Year Three/ Four

Communicating with the Year Three/Four Team

We look forward to partnering with you in 2023, and welcome your input:

Melinda Rowe (Class 34A) Melinda.Rowe@education.vic.gov.au 

Lachlan Prasad (Class 34B) Lachlan.Prasad@education.vic.gov.au

Michelle Wright (Class 34C) Michelle.Wright@education.vic.gov.au 

INQUIRY IN TERM THREE

First Australians

Throughout this term, we are looking at:

The diversity and longevity of Australia’s first peoples and the significant ways Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are connected to Country and Place (land, sea, waterways and skies) and the effects on their daily lives.

LEVEL ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

Questions:

Who lived in Australia first and how do we know? 

What was life like for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples before the arrival of the Europeans? 

How are people connected to places?

As part of our Inquiry unit, we have been exploring what the Dreaming means and the purpose of it. Students enjoyed exploring a range of Dreamtime stories throughout their lessons. As part of reading lessons, students worked on their recall skills and wrote down the main events that occurred throughout the stories. They ensured these were accurate and in order as per the sequence shared in the story.

The Dreamtime is the period in which life was created according to Aboriginal culture. Dreaming is the word used to explain how life came to be; it is the stories and beliefs behind creation. It is called different names in different Aboriginal languages, such as: Ngarranggarni, Tjukula Jukurrpa. In the Dreamtime, the natural world—animals, trees, plants, hills, rocks, waterholes, rivers—were created by spiritual beings/ancestors. The stories of their creation are the basis of Aboriginal lore and culture. And are also what are often painted by Aboriginal artists. source: https://www.aboriginalcontemporary.com.au/

During our Inquiry lessons, we have been having discussions about connection to country and how Indigenous people acknowledged that nature is the giver of all life. The Earth, the water and the sky are believed to be the spiritual dwelling places of their ancestors.

Whilst watching 'My Place' students have learnt how Indigenous people use the land and pass on their stories. 

We are very much looking forward to having The History Box - Ballarat come and present their two shows to us on Monday 4th September.  They will be presenting: First Australians and The First Fleet where the students will be involved in an interactive show and presentation to learn more about both of these topics. It will be a fantastic conclusion to our term three topic and an introduction to our term four topic.

The payment and premission for this incursion is due by Wednesday 30th August.

CAMP

Please note that an online information session for camp will be held on Wednesday 9th August at 7pm via Webex. Further information on this session will be sent via Compass.

HOMEWORK

The homework in the Year 3/4 level generally consists of daily reading, learning times tables and learning specified spelling words. 

DIARIES

Please note that it is expected that your child has their diary at school every day. 

READING

We recommend that your child reads daily and records their reading into their diary. This should include the book title, author and pages read. Ideally, the child should be reading to a parent if possible as this helps with fluency, expression and comprehension.

SPELLING

When students complete progress monitioring or cumulative review spelling assessments, any words that students had trouble with, are then used as spelling words. These words will be written into your child's diary. We encourage students to practice spelling these words daily as homework.

TIMES TABLES

Students have now completed a times table assessment to check their understanding and knowledge. Students have been instructed to start learning a particular set of times tables. Your child should be learning these out of order and be able to have an automatic response when the question is asked of them. Once they are confident in knowing the set of times tables, your child will then let their teacher know they are ready to be tested. If they are able to show confidence in recalling the set of tables, they will then receive their next set of times tables to learn.

SPECIALIST TIMETABLE

Please find below the times that each class are scheduled to have their specialist classes. Please note that these times are subject to change for example during swimming weeks etc.

34A

Tuesday 2:40pm: Science

Wednesday 9:40am: PE

Thursday 1:20pm: Visual Art

Friday 11am: Performing Arts

Friday 11:50am: Japanese

34B

Tuesday 2:40pm: Performing Arts

Wednesday 11am: PE

Thursday 9:40am: Visual Art

Friday 11am: Japanese

Friday 11:50am: Science

34C

Tuesday 2:40pm: Visual Art

Wednesday 11:50am: PE

Thursday 9:40am: Japanese

Friday 11am: Science

Friday 11:50am: Performing Arts