Grade 4 News
Important Reminders/Dates
Monday, July 15th: Start Term 3
Thursday, July 11th: 4E Kinder Visit Consent & Payment Due
Thursday, July 18th: 4E Kinder Visit
Thursday, August 1st: 4FD Kinder Visit Consent & Payment Due
Thursday, August 8th: 4FD Kinder Visit
Thursday, August 15th: Excursion to Wolly Woodside and Federation Tours
Thursday, August 22nd: Fathers Day Stall
Holiday Fun - In Term 1 our students completed a novel study on the book ‘Kensuke’s Kingdom.’ This is just a note to let you know that Cameo Cinemas will be showing the movie adaptation over the school holidays as a part of ‘CHIFF’ (Children’s International Film Festival). Check it out if you are looking for something to do!
Learning In Action
Celebration Morning
On Tuesday the 25th, we had Celebration Morning, and we loved welcoming our friends and family into the classroom to share our learning. Over the term students spent time learning about the southern hemisphere, focusing on comparing Africa and South America to Australia. The students were proud to share their information reports on a selected country, after spending time independently researching, drafting and publishing their piece. Thank you to everyone who came in and celebrated with us!
Kinder Visits
This year we are very excited to partner up with one of our local kinders to build further connections with our community. This is a fantastic opportunity for our students to show kindness and responsibility whilst developing their leadership skills, practising being a good role model for younger children. It’s great practice for our buddy program next year!
Last week 4D went on the first visit and had an absolute ball, reading stories, painting pictures and playing games outside. The kinder kids are experts at hide and seek, we nearly lost a few!! We are super excited for the rest of the 4’s to visit next term - please make sure you give consent on compass.
SpikePrime Coding Incursion
On Thursday this week the Grade Four’s were very lucky to have the chance to engage in a SpikePrime workshop from RoboGals at Monash University. The workshop was led by engineering students who spoke about what engineering is, the different types of engineering, and the importance of diversity and inclusion in STEM.
Students worked in small groups to complete some basic block coding of the LEGO SpikePrime robots. They learnt how to move the robot in a variety of different ways by providing simple coding instructions. There was lots of trial and error as they attempted to use this exciting new technology, and of course, lots of fun was had!
Previews into Term 3
Literacy
Next term in Literacy we will start off looking at poetry, focusing on limericks, puns, free verse, and Indigenous creation stories. Following this we will delve into biographies.
Numeracy
In Term 3, we will be looking at multiplication, division and the connection between the two. We will also be looking at shape, area, symmetry and chance.
Wellbeing
Next term in Wellbeing we will move on to help seeking and positive gender relationships in Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships (RRRR’s). Our help seeking unit supports students in developing their communication skills around asking for support and conflict resolution. They describe and apply strategies that can be used in situations that make them feel uncomfortable or unsafe.
In Positive Gender Relationships we describe and demonstrate what respectful, gender inclusive behaviours look like in action.
Inquiry
In Term 3, the whole school is focusing on ‘History’ for our inquiry unit. The grade 4’s will be looking closely at the colonisation of Australia. Keep an eye on Compass at the beginning of Term for the consent/payment for our excursion we will be embarking on to celebrate our inquiry.
Exciting times ahead in STEM!
We are thrilled to share some exciting updates about our STEM program! As we continue to inspire and empower our students to explore the wonders of these vital fields, we are reaching out to our wonderful community for support.
Your generosity has always been instrumental in helping us provide enriching educational experiences for our students, and we are once again asking for your support to ensure the success and sustainability of our STEM initiatives.
Your support makes a significant difference to our students' learning opportunities and the success of our STEM program. We are desperately in need of parents/friends to join our Construction Crew. If you're handy with tools and have some basic experience in woodwork or mechanics, we would be delighted to have your help in the upcoming terms to assist with our Grade 6 Science and Engineering program. Please email sophiechamberlain@lysterfieldps.com or melissaadams@lysterfieldps.com
Here are some other ways you can contribute:
Opportunities to help:
- Donations of Timber/Wood, appropriate for construction E.g. Billy Cart bases or other small vehicles.
- If you own or are a part of a company or business who would be willing to sponsor our engineering program.
- If you have connections with hardware stores/companies, help us to make contact to obtain suitable engineering resources.
- If you have any household STEM-related materials such as; plastic bottles, milk bottle lids, masking tape, balloons, wooden skewers, plastic or paper cups, unwanted CD’s or DVD’s, Aluminum Foil please drop them off outside the STEM room.
Thank you for your continued support,
Melissa Adams & Sophie Chamberlain
STEM Leaders