Newsletter

Year 3/4 - Newsletter

Dear parents,

 

Thank you to all the parents who came and joined in on our Maths Day Open Day! We hope you enjoyed exploring the different maths that we do in the classroom, and got a first hand experience of what your child is learning and doing. 

 

It was great to see so many Maths outfits, and we all enjoyed the parade in the morning!

 

IMPORTANT REMINDER - Important ‘at home project’ information:  

This term, all year 3/4 students will be completing an ‘at home project’. Students are required to research a famous Indigenous Australian and complete an oral presentation (keynote, poster, brochure etc). Students will be presenting to the class in week 9. The second component of research is due to be returned to us by Friday 15th May. We are more than happy for homework to be completed BEFORE the assigned date.

 

IMPORTANT REMINDER - Year 3/4 Excursion - Indigenous Landscapes Tour, 26th June

As part of our Year 3/4 Inquiry unit 'How did the arrival of the first fleet impact Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders?' Year 3/4 students and teachers will be participating in an ‘Eltham North and Surrounds Indigenous Landscapes Walking Tour’. We will discover how European settlement impacted on Indigenous people and Indigenous landscapes such as waterways, fauna, flora, and the effects on our local area today. This event will be available on COMPASS in the coming weeks.

 

What's happened in 3/4 this week?

English 

This week, we have resumed our morphology studies, introducing the new base word ‘form’. You might like to quiz your child about its meaning! Throughout the term, we will continue to review and expand our understanding of new affixes and vocabulary.

We’ve continued reading our class novel, Yirra and Her Deadly Dog, Demon, and have noticed huge contrasts from last terms’ Matilda. This will guide as in our writing unit, which will focus on crafting factual recounts.

In our reading program, students explored the comprehension strategy of identifying the Author’s Purpose, discovering the main three purposes; to Persuade, to Inform and to Entertain. We’ve also looked at how to restate the question, extending and adding detail when answering a question in full sentences.

Maths

These past two weeks have seen us begin our new topic on Additive Thinking - looking at the connection between Addition & Subtraction. We have explored and delved deeper into new strategies to assist us with solving addition & subtraction problems; Split Strategy, Fact Families & Inverse Operations, and how to effectively use a number line. 

We encourage you to chat with your child about these activities — perhaps even asking them to show you can put one of those strategies into practice. 

Inquiry 

‘How did the arrival of the first fleet impact Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders?’

This week we continued our exploration of the First Fleet, specifically looking at and tracking the journey itself - it took 252 days! - and the conditions that the prisoners, staff, marines and free folk experienced.  

 

The students created a Word Cloud of the new vocabulary they’ve learnt through our unit so far. Some words included; penal colony, marines, captain, fleet, disease, governor, rats, sail, mast, ship, rations, ship’s biscuits, scurvy and the list goes on…

 

Wellbeing

This week we’ve continued our Friendology unit, exploring the Friendship facts and the notion of ‘What is trust?’. We’ve looked at healthy & unhealthy friendships and the impact that body language has on our friendships.

 

Fidget Tools

We understand some children’s learning and focus are supported by these and they have been a strategy recommended by a medical professional, and we support this. If this is the case for your child, can you please let me know. For our students that just like to have a fidget toy, if they are not supporting their focus and learning we will encourage them to use them at recess and lunch times. Please note, fidget tools should be small and non-distracting (slime is NOT allowed at school). Thank you for your understanding.

 

Platoons –  This term, we are implementing our platoons program. Your child will be involved in local walks and PE activities on a Friday afternoon.

 

Homework - Homework this week continues to consist of:

  • Minimum 4 nights reading with at least 80 minutes per week recorded in school diary (Book title, pages read, minutes read).
  • Diary is to be brought to school each Friday signed by parents.
  • At home project - based on a famous Indigenous Australian. The project is split into 5 sections that will need to be checked by teachers each week.  Projects will be presented in class in Week 9.
  • Although not compulsory, we encourage your child to complete assigned Mathletic tasks.

 

Things to Remember:

  • Wednesday 21st May - Life Education Begins
  • Monday 26th May - Sorry Day
  • Tuesday 27th May - ENPS Athletics Carnival
  • Monday 9th June - King’s Birthday Public Holiday
  • Thursday 26th June  - Year 3/4 Excursion - Eltham North and Surrounds Indigenous Landscapes Walking Tour. Please see COMPASS for event details, to make payment and give consent for your child to attend. 
  • Wednesday 2nd July - PST Conferences
  • Friday 4th July - Last day of term 2.

 

Student Awards

Look out for your class’ individual email Friday afternoon for the Student of the Week & Student Recognition Award shoutouts.

 

Have a great weekendThe Level Three/Four Team.