Year 3 Term 2 2021

Dear Year 3 Parents and Caregivers,

Welcome to Term 2. We hope that you enjoyed some family time together over the holidays. Term 2 is going to be another busy term for our Year 3 students. This term we have NAPLAN in Week 3 and our Woodhouse Activity Centre Camp on Wednesday 23 June – Thursday 24 June.

NAPLAN
Please find below key dates and details about the NAPLAN assessments.
Tuesday 11 May
Year 3 Writing (Paper Test) 40 minutes
Students are provided with a ‘writing stimulus’ (sometimes called a ‘prompt’ – an idea or topic) and asked to write a response in a particular genre (narrative or persuasive writing).

Wednesday 12 May
Reading (online) 45 minutes
Students read a range of informative, imaginative and persuasive texts and then answer related questions
Conventions of Language (online) 45 minutes
This test assesses spelling, grammar and punctuation

Thursday 13 May
Numeracy (online) 45 minutes.
This test assesses number and algebra, measurement and geometry, and statistics and probability

Friday 14 and Friday 21 May
Catch-up Tests for any students who were absent

During the first couple of weeks, we will continue to practise writing narrative and persuasive texts in timed test conditions. Students will also practise reading comprehension and language convention activities as part of our Literacy learning. In class, students will also be using the NAPLAN public demonstration tests to familiarise themselves with the type of questions and related functionalities available in the NAPLAN Online assessment.

Homework for the first couple of weeks will consist of NAPLAN type practise tests.

Further information about NAPLAN can be found at https://www.nap.edu.au/

Organisation
Each week, students record their weekly homework on Mondays. Please help your child to be responsible by ensuring their dairy is at school each day and using the allocated spaces to record their reading. Headphones continue to be beneficial in our learning as it allows students to hear their own instructions without distraction. If your child doesn’t have headphones at school, it would be appreciated if you could supply a pair. Some students have chosen to bring a remote mouse to school which is connected by a USB. Now that the students are in Year 3 and working with laptops, we have noticed many students have preferred this form of control and we thought we would make all parents aware of this option. You may like to discuss this with your child and decide if this is something suitable for your child.

Premier’s Reading Challenge
The Premier's Reading challenge is a wonderful way to celebrate and encourage reading. Your child should already be reading as part of their homework, so this is just a friendly reminder to take note of the books they are reading and to continue recording. In Year 3, the students are responsible for recording their own reading material and the forms are due by September 3. The recording sheets were given out at the beginning of the year but are also available to download from the website.

https://premiersreadingchallenge.sa.edu.au/students/student-reading-records/

Camp
This year’s Year 3, 4 and 5 Camp will be a 2-3 day program based at Woodhouse Activity Centre, Piccadilly. Year 3 students will attend the Camp for two days and one night on Wednesday 23 June – Thursday 24 June. 

The Camp will provide students with a wonderful opportunity to be involved in a variety of nature, outdoor and adventure themes. Students will also have opportunities to develop personal and group skills, initiative and problem solving skills as well as have lots of fun. This is also an important opportunity for students to build resilience and independence while away from home. 

As this is an important part of the educational program, all students are expected to attend and participate in the activities. Some of our Year 3 students are understandably a bit nervous about going on their first camp. If your child is feeling anxious, we suggest that you take a day trip to Woodhouse Activity Centre so that they can see the venue and become familiar with the types of activities that they will be participating in.

https://www.woodhouse.org.au/experience/dayvisit/

Parent Information packs for camp were sent home in Week 10 last term. Please ensure that you complete all of the forms, sign and date and return to school by Friday 30 April. Please keep the first and second pages of the information pack as these pages contain information about dates and requirements as well as a packing list. A reminder that payment for the camp is due by Friday 11 June (Week 7). Further information about camp will be sent home closer to the date.

We look forward to supporting students to continue to grow this term as thriving people, capable learners and leaders for the world that God desires. We will continue to encourage our learners to develop their Learner Dispositions this term so that they can make progress as curious, resilient, thoughtful, responsible and collaborative learners. 

Kind Regards,
Kelly Davies and Julie Purdie
Year 3 Class Teachers 

English
Through Heggerty and Synthetic Phonics approaches, students will continue to develop their phonemic awareness, phonological awareness, letter-sound knowledge, decoding abilities, reading fluency and language comprehension. Students will read, view, listen to and write procedural and descriptive texts. They will practise specific reading comprehension skills whilst discussing and participating in follow-up activities based on the novel “Going Bush with Grandpa” by Sally Morgan and EzekialKwaymullina. Students will demonstrate understanding of grammar and choose vocabulary and punctuation appropriate to the purpose and context of their writing.  Students will use knowledge of letter-sound relationships and high-frequency words to spell words accurately. They will re-read and edit their writing and learn to write using joined letters. Students will listen to others’ views and respond appropriately using interaction skills. They will contribute actively to class and group discussions, asking questions, providing useful feedback and making presentations.

Mathematics
Students will count to and from 10 000 and classify numbers as either odd or even. They will continue number patterns and recall addition and multiplication facts for single-digit numbers.  They will recognise angles in real situations. Students will represent money values in various ways and correctly count out change from financial transactions. They will match positions on maps with given information and interpret and compare data displays. They will conduct simple data investigations for categorical variables.

Religious Education 
Students will ponder and reflect on the relationships between personal experience, communal and self identity, and religious understanding. They will examine with openness the beliefs and practices of Catholic Christianity. Students will learn how God’s love and forgiveness are experienced in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. They will explore opportunities to restore relationships with God, self, others and creation. They will discover how God is revealed through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. They will also learn about the Moral Wisdom and Catholic Social Teachings of Jesus who taught people to love God and love one another.

HASS
Students will investigate the importance of Country/Place to Aboriginal (Kaurna) people who belong to our local area. They will understand how the community has changed and remained the same over time and the role that people of diverse backgrounds have played in the development and character of the local community. Students will research the cultural identity of an Aboriginal athlete and produce a poster using Microsoft Publisher.

Design and Technologies
Students will design a Wardli (Kaurna Home) using natural materials and joining techniques. They will develop and expand their design ideas and communicate these using models and drawings including annotations and symbols.

Digital Technologies
Students will describe how a range of digital systems (hardware and software) and their peripheral devices can be used for different purposes. They will use peripheral devices (e.g. a digital camera, microphone) and software to produce a multi-media presentation to describe responses to a bullying situation.

Visual Arts
Students will explore ideas and artworks from different cultures and times, including artwork by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, to use as inspiration for their own representations. They will identify purposes and meanings of artworks using visual arts terminology to compare artworks, starting with visual artworks in Australia, including visual artworks of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

Media Arts
Students will view, describe and discuss Media artworks from the Bullying No Way Media Campaign. They will use Microsoft Word to manipulate images and text to create posters with tips to prevent bullying at school. They will launch their own Media Campaign at a school assembly and display their posters around the school.

Health
Students will develop skills in communicating and interacting for health and wellbeing. They will identify and practise strategies to respond to bullying and to manage their emotional responses. They will describe how respect, empathy and valuing diversity can positively influence relationships. Students will explore strategies to respect and value diversity and they will research the cultural identity of an Aboriginal athlete.

Science
Students will learn there are three states of matter – solid, liquid and gas. Through investigations and experiments, students will explore how adding or removing heat can affect a materials state of matter. This unit involves students working scientifically and using scientific thinking.

Japanese
Greetings, My school, Kanji symbols, Days of the week, Japanese Children’s Day

Physical Education
Kicking skills (soccer), Lacrosse (catching, throwing, running, dodging), Cross-Country (long distance running), Athletics (short/long distance running).

Performing Arts
Students will develop their understanding of pitch, rhythm and aural patterns within Latino music. They will explore through singing and playing tuned and un-tuned percussion instruments, maintaining different parts within the ensemble.