YEAR 3 NEWSLETTER Term 2 Dear Parents, Welcome to term 2! I trust you all had a relaxing and refreshing break and are ready for another busy term. Important Dates for your Calendar: - Wednesday 6th May: Mother’s Day Mass - Tuesday 12th May- Thursday 14th May: NAPLAN testing - Thursday 21st May- Kidsafe Incursion - Friday 22nd May: Year 3-6 Cross Country Trials - Friday 29th May: Catholic Day - Thursday 4th June: Whole School First Aid Incursion - Wednesday 10th June: Year 3 Mass @ 9am - Wednesday 1st July: Reports sent home - Wednesday 3rd July: Last day of term Religious Education: Our first unit this term will be ‘Strengthened by the Spirit’ which is a Confirmation based unit. In the second part of the term, our unit will be ‘Sharing Jesus’ Special Meal- Eucharist. Information outlining the content of each of these units of work is attached. We have a whole class Mass on Wednesday the 10th June (Week 8). There was an error on the term calendar, year 3 do not have a prayer assembly in week 10. Literacy The students will continue to participate in a range of whole class and small group activities that focus on the areas of reading, writing, viewing and listening & speaking. We will again engage in a variety of informational & fictional texts to support our learning outcomes, with a particular focus on texts relating to our class theme ‘Celebrations around the World’. This term we will continue our ability based spelling program, with a focus on important spelling rules as well as sounds and sight words. The children will now have 15 list words per week, with 5 of these words being personal words that the children will choose from their writing. In writing, we will continue to work on persuasive writing, narratives and begin procedural writing. We are also going to focus on the skill of locating and extracting information from texts in the form of notetaking. As part of our listening and speaking unit, we will learn how to prepare and present an effective oral presentation. We will re-commence literacy groups in week 5 once NAPLAN has been completed. At this stage groups will continue to be carried out 5 days per week for 30 minutes a day. During this time, children will engage in guided reading, comprehension, spelling, phonics and grammar activities. As we have a student teacher this term, we do not require parent help for literacy groups. News Groups We will continue with our same odd/even fortnightly rotations for news groups. Your child should already know their news day, however, if you are unsure, please drop into the classroom to check. Topics for term 2 are as follows: Week 2 & 3: Persuasive news topics (a note regarding this has been emailed home) Week 4& 5: A personal treasure Week 6& 7: My favourite celebration Week 8& 9: Newspaper News Week 10& 11: Free Choice Mathematics: Mathematics will continue to be taught daily and will focus on the areas of Number & Algebra, Measurement & Geometry and Statistics & Probability. I-Maths will continue to be used to support these areas in addition to whole class discussions, demonstrations, written work, as well as a variety of active ‘hands on’ learning experiences. In particular, we will be focussing on the following concepts this term: - Fractions - Money - Reading analogue clocks (to and past the hour) - Addition and Subtraction (with regrouping and borrowing for 3 digit numbers) - 3D shapes - Collecting data and interpreting graphs - Interpreting calendars We will also be revising 2, 5, 10 and 11 times tables and begin our learning of 3’s, 4’s and 6’s. It would be great if you could continue practising these with your child at home. Integrated Studies: - History This term we will continue the local history topics that we commenced last term. We will also be researching and learning about days and weeks celebrated and commemorated in Australia and in other parts of the world. - Health & PE As part of our health studies, we will be continuing our friendship and resilience topics that we began in term 1. We will also be participating in a ‘Kidsafe’ and First Aid Incursion during the term. Integrated Studies cont’d: - Science Our learning in science this term will relate to the outcome of ‘Biological Sciences.’ We will be exploring the difference between living and non-living things as well as different ways animals and plants can be classified. Another component of this unit will see the children research and explore how dinosaurs once lived and how plant and animal fossils can ‘tell a story.’ To coincide with the topic, I am hoping to do an excursion to the zoo; date & time to be advised in the near future. - ICT This term in ICT we will be looking at how to use the internet effectively as a research tool. We will also begin learning how to use Microsoft PowerPoint to present information. Development of these skills, together with skills developed through our listening and speaking unit will culminate in the presentation a PowerPoint and an accompanying speech on a cultural celebration. - ART (Mrs Cassian) The impressionist artist Claude Monet will be our focus this term. The students will use special painting techniques to re-create the famous painting ‘The Japanese Foot Bridge’ with a twist! We will also be using autumn leaves to design and construct a three dimensional foil relief piece, emphasizing texture and tone. Homework We will continue the same routine for both spelling and numeracy homework this term. Please remember, homework is not meant to be an arduous task for you or your child! It is simply an opportunity to revise key concepts! A reminder that reading folders are to come to school every Monday so that books can be changed by our parent volunteers. Parent & Teacher Contact Please feel free to come and see me anytime regarding your child’s achievement and progress! I can also be contacted via email at [email protected] We are looking forward to another action packed term! Please feel free to contact me if you require further information. Kind Regards, Tiana Sgambelluri