Mr Hare  Grade 3  (May, 2023)

Writing a Story

In Grade 3 we teach the students the basics of storytelling. Being able to craft a compelling story is crucial to engaging readers and communicating ideas effectively. We start by brainstorming together as a class, talking about characters, setting, plot, problem and solution.  

Once each student has a character in mind, we move on to constructing the plot of their story. We talk about the classic story structure, which includes an introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.

At this point, the students start to write the first draft of their story. We focus on getting the ideas down on paper rather than worrying about grammar or spelling for now. The first draft is just that – a rough draft. There will be time to go back and revise and edit later on. The goal is to simply get ideas down on paper and create a structure for the story.

After finishing their rough draft, the students move on to editing. We focus on spelling, punctuation, and grammar. This is also the time to make sure each student has followed directions and included all of the elements we discussed earlier in the writing process.

The students were able to create engaging, well-written stories. It is a joy to watch their skills grow over the course of the year, as they continue to grow into successful storytellers in the years to come.

Mr Keeler   Grade 3   (June, 2022)

Playing with Prepositions

A preposition is a word or group of words which governs the relationship between items in a sentence. They can be used to demonstrate time, place, direction and location. In Grade 3 we have further explored how to use prepositions to expand on the student’s previous knowledge. In this class we focused on preposition of place. We began by reviewing prepositions by watching a fun, interactive video. Students worked together in their teams to identify the correct prepositions to correspond with pictures.

Next we worked together to investigate the mischievous classroom ghost! As some eagle-eyed students had already noticed, there were a few things amiss in 3.4. The students were asked to talk in pairs to spot which items were out of place and to form sentences with prepositions to describe the location of these items. Some of these ideas were shared with the class and students volunteered to explain where the various objects should be located, whilst again using full sentences with prepositions.  

After that the students worked in pairs to describe something they would like in their dream house. The students took turns to tell their partner about this and described where it would be and what it would look like. Their partners then drew pictures based on the descriptions given.

The students then reviewed each other’s drawings and discussed how accurately the pictures portrayed their descriptions. Well done everyone!

Mr Drew Grade 3 (March, 2022)

Past Tense Verbs (regular and irregular)

 Past tense is a difficult concept for our second language students. It takes time and lots of exposure to the language to master it.

We here at Clifford School can incorporate some fun and helpful methods and tips to help students with this difficult concept and train them to think in the past tense.

The first step is making students aware that verbs change based on the time. We can do that with illustrations, demonstrations, and by reading stories aloud.

Then, the students will learn that adding –ed to the end of a verb is a common rule, and they try to remember the most common irregular verbs. We encourage students to try to make a word past tense by adding –ed if they are not sure. They can go back and correct irregular verbs later, but the important thing at this stage is thinking in the past tense.

The next step is practicing it. We can do that with a game we call “Yesterday.” The lights go off (13), and then back on. Some students “wake up” and do an action. The lights then go back off, and everyone goes to “sleep” again. When the lights do on again, the teacher asks the students “What did (student’s name) do yesterday?” If they answer correctly, they get a point.

From there, it’s an ongoing exercise to use it every day when speaking or writing about the past. Students get better at it the more they use it, and with enough time, it becomes a natural part of the way they speak. 

Mr B Grade 3 (March, 2022)

Guided Reading

Our Guided Reading program caters for all students. At the beginning of the semester we assess each students reading ability and put them into different colour coded groups based on their reading levels. We will then use special leveled reading books from the Reading Resource Room that are suitable for each group’s level.

We start the class by separating the groups. Two groups will be reading with the teachers and the other two groups will be doing independent work, like comprehension and vocabulary activities, from the reading books. We will rotate the groups every class to give the students equal amount of reading and writing. 

The reading groups will read with the teachers in the classroom. The teacher will read the book first, and the students will listen and follow. Then the students take turns to read the storybooks. If they come across some unfamiliar words, we help them using different strategies, like looking at the pictures, sounding out the words using the phonics they have learnt, or what word fits into the place (context). We also help them with pronunciation and intonation.

The other two groups are working independently, doing tasks or exercises related to the book. From the exercises we can assess the students understanding of the books content. Throughout the school year the students are assessed, and the level of book will increase in difficulty as the students improve their reading skills.

Our Guided Reading program helps all students to learn the skills they are ready for, and ensures that all students progress successfully.