What's Happening in the Middle School
Year 3
What’s Happening in Year 3 in Weeks 3 and 4
Wellbeing
- We are learning to recognise and use personal and cultural character strengths to help us
- Specifically focusing on showing persistence to help us in social situations and to cope with challenges
- We will also be looking at how to use our strengths to grow respect and to show respect in different situations
Literacy
- In Literacy, we are beginning to learn about suffixes and prefixes
- In Language and Literature, we will continue to read our novel, Storm Boy
- We are developing our skills in notetaking and summarising
- We are learning to use adverbials to add more details to our sentences
- Planning and writing our information text about The Coorong
Maths
- We will begin to learn about angles
- Revisit and practise reading and recording time in analogue and digital formats
Knowledge Unit
- We are learning to understand food production and why it has become necessary
- We will begin to learn about and understand the importance of food safety
Reminders
- Please ensure Library books are brought to school to be returned or reborrowed on your child’s library day
- It is expected that all students are reading five times a week for at least 20 minutes, this can be recorded in their diary and will be checked by their teacher
- Book Week will take place in Week 5, please look out for more information on Compass and in the newsletter regarding any special events happening
Year 4
What’s Happening in Year 4 in Weeks 3 and 4
The Year 4, 5 and 6 House Athletics Carnival was a spectacular day. The weather was very kind to us and we managed to complete nearly all of the events before the temperature plummeted and we all dashed for our jackets. We would also like to remind you that Book Week is approaching, so don’t forget to plan ahead and organise costumes to avoid stressful ‘night before’ panics!
Wellbeing
Students will be participating in some Cyber Safety sessions as part of our continued effort to support and protect students in the online space.
Literacy
Our spelling program, Word Origins, will continue to be implemented throughout the second semester. Writing sessions will be focusing on information texts to support our subject area of Science in Term 3. Our mentor text for the entire term will continue to be “Deep’ written by Australian author, Jess McGeachin. With a focus on fluency and accuracy, students will be reading non-fiction texts.
Maths
The Year 4 students will be continuing to focus on the processes of multiplication and division for the following two weeks. All areas of Maths that were studied throughout the first semester will also be frequently reviewed to facilitate deeper understanding of concepts.
Knowledge Unit
Our Knowledge Unit in Term 3 will be ‘Science’. Students will be learning about simple physics such as forces as well as studying the impact of food chains in the living world.
Homework
The Year 4 students are expected to read every night and record their progress in their personal diaries. It is the responsibility of the student to bring their diary to school every day and take it home each night to log their reading. Classroom teachers will be checking and signing these diaries regularly to monitor student reading habits. The student diary will also be used to highlight important dates and reminders.
Additional Information
As we have started a new term, we thought we’d send out some friendly reminders to help set your child up for success.
Reading at Home
To support the development of your child’s reading growth, we highly recommend they read a high-quality text for at least 20 minutes a night. Students have access to a variety of books from our school, and class, library, to ensure quality reading material is always available. Please ensure their reading is recorded in their diary (book title and pages read) and returned to their teacher every Monday morning. We’ve noticed this has dropped off considerably since the start of the year and appreciate your continued support to ensure this remains a priority.
Maths at Home
Number facts and fluency is critical for students as they continue to learn more complex mathematical concepts. Over the past few weeks, we have had a focus on multiplication and division and have noticed many students do not have rapid recall of their multiplication (and therefore division) facts. Assisting your child to develop this rapid recall will greatly benefit their confidence and success during Maths sessions. To practice these facts, you can use one of the websites provided below, have them write them out repeatedly, or chant them out loud with your child. The best way to memorise them is through repetition until they can confidently answer all times tables, in random order and within 5 seconds.
Thank you for supporting your child.
Important Year 4 Dates:
Wednesday August 6th– Cyber Safety sessions
Tuesday September 2nd – Taskworks Incursion
Friday September 19th – Last Day of Term 3, 2:30pm finish
