Grade 4 News 

Important Reminders/Dates

Hats - As per our school's SunSmart policy, all students are required to wear hats till the end of April 2025.

Monday, February 24: School Photos

Tuesday 25 & Wednesday 26 February: Meet the Teacher

Friday, February 28th: Cross Country

Monday, March 10: Labour Day Public Holiday

Friday, April 4: Last Day Term 1, 2.30pm dismissal

Looking Ahead to the Year:

Monday, October 6 - Wednesday, October 8: Grade 4 Camp - ADANAC

Weekly Timetable

Homework:

At Lysterfield Primary School our students work incredibly hard during the day. At 3.30pm when they leave, they need time to unwind and have fun.  We believe that in order to live a happy and healthy life, it is important to participate in extracurricular activities outside school. We want students to join sports clubs, Scouts, do music lessons and art classes as these are important for a child’s overall growth and social connections. We also understand that homework puts a lot of stress on families. 

In addition to our beliefs, there is no evidence that homework in a primary school setting has a marked impact on students learning or success. What is proven is that reading daily has a significant impact on a child’s ability to decode and comprehend. As such mandated homework at Lysterfield Primary School is limited to reading daily, including the practising of phonics (letter/sound relationships). Level newsletters will outline the expectations around reading and how teachers will support students with having appropriate texts to read. For some students, that may not be making the expected progress for their year level, it may be beneficial for the teacher and parents to work together to reinforce the learning from the classroom with follow-up work.

We also understand that some students and families would like to practise other skills at home. To support this, at the beginning of each school year, parents will be provided with a set of additional resources that can be used for students to practise other curriculum areas. This work is not mandated and it is up to parents to implement and monitor, staff will not correct this work.

Adam Wight- Principal

Learning in Action

Literacy: 

This fortnight, Word Work had a focus on the latin base word ‘port’ (meaning to carry). The students have used their understanding of morphemes to identify the prefix, suffix and how these can change the base word ‘port’ into a different meaning, e.g ‘-ed’ means past tense, transport becomes transported.

We have continued to read Kensuke’s Kingdom for literature,  and as we read further into the novel the students have identified literary devices of alliteration, similes and metaphors. They have defined vocabulary such as reluctant, veered and clambered, and learnt why authors use literary devices and vocabulary to make the story descriptive and more engaging for the reader. The characters from the book, Michael and Stella the dog, have fallen overboard and just washed up on an island that appears to be deserted. Maybe your child would like to predict and discuss with you what may happen next?

Students have learnt how to extend their sentences by using front adverbial phrases and the conjunction because. They have also written a persuasive paragraph on why / why not, it would be great to sail around the world. 

Preview for Learning: Over the next fortnight, we will continue to read Kensuke’s Kingdom, continue with our persuasive writing and focus on extending sentences. Word Work will focus on the Greek word ‘bi(o)’ and its meaning - life. 

Maths:  

The last fortnight has seen the Grade 4s continuing to develop their knowledge of whole numbers. Students have identified odd and even numbers and patterns that occur when adding and subtracting them. We have also focused on different ways of representing 3, 4 and 5 digit numbers including using MAB, number lines and expanded notation, as well as comparing and ordering them correctly.  Some students have looked at the properties of numbers, including their factors and multiples. 

We have continued to study length in our applied unit, using our knowledge of meters and centimeters to estimate and accurately measure clothing to fit a 1m Jack and a giant as tall as a door! The students have loved using construction paper and rulers to measure and cut their clothing items, making sure they will fit Jack or the giant. 

Preview for Learning: Over the next fortnight students will be continuing to compare, order and write 3, 4 and 5 digit numbers, using place value charts to support the understanding of zero as a placeholder. They will also look at decomposing or renaming numbers, for example, understanding that 250 is the same as 2 hundreds and 5 tens, but it is also the same as 1 hundred and 15 tens. 

The students will also continue to work on their clothing for Jack and the giant, measuring and comparing the clothing, using comparative statements before moving onto our next applied unit, location and mapping.

Inquiry: 

Over the last fortnight the Grade 4s have begun their Inquiry unit - Healthy Me. We started by looking at what it means to be healthy, thinking about our minds and bodies. We focussed on our strengths as individuals, completing the character strength survey and noting down what our personal strengths are. We took this knowledge and used it in role plays of how we can be good friends to the people around us in different situations. Some of the situations we role played were noticing someone playing by themselves, dad cooking alone in the kitchen, a classmate is having trouble with maths, and mum is not feeling well. At the end the students identified how they were good friends and what character strengths helped them in these situations. 

Wellbeing:

Our focus for Wellbeing has again focused on our character strengths, and also friendship facts, such as every friendship is different and friendships can change, and that’s ok! We created a friendship ninja which made students think about how they can  look after their inner ninja with positive self talk and be good friends to ourselves.

From The Grade 4 Teachers

Mrs Ebony Waldron, Mrs Hayley Ward, Miss Emonson

Mathematics Hub

This guide describe what children learn in maths at school in Grade 4. They will give you some ideas for games and activities you can play at home to help your child learn.