Planting Seeds

This week, as part of our Science unit, we planted Japanese Radish Sprout seeds. We worked with a partner to decide on what question we were going to investigate. Miss B told us about variables. Variables are things that change that can change the result of your experiment.

For it to be a fair test, we could only change one thing! Some of us are changing the amount of light out plant receives, while others are changing the amount of water. Each day we have a gardener in charge of watering the plants.

We will observe our plant each day for a week, using an annotated diagram to record the growth of our plant. They've already grown so much!

Mental Maths News

At the start of term, your child received a Times Table Booklet. Each Friday, the students complete a 2 minute timed test, to see whether they can move up to the next level. I have been impressed with the students’ commitment to learning their tables and their progress. They are steadily climbing the ladder of success!

The ability to quickly recall multiplication facts will put the students in good stead for their future mathematics learning.

Thanks for your support,

Miss B

Literacy Fun!

Last Friday, we had a literacy games afternoon. The children rotated through a number of fun activities that developed their skills in questioning, sentence building, spelling and grammar. It was lots of fun!

Playing Headbandz. What's a good question I could ask?

Silver team making some very silly sentences!

Hmmm... Is this sentence simple, compound or complex?

Those sneaky homophones didn't trick Saxon!

Nad acting out a flower. 

His team guessed it at last!

Biological Science

This term, we have been exploring the differences between living and non-living things. We learnt the acronym MRS GREN to remind us of the common characteristics of all living things:

Movement

Reproduction

Sensitivity to heat/light

Growth and change

Respiration

Excretion

Nutrition

Pictured below are students investigating living things in the environment. Did you know you can tell how old a tree is by counting the rings on its bark?

WGPS Science Superstars!

In an endeavour to lift the profile of Science across the school and get the students enthused about all things ‘sciency’, we have a fun competition in mind.  Participation and enthusiasm is our key objective here.

OVERVIEW: This competition has three stages.

Stage 1: Each student will research and present either a short science experiment or report on a science related concept, to their class. The class will assess the presentations and select their top two

‘super scientists’.

Stage 2: The selected two students will then have to present (again) to ALL the students and teachers in that particular year level ,along with an admin representative, who will then choose their year group’s #1 scientist!

Stage 3: Finally. We celebrate our top 6 scientists by getting them to present their report or experiment to the entire school, at a giant Science assembly.  We will also award prizes to all students who made it through each stage of the process.

WHAT CAN THEY CHOOSE TO PRESENT? The students can choose their experiment or report from any of the four conceptual strands: Biological  Science, Chemical Science, Physical Science or Earth and Space Science. 

Each presentation, whether it be a report or experiment, can be a maximum of 5 minutes in length.  Students can use ICT resources such as MS PowerPoint presentations (or similar) to support their presentation, in addition to posters, charts, etc. Experiments should be simple to set up, demonstrate an outcome within the time limit, and be SAFE.

The internet is, of course, a great resource.

www.sciencekids.co.nz/

www.kidspot.com.au/things-to-do/collection/science-experiments

www.csiro.au/en/Education/DIY-science

easyscienceforkids.com/

www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/

https://sciencebob.com/category/experiments/

www.fizzicseducation.com.au/Free+experiments.html

Due date: All science experiments and presentations will be presented during Week 6 (Week beginning 30 May). Please see the roster below:

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday
Francis Connor Thomas Taj Sharnie Shayla	Sharon Shajin Nad Elijah Zanetta	Audrey Saxon Ava Annalisa Luke	Kalani Joan Hannah Chinmayi Aliyah Charlotte

Please ensure students bring to school any required equipment on their designated day.

If you have any questions or concerns, please come and see me.

Kind regards,

Miss B 

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother’s Day to all the beautiful mums of Room 23. We hope you have an enjoyable day and love the presents we made you. Thanks for all you do!

Year 3 NAPLAN Update

Hi Year 3 Parents,

NAPLAN testing is occurring this week. Below is the timetable:

TUESDAY
8.50am Language Conventions
10.50am Writing

WEDNESDAY
8.50am Reading

THURSDAY
8.50am Mathematics

Please ensure your child is present and prompt for each test. There will be test conditions once each test has commenced and no movement in or out of the classroom, to avoid disruptions.

I am sure that each child is going to give the test their all. It is a great opportunity to see where your child sits in relation to other children around Australia.

If you have any questions, please come and see me.

Thank you,

Miss B

Times Table Books

This week your child should have brought home a Times Table Booklet. This exercise is optional motivation work to help develop their ability to recall multiplication facts with improved speed and accuracy. Each Friday, during maths block, they will be given a test on the table that they have been practising throughout the week. If they can complete it in under 2 minutes, they will climb to the next rung on the "Ladder of Success". The children are very enthusiastic to learn their tables and I thank you once again for your support.

Welcome Back

Welcome back for Term 2. The children are already familiar with routines and it's now expected that they will maintain the high standards that they demonstrated last term.

It is important that the students continue to get to school by 8:30 and are wearing the full school uniform. With the colder weather, please endure that all jackets and jumpers are clearly labelled with your child's name.

The students are also expected to bring their homework folder to school every day so they have somewhere to put notes/work/certificates that they may receive during the day. Motivation work is optional but needs to be returned to the red box by Friday for marking.

Thanks for your cooperation.

Principal's Challenge

Last Friday, we had a whole school assembly. Congratulations to Luke, Francis, Shajin and Charlotte, who were recognised for being in the Top 5 of their year level in the Term 1 Principal's Challenge. A special mention to Francis for being the only student in Year 3 to receive 100% Well done, Francis!

ANZAC Day Commemoration

On Friday, 8 April Wattle Grove Primary held its ANZAC Day Assembly. Room 12 made red poppies in class to wear. The red poppy is a symbol of the blood shed by soldier but also one of peace and hope. We reflected on what ANZAC Day meant to each of us and made our own wreath of red poppies. On each one we wrote down all the things we are grateful for.

This is what ANZAC day means to us:

ANZAC Day is special because we remember the soldier who went to war, so that we could live in peace and harmony. It is sad that many soldiers died for the next generation. This is why I respect ANZAC Day. ~ Annalisa (Year 3)

We celebrate ANZAC Day to celebrate all the brave soldier who fought and died in the war. We bring flowers to show our respect and say thank you and have one minute of silence to remember all the soldiers.~ Ava (Year 2)

ANZAC Day means to remember those who fought in the war for Australia and New Zealand to help us live happily. We also have one minute silence to respect those who died in the useless war. ~ Charlotte (Year 2)

ANZAC Day to me is people trying to protect our country and fighting so we can a wonderful country, not a dark, red or dirty country. When they pass, a beautiful flower pops up and every year after they fought in the war, we listen to sad music for one minute silence and think about what it would be like being in the gloomy war. ~Sharnie (Year 3)