Yr3 Weekly Update – 11/18/16
Advancements in technology enable people to discover more about Earth’s place in the universe.
Unit of Inquiry
In this last week, the children have shared their understanding in a range of ways. They’ve shown that they are more confident using technical terms related to space exploration. One of the big ideas they have taken from this unit include the search for an ‘earth-like’ planet. With this has come the awareness that there are factors such as the availability of air, water and other resources in addition to the temperature which will determine a planet’s suitability for life.
The children have had the opportunity to reflect on the unit and share their most memorable, and least memorable parts! The highlights of the unit have been the Discovery Dome, listening to Mr Chan, our guest speaker, space related art and the excitement of learning about colonizing Mars someday, in the not-so-distant future! The challenge for most children this unit was using their research skills of using the features of non-fiction text to locate relevant information. As we continue to provide children with more such opportunities through subsequent units, their confidence in this area will grow.
Maths
Maths this week has involved consolidating their multiplicative thinking through problem solving as well as the recall of the times tables. Next week we will be focusing on addition and subtraction. Our continuous effort is to help children to make connections with prior learning and also to help them identify important concepts which will help them make connections with new learning. For example, in multiplication, the idea that there are patterns visible in the times tables, that reversing the numbers still leads to the same product and that multiplication is repeated addition.
All the while, children’s attention is drawn to the relevance of maths in the classroom to their daily lives. One such example is using the five times table to read time. They have been practicing the vocabulary that goes with telling the time such as ‘a quarter to’ in addition to the familiar ones such as o’clock and half past.
Literacy – to do!
The children have used their writing skills to summarise information. They have consolidated their skills of note taking. In particular they were looking at technical vocabulary linked to the unit as they presented their ideas to others.
Please Remember to…
Next week, our new unit on Sharing the Planet begins. Without giving too much away, we need children to bring in one empty 500ml water bottle with their name on it. Please send this in with your child on Monday. Thank you!
Home learning to share with the children
The Hong Kong Science Museum has a show on Mars Exploration. This ties in perfectly with all the discussions we have had about colonization of Mars as humans attempt to set up life on this planet in the future.
As the timings do not work with our time tables, we are unable to take the children during school hours. If, however, you are able to take your child on the weekend, please follow the link below for more information.
http://hk.science.museum/ms/mars2016/eindex.html
