Welcome to Week Five of Home Learning

The Grade 4 team had a great week 4 of Home Learning and were pleased with the work the students presented. They demonstrated many Learner Profile attributes such as, being balanced, a risk-taker, good communicators, open-minded and being an inquirer. Thank you for the continued support you are giving to your child/ children at home. We really appreciate all your effort! We continue to encourage all students to remember to have breaks away from their devices, to move their bodies and to stay hydrated.

This week we are starting our inquiry into Where We Are In Place and Time and we will be inquiring into how events shape societies. Students will begin to explore the skills and attributes of an historian. In English this week, they will develop their skills in making personal connections to texts, which will assist them as they begin to identify their interests in topics to research and write about. They will also begin to explore the structure of information texts. In Mathematics, they will complete an online assessment of multiplication. Students will apply their current knowledge of multiplication through games and representing multiplication in different ways.

Please read the following overview of the learning tasks for Week 5. These tasks will continue to be posted on Google Classroom with additional instructions and resources the night before each day of learning.

If your child has completed the day's tasks, they may be interested in completing one of these optional tasks. These tasks are open-ended, inquiry based and hands-on.

English

An overview of tasks for reading and writing this week are as follows:

READING

Students should be completing at least 20 minutes of independent reading a day as well as completing the tasks set by the teacher. Tasks this week include:

Choosing a fiction or non-fiction text task from a Choice Board
Reflecting on the text Anzac Biscuits and making inferences about the text
Making personal connections to texts using their background knowledge
Using their background knowledge to assist with making personal connections

WRITING

Writing tasks for week 5 include:

Identifying what they know about information texts
Brainstorming topics and sub-topics to write about
Planning and writing introductions, sub-topics and conclusions
Completing a fun writing task

While writing information texts, we encourage students to use the writing cycle to ensure they are continuously developing and improving their writing.

The writing cycle consists of five stages:

1. Plan

2. Draft

3. Edit.

4. Revise

5. Publish

Note: Not all pieces need to be published. We encourage the students to write many different writing pieces which they revise and edit. At the end of a unit of work we ask students to choose their best piece to publish.

Word Study

Students will continue to practice 30 "codes" of the English language through watching videos uploaded by their class teacher. They will also begin to explore a reading or spelling rule which will help them when they decode or write words. There are 30 rules that students will gradually explore through their primary schooling. A rule is introduced through an explicit lesson on a Monday and then a "bootcamp" begins where the students practice the new skill or information over a period of 2 weeks until it becomes "automatic" in their brains.

Mathematics

In Mathematics, students will begin a unit on multiplication and division. They are also encouraged to play number games or use Mathletics to continue practising basic number skills. Tasks for the week include:

Essential Assessment (online assessment and skills practice)
Learning a multiplication game
Investigating number sequences
Representing multiplication in different ways
Open-ended multiplication inquiry task
Mathletics tasks

Unit of Inquiry

This is our first week of a new unit inquiring into how events shape societies. Students will engage in the following tasks:

Tuning into our inquiry in small group Google Meets
Thinking about and identifying the skills and attributes of an historian
Stating and justifying their thinking about history
Sharing an artefact that tells a story about their past

Wellbeing

Students are encouraged to continue to add to their Gratitude Jar .

This week they will also be encouraged to find time to switch off their screens and use 'conversation starters' with family.

Here are some additional ideas and resources to support wellbeing during Home Learning:

Cosmic Kids Yoga (YouTube channel)
Smiling Mind (mindfulness app)
Art Hub for kids (YouTube channel)
Go Noodle
Mindfulness Challenge Cards (on Google Classroom)
Yoga cards on Google Classroom

Reminders

Make sure to check the Specialists Snapshot for learning tasks from the specialist team.

Grade 4 Team

4A Melanie Davis

4B Andrew Yeaman

4C Phoebe James

4D Nicole Klaassen

4E Heather Jenkins & Zoe Picton

Hearing unit - Amy Chadwick

Grade Four Snapshot 2021 - Term 2

Welcome to Week 5 of Remote Learning

Issue 7 · 10 May 2020

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