Grade 3

 TERM 1 2020

The teachers in Grade 3 are Hayley, Simone, Tessa, Heidi and Linda.

Welcome to Term 1 of Grade 3, 2020. Our Inquiry topic is ‘How Can I be the Best Version of Me’ and explores wellbeing through the prism of healthy body, healthy mind and emotions.

Our homework for Term 1 will be to complete nightly reading of at least 15 minutes with an adult and then write a ½ page summary of what has been read. This will assist our class work as it will ensure that your child builds confidence in their reading and writing skills and it will help to connect the learning at school with their home environment.

In Grade 3, it is each child’s responsibility to bring both their Communication Folder, home reader and homework book 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.

Reading

In Term 1, students will focus on refining their comprehension and accuracy skills by concentrating on the following strategies:

• Stop & Check for Understanding
• Tune Into Interesting Words
• Cross-checking
• Blend, Stretch & Re-read
• Chunking
• Back-up and Re-read
• skip-the-word and Come Back
• We will also discuss the nature and effects of some language devices used to enhance meaning

Writer’s Workshop

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 Persuasive Texts and Narrative texts.

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.

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

Mathematics teaching will focus on the following areas:

• Place value
• Number patterns
• Addition and subtraction
• Time
• Times tables 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10

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.