Grade 4 News
Important Reminders/Dates
Wednesday, June 12th: 4D Kinder Visit Consent Due
Wednesday, June 19th: 4D Kinder Visit
Tuesday, June 25th: Celebration Morning
Wednesday, June 26th: Cookie Dough Collection
Friday, June 28th: Last Day Term 2 - 2.30 pm finish
Looking Forward to Term 3:
Monday, July 15th: Start Term 3
Thursday, July 11th: 4E Kinder Visit Consent Due
Thursday, July 18th: 4E Kinder Visit
Thursday, August 1st: 4FD Kinder Visit Consent Due
Thursday, August 8th: 4FD Kinder Visit
Thursday, August 22nd: Fathers Day Stall
Homework - The same expectations from Term 1 will continue for the rest of the year.
Wise Words #5 Positive thinking: why it’s good for children and parents
Positive thinking can help you and your child notice and appreciate the good things in your lives. It is easy to spend a lot of time thinking about things that have gone wrong. When you do this, these things can seem overwhelming and lead to worry and stress. But when you learn to think positively, you can keep difficult times in perspective.
The more you think positively, the easier it becomes. Research has shown that if you focus on the positives and keep the negatives in perspective, it is good for your overall happiness and well-being.
A positive thinking activity can get you and your children into the habit of thinking more positively about things that have gone well and why. One example of a positive thinking activity might be to ask your child at the end of each day ‘tell me three good things that happened to you today’ or ‘tell me three things that went well in your day’. You could also model this by sharing three good things that happened, or that went well, in your day.
There are many different examples of positive thinking activities that you might like to explore with your child. Feel free to check out some others here - https://biglifejournal.com/blogs/blog/children-positive-attitude
Learning In Action
Literacy
Over the past fortnight, the Grade 4 students have loved exploring persuasive texts through reading and writing. Students have honed their skills in identifying the author’s opinion and arguments, and are developing their understanding of different persuasive devices. This fortnight we looked closely at rhetorical questions and hyperboles, looking at why an author might choose to include them. The students loved hearing this hyperbole song, What is Hyperbole? | Educational Rap for Language Arts Students why don’t you give it a listen? The students have enjoyed writing persuasive pieces, and have worked hard to include purposeful persuasive devices.
After consolidating their understanding of coordinating conjunctions, students were challenged to look at subordinating conjunctions, using the acronym ‘I SAW A WABUB’ to help them. Students know that a subordinating conjunction explains the connection between an independent clause and a dependent clause. For instance, ‘After walking home from school, I played video games.’
Preview - Students will revise different persuasive devices, and take time to draft, revise, and publish their own persuasive pieces.
Word Work
Mathematics
Over this past fortnight, students have looked at the connection between addition and subtraction. They have used this knowledge to support them in balancing equations with a missing part e.g. 15 + ? = 34
Students have enjoyed using the number sentence science cards and rearranging them to help solve addition and subtraction problems. They are a fantastic visual tool for students and they have really seemed to help their understanding of the parts of a number problem.
For example:
Preview - to finalise our addition and subtraction units this term, students will be completing a range of games and activities over the next fortnight to review the strategies they have learnt and build on their number fluency.
Inquiry
Over the past fortnight, the Grade 4’s have continued to research their chosen African or South American country. They have learnt about the unique foods, animals, landmarks, celebrations, and cultures of their country.
Students have begun drafting and publishing their information reports, and have begun to include relevant text features, such as maps, drawings, flags etc.
Below are some exciting facts our students have learnt:
“In Chad, they eat rocks - some people prefer certain rocks as they are saltier” - Riley
“The languages spoken in Mauritania are Arabic, Fula, Soninke, French and Wolof” - Aekam
“In Venezuela, there is only Green Anaconda’s” - Mitch
“Table Mountain is South Africa’s most popular landmark. It is a mountain with a flat top, and that is how it gets its name” - Freya
“French Guinea is home to 319,796 people” - Zane
Preview - Students will present their information reports to their peers and families at Celebration Morning.
Wellbeing
This fortnight the Grade 4’s continued to explore stress management through our RRRR’s sessions. They were able to discuss strategies that help calm themselves and in which situations they would be most beneficial. For instance, some of our students do finger breathing, others give their pets a cuddle and some take themselves to a quiet place to read. Students worked hard to create an action plan, listing different strategies to help soothe themselves when they’re feeling different emotions.
Preview - Next term students will begin exploring our ‘Help Seeking’ topic.
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, help us to make contact 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, Aluminum 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