Year 3/4 Mainstream

Celebrating Learning

Year 3/4 Camp

In week 8 (2-4 Sept), the Year 3/4s attended camp at Arrabri Lodge in Warburton. It was an action-packed three days of adventure! Students had the opportunity to try out the giant swing, flying fox, practise some archery, go climbing, play Gaga ball, go bush walking, do some gold panning and so much more! Despite the weather we were able to go ahead with most things that were planned. 

Camp is a unique opportunity to have new experiences and build skills for independence. This included setting up and cleaning up at mealtimes and trying to keep cabins tidy and organised. It was awesome to observe students having a go at most of the planned activities and becoming more confident. For teachers, it was a wonderful opportunity to spend time with students outside of the classroom and to witness their strengths in new areas.

“I don’t think I can choose a favourite thing, I just loved every single bit of it!” Flora, 2/3S. 

“The redwood forest was super pretty. Trying to find the teachers in Sardines was really fun.” Olive, 3/4A. 

“Mini golf was fun because there were lots of secret tunnels. One was almost totally hidden by a rock!” Oliver, 3/4A. 

“I really liked the giant swing, I went on first!” Daniel, 3/4B.

“I was good at the climbing wall, it only took me three minutes!” Yilly, 3/4B.

“I liked Gaga ball the best, and I was the best.” Charlie, 3/4B.

“The flying fox was really really times 1000 fun!” Florina, 3/4C. 

“We liked orienteering because we could find tags around the camp and it was fun to write down the points.” Yindi and Wirra, 3/4C. 

“I was proud of trying archery because I was struggling with it, but then I hit the target board.” Penny, 4S. 

“Camp was awesome because we got to have fun and try stuff that was new, like the giant swing, and being in cabins with people I’ve never had sleepovers with before.” Lincoln, 4S

Just a reminder that we still have some lost property to be collected.

Maths:

As we head towards the end of term, students are working to consolidate the mathematical concepts taught this term. They are working on building fluency through practising their times tables and division facts. Additionally, they continue to build on their knowledge of statistics by exploring different types of graphs, collecting their own data sets and creating their own graphs. 

Literacy:

In Reading, students continue to develop comprehension skills through Question Answer Relationships (QAR).  We have moved on from answers that can be found in the text and are now focusing on question types that encourage students to think more deeply, beyond the text. Students are learning to infer and make connections by creating “Author & You” and “On My Own” questions from the books they are reading. Additionally, Reciprocal Reading groups support students’ ability to use clarifying, predicting and summarising to build understanding. 

In Writing, students are working to complete their presentations about a chosen country in the Southern Hemisphere as part of our Unit Focus - “Great Southern Lands”. Students have been practising skills that will assist them to create an engaging presentation. They are encouraged to consider things like limiting the number of typefaces they use, choosing unobtrusive backgrounds for their slides, selecting images that support their text, adding captions and simple animations. They will present their slideshows in the last week of term, which will help them to build confidence presenting to an audience.

What’s to come next term:

• In Writing, students will focus on paragraph structure and descriptive writing. This will support their ability to write an engaging narrative to hook their readers.
• In Reading, students will continue to expand their comprehension skills by learning to infer and make connections. They will continue with Reciprocal Reading groups.
• In Maths, students will compare and classify 2D and 3D shapes based on their features. They will understand what a right angle is and make comparisons to other types of angles. They will also learn about symmetry and identify symmetrical patterns in the real world. Later in the term, we will explore fractions and decimal concepts.
• Our Integrated focus will be “Beneath our Feet”, whereby students will explore rocks, soils, natural disasters and various landforms.
• There will be a free excursion to the Botanical Gardens on Friday, October 25th.