News from Three/Four

Inquiry - First Contacts

The 3/4 students from both classes had an 'historical experience' last week.  We divided our group into First Nations Australians and Europeans.  The First Nations people set themselves up in the stick area - building shelters and hunting and gathering food.

  Meanwhile, most of the Europeans were being put to work by a few rich people.  They were scrubbing floors and cleaning chimneys.  Alas, some of the poor Europeans were imprisoned and then sent off to Botany Bay.  They traveled across the ocean in their eleven ships.

When they arrived, Captain Arthur Phillip set the convicts to work clearing the land and building roads and farms.  One of the convicts was flogged.  The First Nations people had less and less land.  There were battles and some also got very sick and died.

We are in the midst of writing journal articles about European artefacts and how they might have been used in Australia's early days.

Maths

In maths, we are currently  practising different strategies for doing addition and subtraction in our head (mental maths).  We are also practising skip counting by 4s and the x4 multiplication facts.  It would be great if you could share with your child some of the strategies that you use when you are mentally adding or subtracting.

Enjoy your holidays,

Simone and Paula