Grade 4 News
Important Reminders/Dates
Thursday, September 5th: 4E Kinder Visit
Friday, September 13th: School Disco
Tuesday, September 17th: Celebration Morning
Thursday, September 19th: 4FD Kinder Visit
Friday, September 20th: Last Day term 3
Each Tuesday in weeks 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 from 9am - 12pm: Swimming Program
Swimming Times - 4E & 4D: 9.40am - 10.25am
4FD: 10.25 - 11.10am
Wise Words:
With camp coming up, it would be amazing if you could start having conversations as a family around camp. See our Wellbeing section for more information about Calm Kids.
Learning In Action
SCIENCE DAY
The Grade 4s absolutely loved the school Science Day last week! We began the day with an amazing performance from the ‘Marine Team’, where we learnt all about ways to help care for our oceans and waterways. Students then completed an Earth and Space Science lesson, where they learnt about Apollo 11 and completed a moon rock hunt to reveal a secret code! The highlight of the day was our Chemical Science lesson, during which we created a volcano by combining bicarb soda, vinegar, dish soap and food colouring. We also had a fantastic afternoon inviting families and friends in to see the amazing work students have been completing in their STEM lessons.
Literacy
Book Week
On Wednesday the 21st, we celebrated book week with a dress up day, mini parade and book related activities. With the theme ‘Reading is Magic,’ our 4’s loved exploring the magic in ‘Matilda,’ and designing a new front cover!
This fortnight in Literacy the Grade Four students took on the exciting challenge of creating their poetry anthologies. Students chose some of the favourite poems that they have drafted this term, and then conferenced these with a partner and their teacher. Students either typed up their poems or hand wrote them, including a relevant picture/drawing. Along with an exciting front cover, students placed all their poems, as well as their poetry reflections, into a display folder, ready to share at Celebration Morning later in the term. Students then presented a poem of their choice to their classmates. This was a fantastic way for them to practise their reading/speaking skills; especially their fluency and expression!
After completing our Poetry Unit, we have now begun our Biography Unit. This week, students explored the difference between a biography and an autobiography. They identified key parts of a biography and summarised a simple biography.
Preview - students will continue to learn about the structure and key features of a biography and will begin to research a person of their choice in order to create a biography.
Word Work
Following our understanding of the ‘fszl rule’, we have now begun looking at a new rule, ‘ar vs a’, this week. Students have been learning the difference between the ‘ar’ vs ‘a’ spelling in words that make the ‘ar’ sound using their decoding and spelling tools.
Numeracy
Last week the students finished their geometry unit by participating in a week long investigation! Students had to use their new understandings of shape qualities including, corners, edges, symmetry and area to create their own shape. We had lots of fun problem solving, ensuring our shapes had multiple lines of symmetry, comparing our shapes to those of others and some students challenged themselves to find the perimeter!
This week students have started their division unit, focusing on what division means and the different ways it can be worded, for instance, divided by, shared between, split. The students have loved working on their individual division goals to develop their own skills.
Preview - Students will continue working on division, focussing on the connection between multiplication and division.
Inquiry
In week 5, the Grade 4 students ventured into the city to immerse themselves in some of Melbourne's History. The students visited some historic sites such as Birrarung Marr, DeGraves Street, Block Arcade, GPO Building, Bourke Street and Federation Square. Did you know that DeGraves Street was named after a man named Charles De Graves, who was an early settler in the area. In the past, Degraves Street was full of shops and markets where people bought and sold goods, and today it still has a similar purpose, being filled with restaurants and cafes.
Another interesting fact the students learnt is that Federation Square is paved with 470,000 sandstone blocks from Western Australia and has images that represent the outback throughout it.
The students also put themselves into the boots of the Polly Woodside ship's crew, engaging in tasks that the crewmates had to perform while travelling on the ship. These tasks included ringing the bell to alert the captain, scrubbing the deck, steering the ship, hoisting the sails and viewing the different quarters where everyone slept.
Preview - Over the next few weeks the students will be delving deeper into who the different crew members were on the ships, and writing diaries about their experiences.
Wellbeing
Over the past fortnight, the students in Year 4 have worked on their communication skills. They are increasing their confidence and knowledge in where to find help and what to do when they don't feel heard or understood, to get the help they need or want. The Year 4s worked on this through role-plays with their peers. Students have also reviewed various problems and scaled them from 1-10: a small problem, or a big problem. In addition to these tasks, the students have identified people who can help them, and people who they can help.
Preview - Students will continue to work on their help-seeking skills and also move into tasks relevant to Positive Gender Relations.
Calm Kids
The Calm Kids program will commence in the week of 26th August with our counsellor, Kim. The Calm Kids program will cover a number of key concepts such as:
- What is anxiety and why do some people have it?
- Everyone worries but it doesn’t need to stop us from doing things
- Our thoughts create feelings and our feelings impact our actions
- Identifying when you are overthinking
- Thinking Traps and how to manage them
- How to be more positive and why it is important
- Worry bullies
- Grounding technique (for when things start to spiral)
- The importance of relaxation, breathing, and mindfulness
- Sleep and disconnecting