Grade 4/5

The Year 4/5 students have had a very busy and productive two weeks!

We were very fortunate to have a visit from Hamilton police officer Keleigh Flavel last Friday. Keleigh is a highly experienced officer who is passionate about connecting with students in both primary and secondary schools. She spoke to the students about staying safe and the dangers of interacting with people they do not know online. Keleigh also shared some excellent tips on how to protect themselves and limit the amount of personal information shared online.

In Literacy, we are reading The Wild Robot. The students have shown an excellent level of commitment to this text, continuing to expand their vocabulary and strengthen their sentence structure. The concept of a robot shipwrecked on an island and learning to navigate her surroundings has sparked many interesting discussions and wonderings among the students.

This term, the students are focusing on persuasive writing. They have spent time formulating arguments on different topics and are now beginning to write their own persuasive pieces. I am very impressed with their enthusiasm for writing and look forward to reading all their convincing arguments.

In Numeracy, we have been learning to identify angles such as acute, obtuse, right, straight, reflex, and revolution. Through activities and games, the students have practised classifying and describing angles. We then extended this knowledge by using protractors to measure the exact degrees of specific angles. 

This week, the focus has shifted to solving multiplication equations involving 2- and 3-digit numbers. The students can see the benefits of knowing their times tables and, with support, are applying this knowledge to solve more complex problems.

Our science lessons have had a real buzz about them! Over the past two weeks, we have been exploring friction and force. Students used trundle wheels to measure the distance objects travelled when a gentle, medium, or strong force was applied. They also investigated friction using books (a fun activity you can try at home) and their shoes. In small groups, students studied different shoe treads and measured the distance each pair covered. We discovered that the heavier the shoe and the greater its surface area, the more friction it experienced!