What's on in 3/4

Australian History Unit

This term, the 3/4s are learning about early Australian History; from Indigenous Australian Culture, to 18th Century England and finally the arrival of the First Fleet and its impact on the Aboriginal People. The students have spent the last two weeks learning about some aspects of First Nations People in Australia, mainly through mentor texts such as ‘Wilam - a Birrarung Story’, ‘Mooie’s Stories - Malamiyayu gurang, in the Dreamtime’ and ‘Come Together’. 

The first activity had a profound impact on our students. To give them a visual understanding of how long Indigenous Australians have been living here in Australia, and that they are the oldest continuous culture in the world, each grade made a chain… a very long chain. Each link represented 200 years. So they linked 300 black, yellow and red chains together to represent over 60,000 years and popped one white link at the end to represent 236 years since European colonisation. There were lots of “Oooooo’s” and “Whoa” along with some time of silence.

They have also been learning some Dreamtime Stories and their significance, the difference between ‘Welcome to Country’ and ‘Acknowledgement of Country’, Clans or Mobs and languages, the Aboriginal Australian Flag and what it represents, caring for Country, the stars and the changes in the Wurundjeri Seasons. And that’s just the last fortnight. Phew!

Finally, they are currently researching an inspirational Indigenous Australian of their choice, to write a biography on. They are learning research skills and how to paraphrase information in their own words. 

Mother’s Day Cards - A Creative Maths Task 

During last week, the 3/4s enjoyed designing and making their mum a Mother’s Day card. As part of developing their skills in length, students also had to design and make an envelope that would hold the card. We hope all the mums loved their cards, made with love (and a ruler!)