Level Newsletters

Grade 4 News

Important Reminders/Dates 

  • Hats - As per our school's SunSmart policy, all students are required to wear hats till the end of April 2024.
  • Anaphylaxis awareness - a student in the cohort is allergic to all nuts, dairy and seafood. We ask that you be aware of what is being sent in the students lunchboxes, and remind the students not to share food at school.
  • Homework -  Below are the expectations for Grade 4 students

 

Tuesday, March 26: Celebration Morning - 9:15am

Wednesday, March 27: LPS Cross Country

Thursday, March 28: Last Day Term 1 - 2.30pm finish

Friday, March 29th: Good Friday Public Holiday

 

Looking forwards to Term 2:

Monday, April 15th: Term 2 Begins

Thursday, April 25th: ANZAC Day Public Holiday

Thursday, May 9th: Mothers Day Stall

 

Learning In Action

Literacy

This fortnight in Literacy students have finished reading Kensuke’s Kingdom. Students have thoroughly enjoyed reading this text (as have the teachers!). It was great to see students so engaged during Novel Study this term. We have been blown away by their fantastic predictions, discussions and insights. 

 

As we’ve read, we have mapped the story on our Narrative Hill, which has supported students in creating their own narrative plan for writing. Students have created a draft of their story and will be publishing these next week.

 

During Word Work this fortnight, students were introduced to the next job (rule) of the Silent Final E. They revised all the jobs they’ve learnt so far and brainstormed a range of words to fit each job.

 

Mathematics

This fortnight our students have revised work from the Term looking at our ‘Whole Number Unit.’ As a class we practised reading and writing numbers while looking at the concepts of comparing and ordering 4 and 5 digit numbers. Students revised using place values to help explain their thinking and decomposing and partitioning numbers. This means breaking numbers down into their place values, but also in different ways. The students revised these skills through playing various games together.

The students have continued practising their individual goals, through collaborative tasks, independent activities, applied learning and working with a teacher. 

 

We also started our short applied unit on location. The students have been exploring grid references, using an atlas and other maps to cement their understanding. They will finish the unit by creating their own map, and having a partner use the language we have practised to guide them to particular locations. 

 

Inquiry

The students - or should we say Island Governments, have been working hard to come up with reasonable and justified laws for their islands. Students were reminded to govern for the people, ensuring everyone is safe and protected, and not forced to think a certain way.

Here are sample of island laws:

  • You can only use 3 trees to build your house, so we don’t destroy the forest.
  • Do not try and domesticate animals as pets, as they are wild and deserve their freedom
  • $50 tax, every 5 weeks, for each member of the island so that the government can keep the shops running for people to live

The students have been eagerly working on their presentations for celebration morning, listing their laws with reasons, coming up with catchy slogans and advertisements for their island, whilst designing an eye-catching flag. We cannot wait to share these with you at celebration morning next Tuesday the 26th.

 

Wellbeing

This week the students learned about the  Zones of Regulation. This program provides an easy way to think and talk about how we feel on the inside and sorts emotions into four coloured Zones, all of which are expected in life. The students created their own toolbox of tasks they can do when in the different zones to help regulate themselves. 

If you would like to know more about the Zones of Regulation to support the students at home, you can visit the website below that provides an outline of the program and some extra information about each zone.

https://zonesofregulation.com/how-it-works/ 

 

Exciting times ahead in STEM!

We are thrilled to share some exciting updates about our STEM program! As we continue to inspire and empower our students to explore the wonders of these vital fields, we are reaching out to our wonderful community for support.

Your generosity has always been instrumental in helping us provide enriching educational experiences for our students, and we are once again asking for your support to ensure the success and sustainability of our STEM initiatives.

Your support makes a significant difference to our students' learning opportunities and the success of our STEM program. Here are a few ways you can contribute:

Opportunities to help: 

  • Donations of Timber/Wood, appropriate for construction E.g. Billy Cart bases or other small vehicles.   
  • If you own or are a part of a company or business who would be willing to sponsor our engineering program. 
  • If you have connections with hardware stores/companies, helping us to make contact in order to obtain suitable engineering resources. 
  • If you have any household STEM-related materials such as; plastic bottles, milk bottle lids, masking tape, balloons, wooden skewers, plastic or paper cups, unwanted CD’s or DVD’s, Aluminium Foil please drop them off outside the STEM room. 
  • Construction Crew: If you're handy with tools and have some basic experience in woodwork or mechanics, we would be delighted to have your help in the upcoming terms to assist with our Grade 6 Science and Engineering program. Please email sophiechamberlain@lysterfieldps.com or melissaadams@lysterfieldps.com

Thank you for your continued support,

Melissa Adams & Sophie Chamberlain

STEM Leaders

Lysterfield Primary School