Year 4 Spotlight

Port Phillip Eco Centre 

In our ongoing quest for a more sustainable world, every small step counts. And what better place to take those steps than the Port Phillip Eco Centre. The Year 4s were lucky enough to visit this beautiful centre and learn more about ways we can improve sustainability in our homes and the environment. We started the day with an exciting bus ride and got divided into groups of three. Each group rotated into three activities, where they got to learn about food miles, worms and compost and played a game to make recycling more fun. It was very interesting to dive deeper into what ingredients are in our packaged products and the kilometres they travel just to get to Australia. The students were able to take a closer look at how worms are used to enrich the soil to better grow our own produce. Lastly, the groups were divided into two teams and used their communication skills to support each other in placing the items in the correct bin. 

Sharing The Planet - Waste Unit

The students have thoroughly enjoyed inquiring into our latest Inquiry of Unit ‘Sharing The Planet’. With the central idea being ‘A sustainable future is dependent on our choices around waste’. The students have looked at how to Reuse, Reduce and Recycle and the actions they can now do to minimise waste in their daily lives. They have also inquired into the different waste topics of; Microplastics, Food Waste, Fast fashion and E-waste. In this research task students needed to find what each topic is, its impact on the environment and how they can reduce this waste. Students then demonstrated their presentation skills by sharing their slideshows in small groups.

In their final task of the unit students researched into packaged products and their impact on the environment by investigating into the total distance travelled from factory to supermarket and the total CO2 emissions that have been emitted into the atmosphere. This task was a big eye opener for the students, as they could see first hand the impact that certain product have on our environment. Overall, the students thoroughly enjoyed the Inquiry unit because they can now see the impact of these things in their environment and tangible action that they can make day to day to reduce waste.

6+1 Traits of Writing

This year we have embraced the 6+1 Traits of Writing first developed by Ruth Culham. 

In Semester 1 we began incorporating the first three traits into our writing, namely Ideas, Organisation and Voice. Next semester will focus on Word Choice, Fluency and Conventions, with the +1 trait being Presentation, which is not always an end goal. Our focus is on ‘progress not perfection’ and the students have been Risk Takers and embraced each trait, building upon their writing each time, whilst continuing to incorporate each previous trait. Through the use of mentor texts and teacher modelling, students are exposed to a range of writing styles and these traits are put to use when developing multiple narrative pieces and information reports relating to our Unit of Inquiry focus.

Mr Lachlan Simpson

Year 4 Coordinator