Grade 4 News
Dear Year 4 Families,
Welcome to Week 6 of Term 2!
Please continue to check Compass regularly to stay up to date with important information, including the release of CATS (Common Assessment Tasks). A number of CATS have already been published, with a few more to come over the next couple of weeks. We encourage you to take the time to view your child’s work and leave a comment in the conversation box. This lets their teacher know you’ve seen the task and helps maintain a strong home–school connection.
Also, nightly reading is an important part of our routine. We encourage students to read at home every night for 20 minutes to help build their reading skills and understanding. It’s a great way for them to practice and get even better at reading! In the last few weeks students have begun borrowing books during our library sessions that they are able to read in class as well as at home. In order to borrow a new book each week students must return their library book during their class’ designated library session (4A- Thursdays and 4B- Wednesdays) so please ensure that your child brings their book back to school on these days.
Learning Focuses- Below is what we have been focusing on with our learning for the last three weeks of Term 2.
Reading Fluency
In class, students have been reading short passages of text to help build their skills in expression, pace, use of punctuation, and accuracy. By practicing reading aloud, they are learning how to adjust their tone and expression to match the meaning of the text, which helps make their reading sound more natural and engaging. They are also focusing on reading at the right pace, not too fast or slow, to ensure they understand and convey the message clearly. In addition, students are paying close attention to punctuation marks like commas, periods, and question marks to guide their reading and improve their fluency. This practice is helping them become more confident and accurate readers, while also strengthening their overall comprehension and expression.
Typing
Our Year 4 students have also been practicing their typing skills to improve both speed and accuracy. By using fun, interactive activities, they are working on developing their typing technique, which will help them become more confident and efficient when using laptops for schoolwork. With regular practice, they are steadily increasing their typing pace and precision.
You can practise with your child using free typing activities on Typing.com or Monkeytype
Handwriting
This term our Year 4 students have continued to work on their handwriting skills. Handwriting is an essential life skill, and we have been focusing on improving both legibility and fluency, ensuring that each student feels confident in their writing. Students have been focussing on letter formation to ensure each letter is clearly and accurately written. Throughout the last few weeks, we have started to practice our cursive handwriting by joining together some letter to write basic words as well as practicing writing our names in cursive.
Morphology
Students have been learning about the prefixes im- and semi- as well as consolidating knowledge of previously learnt morphemes. Students have been analysing words with these prefixes and suffixes and identifying the base of the word to find its meaning. They have also been spelling, reading, and using these words in sentences throughout the weeks.
im- not/opposite (e.g., improper– not the way things should be done).
semi- half/part (e.g., semicircle - half a circle).
Grammar & Syntax
In Grammar and Syntax, we have been focusing on supporting students to understand how to improve their writing by learning how to incorporate compound sentences by using coordinating conjunctions to connect two independent clauses. For example, we have practiced sentences like:
1. Lily went to the store, but it was closed.
2. We could all go to the skate park, or we could go to the playground.
We have supported students to understand that to connect 2 independent clauses they must use a comma and a coordinating conjunction. Additionally, students have also been working on subordinating conjunctions to combine a dependent clause and an independent clause to form a complex sentence. Subordinating conjunctions can depict time, cause, concession, place and purpose. Examples include:
Before I go to bed, I brush my teeth. (the subordinating conjunction indicates time)
Since Harry ate all his dinner, he was allowed to eat ice-cream for dessert. (the subordinating conjunction indicates reason)
It has been wonderful to see the students’ growing understanding of the different elements of a complex sentence and ability to select the appropriate independent clause to complete a complex sentence based on the subordinating conjunction and dependent clause provided.
Writing
In class, students have started working on a new story entitled Krak’s Diary, which follows a recount structure in the form of a diary entry. Through the process of Talk for Writing, students have orally explored the story, describing events. To help describe events in detail, students are developing four key language skills: moving the action forward using adverbials, adding authenticity to their writing by using specific names of people and places, including what people have said or thought about an event as well as using appositives to add extra detail to nouns. These skills will allow students to build a strong toolkit for writing. Students will soon begin planning and writing their own diary entry using the four writing tools to enhance their writing.
Literature/Knowledge
In Knowledge, Year 4 students have been learning about The Dynasties of Ancient China. This unit has focused on exploring significant figures within Ancient China and their contributions to society, key events in the history of Ancient China as well as aspects of daily life in Ancient China. Throughout the lessons students are practicing their reading fluency, through whole-class choral reads and partner reading as well as answering comprehension questions to demonstrate their understanding of the content.
Maths
In Maths, students have been working on developing a strong understanding of multiplying and dividing numbers by 3, 6, 7, 8 and 9 through a variety of hands-on and interactive activities. In Year 4, the focus has been on supporting students to apply strategies for multiplying and dividing numbers using skip counting and developing student’s ability to recall multiplication and division facts with automaticity. Students have developed their understanding of the inverse relationship between multiplication and division through engagement with both pictorial and mental strategies.
Our Year 4 students have also been learning how to solve worded multiplication and division problems using the Understand, Plan, Solve, Check method. This structured approach helps students break down complex problems into manageable steps, ensuring they can tackle each question with confidence and accuracy. Through this approach, students are building strong problem-solving skills, learning to work systematically, and becoming more confident in their ability to handle worded math problems.
National Simultaneous Story Time
On Wednesday the 21st of May, the Grade 4’s joined thousands of students around the country and engaged in the National Simultaneous Storytime by tuning into the live stream of The Truck Cat by Deborah Frenkle. Following the reading of the book, students engaged in a range of fun, hands-on activities that were inspired by the story including a pixel art activity and creating a comic strip. Here are some exciting images of our students participating in the National Simultaneous Storytime:
Excursion to iMax
On Thursday the 15th of May, the grade 4 students embarked on an exciting journey into the city to visit iMax at the Melbourne Museum to watch the captivating documentary Extreme Weather. The film explored the powerful and destructive forces of nature, focusing on cyclones, wildfires, and melting glaciers, and highlighted the increasing impact of climate change on the planet.
Following the film, students had the opportunity to explore several engaging exhibits within the Melbourne Museum. These included the Forest Gallery, where they experienced a living rainforest environment; the Dynamic Earth exhibit, which showcased the powerful geological forces shaping our planet; and the 600 Million Years exhibit, which traced the fascinating history of life on Earth. The excursion concluded with a visit to the Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre, where students learned about the rich cultural heritage, stories, and knowledge of Australia’s First Peoples.
The day offered a powerful combination of science, history, and culture, making it a memorable and educational experience for all. Here are some photos from our exciting day
Upcoming Events:
- Scholastic Book Fair, Monday 19th May - Friday 30th May
- Curriculum day, Thursday 5th June & Friday 6th June
- King's Birthday, Monday 9th June
- Swimming, Monday 16th June - Friday 20th June
- Last Day of Term 2, Friday 4th July
Thank you for your continued support in continuing and strengthening our home and school relationship, which is so vital for students.
Miss Lochhead, Miss Carlesso and Mrs Schache