TERM 1 2018
The teachers in Grade 3 are Bronwyn, Imogen, Ayse and Nick
Each student will be given a reading goal by their teacher and take home a Parent Pipeline information sheet that outlines what their goal is and how you can help them achieve it.
Reading strategies from the CAFE Program are explicitly taught in the classroom and students practise them using texts that are at an appropriate standard of complexity for them. We call these books ‘Just Right Books’. Each student will also participate in guided reading sessions, working alongside their teacher to consolidate the CAFE strategies.
In Term 1, students will focus on refining their comprehension and accuracy skills by concentrating on the following strategies:
Writer’s Workshop will focus on developing the ability to write a range of text types for various purposes. In Term 1 we will be working on narratives, recounts and information reports. These text types are explicitly taught and will be supported through the use of a ‘Seed book’. Students will also be encouraged to write other text types of personal interest outside of our focus text types.
Conferencing and needs-based groups occur most sessions, enabling teachers to identify students’ strengths and weaknesses and ensuring that each child is catered for on an individual basis. As the term progresses, students will be placed on an individual writing goal to focus their efforts during writing sessions.
Students will participate in ‘Big Write’ sessions, where they will be encouraged to use the knowledge and skills learnt throughout the week. There is a 5 to 10 minute discussion between students and their family about the topic that helps students prepare the vocabulary that they will use in their writing the following day.
Spelling and Handwriting
Our school’s spelling program for middle and senior students is the Soundwaves Spelling program. Soundwaves builds on students’ prior knowledge gained through the ‘Letters and Sounds’ program taught in Prep to Grade 2. Graphemes (letter combinations that form a sound) and their respective phonemes (the sound that the letter combinations make). In the classroom, students will participate in both online learning via the Soundwaves website as well as paper and games-based Soundwaves learning activities and testing.
Mathematics teaching will focus on the following areas:
The Grade 3 teachers will work with students to develop skills and concepts through explicit teaching in both whole class and small focus groups. Mental calculation and the teaching of efficient strategies is a priority. Students are encouraged to develop skills in estimation and use materials to explore and develop deep understanding of maths concepts.
Students’ understanding of Mathematics is assessed using standardised tools and rich assessment tasks.
This term’s Science unit is a called Heating Up. Outline of unit. During this unit, students are engaged in the subject of heat transfer. They identify sources of heat in the home and environment and explore two modes of heat transfer – conduction and convection. They conduct activities using ice and water to explore these modes of heat transfer, and then identify familiar situations where these modes could be used.
Our Term 1 Integrated Studies unit is the Albert Park Primary School Learner. Students will be unpacking the Albert Park Way (our school community’s code of conduct for establishing and maintaining positive relationships). The five dimensions of the Albert Park Way are:
We will also study our school’s Learner Dispositions
Student diaries are an invaluable tool for collaboration between the school and the home. Parents are encouraged to use their child’s diary to communicate important information to their teacher, such as to request a time for a meeting. Students are required to bring them to school each day and home each night. They are checked daily. Please note that absences still require a form to be filled out and handed into the office for processing.
In Grade 3, 15 minutes of homework nightly on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday homework includes:
Four Reading sessions per week. (One session per night comprising of 10 minutes practising their Reading Goal, either independently or with an adult).
Mathletics tasks per week. These tasks should be spread across the four nights. Students use the Mathletics website.
Mathletics program as part of our homework.
Students will have the same login information as they have been allocated previously, however we will begin this homework task later in the term, after students have been given a refresher course on how to use Mathletics and some of the features of the Mathletics portal.
Spelling activities per week (one each night).
These activities could be online tasks through the Soundwaves website.
Additional homework tasks will be introduced during the year.
Students will receive their Reading Goal from their teacher shortly. In the meantime, your child should start practising their reading to build their stamina up to 10 minutes. Logins for Mathletics and Soundwaves will be provided shortly.
In Grade 3, it is each child’s responsibility to bring both their Communication Folder and Reading Folder to school each morning. Their Communication Folder contains a school diary which is to be used for communication between you and your child’s teacher. Diaries will be checked frequently, however if there is something particularly urgent please alert your classroom teacher.