Prep | Year 3 News

Prep | Year 3 News

What an excellent start to Year 3! The boys have started the year off by inquiring into who we are as learners. As part of this, we have considered what our responsibilities are at school, how we can manage ourselves as learners, and how to put what we value into action in the classroom. All of this has culminated in us creating our Essential Agreements in class and forming respectful relationships with our peers and teachers. This will continue to be a reflective process throughout the year as we grow and learn.

UOI

This week we began our next unit, How we Organise Ourselves. We provoked boys’ thinking by sending them around the school to find areas that were organised and disorganised. Students will now use their findings to plan out ‘what’s next’ for these spaces. How can Year 3 improve these areas? Will we come up with plans that work? We will have to wait and see what is in store for those disorganised areas. As we continue on with this unit, we will focus on individual actions affecting the functioning of a community. This can be related to many things in the boys’ life, school, home, sport and friendships.

English

Were your holidays the best or worst? Should you have to play a musical instrument? What is the best pet? Which Learner Profile attribute is the most important to have? These are all examples of claims our students have been and will be considering as we explore persuasive texts.

The boys are learning about the key features, the structure, and the language used when creating persuasive texts. Our latest inquiries have centered around using high modality language (e.g. using words like ‘must’, ‘definitely’, ‘always’, ‘never’ etc.) to convince the reader that our opinion is the right one.

As a home experiment to support your son, model some ‘persuasive’ language by convincing him to eat his vegetables!

Maths

Our enthusiastic Year 3 mathematicians began the year learning to tell the time. Boys extended their vocabulary to include quarter past, quarter to, elapsed time, digital, and analog. Each day they become more confident in telling the time to the minute. You can also help your son by asking him to tell you the time or how long a car trip has taken.

Next, we will move to ‘Whole Number’, where boys will work mathematically to solve ‘problematised situations’. These open-ended problems (as well as the strategy and skills lessons that accompany them) allow students to apply their understanding of place value, greater than and less than, partitioning, largest and smallest numbers and rounding.

Mandarin

“Xin Nian Kuai Le!”, Year 3 boys have started the year off by inquiring into “Who We Are” as effective learners in the Mandarin classroom. They established meaningful connections with Chinese cultures through School Lion Dance Performance and the 2022 China Winter Olympics. The students were introduced to a range of Chinese New Year traditions through brainstorming and group discussions. They then presented their group findings on a chosen tradition. It is an amazing journey to witness the team collaboration with open-mindedness and cultural awareness. In partnership, we continue to establish our Essential Agreements and form respectful and collaborative relationships in the classroom.

PDHPE

It is a pleasure to work with Year 3 in 2022 as their PDHPE teacher.  The boys have made an excellent start to the year and  I am looking forward to guiding them as they continue to discover that they are able to take ownership of their own learning and personal growth in this subject.  We have begun the year focusing on Athletic Performance in which the boys will grow in their understanding of body systems and mechanics as they allow us to maximise athletic potential.

The boys will also investigate and participate in physical activities to promote the benefits of physical activity on health and wellbeing.

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