Grade 4 Community News
Dear Year 4 Families,
Welcome to Term 3! We hope you all had a wonderful, relaxing break and are feeling refreshed for another exciting term of learning. We are looking forward to another fantastic term filled with engaging learning experiences, new challenges, and opportunities for our students to continue growing.
We would also like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank you for your ongoing support throughout the year. Your partnership, encouragement at home, and communication with us make a significant difference to your child's learning and success.
Reading:
For the first part of this term, we will be reading the Australian classic Storm Boy by Colin Thiele.
Storm Boy tells the heartwarming story of a young boy who lives with his father along the remote South Australian coastline. The novel explores the unique friendship between Storm Boy and an orphaned pelican named Mr Percival while highlighting themes of family, friendship, responsibility, courage, and caring for the natural environment. Through this rich text, students will develop their comprehension skills by making predictions, analysing characters, identifying themes, and making meaningful connections to both the text and their own experiences.
Alongside our novel study, students will continue developing their sentence-level writing through explicit instruction using the Because, But, So strategy. This approach helps students explain their thinking, provide reasons, show contrasting ideas and describe consequences, enabling them to write more detailed, connected and meaningful sentences.
Writing:
In Writing, students will be learning how to create Information Reports.
Throughout the term, students will investigate a range of familiar Australian places and environments that are connected to the settings explored in Storm Boy. They will build their knowledge of Australia's diverse landscapes while learning about our unique flora and fauna, including native plants, animals and the importance of protecting our natural environment.
Students will learn how to:
- research and organise factual information
- write engaging introductions
- structure information into clear paragraphs with headings
- use subject-specific vocabulary
- include accurate facts and supporting details
- edit and publish polished information reports.
Mathematics:
Over the next two weeks, students will continue developing their understanding of number, measurement and problem-solving. Our learning will focus on writing and recognising mixed numbers, improper fractions and proper fractions, measuring mass and length using appropriate units, and applying efficient strategies for subtraction across an internal zero. Students will also explore setting up different problems and practice selecting the most effective strategies to solve them. Throughout the fortnight, teachers will use formative assessment tasks to monitor student understanding, while catch-up and top-up sessions will provide opportunities to consolidate learning and ensure every student continues to make progress.
Humanities:
Over the next two weeks, students will investigate the important role local governments play in supporting our communities. They will learn about the services councils provide, how they care for the environment, and the ways waste is managed within the local area. Students will also explore how individuals and communities can make a positive impact on sustainability. Through discussions and collaborative activities, they will generate ideas for creating a more sustainable school environment and design features of an eco-friendly community, encouraging them to think about practical ways they can help care for the world around them.
Reminders for upcoming weeks:
- Friday 31st July – Crazy Hair, Hat & Sock Day – Gold Coin Donation
- Monday 17th August – STEM Night
- Wednesday 26th August – Book Character Dress-Up Day
Thank You:
We are excited for another wonderful term of learning and growth. Thank you again for your continued support and partnership. We look forward to working together to ensure every student has a successful and enjoyable Term 3.
If you have any questions throughout the term, please don't hesitate to contact us.
Kind regards,
The Year 4 Teachers