Handwriting Overview – Term 3

Week / Handwriting Activities
1 / Speed loops – ga, ge, gi, gl
2 / Speed loops – ju, jo, ja
3 / Speed loops – ya, ye, yi
4 / Speed loops – ab, ob, ib, eb
5 / Speed loops – ch, sh, oh, rh
6 / Speed loops – ck, ek, nk, ok
7 / Speed loops – al, ul, cl, el
8 / Speed loops – af, ef, if
9 / Speed loops – of, rf, afi, ifu
10 / Speed loops – oft, off, rfa
Week
1 / Revision of joins:
ga, ge, gi, gl
Our amazing planet is all powerful. It supplies habitat, food, water and adventure for some of nature’s most incredible living creatures, from bugs to dinosaurs and, of course, humans. At its very core, however, our planet’s power can be disastrous. The very rain that provides nourishment for plants and animals can quickly destroy thousands of lives and homes. The Sun, which brings life and nutrients to all living things, can also kill with its scorching heat.
Week
2 / Revision of joins:
ju, jo, ja
Natural disasters are one of Earth’s more dramatic expressions and happen when natural hazards meet vulnerability. These ‘hazards’ are considered ‘natural’ because they are often disasters which occur without human involvement. As human activity causes the earth to heat up, however, this reality will change. Natural disasters will always be a part of our planet’s life.
Week
3 / Revision of joins:
ya, ye, yi
The outer part of the Earth’s surface is made up of huge rock plates which look a bit like a giant jigsaw puzzle. These plates are always moving in different directions and speeds, and generally, they slide past each other. At other times, however, plates can jam against each other, causing the rocks to distort and rupture. At this point, a big release of energy called seismic waves’cause vibrations in the Earth. When this happens, the world has an earthquake on its hands.
Week
4 / Revision of joins:
ab, ob, ib, eb
Tsunami is a Japanese word, ‘tsu’ meaning harbour and ‘nami’ meaning waves. A tsunami is a series of huge waves that happen after an undersea disturbance, such as an earthquake, volcanic eruption or a landslide. A tsunami is different from waves that are generated by wind on the surface of water. The passage of a tsunami involves the movement of water from the surface to the seafloor which means that the speed of the wave is controlled by water depth. The highest tsunamis occur when they encounter long and gradual shallowing of the water.
Week
5 / Revision of joins:
ch, sh, oh, rh
Some of the world’s most dramatic disasters are found in the very waters in which we swim, play and
enjoy our summers. They also bring the highest
death toll and cause the greatest damage to our property, mostly because there are often big populations close to rivers and other large waters. Flooding happens during heavy rains, when snow melts too fast, when rivers overflow or when dams break. Flooding is often the result of typhoons or hurricanes, and is the most common of all natural hazards.
Week
6 / Revision of joins:
ck, ek, nk, ok
‘Twister’ is a nickname for a tornado, a spinning windstorm that’s usually born inside a huge thundercloud. The tornado snakes down to the ground, where it acts like a vacuum cleaner, sucking up everything in its path. Tornadoes are narrower than cyclones, but they can be just as devastating. If a tornado forms over a lake or sea, it sucks up water and is called a waterspout. When its winds die down, it can drop its load of water like a bomb. If you’re ever caught in a shower of fish, its because a waterspout has sucked them up from a lake or sea.
Week
7 / Revision of joins:
al, ul, cl, el
In essence, a cyclone is a huge storm. It can reach up to 900 kilometres wide, and its winds can spiral inward and upward at speeds of 120 to 320 kilometres per hour. Cyclones gather heat and energy through contact with warm ocean waters. Evaporation from the seawater increases their power. Cyclones rotate in a clockwise direction around an ‘eye’. The centre of the storm or ‘eye’ is the calmest part. It has only light winds and fair weather. When they come onto land, the heavy rain, strong winds and large waves can damage buildings, trees and cars.
Week
8 / Revision of joins:
af, ef, if
It doesn’t take much to start a fire when plants are parched by a hot rainless summer. A flash of lighting can sometimes spark a dry tree into flame, but most bushfires are caused by people being careless – for example by tossing away a match that is still alight. Fire can burn through a kilometer of forest in an hour, and if a fire rages out of control, it can devastate thousands of hectares of land. Although bushfires can be damaging, some plants need their help to produce new seedlings. Banksias are Australian shrubs whose nutlike seed pods stay tightly shut until triggered open by the heat of a bushfire.
Week
9 / Revision of joins:
of, rf, afi, ifu
Volcanoes occur in mountains, but begin at the centre of the Earth. Mountains open downward to a pool of molten rock below the surface of the earth. When pressure builds up, eruptions occur. Gases and rock shoot up through the opening of the mountain and spill over or fill the air with lava fragments. Eruptions can cause lateral blasts, lava flows, hot ash and floods. Volcano eruptions have been known to knock down entire forests. There are more than 500 active volcanoes in the world. More than half of these volcanoes are part of the ‘Ring of Fire’, a region that encircles the Pacific Ocean.
Week
10 / Revision of joins:
oft, off, rfa
A drought is the lack of rain for a long time. The Sun’s heat causes ocean water to evaporate. -The water vapour forms clouds and the water returns to Earth as rain. Most parts of the world have a rainy season. A drought may begin if less rain than usual falls during the rainy season. Lack of rain means crops and grasses die. Grazing animals may die during a drought through lack of food and water. In 1968 a drought began in Sahel, Africa. Children born during this year were 5 years old before rain fell again.