Year 3 News
Reading
During Weeks 1 and 2, our Year 3 students have been diving into reading by learning all about decoding strategies.They’ve been practicing how to break down tricky words by sounding them out, looking closely at spelling patterns, and using what they already know to figure out new words. Strategies like chunking, stretching out sounds, and looking for smaller words inside bigger ones are becoming second nature. It’s been a fantastic start to the term!
“I can sound out the word astronaut.” - Hasan 3A
“Segmenting is breaking up a word into different parts.” - Isabelle 3A
Writing
For the return back to school the Year 3 have been focusing on writing Recounts about their holidays! To start the task off, the students verbally shared what they did on the holidays. You could see how excited the students were to share their exciting adventures they partook in. The focus then turned to including past tense verbs, time connectives and paragraphs into their recounts. Students learnt about regular and irregular past tense verbs and when they are used.
Once students were satisfied with their recounts, they went through the editing and revising process.
It is great to see the students correct their spelling and grammar mistakes, and add extra information into their recounts where needed.
“I went to my friend Huseyin’s house and we had so much fun!” - Taylan 3C
“My family and I went camping and I helped make a campfire.” - Storm 3C
Maths
During our first week back, students wrapped up their time unit by learning how to tell time to the minute on a digital and analogue clock, and estimating time. To practise their skills, students got into partners and put together a list of activities they could complete on our school’s playground. They estimated how long it would take to complete the activities, and then had a chance to go outside during our Maths session and time the activities. Some estimations were accurate!
During our second week, students practised some addition strategies: bridging to ten, doubles and near doubles. These strategies took some time to learn, but increased calculation speed in the end!
Inquiry
This term in Inquiry the students are exploring the big question - What occurs as a result of the interaction between the Sun, the Earth and the Moon?
During the first two weeks, the students activated their prior knowledge on the Sun. Through the lessons you could see how some students have a real interest in our solar system and are coming with lots of prior knowledge.
Students were taught about one of the first time measuring tools, the sundial and got the opportunity to create their own sundial! Students then attempted to use their sundial to measure the time.
“What would happen if water was poured on to the sun?” Tyler 3A
“Inside the sun the temperature is 15 million degrees celsius!” Deepti 3C
Social and Emotional Learning
On our first weeks back from the break, our Social and Emotional Learning skills lesson revolved around ANZAC Day. Our activities included making a wreath that would be displayed alongside those made by other classes during our ANZAC Day assembly, and another activity where students created their own poppy crafts. We learned about the sacrifices made by those who served as part of the Australian and New Zealand Armed Corps.
Students also learned about the strengths a team must and can have if everyone works together. To demonstrate this, students played the Sitting Circle game. This game required cooperation from all students as they worked in tandem to create a sitting circle: If done properly, all students would be able to sit on each other's knees and support the weight of the entire circle!
Special Event: Easter Bonnet Parade
Our school was full of color and fun during this year’s Easter Bonnet Parade! Students from all year levels showed off their awesome handmade bonnets, decorated with everything from flowers and bunny ears to sparkly eggs and bright ribbons. Everyone had a blast watching the parade and cheering each other on. It was such a fun way to celebrate the season and a great reminder of how creative and connected our school community is.
“It took days to make my hat.” - Hibah 3A
“I had fun.” - Asinat 3A
