Spotlight on Learning

Dear Grade 3 Families,

Welcome back to Term 2! 

We hope all students are feeling relaxed and refreshed, and ready for the term ahead.

3-6 Cross Country:

Our Grade 3 students had a fantastic time taking part in the cross country! They showed great energy, determination, and school spirit as they ran the course and cheered each other on along the way. It was wonderful to see so many smiling faces and students challenging themselves to do their best. A big thank you to our families for their support and encouragement—your presence helped make the day extra special. Well done to everyone involved!

Congratulations to BLUE House who won for the Grade 3's and to RED House who won the Cross Country! 

Learning for Week 1:

Religious Education:

This week Grade 3's unpacked the meaning of the Resurrection of Jesus through reading Matthew 28:1-10 and watching the Easter Story. 

Our Religious Education Inquiry for this Term is: 

We read the story The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig.

English: 

We began to read 'Yirra and her deadly dog, Demon by Anita Heiss'.

This term in Reading, we will be continuing to build on our literacy skills, with a focus on developing students’ understanding of descriptive language, as well as diving deeper into what adjectives are and how they can be used to make writing more engaging and detailed. This week students have discovered the meaning of Bungle, Compel, Colossal, Rare, Borrowed, Ponder, Sly, Nuisance, Gathered, Squirm, Sprawl and Vital. 

In Writing this term, some of the activities we will be focusing on include expanding sentences and exploring non-fiction texts, specifically learning about the history of the Aboriginal Flag. This week Grade 3's wrote a factual text about the History of the Australian Aboriginal Flag which included: Title, Introduction, Body Paragraphs and a Conclusion.

Mathematics:

This week we have started looking at Fractions. The students have really enjoyed playing this week's Maths Game: 

Integrated Curriculum:

Grade 3's have begun researching an Australian town and will complete a slideshow detailing the geography of that town. When we look at the geography of a town, we are discovering its features and how people use and care for the space around them including vegetation, animals, climate zone and how people may adapt to the climate. 

The students will discover what inquiry means, what open and closed questions are, as well as, how do we know what to ask.

Auslan:

The Grade 3 students are beginning to understand that shaking or nodding their heads in Auslan may change the meaning of the sign. 

Social & Emotional Learning:

This week we have revisited our School Wide Expectations and discussed what each expectation looks like with examples. While also delving deeper into what our consequence cycles look like and mean. 

What you can do at home:

• Ask your child what they learned from reading The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig in Religious Education.
• Encourage your child to explain the meaning of some of our focus words: bungle, compel, colossal, rare, borrowed, ponder, sly, nuisance, gathered, squirm, sprawl, and vital.
• Invite your child to show you one of their Auslan signs while shaking their head to change its meaning (for example, shaking your head while signing “good” changes it to “not good”).
• Ask your child to share something new they have learned from our school-wide behaviour discussions.
• Make reading together every night a special time. Ask questions about what they have read to strengthen comprehension skills—this is especially important wherever possible!

There is no need to complete every suggestion listed — regular, simple conversations are often the most powerful way to build confidence and reinforce learning.

Important Reminders:

• Please ensure that you are labelling your child's belongings.

Enjoy your weekend,

The Ephesus Team

Contact Us @Ephesus

ephesus@cranbourneeast.catholic.edu.au (all teachers) or