Fantastic 3/4

Term 3 Week 6

3/4 Newsletter

Welcome to Week of Term 3! 

Literacy:

Over the last two weeks, students have been learning about static electricity through a fun balloon experiment. They investigated how rubbing a balloon on different surfaces can create an electric charge and recorded their observations. This week, they finished their good copies of scientific reports, showing their understanding of the topic and their ability to use clear scientific language. We are proud of the effort and detail students put into their reports!

Phonics:

In phonics, students have been working on the spelling rule ORS. When o is followed by r, the sound of the vowel changes. Instead of making its usual short sound (as in hot), the or pattern makes the vowel say a different sound, like in:

• For
• Sort
• Short
• Storm

The ORS pattern reminds students that:

• "o + r" = /or/ sound (like in fork).
• When an s is added, it may appear at the end of the word (e.g., horses), or as part of the spelling pattern (tors in actors).

Phonics focus for the term: 

Maths:

In Maths, students have been building their understanding across key concepts. Year 3 students have been exploring angles, they learn to recognise and describe angles in everyday shapes and objects, understanding that angles can show turning to the left or right. Next week, year 3 students are moving on elapsed time on both digital and analogue clocks. In Year 4 mathematics, students develop their understanding of location and mapping. Students begin working with grid references and coordinates to locate positions, and they practise following and giving routes using landmarks. They also explore the idea that maps represent real places in a smaller form, helping them to understand scale and distance. Through these activities, students build the skills to describe locations clearly using mathematical language like above, below, beside, and between. Next week 4, students are moving on to 2D shapes. 

Science 

Students have begun to explore individual planets in the solar system that they will be focusing on for their diorama. They have engaged more detail, collecting interesting facts and engaging in note-taking and research. Students have been informed this week to prepare their recycled goods to bring in next week to begin their project. Some recycled goods may include cardboard boxes, egg cartons, cereal boxes, strong or wool straps, toilet or paper towel rolls. Students will be focusing on representing one main planet with fun facts and this particular planet's distance from the sun and earth. This must be presented in the model.This hands-on task allows students to demonstrate their learning through both creativity and presentation.

Book week

This week we celebrated Book Week, a wonderful opportunity to share our love of reading. Students enjoyed exploring stories, taking part in fun book-related activities, and celebrating the theme of this year’s Book Week. A highlight was the Book Character Parade, where students dressed up as their favourite characters and brought the magic of books to life. It was fantastic to see the creativity, excitement, and enthusiasm for reading across our school community! See some of the fabulous outfits photos below.

Extra Announcements:

• Please email your child’s classroom teacher any photos from home that they would like to add into their Leadership binder. 
• 7 Habits Family Bingo is due back in week 9, there are many amazing prizes to be won! 
• Homework is sent home each Friday and collected the following Friday. If there are any questions or concerns about the homework, please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s classroom teacher.
• Please return camp forms by Friday the 29th August
• Hats are not required in Term 2, but are still recommended.
• House Athletics has now changed to September 1st.