Grade 3/4 News

Learning in 3/4A

I hope this newsletter finds you and your loved ones well. 

Important Announcements:

• Swimming Carnival: Our swimming carnival will take place this Wednesday, the 26th. Please ensure your child comes prepared with their swim gear and any necessary items for a fun day at the pool!

Celebrations from the Week:

It has been an exciting fortnight of learning in 3/4A! Here are some highlights:

• Number Line Exploration: We’ve been working on recognizing and identifying the exact point of a number on a number line from 0 to 1,000. The students engaged in many discussions about the importance of precision in our choices. We had fantastic mathematical debates that required them to use their number sense to justify their reasoning.
• Hands-On Learning: I believe in the power of hands-on materials, so we created physical number lines. The students had numerous opportunities to collaborate with their classmates and partners, enriching their understanding of these concepts.
• Fantastic Mr. Fox: We’ve started reading our mentor text, Fantastic Mr. Fox, by Roald Dahl. The students are thoroughly enjoying it and are eager to continue. The book offers rich vocabulary for them to explore, and it beautifully illustrates how Dahl creates vivid characters.
• Morphology/Word Inquiry: Last week, we completed a morphology and word inquiry, focusing on the -ies suffix rule. The students discovered why certain words require us to drop the 'y' to form the plural. They learned that if a word ends in 'y' preceded by a vowel, we simply add -s. If it’s preceded by a consonant, we remove the 'y' and add -ies. There were many lightbulb moments as they studied the words closely!

Thank you for your ongoing support in helping our students thrive. We are grateful for the partnership we share and look forward to more exciting learning adventures together!

The Writing Challenge: A New Approach in our Classroom for 3/4B

Last week, I bravely asked the students a simple question: What do you find hard in the classroom?

The overwhelming response? Writing is hard! Or, in some cases, I just don’t like writing.

As a self-proclaimed literacy nerd, this felt like a challenge I simply could not ignore. My mission? To make sure every student finishes the year either enjoying writing or at least having the confidence and skills to be an independent writer. 

So, I have launched a new approach to writing in our classroom! It’s a slow and steady process, but it’s designed to build both writing and reading comprehension skills in a way that makes sense. 

At the heart of this approach is this term’s mentor text, Fantastic Mr Fox. Instead of just reading it, we are digesting it (not literally!), comprehending it, and then writing about it.

One of the first tasks? Summarising each chapter in just one or two sentences, no more! Sounds easy? Well, try summarising an entire Roald Dahl chapter in just a couple of lines without leaving out the fun bits! It’s tricky, but the students have been up for the challenge, crafting summaries that are clear, concise, and packed with meaning.

On top of that, we are working on writing expanded, interesting sentences that keep the reader engaged. And let me tell you, the results so far have been fantastic. I have been so proud of everyone’s effort, and I know that as we continue practising, it will only get easier.

So, while writing might still feel like a mountain to climb for some, we are tackling it step by step, and hopefully, by the end of the year, the view from the top will be well worth it!

Stay tuned for more updates on our writing adventures, but in the meantime please read some of the amazing summaries from the first two chapters of our mentor text.