Year Three/ Four

Communicating with the Year Three/Four Team

We look forward to partnering with you in 2021, and welcome your input:

Mel Rowe (Class 34A) Melinda.Rowe@education.vic.gov.au 

Rebecca Tilley (Class 34B) Rebecca.Tilley@education.vic.gov.au

Michelle Wright (Class 34C) Michelle.Wright@education.vic.gov.au 

Welcome back!

We would like to welcome all of our Year Three and Four students and their families back to school. A special big, warm welcome to our new students who have settled in so well to the Upwey South community. As leader of the level, I must say how proud I am of each and every one of our students who have started the school year with such confidence and joy. It is so lovely to see so many smiling faces each morning, ready and eager to start a fun-filled day of learning. Miss Tilley, Miss Wright and I are very lucky to have such a wonderful group of students and supportive parents, and are looking forward to a fantastic year. 

What are we learning about this Term?

ENGLISH

This term in our reading sessions, we are learning about Reader's Workshop. The students have started to choose good fit books for their book boxes and are building their reading stamina during independent reading. Discussions about what independent reading looks like and sounds like have formed part of our lessons this week. This term the Grade Three and Four classes are focusing on the text 'Charlie and the 

 Chocolate Factory'. This text is used to teach students character 

traits, storylines, plots, vocabulary and fluency in reading. We are

planning on making a comparison between the text and film 

towards the end of the term.

Throughout the term, students will be writing both narrative and persuasive pieces. At the moment we are focusing on writing holiday recounts ensuring we use interesting words and use paragraphs to separate our ideas. 

The students have been super busy completing some spelling assessments this week in preparation for our new Macquarie University spelling program to start. The Grade Three/Four teachers are completing a training session this week to learn a bit more about the program. We were very excited to have the teacher manuals and student booklets arrive this week and they look fantastic. 

MATHEMATICS

Throughout the term, our students will be learning about the following Math concepts:

• Place Value

• Addition
• Subtraction
• Length and Area
• Multiplication
• Division
• Chance and Data

There will be a focus on times tables throughout the whole term. It is highly recommended that your child spends some time learning their times tables each week. 

Our Math lessons follow the Gradual Release of Responsibility model and incorporate digital technology, games and targeted teaching. We have been having some fun learning about place value this week through a variety of games and hands-on learning

INQUIRY 

Our focus in Inquiry this term is Science: Life Cycles. 

Students will learn how living things can be grouped and classified on the basis of observable features. They will explore the food webs of living things and how they depend on each other and the environment to survive. Students will conduct scientific inquiries regarding the life cycles of different living things. They also will consider the classification of humans based on their observable features, and the relationship of humans in the context of food webs.

WELLBEING

We have started the year by checking in on the wellbeing of our students and getting to know each other. Part of our focus throughout the first couple of weeks is exploring our school values, learning about SWPBL and finalising our expectations matrix related back to our school values. We will continue to use the Berry Street Model to assist our students to confidently navigate their world and relationships. All classes have regular circle time, brain breaks and incorporate mindfulness activities into the weekly program.

SPECIALIST TIMETABLE

Please note the following information regarding the days that each grade has specialist classes.  * These times are subject to change during school-wide events (eg: swimming timetables) *