Year 3 News
English
Reading - This term students will be spending the first 20 days learning about the expectations of reading in grade 3. They will also use this time to organise their reading books and continue to build on their love of reading! For the remainder of the term, students will be learning about how to make considered inferences taking into account topic knowledge or a character’s likely actions, motivations and feelings. We will be using a range of fiction and nonfiction text to practice these skills and also looking at Inferring the main idea of a text. Students will also be focusing on vocabulary and other comprehension strategies such as making connections, visualising, summarising and text structures and features.
Writing - In writing this term students will be revisiting how to prepare themselves to be successful writers in grade 3. They will be learning about how to build their love of writing and plant their writing ‘seeds’ in their writers notebook to prepare them for future writing experiences. The grade 3s will then be looking at the structure and features of a narrative text. Students will be focussing on how to draw the reader’s attention by building on their characters, setting, problem and solution. We will be exploring how to use vocabulary to make our writing more exciting and also practice how to write our stories in simple paragraphs.
Mathematics
Throughout term 1, the grade 3’s will be covering several units. We will start the year by focusing on Time. Students will have Time goals that they will have an opportunity to practice throughout the term. We will then move onto our Patterns and Algebra unit. Students will practice skip counting patterns, continue number patterns involving addition or subtraction, and explore simple number sequences based on multiples. Later on we will do a unit on Place Value where students will apply their knowledge of patterns and algebra. Students will be building numbers to 10,000 and will be ordering and sequencing these numbers on a numberline. We will end the term focussing on data including collecting data, organising into categories and creating displays.
Inquiry
In Inquiry this term, the 3/4 students are beginning the term by practicing using core thinking routines, such as Think, Pair, Share and See, Think, Wonder during our Learning to Learn program. Students will use these core thinking routines to strengthen and support their ability to learn and form positive relationships, develop a growth mindset, and recognise and nurture their character strengths. We will then begin their Stay Safe Inquiry unit. The students will investigate how they can use strategies and skills to reduce harm, prevent accidents and create safe environments through the key question: what strategies can we use to make familiar environments a healthy, safe space (classroom, playground, home)? I look forward to a great year!
Mrs Marshall
Science
Biology - Welcome to an exciting and fun-filled year in the STEM room. Term 1 will see the Grade 3 students investigating Biology, which looks at life or living matter. Students will be exploring the factors which determine if an item is living or non-living and grouping animals and plants into their different families and species. Students will plan and run fun hands-on experiments and investigations such as exploring the school grounds to find different types of plants and animals. Mr Aaron Rasmanis
LOTE – Chinese
Welcome to all our Grade 3 students! I am looking forward to seeing all the Grade 3 students in our weekly Chinese session. This term Grade 3 students will start with the Chinese New Year —- the biggest festival that is celebrated in China. They will also know the culture and traditions of Chinese New Year. Then, children will learn the names of fruits and animals. They can use images to show their understanding of characters related to the topic studied. Students will read simple character texts with the help of Pinyin. They will copy and trace characters and gain an understanding of the correct stroke order. I’d like to wish all the Grade 3 every success with their study in the new term. Ms Joey Wang
Art
The 3/4 students have started the semester decorating their art folios. They have been able to choose a design that best reflects themselves! Moving into the term the students will also be working with collage; an art technique that uses torn pieces of paper and photographs to create a design - this design will depict the likes and interests of the student, using words, images, photos, colour and design.
One of the main focuses of this term is colour theory. Colour theory will be incorporated into designs, building on previous years of learning, such as re-visiting primary and secondary colours and pairing these theories with artists that use them, such as Mondrian and Andy Warhol. The students will learn to use the colour wheel, to make informed decisions about colours that complement each other. The 3/4 students will also be experimenting with a range of colouring materials, such as Posca paint pens, sharpies, pencils, texter, crayon, chalk pastel and, hopefully, paint this term.
I really look forward to a fun and creative time with the 3/4 students this semester.
Mrs Sally Shoebridge
P.E.
This term in PE, Year 3 students will be focusing on getting to know one another and building relationships through being active. They will be learning how to participate safely and actively role model the expectations in the PE spaces. They will be following instructions to play a variety of games, learning the boundaries of the games and to follow and understand the rules of each game. They will have opportunities to develop their individual skills in Tennis, Cricket and Tee-ball and how to participate positively in the games. Ms Lesley Condon
The Grade 3 teachers are very excited to see you all back and ready for learning this term.
We look forward to a productive and enjoyable term!
Mrs Bird, Miss Waldron, Mr Armstrong and Miss Foundalis