt strategies to solve addition and subtraction equations and creating equivalent subtraction number sentences to show the relationship between numbers.
At home, you may like to ask your child to explain the strategy they used to solve an addition or subtraction problem.
CBL
Our new Big Idea is Power. Students will explore the concept of government power by investigating who makes decisions, what laws are and how rules help keep our communities safe and fair. Throughout the unit, students will consider the questions:
Essential Question:
What is power?
Guiding Questions:
Who makes decisions?
What is a law?
What power do you have and how could you use it?
As their learning progresses, students will take on the challenge to use their power to make a positive impact, encouraging them to think about how their choices and actions can make a difference at school, at home, and in the wider community.
Wellbeing
Respectful Relationships
This week, students are beginning Topic 5: Stress Management. In Activity 1, students will explore what stress is, identify situations that may cause them to feel stressed and recognise that everyone experiences stress differently. They will begin learning healthy strategies to manage their emotions and build resilience, helping them to respond positively to everyday challenges.
SWPBS
This week, our focus is 'Be a Learner'. Students are learning the importance of using the toilets during break times whenever possible. This helps to minimise interruptions to learning and ensures everyone can stay focused and engaged during class time.
Kitchen Garden
We will be resuming this program in Week Two. Please keep an eye out for the parent helper link that will be sent as an email during the week.
We rely on the support of our wonderful parent helpers to ensure this program is safe and successful. We also warmly welcome help from extended family such as grandparents, aunts, and uncles. If you or a family member are able to spare some time to support the program.
We post our recipes on Showbie for students who would like to recreate the amazing dishes they make in our cooking classes.
Please use the Showbie code below if your child would like to access these recipes:
9JYVE
Term Two Dates
August
6th- House Athletics
17th- Incursion- Democracy, Community and Me
26th- Book Week Parade