Level 3 Newsletter: Term 4 Week 9

Level 3 Newsletter: Term 4 Week 9

CONNECT WITH YEAR 3/4

Learning and Teaching

In Year 3/4 We Are Learning To....

READING: revise the reading strategies: visualising, questioning, predicting and inferring, knowing how words work, determining importance and connecting, to develop our understanding of our learning profile as readers.

WRITING: write individual self reflections to identify Areas of Improvements and Future Goals for our learning.  Reflect on the strategies we have used to achieve our goals.

MATHS: describe and draw 3 dimensional shapes and their nets. 

UNIT OF STUDY: present our Wonderland to the school community at our Celebration morning on Thursday 10th December.

THINKING: reflect on the Curious Thinking Skills we have displayed throughout the term. 

SPELLING: revise SMART spelling strategies including breaking words into sounds and syllables, identifying the 'tricky' parts of the words and listening to and writing the words from a dictation passage.

eLEARNING: use the iPads and Netbooks to support and extend learning through Mathletics and Reading Eggs and for research and publishing purposes.

 Calendar Dates
6th November: Footsteps Dance lessons begins (Fridays for 5 weeks)
4th December: Carols Evening
8th December: In visit workshop presented by the Don't Move Puppet Theatre
10th December: Wonderland celebration morning
10th December: Performance by the Don't Move Puppet Theatre
 11th December: Whole School House Sports
15th December: Student reports sent home
18th of December: Last Day of 2015 school year

Current notices

Level 3 Sport/Footsteps: Footsteps is Friday's Physical Education and is from 9:50-10:40 in the Hall. Students are preparing dances to be performed at the Carols Evening, and so far they look spectacular!

Sun Smart: With the weather warming up students are required to wear a hat when they are outdoors.  Sunscreen and keeping hydrated are also encouraged. We are fortunate to have lots of shade around the school for the comfort of the students. Please remind your child that we do not lend hats and or encourage sharing of hats. If a child is without a hat, they can required to play in the shaded area.

Homework: There will be no set homework for the last two weeks of term.  We do encourage students to continue to read regularly and access Reading Eggs and Mathletics.

Unit of Study Celebration:The Grade 3 and 4 teachers and students would like to invite you to our Celebration morning for our Unit of Study ‘Curiouser and Curiouser’. We have been working hard and have created our own Wonderland including creatures and environment.

Date: 10/12/2015

Time: 9:00am -10:00am.

Location: Grade 3 and 4 classrooms

We hope you can come in to see the wonderful Wonderlands.

Making News...

Achievement Awards from week 8-9:

3/4H: Euan and Tyler

3/4O: Elyse

3/4S:

3/4G: Charlotte and Anna

We are proud of your achievements and the thinking you are using in class!

Curiouser and Curiouser- some ideas to ponder.......

Curiosity and learning travel together.  We can assist students to direct their own learning by using curiosity thinking skills as learning strategies.  With practice, curiosity lights pathways to powerful learning. 
Dr John Munro Curiosity and Powerful Learning 2015
'The bridge will only take you halfway there, to those mysterious lands you long to see.  Through gypsy camps and swirling fair and moonlit woods where unicorns run free.  So come and walk awhile with me and share the twisting trails and wondrous worlds I've known.  But this bridge will only take you halfway there.  The last few steps you have to take alone.'
Shel Silverstein

What does ‘wonder’ mean to you?
The 17th century French philosopher René Descartes believed that wonder is the first, most basic, of people’s passions (today we might call the passions ‘emotions’). Descartes also believed wonder is the base from which all learning starts. Many scientists and mathematicians still believe this. Wonder leads to new knowledge; wonder leads to searches for discoveries.

Wonder might be the start of something new.

What do you think?

How do you display these dispositions in your life? 

Level 3 Term 4 Week 7 - 16/11/15

Level 3 Newsletter: Term 4 Week 7

CONNECT WITH YEAR 3/4

Learning and Teaching

In Year 3/4 We Are Learning To....

READING: use clues within the text to predict the development of the text and its characters, and draw conclusions to infer and create more precise meaning of the text.

WRITING: structure procedural texts that detail a sequence of instructions to be followed. Additionally, we are learning to correctly use present tense and keep procedures to the point.

MATHS: represent money values in multiple ways and solve problems that involve the purchase and calculation of change to the nearest five cents.

UNIT OF STUDY: generate solutions for the characters and the environments we have imagined in order to survive. We will continue constructing both characters and environments, bringing them to life!

THINKING: maintain persistence and allocate energy to 'thinking attention' in order to think through a problem or confront something unknown. This kind of energy is essential for curiosity.

SPELLING: develop understanding of the meaning of the weekly words, break words into sounds and syllables, identify the 'tricky' parts of the words and listen and write the words from a dictation passage.

eLEARNING: use the iPads and Netbooks to support and extend learning through Mathletics and Reading Eggs and for research and publishing purposes.

 Calendar Dates
6th November: Footsteps Dance lessons begins (Fridays for 5 weeks)
4th December: Carols Evening
 11th December: Whole School House Sports
15th December: Student reports sent home
18th of December: Last Day of 2015 school year

Current notices

Level 3 Sport/Footsteps: Footsteps is Friday's Physical Education and is from 9:50-10:40 in the Hall. Students are preparing dances to be performed at the Carols Evening, and so far they look spectacular! After Footsteps concludes, Level 3 sport will be held on a Friday. The activities students will be participating in will include cricket, four square (hand tennis), dancing and kick ball.  Students are encouraged to wear hats and appropriate footwear.

Sun Smart: With the weather warming up students are required to wear a hat when they are outdoors.  Sunscreen and keeping hydrated are also encouraged. We are fortunate to have lots of shade around the school for the comfort of the students. Please remind your child that we do not lend hats and or encourage sharing of hats. If a child is without a hat, they can required to play in the shaded area.



Homework: Homework this term will be assigned each Monday and is due on the Friday. Homework consists of Mathletics, reading and spelling. If due to your family schedule your child requires the weekend to complete their homework, please let the class teacher know either through a note or email.

House-colour-athon: Please return your forms and sponsorship money as soon as possible to support the school. A daily draw is held for a Kids' Cafe voucher, so make sure to get yours in! All money raised goes towards new playground equipment

Recent World Events: There were some tragic events which occurred last week in Paris and other parts of the world that your children may have seen or heard about through the media or through others’ conversations. Children often worry and know more than we realise. Adults may assume that children are doing okay if they don’t talk or ask questions about what has happened. Sometimes they have questions they may not ask unless we provide the opportunity. The Department of Education and Training offer the following advice for parents:

Advice for Parents

 •       It is wise for you to monitor your child’s exposure to television coverage, print media and social media.

•        Some children and young people will want to talk about the tragic events and try to make sense of what they have both seen and heard.

•        Other children will avoid any discussion around the events and will be reassured by routine and normality.

•        Remember the importance of routine, sleep, exercise and healthy eating.

There is a range of things you can do to assist your child during events such as this, including:

•        Acknowledge that the event was distressing

•        Reassure children that they are safe

•        Look for signs of distress (e.g. some children/young people might be scared)

•        Normalise  responses - typical response will range from anger to general upset or sadness

•        Maintain a normal routine - keeping the structure at home or at school in place

•        Allow children to express feelings as they arise

•        Telling stories about how people manage during difficult times can be helpful.

•        Separate fact from fiction e.g. children may express fears about unrelated events.

•        Plan relaxing activities before bed – talk your child through a gentle relaxation, this might include using soothing music and talking them through relaxing tension in their body or simply reading something to them that induces relaxation (i.e. a favourite book).

•        Speak in hopeful terms – children and young people will often take their cues from their parents' reactions; if you are honest, calm, compassionate and open they will be much more able to trust that they will be okay.

Always remember the value of doing something with children that they like to do such as playing, exercising, being outdoors - have a time during your day to share time with your child.

Making News...

Achievement Awards from week 6 and 7:

3/4H Sienna: For her ability to identify different events and the likelihood of them occurring. Keep up the great work!
Luke K: For his excellent efforts towards writing his narrative called 'The Very Very Lonely Man'. Keep up the great work Luke!
Hugo: For being an excellent role model and working hard to complete all tasks. Keep up the great work Hugo!

3/4O- Faye: For increased efficiency in her work and clear and expressive reading abilities. Keep it up!
Angus: For always being a kind and thoughtful student towards his peers!

3/4S Hannah C: For carefully reading Chance and Data questions to give accurate answers.
Darcy: For your organisation and taking responsibility for your own learning.

3/4G Georgia: For demonstrating good understanding of division using long division. Great work!
Holly: For being a Times Table Superstar!  Keep up the great work.

Walk-A-Thon Maths by Riya

Remembrance Day
Speech written and spoken by Leah, Billy and Faye

Good afternoon teachers, parents and students. My name is Faye, this is Leah and Billy. We are here to talk to you about Remembrance Day. Remembrance Day is on Wednesday the 11th of November. It is very important this year as it will be the 100th year. On the 11th of the 11th we observe one minute silence to show respect to those who died or suffered for Australia’s cause in all wars and armed conflicts.
The JSC will be selling pins for one dollar, two dollars or five dollars, wristbands at three dollars, bag tags at four dollars and pens at five dollars.
They will be selling them to students from 8:45am to 9:00am or after school at the office for parents only. Grade 2s will be attending the Mentone RSL for the ceremony from 9:20 till lunch. Could each class please put together a wreath or some flowers out of respect to lay at the Mentone Park ceremony we will be having on Wednesday.

Maths Olympiad 2015

Throughout this year, 18 dedicated Year 4-6 students have voluntarily given up their lunchtimes and time at home each week to represent our school in the 2015 Maths Olympiad. The Maths Olympiad is a challenging competition for high achieving maths students. It allows individuals to ‘put their talent to the test’ and compete against other students from across Australia and New Zealand.

These students have worked hard to develop their maths problem solving skills in this challenging competition. The students are:

Year 4

Nat P, Amy L, Sonia B, Daniel M & Hugo Watson

 Year 5

Rory W, Adam C, Daisy F, Nathan G, George B & Taite M

  

Year 6

George N, Dan H, Zach A, Jake H, Aaron N, Kanan N & Tristan P

Congratulations to these students for their dedication and efforts throughout the year. Special mention goes to Dan, Aaron and Kanan who received the highest results in our school, achieving within the top 30% of all students.

Paper Planes by 3/4 G

Hello, we’re from 34G. We are here to talk about our paper plane fundraiser.
We are raising the money for the Keysborough Animal Shelter to help animals be healthy and safe.  Animals that have no home go to the shelter for adoption.  People can adopt an animal and give it a new home.
We will be sending the money to Keysborough as a donation.  
We thought it would be kind hearted to raise money to help animals in need.
So how can you be involved? We are going to be selling paper planes in 34G from 8.45 till 8:55 every morning this week.
We are selling planes for 50 cents, ninja stars for 30c and boats for $1.00.  This week we have a special offer of 'buy one plane and get a free boat'.
These people helped us on this project: Declan, Jack, Matt, Kosta, Tanner, Nick, Dylan H, Charlotte and Georgia.
Here are some of the tasks we did: we made paper planes, boats and ninja stars of different designs, some people designed and created posters, some photocopied the posters, the decorating designers made the designs interesting and appealing, we collected and counted the money and some of the team researched to learn more about the shelter to check it was a good place to donate to.
So far we have raised over $50.  Please help us help the animals and donate or buy.
Thank you to everyone who has already donated money and bought our products.

Level 3- Term 4 Week 5

Level 3 Newsletter: Term 4 Week 5

CONNECT WITH YEAR 3/4

Learning and Teaching

In Year 3/4 We Are Learning To....

READING: use questioning to develop our understanding of any given text. We use questions before, during and after we read.

WRITING: understand the structure and language used in a narrative.

MATHS: solve problems involving purchases and the calculation of change.

 UNIT OF STUDY: explore 'Wonderful Creatures'. Examine the animals and people in Alice in Wonderland and other fantasy texts, research to learn more about Alice's Wonderland, generate ideas to create individual Wonderlands using mind maps and brainstorming techniques.

THINKING: explore the characteristics of curious thinkers: set goals despite uncertainty and be optimistic you can work things out.

SPELLING: develop understanding of the meaning of the weekly words, break words into sounds and syllables, identify the 'tricky' parts of the words and listen and write the words from a dictation passage.

eLEARNING: use the iPads and Netbooks to support and extend learning through Mathletics and Reading Eggs and for research and publishing purposes.

 Calendar Dates
6th November: Footsteps Dance lessons begins (5 weeks)
10th November: House-Colour-Athon (at Duck Park)
4th December: Carols Evening
 11th December: Whole school House Sports
15th December: Students reports sent home
18th of December: Last Day of 2015 

Current notices

Level 3 Sport: This term Level 3 sport will be held Friday just before lunch. The activities students will be participating in will include cricket, four square (hand tennis), dancing and kick ball.  Students are encouraged to wear hats and appropriate footwear.

Sun Smart: With the weather warming up students are required to wear a hat when they are outdoors.  Sunscreen and keeping hydrated are also encouraged. We are fortunate to have lots of shade around the school for the comfort of the students.

Homework: Homework this term will be assigned each Monday and is due on the Friday.  Homework consists of Mathletics, reading and spelling. If due to your family schedule you require the weekend to complete the homework, please let the class teacher know either through a note or email.

House-colour-athon: Dress up in your house colours and see how many laps of Duck Park you can walk. Ask your family and friends to sponsor you per lap of the park. All money raised will be going towards upgrading our junior playground (REMEMBER TO BRING A DRINK BOTTLE AND TO WEAR YOUR HAT AND RUNNERS)

Making News...

Achievement Awards from week 4 (there was no assembly in week 5):

3/4H- Nat

3/4O- Hannah W

3/4S- Evie

3/4G- Charlotte


While looking at our Unit of Study, we began to create creatures for our own Wonderlands. We used a website called Build Your Wild Self on the netbooks to create ourselves with animals characteristics...

Eliza the Gir-bush-ringo-lion-phant-at-peacock 

Aaliah the Bis-pol-ele-ringo-antula-fly-horse

John the Cob-conda-cray-jellyfish

Tyler the Bat-sha-cray-antula-bat-rattlesnake

Level 3 Newsletter: Term 4 Week 3

Level 3 Newsletter: Term 4 Week 3

CONNECT WITH YEAR 3/4

Learning and Teaching

In Year 3/4 We Are Learning To....

READING: use personal experiences and background knowledge to help with our understanding of words and how they work.

WRITING: understand the structure and language used in a narrative.

MATHS: identify possible events and the likelihood of them occurring.

UNIT OF STUDY: explore 'Wonderful Creatures'. Examine the animals and people in Alice in Wonderland and other fantasy texts, research to learn more about Alice's Wonderland, generate ideas to create individual Wonderlands using mind maps and brainstorming techniques.

THINKING: explore the characteristics of curious thinkers: set goals despite uncertainty and be optimistic you can work things out.

SPELLING: develop understanding of the meaning of the weekly words, break words into sounds and syllables, identify the 'tricky' parts of the words and listen and write the words from a dictation passage.


eLEARNING: use the iPads and Netbooks to support and extend learning through Mathletics and Reading Eggs and for research and publishing purposes.

 Calendar Dates

29th October: School Disco
3rd November: Melbourne Cup Day Public Holiday
6th November: Footsteps Dance lessons begins(5 weeks)
4th December: Carol's Evening
 11th December: Whole school House Sports
15th December: Students reports sent home
18th of December: Last Day of 2015 

Current notices

Level 3 Sport: This term Level 3 sport will be held Friday just before lunch. The activities students will be participating in will include cricket, four square (hand tennis), dancing and kick ball.  Students are encouraged to wear hats and appropriate footwear.

Sun Smart: With the weather warming up students are required to wear a hat when they are outdoors.  Sunscreen and keeping hydrated are also encouraged. We are fortunate to have lots of shade around the school for the comfort of the students.



Homework: Homework this term will be assigned each Monday and is due on the Friday.  Homework consists of Mathletics, reading and spelling. If due to your family schedule you require the weekend to complete the homework, please let the class teacher know either through a note or email.

Disco: The school disco will be on next Thursday the 29th of October.
Prep to Grade 2... 4:30-5:30pm
Grade 3 to 6... 6:00-7:30pm

Making News...

Achievement Awards from weeks 2 and 3:

3/4H- Eliza and Leah

3/4O- Elyse and Bianca

3/4S- Ethan and Luke M

3/4G- Dylan and Charlie

In level 3 we have been looking at different types of Poetry such as Limericks and Haikus. Here are some examples of our creative poetry skills.

-Limerick-

There once was a knight called Phil,

His friends thought he was a dill.

He liked to slay dragons

And carry them home in wagons,

To give to his brother Bill.

Luke K

There once was a man in the army,

He like to eat salami.

He liked dogs and cats

And swinging cricket bats,

But he got washed away in a tsunami.

Angie

-Haiku-

Spring

The wonderful breeze.

The pollen and the nice bees.

When the plants grown big.

Sam S

Nature

Nature holds beauty.

It may seem like plants and trees.

There is more to it.

Thomas

Level 3 Newsletter Term 4 Week 1

Level 3 Newsletter: Term 4 Week 1

CONNECT WITH YEAR 3/4

Learning and Teaching

In Year 3/4 We Are Learning To....

READING: Identify the key words and phrases within a text to create a summary of the main facts and details.
WRITING: Explore poetry to write limericks. Research traditional and nonsense poetry.
SPELLING: Develop understanding of the meaning of the weekly words, break words into sounds, syllables, identify the 'tricky' parts of the words and listen and write the words from a dictation passage.
MATHS: Develop efficient written and mental strategies for multiplication and division.
UNIT OF STUDY: Explore 'Wonderful Creatures'. Examine the animals and people in Alice in Wonderland and other fantasy texts, research to learn more about Alice's Wonderland, generate ideas to create individual Wonderlands using mind maps and brainstorming techniques. 
THINKING: Explore the characteristics of curious thinkers: be engaged, accept the unexpected.
eLEARNING: use the iPads and Netbooks to support and extend learning through Mathletics and Reading Eggs and for research and publishing purposes.

 Calendar Dates
14th October: Art Show 6:00-8:00
15th October Grade 3 and 4 Soccer Tournament PSC
29th October School Disco
3rd November Melbourne Cup Day Public Holiday
6th November Footsteps Dance lessons (5 weeks)
4th December Carol's Evening
 11th December Whole school House Sports
15th December Students reports sent home

Current notices

Level 3 Sport: This term Level 3 sport will be held Friday mornings. The activities students will be participating in will include cricket, four square (hand tennis), dancing and kick ball.  Students are encouraged to wear hats and appropriate footwear.

Sun Smart: With the weather warming up students are required to wear a hat when they are outdoors.  Sunscreen and keeping hydrated are also encouraged. We are fortunate to have lots of shade around the school for the comfort of the students.

Curiosity - Unit of Study: Last Monday the students were greeted by a cast of exotic characters. Tweedle Dee, the White Rabbits and the Queen of Hearts surprised the students and invited them all to enter Wonderland.  Join us on our journey over the following weeks.

Alice in Wonderland and the characteristics of a curious thinker: How does Alice display the characteristics of a curious learner?  Over the weeks we will find out...... 

Homework: Homework this term will be assigned each Monday and is due on the Friday.  Homework consists of Mathletics, reading and spelling. If due to your family schedule you require the weekend to complete the homework, please let the class teacher know either through a note or email.

Art Show: This Wednesday is our whole school Art Show which runs from 6:00-8:00.  Mrs Searle has done a magnificent job of organising this showcase of our students' artwork.  We hope to see you there.

Making News...

Welcome to Wonderland

                                   

 

Level 3 Term 3 Week 9 10/09/15

Level 3 Newsletter: Term 3 Week 9

CONNECT WITH YEAR 3/4


Learning and Teaching

In Year 3/4 We Are Learning To....

READING: determine the important pieces of information within a text to create a summary of the main facts and details.
WRITING: structure transactional texts, such as letters, to communicate. We are also using descriptive phrases to improve writing after reflection.
MATHS: tell time to the minute and investigate the relationship between units of time.
UNIT OF STUDY: describe examples of change and continuity over time in areas such as education, daily life, transport etc.
eLEARNING: use the iPads and Netbooks to support and extend learning through Mathletics and Reading Eggs, and to publish writing. Grade 4 will use the netbooks to take the Resilience Survey.

 Calendar Dates

Friday 11th September - Marine Ambassador Dress Up Day (gold coin donation)
Friday 11th September - 3/4 Soccer Trials (During School - 2pm)
Thursday 17th September - Final Day of Swimming Program
Friday 18th September - Football Colours Day
Friday 18th September - Last day of Term 3 (2:30pm finish)
Monday 5th October - First Day Term 4

Current notices

 Resilience Survey: Grade 4 will participate in the Resilience Survey, a national survey that assists in finding an accurate measure of the resilience and wellbeing of the young people in our school. It is also a sound basis for planning and implementing targeted resilience building initiatives.


Footy Day: Friday 18th of September is Football Colours Day, so please remember to dress in support of your favourite football team. The day will begin with a parade, followed by football activities and a yummy footy lunch (please note that orders have closed for the footy lunch).

Camp: It has already been mentioned in the whole school newsletter, but we'll say it again! We were so impressed with the behaviour of the year 3/4 students at Camp Angahook recently. It was a wonderful experience for all students and so fantastic to see such a high level of enthusiasm towards giving everything a go. Thank you to all the staff that supported the camp and made it possible. It was a great success!

Sporting Schools Program: Sign up sheets are on the communication board near the office for a variety of amazing after school sports being offered. Activities will run based on numbers for a 4 week period. The activities are a wonderful opportunity for students to engage in new and different sports, as well as interact with new people! Miss L has done an incredible job getting funding for this program and it would be great to see lot's of activities run and new friendships and interests being formed.

Swimming: Continues to run smoothly. Please remember bathers, towel and underwear each day in a separate bag. Our final session is Thursday 17th of September. 
** Regarding Kids' Cafe on Friday the 11th, due to various departure times, Liz and the Kids' Cafe crew have requested that the 3/4 area DO NOT order any hot food, hot chocolate or smoothies. Everything else is still available. If you have pre ordered any of the before mentioned, please edit your order on QKR. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Making News...

Camp Angahook

                                      

 Step Back In Time Morning...

As this is the last level newsletter for Term 3 - Thank you for a wonderful term and have a lovely and safe holiday! See you in Term 4.