Literacy:

Throughout the last two weeks 3/4 students have been busy developing their Historical Narrative writing skills. Students have been learning how to incorporate verbs, adverbial phrases and adjectives to make these narrative pieces more descriptive and engaging.

Some examples of these are:

Strong Action words (Verbs) to use in Historical Narratives

crept
raced
grabbed
searched
hauled
steered
battled
escaped
discovered
rescued

Adverbial Phrases

The sailors worked throughout the night.
The captain stood on the deck of the ship.
The boy opened the chest with trembling hands.
The crew hurried below deck because of the storm.
The children explored the ship with great excitement.

Strong adjectives to use in Historical Narratives

brave
determined
weary
anxious
courageous
stern
exhausted
resourceful
frightened
proud

Numeracy

Students have continued to work on their multiplicative thinking skills by working on the vertical algorithm.

Students begin this learning by being explicitly shown how to correctly set out the multiplication algorithm. They are taught to align numbers according to place value, ensuring that digits of the same value are written directly underneath one another. This correct vertical alignment is essential for maintaining accuracy when completing calculations. Students write these algorithms in their Maths Grid Books. Maths grid books (or graph paper notebooks) support mathematical understanding by providing a structured, visual framework that organizes spatial reasoning, enhances accuracy in calculations, and acts as a bridge between abstract concepts and concrete representation. The grid acts as a spatial aid for place value, helping learners align numbers vertically and horizontally, which reduces calculation errors and cognitive load.

Integrated:

Students have continued to engage with historical tales of the First Fleet, exploring the journey people took when travelling from England to Australia in the late 1700s. They have also been learning how First Nations Australians may have experienced and responded to the arrival of the First Fleet.

Students are becoming more familiar with specific convict tales and also had the opportunity to research British and Indigenous artefacts as well as share the story it tells from the marine,

convict or indigenous person's perspective.

STEM

As part of our STEM program, Year 3/4 students have been introduced to the world of robotics. Students have had the opportunity to work with Sphero, a robotic ball controlled through an iPad. Sphero provides a unique and engaging experience as students learn to control the robot using tilt, touch, and swing functions on their device. Students are working collaboratively in teams to program and navigate this fast moving robot. Through play, educational robots help children develop one of the basic cognitive skills of mathematical thinking at an early age: computational thinking. That is, they help develop the mental process we use to solve problems of various kinds through an orderly sequence of actions.

Home Learning - Continues:

To support our learning at school, we ask that students complete the following home learning each week:

Read for 30 minutes each night
Complete the weekly activity from the Maths Home Learning Grid that was sent home earlier in the term.
Practise weekly spelling words each night (Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check)
Multiplication Practice - sent home each week

The maths, spelling and multiplication sheets are glued in Home Learning books, and students should bring these each Monday to receive new home learning for the week ahead and to submit their homework for the previous week to their teachers.

Important Dates:

Weeks 3 & 4 - Healthy Harold incursion - Thursday 14th and Wednesday 20th May
Week 5 - Education Week - Monday 18 May - Friday 22 May
Week 8 - King’s Birthday - Monday 8 June
Week 9 - Expo - Friday 19 June
Week 10 - Parent/Teacher Interviews - Wednesday 24 June

Prepared by the Grade 3/4 Teachers

JSC