3/4 Mainstream & Steiner 

Celebrating Learning

What we’ve been up to:

3/4 have been busily preparing for our upcoming Arts Festival! Students have been working hard designing beautiful artwork and rehearsing their performances with great enthusiasm. It’s been wonderful to see their creativity, teamwork, and confidence shine through as they bring their ideas to life. We can’t wait to showcase their amazing efforts and celebrate their talents with the school community! 

As part of our unit focus, students collaborated to design and build towers using only paper and masking tape. Their creations were impressive, showcasing the use of trusses and a variety of structural shapes. To conclude the challenge, each tower was tested to see if it could hold two small milk drinks for at least 60 seconds. Those that passed the weight test then competed for the tallest design in the final round.

Maths

Over the past fortnight in Mathematics, we have been wrapping up our learning on probability and chance. Students explored how chance can be represented and tested through hands-on activities using spinners. They designed and created their own spinners, then used them to conduct experiments, record outcomes, and discuss how likely different results were to occur. This practical approach helped students make real-world connections to the language of probability, such as certain, likely, unlikely, and impossible.

Building on our data collection from Henderson Park, students also learned how to represent data digitally using Google Sheets. They transferred their information into clear and visually engaging graphs, experimenting with editing features such as scale, colour, and layout. This process encouraged students to think critically about how data can be presented to effectively communicate their findings.

This week, we have begun a new unit on volume and capacity. Students are exploring how much space different containers can hold by comparing the volume of everyday items - including their own lunch boxes! Through hands-on investigations, they are estimating, measuring, and comparing capacities to determine whose lunch box can hold the most. These activities are helping students develop a practical understanding of measurement and how it applies to their daily lives.

Literacy

In Literacy this fortnight, we have been focusing on identifying and using past, present, and future tense accurately in our writing. Students have been learning to recognise how verb tense affects meaning and have been editing their own writing pieces to ensure consistency throughout their work. These editing sessions have encouraged students to think carefully about their word choices and how tense can change the way a story is told.

We have also continued to develop our spelling skills through our phoneme program, focusing on the oe and oo sound families. Through a variety of hands-on and collaborative activities, students are building their understanding of spelling patterns and applying this knowledge in their independent writing. This ongoing practice is helping students to become more confident and accurate spellers.

As part of our Speaking and Listening learning, we have been working on our debating skills. Students are learning how to write a clear line of argument, organise their ideas effectively, and work collaboratively as a team. They have been practising how to express their opinions respectfully, listen to others, and respond thoughtfully to different points of view. These activities are helping students build confidence in their communication skills and think critically about a range of topics.

What’s coming up:

• TPS Arts Festival on Saturday 8th November 11-3pm
• Fundraiser Colour Run on Wednesday 19th November
• In Maths, students will move onto a new area of learning: algebra number patterns.
• In Literacy, students will learn how to diacritically mark words, using special symbols to show the individual sounds and spelling patterns within each word to support accurate pronunciation and spelling.

Things families can talk about at home:

• Wearing sun smart hats during play time. 
• Students can continue to explore volume and capacity at home by measuring ingredients while cooking, comparing containers in the kitchen, or experimenting with water and sand play outdoors to strengthen their understanding through hands-on experiences.
• Students are encouraged to continue practising their times tables at home each week to strengthen their understanding and maintain their fluency in this important area of learning.