Fantastic 3/4
Term 3 Week 2
3/4 Newsletter
Welcome to Week 2 of Term 3!
We hope everyone had a restful and refreshing break. The students have returned with a positive attitude and a great deal of excitement for the term ahead. It’s been wonderful to see their enthusiasm across all areas of learning, and we’re looking forward to seeing what our Year 3/4 students will achieve this term.
Literacy:
Over the past two weeks, students have been learning about the structure and features of a scientific report. They have explored each component, including the question, hypothesis, materials, procedure, results, and reflection.
In Week 2, we focused on a fun and engaging experiment—making slime! Students followed a detailed procedure and were highly enthusiastic throughout the activity. Their excitement for this new genre of writing has been wonderful to see, and we look forward to watching their independent scientific reports develop later in the term.
Phonics:
In phonics, students have been working on the Rabbit Pattern—a rule that helps us understand why double letters appear in certain words. This pattern highlights that when a word has a short vowel followed by a consonant, we often double the next letter to protect the vowel sound. Some example words we’ve focused on include cubby, yellow, dollar, and ribbon.
Phonics focus for the term:
Week | Focus | Examples | |
| Week 1 | Rabbit pattern | rabbit , ribbon | |
| Week 2 | Rabbit and not rabbit pattern | cubby , habit | |
| Week 3 | Open syllables & GG | student, paper, museum, jogging, baggage | |
| Week 4 | Open syllables & GG | final, begged, begging | |
| Week 5 | Open syllables vs Rabbit pattern | apron, bacon, yellow, dollar | |
| Week 6 | ORS | four, pour, floor, flaws | |
| Week 7 | "i" not at the end rule | mystery, inquiry ,archery | |
| Week 8 | "i" not at the end rule | misery, discovery, memory | |
| Week 9 | Review Week |
Maths:
In Maths, students have been expanding their understanding across key concepts. Year 3 students have been exploring length, learning how to read measuring instruments and order objects by size. Meanwhile, Year 4 students have been revising addition and subtraction, with a focus on fact families and using subtraction to find missing values in addition problems. Students are developing their problem-solving skills and growing in confidence with these core number concepts.
Science
This term in Science, Year 3/4 students will be exploring the fascinating topic of Earth’s rotation and the solar system. Throughout the unit, students will learn what causes day and night, the difference between Earth’s rotation and revolution, and how time zones work around the world. They will investigate the relative sizes and positions of the Sun, Earth, and Moon, and develop a deeper understanding of sunrise, sunset, and the changing seasons. Later in the term, students will explore the planets of our solar system in more detail, collecting interesting facts and engaging in note-taking and research. The unit will conclude with a creative project where each student will design and build a 3D diorama of a chosen planet, showing its position in the solar system and sharing fun facts. This hands-on task allows students to demonstrate their learning through both creativity and presentation.
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 handed out each Friday and will be collected the following Friday
- Hats are not required in Term 2, but are still recommended.
