From the 3/4 Classrooms

Life Education

Last week, we had the privilege of hosting the Life Ed program, and it was an absolute hit with the students! A highlight of the session was meeting Harold, the beloved giraffe, who guided us through meaningful and interactive discussions. The topics covered during the session were:

• Having tricky conversations with friends
• Exploring feelings associated with big changes
• Identifying and practising assertive communication skills
• Practising emotional regulation skills, such as mindful breathing
• Broadening and developing emotional literacy

Students also reflected on the character strengths of others, adding a personal and reflective element to the session. These lessons provided valuable tools for navigating friendships, understanding emotions, and building resilience.

Mathematics

In Maths, we continued our journey into multiplicative thinking. This week’s focus was on understanding the connection between multiplication and division, particularly through fact families. Students engaged in hands-on activities, such as building towers with blocks, to explore these concepts. They calculated the number of blocks, divided them into groups, and determined how many blocks were in each group. This practical approach helped them translate these scenarios into division equations, deepening their conceptual understanding. 

We also continued to explore the language of probability, and students were challenged with an open-ended problem-solving task while thinking about probability. You may wish to give this problem a go at home.

Additionally, we have now begun looking at data and interpreting graphical representations of data.

Reading

During Reading, we delved into our mentor text for the term, Clever Crow by Nina Lawrence. Before reading, students engaged in activities to activate prior knowledge and analyze language. After reading, we explored different perspectives within the story. Students were encouraged to consider open-ended prompts such as:

• What did you notice in the text?
• How did the text make you feel?
• What does this text remind you of in your own life?

To dive deeper, we analyzed specific events in the story, such as the kookaburra laughing at the crow and the old man giving the turtle egg to the people at the ceremony. Students explored the points of view of various characters, including the crow and the mother, by retelling events from their perspectives. This exercise not only enhanced comprehension but also encouraged empathy and cultural awareness. We also examined cause-and-effect relationships within the story, discussing how different events led to specific outcomes and imagining alternative consequences to enrich their critical thinking.

Writing

In Writing, we advanced our work on explanation texts. The students are mastering the structure of these texts, learning to:

1. Pose the title as a question.
2. Write an introduction that defines or explains the phenomenon or process.
3. Develop a body section describing the steps or events.
4. Conclude with a summary of the process or end result.

This structured approach is helping students to clearly and effectively explain ideas and processes.

It’s been a dynamic and enriching week full of discovery and growth. We are proud of the students’ hard work and can’t wait to see how they continue to apply these skills in their learning journey!