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Year 3 Are Kicking Goals In Term 3

Year 3 have made a great start to Term 2. I talk with the students about the personal growth and maturity that I have seen developing across the cohort. There has been noticeable development in terms of personal management skills and social interactions. These areas play a significant role in determining a student’s ability to be organised and focused when it is time to commence academic work. The changes in the culture of a cohort are difficult to measure or share in Semester reports; hence I feel my anecdotal observations are essential to share, and I am proud of the team for the successes so far and positive about continued development this year.

I am sure your child has mentioned to you, Miss Allen! Bree is a student-teacher who has joined us this term to teach the students and support their learning as part of her training to become a qualified teacher.

Here is a little bit about Miss Allen that she would like to share:

  • I am in the final year of my teaching degree
  • I enjoy staying active by taking part in sports such as basketball and I am also a basketball referee of 13 years
  • I have a keen interest in health and PE, Arts and Science
  • I have been gaining further experience while having fun working with children from ages 6 to 12 in a before and after school care program.

To say that students have warmly welcomed her into the class is an understatement. They have thoroughly enjoyed her presence in the classroom, engaging lessons and individual support. Thank you, Miss. Allen!


Homework: Reading

I have also spoken to the students about the importance of continuing to engage with reading. It is of the highest priority for Year 3 students. As a guide, reading for at least 20 minutes, 5 days a week is highly encouraged. Reading affects every aspect of children’s learning. It truly is a gateway to access learning independently.

If your child is participating in the Read Write Inc program, they should be bringing new books home each week. We have a vast selection of Read Write Inc books and a huge selection of age-appropriate texts in the classroom and library. Please get in contact if your child needs reminding at school or help to bring books home as part of RWI or personal reading.

Ideas to support reading

Whilst building skills around reading is powerful, so is developing a love of reading by making it a joyful and rewarding experience whenever possible. Here are some ideas for providing some variety to the reading experience

  • Share your favourite stories, read to each other and model the art of reading by making a ritual of reading a book of your own.
  • Audiobooks are another great tool and a good free selection can be found at https://app.kidslisten.org/ and on Epic! Books.
  • Read stories and then talk about them. Ask, ‘What was your favourite part of the story?’ or ‘Who was your favourite character? Why?’
  • Take turns reading. You could read half the page while your child reads the other half. You could also point out single words here and there for your child to sound out. Start with words that are easy to sound out – for example, two-letter and three-letter words like ‘mat’, ‘on’ or ‘sip’.
  • Try alphabet books with younger school-age children. Ask your child to tell you words that start with the same sound as the letter you’re looking at.
  • Ask your child to make a storybook and have your child draw the pictures. Your child can do this on a computer or with pens and paper. Help your child write the words or at least some of the letters in the story.
  • When you’re out and about, ask your child to pick out or sound out letters or words on billboards, shop fronts, street signs or items at the supermarkets.
  • Turn the captions on in your streaming service.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss reading further, please let me know.

Unit of Inquiry

For our second unit of inquiry, Where We Are In Place and Time, our student inquired into the central idea that innovations in technology have changed the way people live their lives.

To finish this unit of inquiry, our students were challenged to follow the design process to identify and solve a real problem that exists in the world, exploring how their own innovations may be able to help people in their lives; using a social justice lens to help elevate their thinking around this central idea.

For our next unit of inquiry, Sharing the Planet, we will inquire into the central idea that living things are connected to the places in which they live. If you have any relevant connections or ideas for excursions/incursions related to the topic, please let me know!

CRAIG KENNER
Year 3 Teacher