Year 3/4 News

GRADE 3/4 CURRICULUM NEWSLETTER TERM 4 2026

ENGLISH

Reading

This term, students will be completing a film study of Wonder. Through the film, students will explore how characters develop and how their choices, experiences and relationships contribute to the story.

Students will:

Analyse character traits and motivations and explain why characters behave in particular ways.
Explore character perspectives and consider how different characters may view the same events.
Describe, analyse and compare characters, using evidence from the film to support their ideas.
Explore themes and identify the key messages the film communicates.
Examine the precepts in Wonder and explain how they connect to the film's themes and messages.
Use evidence from the film to explain and support their thinking.

Throughout the unit, students will develop their ability to move beyond simply describing what happens and begin to explain why characters, events and messages are important to the story.

Writing

This term, students will be developing their writing skills across two important text types: persuasive writing and narrative writing.

In Persuasive writing: Students will learn how writers use language and evidence to convince their audience to agree with an opinion or take action.

Students will learn to:

Clearly state an opinion and support it with strong reasons, facts and examples.
Identify the purpose, audience and structure of persuasive texts.
Write a clear and engaging introduction that presents their opinion.
Organise arguments into logical paragraphs.
Use connectives to link ideas and make their writing flow.
Use modal words such as must, should, definitely and could to strengthen their arguments.
Use emotive language and topic-specific vocabulary to influence their audience.
Use rhetorical questions to encourage their reader to think about an issue.
Write a strong conclusion that reinforces their opinion and leaves the reader with a final thought or call to action.
Plan, draft, edit and publish a complete persuasive text.

In narrative writing: Students will explore how authors create engaging stories for their readers. They will learn about the key features of narratives and develop their own characters, settings and storylines.

Students will learn to:

Identify the key features and structure of a narrative.
Create and describe interesting characters, including their traits and motivations.
Create and describe a detailed setting.
Write an engaging orientation that introduces the characters, setting and situation.
Develop a complication or problem that drives the story forward.
Write a resolution that resolves the problem and brings the story to an appropriate ending.
Use descriptive language and carefully chosen vocabulary to engage the reader.
Organise their ideas into clear paragraphs and reread and edit their writing.

Throughout both units, students will focus on making their writing clear, well organised and engaging, while developing their ability to make deliberate choices about vocabulary, sentence structure and language to suit their purpose and audience.

MATHEMATICS

This term, students will develop their mathematical thinking and problem-solving skills across a range of topics, including multiplication and division, fractions, capacity, location and chance. Students will use practical materials, visual models, number lines, maps and real-world problems to build their understanding and explain their mathematical thinking.

Multiplication and Division Students will solve division problems presented in different ways, including worded problems. They will use materials, arrays and area models to represent division and develop strategies for dividing two- and three-digit numbers by one-digit numbers, including problems that involve regrouping. Students will explain and represent their thinking when solving problems.

Fractions Students will develop their understanding of fractions by recognising and representing halves, quarters, thirds, fifths, sixths, eighths and tenths.

They will:

Count forwards and backwards using fractions.
Identify fractions of collections and quantities.
Combine fractions with the same denominator to make a whole.
Identify and create equivalent fractions.
Order fractions on a number line.
Explore mixed numbers and improper fractions.
Use bar models to calculate fractions and find a whole when given a fraction.
Explore connections between fractions and everyday situations, including money.

Location and Mapping Students will develop their ability to read, interpret and create maps. They will explore map symbols and legends, use grid systems and develop their skills in giving and following directions on grid maps. Students will also consider how different people may represent and view locations in different ways.

Capacity Students will investigate capacity and learn that capacity describes how much liquid a container can hold. They will measure, estimate and compare capacity using millilitres and litres and read scales on measuring instruments. Students will also connect capacity and fractions by exploring how the same amount can be represented in different ways, such as ½ litre = 2 × ¼ litre = 4 × ⅛ litre.

Chance and Probability Students will explore chance in everyday situations and learn to describe how likely events are to occur. They will use language such as certain, likely, unlikely and impossible to describe events and order outcomes from least to most likely. Students will conduct repeated chance experiments, record their results and discuss why results can vary.

Problem Solving Across all areas of Mathematics, students will be encouraged to apply their skills to real-world problems, choose appropriate strategies, explain their thinking and consider whether their answers are reasonable.

INQUIRY

This term, students will be exploring Geography through our inquiry unit, Living in Place. Students will investigate how people, places and environments are connected, and how the features of different places influence the way people live.

Students will explore:

How natural features, such as mountains, rivers, coastlines and forests, influence where and how people live.
How climate and vegetation affect communities and the ways people use natural resources.
Why human activities such as farming, industry and recreation occur in particular locations.
How people interact with and adapt to their environment.
The similarities and differences between places in Australia and other countries.
How our choices and activities can impact the places and environments in which we live.

Through research, discussion, maps, images and investigations, students will develop their critical and creative thinking skills and build their understanding and appreciation of different places, environments and ways of living.

SCIENCE

In Science this term, students will be focusing on Physical Science. The topic we will be covering is called ‘Forces’. Students will learn about forces, including frictional, gravitational, electrostatic and magnetic. They will also learn about how forces can be exerted by one object on another through direct contact or from a distance and affect the motion (speed and direction) of objects.

Throughout this term, students will:

describe contact forces and explain how these forces act through physical contact to affect the movement of objects
describe non-contact forces and explain how they affect the movement of objects without physical contact
explain how the strength and direction of a force influence the motion of an object
explain what friction is, how it acts as a contact force and how surface types affect the amount of friction and object movement
explain gravity as a noncontact force that pulls objects towards Earth
describe magnetic forces as non-contact forces that can attract or repel certain materials and understand how magnetic poles interact.

LOTE

During Term 4 we will introduce the topics: Fairy Tales, School Subjects, Sign Song, Capital Cities, Australian Holiday – Perth, Time Markers, School Canteen, Back to Basics – Handshapes, General Community Signs, and Revision with the Spinning Wheel.

In the School Canteen lesson, we will practise our usage of the Auslan finger list method (List buoys) to ‘order’ our canteen lunch. These list buoys are used frequently in Auslan to provide information when communicating.

Creating an Auslan clause using only Point Handshape signs will be a new challenge and a great way to practice combining signs.

The sign song ‘Diversity’ will show us that Deaf people can enjoy songs, and in the lesson, we will learn about what diversity means.

ART

This term, our Year 3 and 4 students will explore air clay as a sculpting material, combining shaping, joining and texturing techniques to create detailed models. They will plan animals, objects or imaginative characters, experiment with proportion and form, and use simple tools to add features and patterns. Using air clay, students will create different 3D objects.

Students will develop their watercolour skills through colour mixing, washes and layering. They will experiment with wet-on-wet and wet-on-dry techniques to create skies, landscapes and reflections, exploring how water and pigment affect colour and mood.

Using pastels, students will practise blending, layering and expressive mark-making. They will explore warm and cool colours, contrast and shading, using these techniques to add depth, texture and emphasis to their artworks.

Students will also design and construct cardboard sculptures, using cutting, folding and joining techniques to build three-dimensional forms. They will explore balance and stability, test and improve their designs, and practise safe tool use, care of materials and cooperative clean-up routines. Students will finish the year by creating festive cards and ornaments to celebrate the end of the year.

MUSIC

At the start of the term Grade 3/4 students are reviewing musical concepts related to beat and rhythm. The students are learning to compose and arrange their own music using Garage Band. This involves recording and looping music and layering different instruments and sounds.

This term students will learn also about pitch, intervals, and how to write a short melody.

Later in the term students will also revisit and play musical instruments such as keyboard and ukulele.

Throughout the term students will develop listening skills as they explore genres of music from different times and places such as Jazz and the Blues, traditional Japanese music played on the Koto, Bossa Nova music from Brazil, Australian Aboriginal music played on the digeridoo or yidaki and popular music by Australian Aboriginal artists such as Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu; Orchestral music by classical composers such as Beethoven and film music by Joe Hisaishi amongst other styles.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

This term, our Grade 3/4 students will be spending plenty of time working together and learning what it means to be a good teammate. Through invasion games and other team activities, students will practise communicating, playing fairly, supporting their teammates and showing good sportsmanship. We are also looking forward to Bike Education. Students who are still learning to ride will have plenty of opportunities to build their confidence and learn the basics, while our more experienced riders will take on races, games and challenges to further develop their bike skills. To finish the year, we will bring back some of the student’s favourite games and sports from throughout the year, giving everyone a fun way to celebrate everything they have learned and achieved in PE.

Some of our Grade 3/4 students will also have the opportunity to represent our school at an interschool soccer tournament. I look forward to seeing them enjoy the experience, compete alongside their teammates and proudly represent our school.