Independence Centre

Curriculum

Selamat siang!

Book Week - one of the most exciting weeks of the term! It was excellent to see students dressed up in a range of different costumes and characters on Thursday. Thank you to all parents that attended the parade on Thursday afternoon. It is lovely to have you celebrate the week with us. This week, to continue the Book Week fun we have a special incursion with the author Michael Wagner! He will be sharing about the process he takes when writing his books so make sure to ask your children about this on Tuesday. 

In Reading last week, we continued to look at different forms of poetry and explore the use of poetic devices. Students used a protocol called ‘word, phrase, sentence’ to examine different poems and to identify key ideas within the poem. They chose a word, phrase and sentence that they felt best represented the poem and justified their reasoning. 

As well as reading and viewing a range of poems across the week, students also wrote their own ballad poems! They used a planning template to brainstorm ideas for their narrative style poems simple problem and solution, as well as brainstorming a range of rhyming words that they could use to follow the abab or abcb rhyming patterns. Poetry is a tricky form of writing! The teachers were really impressed with the creativity and the bravery demonstrated by the students when taking risks in their writing. It was excellent to see some students challenging themselves to include poetic devices such as similes, imagery and alliteration.

In Mathematics sessions, our focus was around division and finding fractions of collections. An example of this could be ‘¼ of 12’ or ‘⅖ of 20’. Students used strategies such as an open number line to visualise the division using the fractions. As well as this, students spent time working on division based worded problems using the CUBES strategy. This strategy supports students to circle the important numbers, underline the question, box key words and evaluate the problem before they solve it. This strategy is helpful, particularly when interpreting the language of worded problems and deciphering exactly what it is asking you. 

It was very exciting to begin planning and even building our prototypes in Guided Inquiry! Students worked together in their groups to choose an existing invention and used the B.A.R thinking tool to make something Bigger, Add something and Replace something using the understanding they have gained over the term about renewable energies and forces. The most exciting part of the week was the delivery of our new 3D printers, which students will have the opportunity to experiment with to create a part for their prototype, so stay tuned for more! 

Have a wonderful Book Week, 

Miss Chooi, Miss Richardson, Miss Wang, Mrs McCoy, Miss Tillotson and Miss Honan 

Student Voice:

• Christian K - "I enjoyed short division because it was challenging."
• Tom M - "I like guided inquiry because I like building things and I like coding for the 3D printers."
• Jack K - "I enjoyed PE because I got to roll and do my first handstand in gymnastics." 

Reminders

• Camp consent form packs have gone home today. Please return these to school as soon as possible 
• Disco is this Friday 2nd September. Theme - Colourful! 5:15-6:00, students bring along a named drink bottle.
• Father’s Day Stall - Friday 2nd September 

Pupil of the Week

3/4C: Sakina K -

For demonstrating perseverance and a positive attitude when learning strategies to find fractions of a collection. Keep up the great work, Sakina!

3/4H: Lucy W -

For showing life-long learning when analysing and interpreting figurative language in poetry. It was wonderful to see you include interesting details in your visualisation. Well done Lucy!

3/4M: Felix S -

For demonstrating a love of learning and dedication to his studies during independent reading sessions. It has been excellent seeing you diligently take notes to support your understanding of the books you are reading. Fantastic work, Felix! 

3/4R: Andrea J -

For having a terrific start at MPRPS and settling in well to 3/4R. You have already shown so much enthusiasm and perseverance and I look forward to hearing more of your fantastic ideas! Keep it up, Andrea! 

3/4T: Brandon H -

For showing life-long learning and incredible participation in our Guided Inquiry sessions. It is great to see you working as a part of a team to create your sustainable invention. Keep up the amazing work, Brandon!

3/4W: Amber S -

For demonstrating lifelong learning and perseverance when solving your division questions this week! It was fantastic to see you practising different strategies and explaining your thinking. Amazing work, Amber!