Year
3 and 4 Newsletter
Term
3, 2012.
Dear
Parents,
Term
3 is now well underway, and we all hope you had a lovely time with your
children over the school holiday. Teachers were busy planning the term ahead,
and we have some exciting learning ahead this term centred around “Ancient
Greece”- Olympics (ancient and modern), Myths and Legends and lots more!
Term
Three, as always, is a big performing arts term. We are building up for 2 major
events- the Art Splash Choir performance on Wednesday 12th September
at the MFC, and the School Production “Uno’s Garden” which will happen in Week
10. There will be further emails about both these events; in the meantime, the
children are working hard at honing their performing arts skills.
Reminders:
•
Slippers: Term Three is an indoor term. If your child does not yet have
slippers at school, please help encourage them to do so. Slippers are worn
inside to keep the carpets dry and mud-free.
•
Drink Bottles: Children are still to bring drink bottles to class. Encourage you
child to regularly take their drink bottle home for a clean.
•
Equipment: Some children are running low on essential supplies such as
rubbers, rulers, pencil sharpeners, colour pencils. Please check with your
child to see if they require a top up of supplies.
•
Lost Property: It is crucial to have all clothing named so that it may be
reunited with its owner quickly. Encourage your children to look for their
missing clothing as soon as it is lost. If clothing cannot be re-united with
its owner, it is left in the lost property containers under the stairs outside
Room 7.
•
Beginning of the school day: When the bell rings at 8.40, it is time to get ready
for school. Some classes have spelling, handwriting or finishing off activities
to do during this time, so students who are late miss out on this, therefore it
is important that children are at school by 8.40am.
Reading,
Writing and the “Ancient Greece” Integrated Study.
Reading and
Writing will be strongly integrated with our Ancient Greece study as the term
progresses. Writing information reports and reading of non-fiction texts will
be the main focus during literacy time, along with spelling and handwriting
skills. Key information literacy skills, such as skimming and scanning for key
words and ideas, note-taking and note-making, summarising and questioning, will
be a big focus in both literacy and integrated study time.
The study of
Ancient Greece is going to be a highly motivating and exciting topic for most
children. However, it won’t be all Forums and Greek Gods! There will be some
very solid teaching and learning occurring in the area of questioning (open vs.
closed questioning skills), gathering and interpreting information from more
than one source, and making judgements on the usefulness of the information
gathered.
Maths
In
Term 3, children will be consolidating understanding of multiplication and
division, and apply this understanding in problem solving situations. Recall of
timestables features strongly this term, and you can assist your child by
helping them practise their timestables as part of the homework programme.
Basic
Facts: Basic Facts return to the homework programme for the last two terms of
the school year. The basic facts on the homework sheet align to curriculum
level expectations, and in most cases the strategy for working out each fact should
have already been taught. If in doubt, contact the classroom teacher. Additional
online practice for each week’s basic facts can be found at this website:
Your
child should be able to tell you what ‘stage’ they are currently on. Very
generally, Y3 students should be finishing stage 4 and starting stage 5, Y4
students should be mastering Stage 5, with some beginning stage 6.
Mathletics:
In Term Three and Four, maths class teachers will be setting the mathletics
homework, rather than your child’s class teacher. We think this will add an appropriate
level of challenge to the ‘compulsory task’ mathletics homework being set.
The
Arts
This
term we will be building on the painting and drawing skills we learned in Term
1 and 2, as we now explore the world of multi-media artwork. Classrooms are now
bursting with beautiful paintings, so come in a have a look! Term 3
traditionally has a BIG arts focus. The ARTSPLASH performance at the MFC is on September 12th, and
tickets for performances are available from the school
office or by phoning Mary Prichard on 027 448 4671. Tickets cost $5. Also upcoming is the
bi-annual ‘School Production, which this year will be held during Week 10.
Classes will start practicing their production items in the second half of the
term. Details about ticket sales will be forthcoming from the school office,
closer to the time.
Physical
Education
For
the first few weeks of this term, each class will participate in a number of
gymnastic sessions in the Hall. Children will experience opportunities to practice
balance, agility and poise as they navigate a number of gymnastics disciplines.
Later in the term the PE focus turns to the performing arts, with dance being
the major component of each lesson.
Slippers
and excess clothing
Slippers
can be worn at school during the day, and we encourage all children to have a
pair they can wear while in class. The current cold, miserable weather means
many children are bringing to school extra layers of clothing. Sometimes this
is left in the cloak bay or classroom after school. Please ensure that your
child’s clothing is labelled, so if it is left behind, we can find the correct
owner, asap.
As
you can see, Term 3 is going to be an incredibly busy time!
As
always, feel free to contact your child’s teacher at school by either emailing
(surname@muritai.school.nz) or popping in
before/after school for a chat.
Kind
Regards,
The
Year 3-4 Teaching team.
(Richard
Dobson R7, Karen Chao R8, Sheena Naik/Hayley Skilton R9, Annabel Smith R15)
