Naplan numeracy practice Grade 3 - Geometry



Geometry is a branch of mathematics concerned with questions of

 shape, size, relative position of figures, and the properties of space



Geometry is one of the areas covered by the Grade 3 Naplan test.

   One type of question I've noticed a few times is identifying a 

specific person in a 'photo' . For example the question may ask 

what number jumper the person in the back row, second from the

 right is wearing.  This is basic geometry - in terms of identifying 

relative position of figures.


To practice this basic skill, we got out some of the girls school class

 photos from the last few years. We then practised by asking them

 who was sitting or standing, for example - third from the left in the

 front row. We also reversed this by asking them to describe to us

 where a particular friend was in the photo. The girls enjoyed

 looking back over the years to see how they and their friends have

 grown and changed - this provided a good distraction from the

 'maths' aspect of this activity!


Another great and fun way to practice some basic geometry is to

 play Battleships.   There are also often questions which ask the 

kids to identify locations and items on a grid - using battleship

 ideas to plot co-ordinates.



A couple of years ago I made our girls their own Battleships folders

which are a great thing to have with us with ready printed sheets

 and a pencil each to play any time, anywhere! You can print your

 own Battleships grids here! Or just draw your own on scrap paper.

 This is another great, easy activity that needs very little 

preparation.





Naplan practice tests online



With Naplan tests coming up each year for those kids in Grades 3, 5, 7 and 9 across Australia, many parents want to help their children prepare.

There are many sites with free practice tests online that your kids can use to help prepare.  Here are the ones I have found:

This site has some great online numeracy, spelling and grammar and punctuation tests. There are just 15 questions in each test which makes them good for short practices for the kids.  You enter your answers on each page by choosing mulitple choice answers or typing in number answer, then your results are given at the end.

This site allows you to create a free account which then gives you access to a free numeracy test that you can take online, or print a PDF version.  There is also an option to pay and gain access to several practice tests in all areas of numeracy and literacy.

This site has free downloadable sample writing tests for Persuasive texts. They include tips for writing these texts; help with planning and a sample answer with notes to explain why it is a good answer.


This site has lots of practice questions and materials for all levels of the test and all areas of numeracy and literacy.

This site has an example of each test for all levels together with the answers.


If you know of any further online resources for Naplan, please do let us know in the comments section!




Naplan year 3 and 5 Numeracy - Fun Money practice





Both Year 3 and Year 5 Naplan numeracy tests may contain questions related to money and working out costs and change.  To practice these skills in a fun way I got out some cash and the junk mail from the letterbox!




First of all for our Year 3 daughter, I would grab a handful of random coins, pass them to her and she would add up the total value of the coins.

This is one type of question that we have found on several year 3 Naplan tests.




The next step was to grab a catalogue for one shop from the junk mail pile. We started out with supermarkets.  I told both girls they had $10 each to spend. They had to choose what they would buy from the catalogue, work out how much they choices cost and how much change they would then have from their original $10. This is to practice working out total costs and change which can come up in questions in both year 3 and 5 Naplan tests.




It was interesting to see the different ways both girls did this task. Our youngest chose her items and one by one subtracted their cost from her $10 so she saw exactly how much money she had left after each choice.  This meant she got lots of practice at subtraction!


Our elder daughter wrote down each item and it's cost on a separate piece of paper, then added up the total which she then subtracted from the original $10. So she only had to do one addition and one subtraction calculation - but it also meant she had to be able to estimate how much she was spending as she was choosing!



Both girls really enjoyed this task - they went through most of the junk mail catalogues - shopping for all sorts of things - sports gear, toiletries and lots of chocolate! They bought things for themselves and gifts for others too!  For the supermarkets I allowed them $10 each, but for bigger shops I allowed $100 each!   You could also use $1000 or larger values for furniture shops for example.

This gives them practice with money, addition, subtraction, decimal points and estimation.  Both grade 3 and 5 need these skills - grade 5 kids just need to be able to do all of this with larger numbers than grade 3 kids. From information I found on a Naplan website - for year 3 kids need to be able to perform money calculations up to $10, and year 5 kids up to $1000.


This is a great activity that you can do with your kids any time with no preparation other than having some junk mail in the house!  Our kids really enjoyed it and kept on shopping after I'd left them to it by themselves!




Growing crystals....or not!




A while ago I decided to try an experiment with the girls to grow Rock Candy or Crystals.  I found several sets of instructions online and we went ahead and made our sugar solution, added colour, cooled it and put it in a jar with a pipe cleaner suspended in it for the sugar crystals to grow on.




Unfortunately it didn't work! We had some tiny crystals form but nothing like those in the pictures with the instructions.



Then for Christmas, our eldest daughter got a boxed kit to grow crystals with.

She carefully followed the instructions and then patiently waited for the crystals to grow.






Unfortunately again the experiment did not produce great results:







I've since read that in humid conditions crystals won't grow as well because the liquid remains warm and won't give up the dissolved sugar (or other part) which would normally form the crystals!


Living in the tropics - it is very humid - and likely to stay this way for some time.  Perhaps we'll have to come back to this experiment again in winter (July / August) when the humidity levels are much lower!


Still - the point of science experiments is to find out what happens - and we've learnt something from this result!
Often the best experiments are those that don't produce the results you expect - there is more to learn from that as you begin to consider why!!

  Hopefully later in the year we'll have more success growing some bigger crystals!

Have you ever grown your own crystals?


A Science Experiment - Melting Ice





Last week I found this great book in a second hand book shop. It has heaps of fun ideas for activities to do with kids at home with easy to find materials.


Today I picked a random experiment from the book for the girls to try - a nice simple one called 'Melting Ice'





The experiments are printed out very clearly with an aim, materials and steps for each one. The book is also divided into six different sections on Astronomy, Chemistry, Geology and Geography, Weather, Biology and Physics.  The experiment we chose today was from the Chemistry section.





Basically we put 2 ice cubes each in 5 small plastic cups and placed them in various spots around the house and garden.  The girls then predicted for each cup how long it would take the ice to melt.





They wrote down where they'd put the cups and the time they'd predicted for the melting, then started the stopwatch.  The ice took much longer than expected to melt - the first one - out in the full sun, took 28 minutes (a lot longer than the expected 6 minutes!).  The last one to melt was kept in a dark cupboard and the ice lasted a full hour longer than the one outside!


The girls found the experiment interesting  - particularly since the results   were different to what they had expected. It was a nice simple one to set up and do too!

I think this book is going to have some great ideas for us to do some fun experiments this year.

On the curriculum for both girls school year is conducting science experiments - planning, predicting and discussing how the experiment is conducted and the results. The year 3 curriculum (for our younger daughter) also deals with the change of heat between solid and liquid as a result of heat, so this experiment in particular is relevant there.  It also sparked a second experiment to discover what difference placing the cup of ice under the ceiling fan makes!

Do you have any simple science experiments you've done with your kids at home?





Feeding the Crocodiles!

This week we have one of the girls' cousins visiting from New Caledonia, so we're getting to do a few touristy things about Cairns.
One thing we did was go to Hartley's Crocodile Adventures Park.





We'd been before a few years ago, but there were a couple of new things there and it's a great place to visit to see these amazing creatures!



One of the tours is a boat cruise where they feed the big Saltwater Crocodiles and you see them jump up out of the water to grab the food! Most impressive!



Then, after seeing this, there is an option to feed the crocodiles for yourself!

You only get to feed the smaller freshwater crocodiles, but it's still amazing!  They give you a long stick with a chicken head tied onto the end and you hold it over the side above the water for the crocs to get!





WHAT an experience!!
I think this has to be the best 'new experience' of 2013 yet! How can we top that?




Australian Curriculum



This year I want to make sure that the things I help my girls with academically are relevant to what they are learning and expected to understand at school this year.



To help me do this, I visited the Australian Curriculum website and printed out the curriculum overviews for both our girls 
- year 3 and 5.


It's interesting to read ahead as to what they'll both be learning this year, and to be aware of these things so we can seize opportunities and teachable moments when relevant things come up in our daily lives.  Primary school learning is very much found in day to day activities as it is the foundation of our future learning and knowledge.

The national curriculum was only just introduced in Australia last year - until then each state had it's own independent curriculum.  It's good to know things are being standardised throughout the country and all our children are being given the same education. 
(in theory anyway).

However I don't necessarily want to limit helping our girls with only things that are on the syllabus. I also believe in extending children's knowledge and teaching wherever possible! Children are keen, willing and able to learn given the right environment and it's important to make the most of this amazing stage of their lives!

Do you structure what you help your kids with academically? Or do you just help with whatever things they bring home for homework?

Have you checked out your child's academic curriculum for the year?





Top 10 kids motivational or inspiring quotes





I strongly believe in doing your best and striving to be your best.
We all want to be our best and helping our kids to do this allows us to live for ever.
The children are our future.

With this in mind, I would like to share my top 10 quotes that kids can remember and hopefully access and use in a time of need- whether it be life, school, study, sport or other!

So, the count down.....

10.  Many of life's failures are people who did not realise how close they were to success when they gave up.  
 Thomas Edison


9.  You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think. 
  A A Milne/Christopher Robin


8.  Study when others are sleeping; work when others are loafing; prepare while others are playing; and dream when others are wishing. 
 William Arthur Ward


7.  Logic will get you from A to Z.  Imagination will get you everywhere.  
 Albert Einstein


6.  It is not the size of the dog in the fight but the fight in the size of the dog.  
 Mark Twain


5.  Fall down seven times, get up EIGHT.  
 Chinese Proverb


4.  When the going gets tough, the tough get going.  
 Joan W Donaldson


3.  Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day, TEACH a man to fish and you will feed him for a lifetime.  
 Chinese Proverb


2.  If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again.  
 William Edward Hickson


1. JUST DO IT.  
 Nike



Euan