From the 3/4 Classrooms 

English:

Students have enjoyed exploring our mentor text Our World: Bardi Jaawi – Life at Ardiyooloon.  Over the last two weeks our students have made connections, by estabilishing what it means to be remote, defining what community is, and drawing on their own knowledge of remote communities within Australia. Using maps, students located the remote Indigenous community of Ardiyooloon on the Dampier Peninsula in Western Australia. They shared their wonderings about this community, their culture and heritage as well as their way of life in this community. Students also explored the language used by the people of Ardiyooloon and created class glossaries.

In writing, students continued to work on constructing and perfecting persuasive pieces, by using the OREO structure, including a range of persuasive devices. 

Maths:

Our Grade 3/4s have been learning all about the properties of odd and even numbers, and how we know whether an number is odd or even.  They have been recapping whole number place value by representing numbers in various way, both proportionally, using MAB/Base 10 blocks, and non-proportionally, using valued cards that include 10,000 and 10,000. Students enjoyed working on 4- and 5- digit numbers through a range of hands-on learning activities with their classmates. A particular favourite with our 3/4s was 'Win a Cube' where students had to try and beat their partner's score!

The properties of 2D and 3D shape were also explored and students worked on reflectional and rotational symmetry, as well as sorting 3D shapes based on their vertices, edges and faces.

Integrated Studies:

Our exploration of community continued with students working together to analyse artwork that portrayed different types of communities. Students had the opportunity to record what they 'See', 'Think' and 'Wonder' about each of the artworks, and this allowed for rich discussions about what community looks like. This was followed by peer-interviews to find out what communities we belong to.

This week Team 3/4 learnt all about the Australian of the Year Awards and how everyday Australians have made positive contributions to the communities they live in. We also looked at the role technology played in shaping community over time.

Care for Country:

As part of our committment to our BPPS School Values (Care, Respect, Responsbility and Inclusion) each Team 3/4 class has become home to some spiny leaf stick insects.  They belong to a well-camouflaged group of insects called phasmids!  These fascinating creatures feed on a variety of plants types in the wild, but are relishing the gum leaves here at BPPS! Some of our students have been lucky enough to see some of our stick insects moulting!

In Team 3/4 we have also taken up the pledge to reduce our waste in order to care for the country! Encourage your child to bring 'Nude Food' to reduce our waste at school.

Team Sport:

This term Team 3/4 is focusing on preparing for some of the events that will be part of our Whole School Athletics Carnival, which will be held on Monday 23 March.  Over the last two weeks, our students have begun perfecting their shot put, discus and long-jumping skills. Throughout the term they will also explore high jump, hurdles and relay races.

Just a reminder, if you'd like to get some extra running practise in before the big day, head on down to Fitness Club at Leigh Park each Wednesday morning from 8.15am! The whole family is invited and we'd love to see you there!

Home Learning Reminder:

Just a reminder that each week your child should be completing the following home learning tasks:

• Reading 30 minutes each night
• Spelling Looks, Say, Cover, Write, Check (Monday-Thursday)
• Maths Activity Grid (parents need to sign off on this)
• Timestables

Open Classrooms/Welcome Back BBQ:

We look forward to seeing you all at our Open Classroom/Welcome Back BBQ on Wednesday 25th February (next week)!

Prepared by the Grade 3/4 Teachers