1 Nov 2019

Yr3 Curriculum Update – 01/11/19

Working together to achieve success for every child

Welcome to our 5th edition!

In each update, the Year 3 Team will bring you snapshots of what your children in Year Three have been up to every 2 weeks. You will see a variety of learning experiences exemplifying learning which is fun, exciting, challenging, innovative and/or creative…and whatever they are, we know that your child has worked really hard to get there and should you have the chance, you may want to share this newsletter with your child to find out the juicy details and discuss the great learning he/she have been doing!

 

Transdisciplinary Learning – It’s all connected!

Transdisciplinary theme: 

How We Organise Ourselves

Central idea:

The food we buy goes through a process of change before we eat it.

Lines of inquiry:

  • Where our food comes from (form)
  • Processes food goes through (change)
  • People and systems involved in food production and distribution (connection)

Year 3 students have been inquiring into the unit How We Organise Ourselves by thinking about some keywords such as inquiry, systems, human-made, communities and organisation. They have been introduced to the central idea and over the next 7 weeks we will learn about the different systems and processes food goes through before we eat it.

Over the next few weeks students will inquire into the journey their food makes before it gets to them.

 

Literacy

Books are a wonderful way to connect experiences. Some classes read the classic Charlie and Lola story, ‘I will not ever eat a tomato’. This amusing book revolves around Lola’s least favourite foods and her brother Charlie’s challenge of getting her to try them! His imaginative ideas are too intriguing for Lola to resist! In Year 3 we are making connections by sharing our most favourite and least favourite foods too!

 

Maths

As we explore systems around us, we are thinking about the Base 10 system we use in maths as we group and count numbers. Students have been using the Base 10 material to organise numbers into ones, tens, hundreds, thousands and so on to discover the pattern within the system. We will ask ourselves the purpose and benefits of this system and discuss what the challenges are.

As we explore the Base 10 materials , students were given engaging challenges such as to build their names so that it had the smallest total and then build again, to have the largest possible total.

Exploring maths materials and the different systems we use to make numbers.

Another challenge some students had was to design the tallest, most stable structure they could. Each group was given the same material. Some of the skills used were adding amounts, constructing, cooperating, sharing ideas, being organised, recording their thinking and measuring their results. They then ordered the final results along numberlines.

In some classes , students have used technology to record their thinking. The iPads are a wonderful tool to show their thinking using the Base 10 material.

 

We need your help

For our food unit, we would like to gather empty and washed food containers for children to look at and gather information. If you have any spare cardboard, cereal boxes or small containers that we can use in our junk modelling area, we would love it if they could be brought to school. Please note to only bring in items that are clean and stain free, as the children will be using their creativity to make things with these objects.

 

Reminders

A few key reminders for students and parents:

  • Please remind your child to pack his/her hat for school each day, as children who do not bring their hat will not be allowed to take part in snack or lunch play.
  • There are extreme peanut allergies in Year 3, so please make sure your child does not bring nuts to school or eat peanut butter or nutella for breakfast before he/she heads to school.
  • Please remind your child to pack his/her own cutlery as we do not provide extra sets of cutlery at school.
  • Your child this week have home readers to read at home daily for up to 5-10 minutes. Please let your child’s class teacher know if the level is too hard for your child.
  • Your child’s weekly timetable have been placed in their school diaries, should you have questions around the days and times they should wear their PE uniform to school.
  • School Bag: Please ensure your child has a backpack for school, not a wheelie bag. Bags with wheels are not safe for our stairs and cause trip hazards for others;
  • Shoes: Black shoes with school uniform or white shoes with sports uniform. Please do not send your child with shoes that are a bit black and a bit white.
  • Jewellery: Many children coming with necklaces, wrist bands and other adornments. The only jewellery permitted is a non wifi watch, and religious adornments that are to be worn inside the uniform.

 

Key dates for the Diary

31 October & 7 November        3 Way Learning Conference (2.15 – 6.30pm)

Friday 1 November                    Dress Casual Day for Community Chest & Y4-6 Assembly

12 – 15 November                     School Photos

Friday 15 November                 Bingo Night

 

Home learning

Some suggestions to reinforce the learning taking place in school are:

  • a visit to your local wet market and supermarket. You can compare the types of products available, the prices, the packaging and the layout.
  • look at food packaging information and discuss what it means
  • observe numbers around you and consider their meaning and what would happen if we didn’t have them!