Grade 3 & 4


GRADE 3 TERM 1 2024

It has been wonderful to get the year underway and see our grade 3 students settle into the year. We have spent time getting to know each other and setting up routines as we excitedly jump into 2023. We are pleased to welcome to our team, Liana   Ellis!

 

English

This term, we will be spending time talking to students about good-fit books. A number of  students will have moved from reading levelled PM books into reading books of their choice and our focus is on teaching students to have a reason for picking a    particular book as well as choosing one that fits their skill level. For students still developing their reading, they will be encouraged to continue working through the PM level books. We encourage you to continue listen to your child read, and ask them questions about their reading to develop their comprehension skills.

 

In the classroom, the focus for reading will be  continuing with the CAFÉ reading approach. They will have various opportunities to read to self, a partner, or complete small group activities all based around increasing motivation and the skill of reading. Each week we will focus on a different strategy that will allow students to develop their skills in that area and expose them to a wide variety of genres.

 

In writing students will begin to dive deeper into their personal thinking during our   Writer’s Workshop. They will be learning about what kind of writers they are, what they like to write about and what styles/purposes they like to write for. Students will learn how to broaden their thinking when provided with a writing seed prompt by using the three levels of thinking, and will be given the opportunity to create numerous written pieces guided by their own thoughts and interests. As well as establishing a writing community we will be focusing on persuasive and narrative text types.

 

This year we will be developing a new approach to spelling where students will investigate words to assist them to become metacognitive, strategic spellers. Students will be involved in three 20 minute sessions a week to purposefully investigate words through 3 different lenses. These include what words look like (visual), what words sound like (phonemic), and the meaning or words (etymology). We are moving away from teaching rules and instead looking at spelling generalisations. This is a very exciting and positive step forward in our English program. 

 

Mathematics

During the term we will have a focus on place value. We will be exploring odd and even numbers, expanding numbers, renaming and rounding numbers, partitioning numbers, skip counting using number lines, and recording and identifying numbers using both digits and words. Students will use hands on materials to help them build their understanding of place value throughout the term. Last year we were lucky enough to work with maths   consultants Rob Vingerhoets  and Mick Ymer. They modelled many approaches to teaching maths through open ended tasks and games which we have implemented into our planning. over the last few weeks

 

Compass & Class Dojo

All teachers at TBPS use Compass and Class Dojo to communicate with parents. Please ensure you have notifications turned on for both and keep up to date with any announcements that come out. If you have changed your email address be sure to let the office staff know.

IMPORTANT—if you have a message to convey to your child regarding after school pick up arrangements please call the office rather than message us as we get busy during the day and often don’t check these platforms until after school.

 

Challenge Based Learning

This term the Big Idea that we are exploring across the school is ‘Identity’. We will be exploring this through learning about the significant celebrations and commemorations around the world and how they help to form part of our identity. In response to the challenge students will be completing a presentation celebrating their identity. This task will be       undertaken at home with more details to come shortly. We will also be attending an excursion to compliment this learning at Ceres Environmental Education Centre to experience different cultural celebrations.

 

Homework

Homework will commence in week 3. It will be set on Monday and due back on Friday of the same week. We are looking at the format and structure of this and will aim to implement this in a digital format. Students will be expected to complete the set activities along with practising their times tables and   nightly reading. Student passwords will be sent home in Week 3 allowing them to make us their online programs at home. Later in the term students will be creating a presentation to celebrate their identity in conjunction with our CBL Big Idea, ‘Identity’.

 

NAPLAN

For those families new to Grade 3, NAPLAN (National Assessment Program- Literacy and Numeracy) is an annual assessment for all students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. The tests cover skills in reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation, and numeracy. The assessments this year will be brought forward and held in term 1, from Wednesday March 13. Your child’s teacher will spend some time prior to the assessment discussing and explaining what each assessment will look like. All of these assessments are in an online format for our Grade 3 students except for  writing. If you have any queries or concerns about NAPLAN please speak to your child’s teacher.

 

GRADE 4 TERM 1 2024

 

We hope you all had an enjoyable holiday and are ready for a fun year ahead. Your children have settled back into school beautifully and are already working hard. We would like to congratulate Beth Stephens who was married over the holidays! We all enjoyed a relaxing break and are full of energy, ready for a great year ahead.

 

Curriculum Information

Reading 

Our school implements the CAFÉ approach to reading. This involves a number of strategies related to Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency and Expanding Vocabulary. With this approach, modelling strategies is crucial to its success. Therefore each day we will model a particular  strategy, followed by independent reading where students will practise strategies. This term we will begin with finding Good Fit Books and Voracious Reading, setting students up with high expectations for the rest of the year. 

‘Good Fit Books’ are those that are:

  • Of high interest. Books are chosen by the student as we want them to be engaged in and develop a love for reading; becoming keen, voracious readers.
  • Not too easy and not too hard, but just right. It is important that there are some challenging words in the texts students read to increase their vocabulary but not too many so that they lose their comprehension of the text.
  • Comprehended by students. They understand what is happening in a text in order to gain meaning from what they are reading.
  • Students will have their own book box in class. In this box they will have a good fit book, a  picture story book, a challenging book and texts such as comics and magazines. 

In Term 1, each week we will also be posting to Class Dojo information on the strategy we are focusing on and how you can support your child at home with the strategy. 

 

Writing / Spelling 

This term we look forward to implementing  the Writer’s Workshop models into our classrooms. Our goal is to follow an independent routine where students can practice what we have taught them. 

 

Students will follow the routine of selecting a seed that makes them think. Unpacking a seed and shaping it into thinking in their individual Writer’s Notebook. Composing and then conferencing. Students then begin the process again. This term is about setting up routines, understanding processes and problem solving issues that may arise. 

 

This year we are following our approach to spelling where students will investigate words to assist them to become strategic spellers. Students will be involved in three twenty minute sessions a week to purposefully investigate words through three different lens - what words look like (visual), what words sound like (phonemic) and the meaning of words (etymology). We are moving away from teaching rules and instead looking at spelling generalisations. This is a very exciting and positive step forward in our literacy program.

 

Maths  

We  have begun with plenty of assessment in Maths! Doing this gives us a really accurate starting point for our teaching, based on individual need. The focus for Term 1 will be on Number & Algebra - place value.  Daily times tables practice will also be a focus both at school and at home. 

 

Challenge Based Learning (CBL)

Our big idea for Challenge Based Learning (CBL) is ‘Discovery’ with a particular focus on discovering early Australian explorers. Students will explore how our land was discovered and mapped. This learning will be supported by an excursion to Polly Woodside and Cooks’ Cottage where students will learn about life on a ship and how it was to live in Cooks’ Cottage. 

 

Compass & Class Dojo

All teachers at TBPS use Compass and Class Dojo to communicate with parents. Please ensure you have notifications turned on for both and keep up to date with any announcements that come out. If you have changed your email address be sure to let the office staff know. 

IMPORTANT—if you have a message to convey to your child regarding after school pick up arrangements please call the office rather than message us as we get busy during the day and often don’t check these platforms until after school. 

 

Camp

A highlight this year is our CAMP! We will all be attending CYC ADANAC in Yarra Junction. The Grade 4s will attend camp from Wednesday 27th November – Friday 29th November. More information regarding camp will be sent home shortly.

 

Homework

The students will be given homework once a week beginning in Week Three. Homework this term will consist of home reading, mathematics tasks on Mathletics, as well as students practising the times tables focus each week. Homework will be given out on a Tuesday and returned to school by Monday. 

 

If you have any questions or concerns please contact your child’s teacher. 

We look forward to a terrific year! 

 

Kind regards,

 

Jen Wiersema, Amy Hillier, Beth Stephens, and Vanessa Parry.