STEM project

Enjoy a sneak peek at our STEM projects all ready for the learning journey on Tuesday afternoon. Hope to see you there!

Term 3 wrap up

We have had a very busy but wonderful term. The children have experienced a variety of educational opportunities. We’ve had the Firemen Incursion, Book Week, Science Week and our STEM learning journey sill to come.

Our Learning Journey will be next Tuesday 24^th September between 2pm – 3.30pm. May I extend a warm invitation to you all to come and see the STEM projects that your children have been working on this term. They will have many supporting activities prepared to share with you.

As we move into the final weeks of the term we are wrapping up a number of topic areas.

English

·         Reading Strategies – sequencing, concluding, fact or opinion, summarising and main idea. We will be looking at using these strategies in the context of both text and short films.

·         Grammar – revising simple, compound and complex sentences and the conjunctions used to write these sentences. Tenses, the use of determiners (a/an), homophones (their/there/they’re, too/two/to, where/wear/we’re, your/you’re, it’s/its) and homographs (bat/bat)

·         Punctuation - Using commas for a list of items and for a pause, exclamation marks, question marks, quotation marks, ellipses, apostrophe for ownership and contractions.

·         Spelling - phonemes are – dare, a - was, tch - match, i - taxi, o - do, a - many, u - bush, a - bath, o - pony, ear - bear, oar - roar, ear - pearl, ore - store, our - four, old - cold, our - flour, ould - could along with some spelling rules

·         Speaking & Listening – Poetry Recital, Science and HASS presentation that have been prepared during class time.

·         Writing – Poetry, writing a Procedure and Explanation

Mathematics

·         Number and Algebra - fractions, money, addition and subtraction within 1000, multiplication and division (facts of 2, 3, 5 & 10)

·         Measurement - time, mapping and directional language, symmetry and angles

·         Statistics and Probability - chance

Our Karate times tables challenge has been a huge success. Many children in the class were challenged with the goal of mastering their times tables at the conclusion of last semester. Everyone has embraced the challenge and are working towards moving their way up the Karate belt ladder.

Science

I hope the children have shared with you their new knowledge from our STEM investigation regarding food and temperatures inside lunchboxes. You will have a chance to see the lunchbox they designed and created at the learning journey. The children have recorded their data on line graphs, table graphs and in written observations. All our investigation experiment record sheets are on display in the classroom. The children will be able to explain them to you during the Learning Journey.

Literacy Pro

You probably know that Literacy Pro has been a big success. Your children have embraced the program and are progressing beautifully. Many children are starting to achieve their Bronze Certificates now, an admirable milestone. We have had the goal of improving our pass rate for quizzes this term. We tried to get our pass rate up to 90%. We have improved up to 86% with the following strategies

·         Read the questions twice

·         Read the whole book carefully

·         Check for the answers in the book

·         Finish all 10 questions

We will continue striving to achieve goal next term to improve our Literacy Pro statistics.

I would like to wish you all a lovely holiday and look forward to everyone returning for Term 4 refreshed and ready to learn.

Term 3

Term 3 has begun with plenty of rain but that hasn’t slowed Room 20 down. We are well into the content we need to cover. We have already participated in NAIDOC celebrations with a fabulous assembly and ‘Bush Tucker Garden’ planting. The children also did an awesome dot painting activity with our buddy class, which is on display in the classroom.

As we move into the coming weeks of the term we can expect to cover topics such as;

English

·         Reading Strategies – sequencing, concluding, fact or opinion, summarising and main idea. We will be looking at using these strategies in the context of both text and short films.

·         Grammar – revising simple, compound and complex sentences and the conjunctions used to write these sentences. Tenses, the use of determiners (a/an), homophones (their/there/they’re, too/two/to, where/wear/we’re, your/you’re, it’s/its) and homographs (bat/bat)

·         Punctuation - Using commas for a list of items and for a pause, exclamation marks, question marks, quotation marks, ellipses, apostrophe for ownership and contractions.

·         Spelling - phonemes are – dare, a - was, tch - match, i - taxi, o - do, a - many, u - bush, a - bath, o - pony, ear - bear, oar - roar, ear - pearl, ore - store, our - four, old - cold, our - flour, ould - could along with some spelling rules

·         Speaking & Listening – Science and HASS presentation that will be prepared during class time.

·         Writing – Poetry, writing a Procedure and Explanation

You will have received the information and schedule for Rm 20 students to participate in the poetry recital. Thank you in advance for assisting them to memorise their poems.

Mathematics

·         Number and Algebra - fractions, money, addition and subtraction within 1000, multiplication and division (facts of 2, 3, 5 & 10)

·         Measurement - time, mapping and directional language, symmetry and angles

·         Statistics and Probability - chance

We continue our Karate times tables challenge where children are encouraged to learn a new times table each week, starting with 2 x tables. When children have mastered their level they can move onto the next belt. The children will benefit from knowing all their times tables by rote so I encourage everyone to embrace the Karate challenge and work towards the top belt as quickly as possible.

Science

The children will participate in a STEM investigation requiring them to learn about Chemical and Physical Science concepts. They will be using Science inquiry skills to complete the investigation. We are currently learning some information necessary to understand the investigation on solids, liquids and gases. You will hear more about the investigation in coming weeks.

HASS

The children will begin researching a festival of their choice from around the world. They are fully engaged in this project already using a variety of methods to find information - books, internet, documents, etc. Some children have chosen festivals that they have attended in other countries and they are encouraged to talk to family and friends to gather information and take notes. This is a most valid source of knowledge.

A reminder that Book Week is just around the corner. Children are encouraged to dress up as a poem character. The date for the parade is Friday August 30th. 

The athletics carnival is scheduled for Friday September 6th, weather permitting, with the cross country race scheduled for Friday August 23rd.

WOW what a busy one! I seem to say that every term!!!

NAIDOC buddies activity

Poetry Recital

Dear Parents,                                                                                                                                       

During week 4, students will be asked to deliver a poetry recital. Each student will need to recite a poem of their choice. This could be a poem they have written themselves. The recital should be no longer than 2 minutes. Students will need to focus on voice and expression, movement, action and enthusiasm. Props and sound effects could also be used. It would be good if the student could recite the poem from memory. We will choose 1 winner from each Year Level, who will then recite their poem at the Book Parade in week 6.

Please see the below timetable for your child’s scheduled recital time.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Year 3 Class Teachers

Monday      12th August	Tuesday         13th August	Wednesday     14th August	Thursday         15th August	Friday 16th August
Nandini Patrick Ayaan Lily Ella	Hayley Isha Alyssa Jacob Naqib	Chloe Rylee Manassa Elaine	Franchesca Kade Jelena Srihari	Haazyl Anas Willow Joanna

end of Term 2

Here we are at the end of Term 2. I can’t believe it has gone so fast. We fit so much into Term 2 this year.

NAPLAN went well. Thank you for your support to ensure all the children were well-rested and calm. Everyone put in their best effort and I am so proud of them.

English

The children have really enjoyed our focus on visual literacy this term. We have used our reading strategies to analyse and comprehend some short films. The children have completed some very meaningful activities to help them get a clear picture of the reading strategies we use, to understand and make connections with the text.

They enjoyed having a go at writing some fractured Fairy tales – Fairy tales with a twist! We have also had a dabble with poetry. Some fantastic Cinquain poems are on display at the back of the classroom.

Maths

We have been focusing on money for some of this term. The children have been practising giving change up to $5.00. Next time you have some spare change, give your child a quick challenge to tell you the change they will need when you buy something.

We have also focussed on mental maths, particularly our Times Tables. Your child may have told you about the Maths Mastery challenge we have each week. Ask them what times tables they are up to. I am encouraging them to practise each day so that they can move up the next level on our times tables chart. The children have loved playing Numero. I encourage you to play it with your children at home. It’s a great way to improve your child’s mental maths.

Science

Our Science Inquiry was particularly exciting. The children conducted some high quality research using lots of different sources. Their planets were so creative and helped to show their understanding of the planet they chose to research. Their reports are still on display at the back of the classroom so please pop in and have a look.

The Super Scientist competition was great fun. Thank you for your support to ensure your child was prepared for this activity. I noticed that most children are increasing the volume of their voice and continuing to work hard at maintaining eye contact with their audience when they are presenting.

Enjoy a wonderful holiday everyone!

Practise Sheets T2 Week 5 - 9

Practise Sheets for Term 2 Weeks 5 - 9 are now available. Click on the Practise Sheets Term 2 tab to find the link.

Term 2

Hello to everyone again! We are well into Term 2 now. 

Here’s a snapshot of what to expect.

We have spent the first few weeks of the term revising concepts to prepare for NAPLAN. I am very proud of the way your children conducted themselves during the NAPLAN testing time. Each one gave their very best effort with a positive attitude.

As we move into the remaining weeks of the term we can expect to cover topics such as;

English

·         Visual Literacy - picture books, advertisements and short films
·         Reading Strategies such as predicting, compare and contrast and connecting
·         Grammar - verbs (action, saying, thinking), clauses in complex sentences and collective nouns
·         Punctuation - quotation marks, ellipses, brackets, colons and hyphens
·         Spelling - phonemes au, aw, ie, ew, or, our, sc, alk, eigh, augh, along with some spelling rules
·         Speaking & Listening - super scientist

Maths
·         measurement - length, mass, capacity
·         symmetry
·         number
·         chance

Science

We have finished our Earth & Space science inquiry. Students have chosen a planet to research. They have presented their research on a poster, made a 3D model of their chosen planet and then given an oral presentation. We will now study living things in a Biological Science unit.

HASS

We will be looking at festivals from around the world.

Just a reminder that Super Scientist is just around the corner. Students will present an experiment this semester. I have put a timetable up on the classroom door for students to see what day they are scheduled to present their experiment. Further information regarding this competition can be found on an earlier post.

So much fun to be had in Room 20!!

Science Inquiry Projects - Planets

Wow have we been busy! I'm sure the children have told you all about the planet they chose to research and then design. We have found out some amazing facts about planets during this inquiry. Each planet design had to represent features of their planet. For example, you will see a model of Mars with a satellite on it, Earth with a person on it and many representations of storms and rings that circle certain planets. Please enjoy these photos of some awesome projects and planets.

Super Scientist

AIM: To promote interest in Science and develop Scientific understandings, with an oral language focus.

WHAT IS IT? A competition from Yr 1- 6, where all students give a 2 minute science based presentation. This presentation can take the form of an experiment.  The experiment does not have to relate to your current science topic. We are looking for the students to not just show us a cool science experiment, but be able to explain the science behind the experiment, and explain it to their audience in an enthusiastic, detailed manner.

There are three ‘levels’ to the competition, which will culminate in an overall winning student from each year level, who will then present their demonstration to the whole school, at a special assembly.

By the 31st of May, each classroom will determine 1-3 students who are their ’top’ presenters. This means that, over the course of 4-5 days, all students deliver their presentations to the class, and the teacher will assess each presentation and work out the finalists.

By the 7th of June, we select an overall ‘Year Level’ winner. This involves ALL the Year 3 classes getting together while the class finalists deliver their presentation for a second time. The Yr 3 teachers then make a decision who the overall Yr 3 winner is.

The final stage is the whole school assembly, where we celebrate the individual winner from each Year Level. Each winner gets to present their experiment to the entire school. We then hand out certificates to all class finalists, and give a special certificate and prize to the overall winners. The exact date and time of this assembly will be determined at a later date.

Super Scientist

It's time for our Super Scientist Competition for this semester. Students will prepare a short experiment, 2 mins, to present to the class. Please find a schedule for the presentations below.

Poetry Competition Winner

A very special congratulations to Anas for winning the Year 3 Poetry competition. 

We are so proud of your effort. Well done!!

A note from the teacher

It’s been a very busy term.

We’ve recently enjoyed celebrations such as Australia Day and Harmony Day.  We have our ANZAC ceremony to commemorate on the Thursday in the last week of the Term.

Our class has been working very hard to prepare for the NAPLAN testing in May. We have concisely covered the content in Literacy and Numeracy outlined in my initial post for the year. The children have maintained a focused approach to their learning and are enjoying the results.

We will continue to revise areas that could use a little further consolidation over the coming weeks. We are also learning test taking skills, such as timing ourselves throughout an assessment and how to answer multi-choice questions. Further information regarding NAPLAN testing can be found below.

Thank you for your support with talk homework. It has had a great impact on your child’s writing. I have noticed an improvement in depth of information included in stories. We have been practising narratives for the second half of this term. All children have a goal that they are working towards. These goals are individual, set according to an area of weakness in their writing.

Finally, I would like to wish everyone a wonderful holiday break. If your child gets bored encourage them to read and do a Literacy Pro quiz or maybe write a narrative story. Remember there are always books the children can read online in their Literacy Pro Library. They can do a quiz on any of these books.

Take Care

Mrs Harders

NAPLAN

Testing will be held in May.

Students are assessed using common national tests in Reading, Writing, Language Conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and Numeracy.

NAPLAN is not a pass or fail type test. Individual student performance is shown on a national achievement scale for each test.

The performance of individual students can be compared to the average performance of all students in Australia.

NAPLAN Planner has been used in Term 4 2018, and Term 1 2019

Students have many opportunities to get used to test language, content and format.

Sample questions and a sample writing tasks can be accessed on the NAP website:

www.nap.edu.au. and the public demonstration site - NAPLAN