Year 4 Update

 Welcome back - Term 4

Our students have had a fantastic start to Term 4. They have settled back into their classroom routines with energy and excitement. Term 4 brings a new buzz, the end of Year 4 is coming, but on the flip side...Year 5 is looming! They have begun their new topics with enthusiasm and focus. With our focus on kindness again this term, it has been wonderful to see friendships reconnect and new ones forming.

A Snapshot of our Learning.

English

**We have begun a new Text Study Mentor Text, only this time it is not a "text" as we know it. We are exploring and learning about the movie Wonder. Students have been connecting with the main character of the movie, Auggie, and analysing his life, friendships, and challenges. 

We watched the movie in  Week1, and throughout our daily Text Study block, we rewatch clips of the movie that relate to our days lesson. It is a great way to consolidate our learning.

**We have continued our daily partner fluency reading. This is a great opportunity for students to practice their expression and speed control while reading to a partner who provides meaningful feedback. We are seeing the benefits of these sessions and the students enjoy engaging with the activity.

**Through our Literacy Skills block, we have been continuing our joined handwriting and typing practice, working towards achieving our pen licences, and exploring the root word ceed/cess/cede.

Maths

**Our Fluency in 5 sessions continue to support and develop students recall of common and necessary number facts. It is great to see students succeed with this activity and move through the different skills. 

**Our focus in Maths has been fractions, equivalent fractions and connections between fractions and decimals. We have interacted with fractions in hands on and interactive lessons using playdoh, hopscotch and everyday classroom objects.

**In Daily Review we have been revisiting Time and Location, and Area and Perimetre. These sessions help our longterm memory retain the information that we have  previously learnt.

Inquiry

**Our new topic for Term 4, is Government, Laws and Communities - Civics and Citizenship.

**We have been learning about the difference between rules and laws, who is responsiblle for making and uppholding these and what daily life issues are dealt with at what level.

**We have identified features of government, law and key democratic values. 

**One of lessons explored how and why decisions are made democratically in communities. Our students interacted in their own dem cratic process, selecting the best and fairest way to make classroom decisions. 

SEL

**In Week 1 we revisited our school Matrix and refreshed our minds on what our values: Kindness, Respect and Resilience, looks like at Hillsmeade.

**We also looked at Problem Solving, working through some scenarios in groups to identify a problem, and using the Roundabouts Problem Solving Model, we looked at choices we could make, and the impliactions of those choices.

REMINDERS

Hats are compulsory for outside. Students will need to sit under the stepped shadesail area if they do not have a hat.

Reading! 

Home work reading should be at 3 times a week for 20 minutes each time, and recorded in your school diary.

Multilplication!

Practice your ninja belts times table and become a master in you classroom.