Prep | Year 3 News
UOI
The past few weeks have seen students broaden their understanding of explorers and the reasons for exploration. They learnt about Christopher Columbus, Jeanne Baret, Amelia Earhart, and Turi. Students have been able to use their Keynote skills to create an ongoing presentation to take notes and show their understanding throughout this unit of inquiry.
Students have focused on the concept of perspective through our second line of inquiry, ‘The lives of Indigenous Australians before 1800’. They tried to visualise what life was like for Indigenous Australians by learning about their food, clothing, shelter, education, art, culture, storytelling, family, and technology. To further student understanding around this unit, we will head over to the State Library to engage in a workshop. The focus will be to better understand the perspectives of Indigenous Australians at the time of first contact from the British explorers.
Maths
The past few weeks have seen the boys focus on the concepts of mass, volume and capacity. They gained the knowledge that allows them to differentiate between mass and weight and understand that mass is due to the matter an object holds and the weight is determined by the density of matter and gravity.
The boys investigated volume by trying to estimate how much water there was in a selection of containers. They showed great prior knowledge for the units of measurements involved when investigating volume. The experiment showed that the shapes of containers also impacts the capacity.
Once this unit is complete, we will move onto ‘position’ which links to our current unit of inquiry. Here we will focus on mapping, where students will mark particular locations and learn further about Indigenous maps.
English
In English the boys have continued to work on reading fluency. It is important for them to be fluent in their reading to ensure that they capture the full meaning of the text. It is also important for boys to be exposed to a wide variety of literature, both at school and at home. The easier graphic novel may be their regular read, but a push outside their comfort zone is sometimes just what they need to help broaden their understanding and vocabulary.
In writing, they have become masters of poetry with boys creating Haikus, Limericks, and Narrative Poems. These forms of poetry are great for boys to express themselves as it allows them to be serious, witty, silly, discuss feelings and emotions, or simply talk about their favourite topic.
Music
After preparing for and performing so confidently the Hamilton Highlights at the Primary Years Arts Festival in Week 6, Year 3 have participated in the stand alone unit of inquiry presented by Musica Viva called Timmy and the Breakfast Band. Concurrently they have begun their Band and String Sight-reading Program journey and are to be congratulated for their commitment to these programs. For the last few weeks of term, during the Classroom Music sessions they have explored the art of a Foley Artist and produced sound effects to a silent scene from Musica Viva. They have also begun to learn repertoire for the Christmas Service and audition for Trinity Singers for Term 4.
