Year 4 Newsletter

Dear parents

What a great start we have had to Term 3. It appears that there was lots of travel, celebrations and excitement over the holidays and we do hope you all had a great break.

What's happened in year 4 this week?

English – This week in writing we have written a holiday recount and begun to investigate the structure of newspaper reports. In Reading we have revised Summarising. We used the strategy; Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then to guide what we need to know. You may like to ask your child to give you a brief summary about the books they are reading at home. In Spelling this week we looked at the prefix pre- and suffix -ed.

Maths – For the first part of term 3, we will be focusing on assisting students to develop efficient mental and written strategies for solving problems involving multiplication and division. This week we have revised our current knowledge and practised using different methods for representing multiplication and division. We’ve learnt how to use repeated addition and subtraction and understand that inverse operations can be used to solve multiplication and division problems.

Inquiry - This term our Inquiry program is split into two components from the Design and Technology learning area of the Victorian Curriculum. For the first 5 weeks of term 3, our Inquiry title is: From Farm to Fashion… From Farm to Plate… How are food and fibre products made and produced? We will be answering the following key Inquiry questions:

How are foods and fibres made and produced on farms?
What technologies, materials, systems, tools and equipment are used to produce food and fibre?
What are the regions in Australia and Asia where major food or fibre, plants and animals are grown or bred?
How does climate and soil conditions affect plant and animal production and the availability of food?
What food preparation techniques are used in modern and traditional societies.
What are the benefits of technologies that promote health and food safety, ensuring a wide variety of food is available for healthy eating?
What are food product labels?
How does the information provided on food packaging contribute to healthy eating?

We will conclude this topic with an excursion to Edendale Farm (details on compass shortly). This excursion will also assist to introduce the second component of the term where we will be designing and creating native Australian nesting boxes.

This week in our Inquiry lessons we look at how foods and fibres are produced on farms, how food and fibre products are made and what technologies, materials, systems, tools and equipment are used to produce food and fibre.

Wellbeing - This week in Friendology we revisited our Friendology learnings through a quiz and performed our role plays using the Friend-o-cycle.

Platoons - Due to the success of our Thursday walk/jog, we will be continuing this again in term 3. We will go for a walk/jog every second Thursday in session 5. If there is a chance of light rain, this will still go ahead so please pack a jacket.

Datanoons - This term we will be exploring digital technologies as well as continuing with some physical and craft based activities through rotating afternoons.

Homework - In term 3, homework will again consist of:

Minimum 4 nights reading with at least 80 minutes per week recorded in school diary (Book title, pages read, minutes read).
Diary is to be brought to school each FRIDAY signed by parents.
Mathletics tasks will be set weekly to support topics in the classroom.

Things to Remember:

Tuesday 30th July - District Athletics
Thursday 1st August - ENPS Walkathon
Thursday 15th August - Year ⅚ School Production - Peter Pan
Monday 26th August - Father’s Day Stall
Thursday 5th September - Year 4 Edendale Farm Excursion (event to be on Compass shortly)
Wednesday 11th September - ENPS Footy Day celebration
Thursday 12th September - Division Athletics
Friday 20th September - Last day of term 3. Early finish (2.30pm).