Dear Year Three families,
We hope you enjoyed the long weekend! Please find below our Purposeful Practice grid for Weeks 5-6.
Your child will need to log into SEESAW and MATHLETICS to complete some of their Purposeful Practice tasks. Each student’s login details can be found in their Purposeful Practice books. We had a go at logging into SEESAW today in class, so your child should be able to log in independently.
Kind regards,
Jodie Ryan & Veronica Williams
Year Three Teachers
Dear Year Three families,
We hope you enjoyed a relaxing and enjoyable weekend! Welcome back to Week 4.
This post is to provide some more information about the Literacy Pro Reading program which your child may have begun participating this year.
General information regarding Literacy Pro was included in our Parent Letter. If you have not yet had a chance to read this, here is a link to the school website post http://web.stemiliescps.wa.edu.au/?p=36831. Please make sure you set some time aside to do this as it will clarify a number of procedures and expectations for you.
In Year 3, students are becoming more independent readers. The Literacy Pro program supports children to continue to build on their reading ability and comprehension by recommending texts at an appropriately challenging level. Students will be introduced to this program when they are at an appropriate independent reading level.
The Year Threes have sat an initial assessment in Week 2, which has given them a ‘Lexile measure’. We then use this measure to identify a number range and a corresponding book which they may choose from the Lexile section when borrowing one of their books at the Library. This means your child will now borrow 2 books on a Wednesday when we go to the Library. One book will be their Lexile book and the other book will be a book of their choice. Please remind your child to keep their library bag in their school bag.
Once they have finished reading their Lexile book, students will log onto Literacy Pro here at school and complete a short comprehension quiz (10 multiple-choice questions). This is an enjoyable and valuable way for students to practise their comprehension skills and reinforce their understanding of the text. It also provides teachers with valuable information about a students’ comprehension and reading skills.
Your child has brought a letter home in their folder which will give you some more information about Literacy Pro and their Lexile measure. It is important to understand that each child is on their own learning journey and our focus is to work hard towards our own individual goals, avoiding ‘comparing Lexile numbers’ with others. We have explained the Literacy Pro process in detail to your child here at school. You are asked to please have a chat with your child about the borrowing process, logging on to Literacy Pro at school and exploring the online library.
We are looking forward to catching up in Week 6 and 7 at Two-Way Interviews to celebrate your child’s achievements and learning so far in Year 3.
Kind regards,
Jodie Ryan & Veronica Williams
Year Three teachers
This week in Year 3 we have been learning all about Habits of Mind as part of our guided Inquiry unit.
Habits of Mind are dispositions which empower effective creative and critical thinking.
Understanding and thinking about how we can use these habits in our learning will support us to to overcome challenges and succeed when faced with new and unfamiliar situations.
We learnt about the Habit of Mind ‘Persistence’ – which means not giving up, working hard to find solutions to a goal and persevering when faced with a challenge.
To practise persistence, we had to use foam dominoes to create a path for a marble to roll all the way through from the start to the finish. Things didn’t go to plan and dominoes were blown and knocked over, sometimes more than once!
The dominoes falling over made us feel frustrated – Liana
We had to keep trying even when we felt annoyed. Foam is very light and kept getting falling over – Alicia
You need to stay calm or your tower will fall over because you were feeling angry – Monika
We discussed how we were feeling and came to the conclusion that we had to use persistence and keep trying, even when things got hard!
I felt happy when my team finally built our tower – Christian
We also learnt about the Habit of Mind ‘Thinking and Communicating with Clarity and Precision’ – which means using appropriate, clear language to get a message across, communicate and share information. To explore this Habit of Mind, we played a Barrier Beach Game.
One partner had to arrange objects on a beach scene which was hidden from their partner by a barrier. We then had to use specific, clear instructions to guide our partner to recreate the same scene on the other side of the barrier. It was a bit tricky at first, but lots of fun once we got the hang of it!
We enjoyed learning about Habits of Mind in Year 3 and exploring ways in which using these habits can help us to become better learners!
Check out the video below to learn more about the 16 Habits of Mind.
From the Year Three students, Mrs Ryan & Miss Williams
Dear Year Three Families,
Please find below our Purposeful Practice grid for Weeks 3-4.
Our first Purposeful Practice grid for the year is due back at the end of Week 4. We have looked through the tasks in detail, in class, so your child can talk you through the sections of their Purposeful Practice grid and explain what they need to do for each section.
Please support them as needed and ensure you sign the completed grid by the end of Week 4 before they bring it back to school!
The following documents may be helpful to you and your child when completing their Purposeful Practice grid:
We hope that you all enjoy a lovely week ahead!
Veronica Williams & Jodie Ryan
Year Three Teachers
Today was the first day back at school and our first day of Year 3!
We were feeling a bit nervous, happy, excited and grateful to be back at school and with all of our friends.
We had a tour of our classrooms to find out a bit more about life in Year 3 and our learning spaces.
We played some icebreaker games to find out about each other’s holidays and to have a chance to catch up with our friends. 
We also completed some writing activities about ourselves and our holidays. It sounded like we all had a relaxing and enjoyable break with our families.
By the end of the day, we were feeling great (although a little bit tired!) and are looking forward to an exciting year of learning in Year 3.
From Mrs Ryan, Miss Williams and the Year 3 students.
This week Mrs Cogger provided some interesting Science Activities to celebrate NAIDOC Week. Across Australia NAIDOC Week is usually celebrated in schools in the last week of Term 2. This year due to the COVID pandemic, NAIDOC week was moved to November. However, many schools went ahead with their plans to celebrate in week 10 just as they always do.
The Year 2 and 3 students learned of a Noonjar Dreaming Story that tells us how the Southern Cross was formed.
The Year 4B students learned about the Noonjar season of Makuru and explored the bushland to look for signs that Makuru has started.
The Year 5B students made Aboriginal digging sticks used for digging up bloodroot, yams, honey ants and Witchetty grubs.
The Year 6 students learned about Aboriginal engravings and rock art. After observing many different forms of art, the students created a shield with symbols of their own Dreaming Story.
Vivienne returned to St Emilie’s this week to talk to the students about what happens at the Materials Recovery Facility once all the recyclables have been collected from our homes.
The students learned about the whole process from the moment the truck is emptied onto the tipping floor until the materials are ready baled and ready for collection.
All the students played a sequencing game to demonstrate and show how the materials are recovered.
We enjoyed our visits with Vivienne and we wish her all the best as she spreads the message about recycling and the waste message.
