The first semester has indeed been amazing in the Year 3B classroom. It gives me great joy to see our students progress not just in their academic skills, but also develop a greater level of confidence, resilience and perseverance.
The main focus in literacy for 3B this term has been to ‘up our game’ on improving the quality of narratives and persuasive texts. With the introduction of Big Write and VCOP (V-Vocabulary, C – Connectives, O – Openers and P – Punctuation) in Term 1, the students engaged in a range of different activities to learn strategies to enhance their skills. This term our in-class Big Write sessions have been a wonderful platform for students to apply these VCOP strategies and produce some truly amazing writing pieces. Here are a few examples of how students ventured away from the standard opening line ‘Once upon a time’ and used creative openers in their stories instead…
Clunk! The rusty gate slowly opened for the racers to go out into the old, enormous stadium. Five confident racers took their positions on the course….
The Big Race by Micah D.
The rain was pouring down and the lightning was loud. Jack got out of bed sleepily and sat in the corner of his bedroom…
The Day it All Went Wrong by Laylah S.
Crack! “What was that?” said Josh. “I think you’re dreaming Josh because I didn’t hear anything” replied John. “No John, I’m sure I heard something…”
The Split by Caleb N.
The 3B Accelerated Reader ladder has also been busy this term keeping track of the number of words the students have read since the start of the year. It is wonderful to see a healthy level of competition buzzing in the classroom as the children eagerly read their books, complete the online comprehension quizzes and work towards being a member of the SCBC Millionaire’s Club. Our highest word count at this point stands at a whopping 885 667, and this is indeed a brilliant achievement.
Over the past few weeks, the students have also thoroughly enjoyed listening to and engaging with our class novel – Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White. The conversations that emerged during these read-aloud sessions have not only discussed language and literature, but also science and humanities concepts such as the intricate details of God’s amazing creation, life cycles, farming practices and community celebrations. The children are also looking forward to watching the movie based on the novel and discussing similarities and differences between the novel and the film.
As we draw the first semester of 2019 to a close, I thank God for the many talents He has bestowed upon my students. I’m excited to be a part of their learning journey and to see them go from strength to strength over the second semester.