Year 4 Spotlight

Year 4 Term Highlights

Inquiry

This term, Year 4 have been busy understanding, acknowledging and learning the ancient knowledge of Aboriginal cultures and beliefs. As part of this unit, students attended CERES for an Indigenous Perspectives Excursion. 

Student Reflections:

Hi, this is Isaac and Peter from 4A we’re going to tell you about an excursion that we went on the third of September this year. We did three activities, first we did ochre face painting – we got to paint cool symbols on our hands and face with our fingers.

Secondly, we got to smell and eat the special native plants and they were delicious. The plants include, pigface, saltbush, lemon lolly, rivermint and native spinach (warrigal greens). The place where native spinach comes from, blue-tongue lizards like to hide.

Finally, we did a play with costumes on, it was about a frog called Tiddalick who was unfair and drank all the water in the local area, instead of letting more water for the other animals Tidilick drank all the water. The animals tried to make Tiddalik laugh so all the water came out. Later that night, cockatoos, wombats and kangaroos tried but failed but then the eels came along and did their silly dance and all the water came out of Tidilick’s mouth. The animals were saved! They got the water out of the greedy frog. We felt it was quite fun and enjoyable it was amazing what you could do with leather and feathers, you can learn a life lesson and this one was “don’t be greedy.”

~ Peter & Isaac, 4A

Ochre Painting

On September 3rd, all Grade 4 classes went to CERES. One of the activities was traditional face painting. We used ochre as face paint and for our arms. The instructor talked about how we needed permission from an Elder to paint with ochre. We also learnt about different symbols meaning different things. We made up stories with the symbols that we painted on our arms. I did the rain symbol and the possum prints.

~ Bea, 4B

Bush Tucker

On the third of September at CERES, one of our activities was getting to eat bush tucker. We got to eat saltbush, lemon myrtle, river mint, warrigal greens and pig face. I LOVED the lemon myrtle, it was delicious; I also loved the saltbush – it tasted like a healthy salty chip. I didn’t like the warrigal greens as much, they smelt like water broccoli. We had so much, I hope we can go again!

~ Edmund, 4C

Writing

This term, Year 4  focused on writing Realistic Fiction. Students worked on expanding and elaborating their narrative in order to entertain a reader. They used text features such as adjectives, similes, and verbs to add imagery and detail to their writing. 

Here are some excerpts from our stories:

“As the city has that sort of musty and foul smell coming from the caves, but the park, which has precious and almost perfect (as nothing can be perfect) trees towering over people as they walk by.”

~ From ‘The City Murder’, written by Alina, 4A

“Chickens surrounded my feet. The smell of fresh hay and poop that smelt like it has been sitting there for centuries flooded my nose. I skipped over to their stables.”

~ From ‘Journey to the Olympics’, written by Nina, 4A

“The tv flashed white, and changed to the AFL as fast as lightning. Billy Bob tried to change the channel back to what he was watching but nothing happened. He looked around in confusion then he saw his older brother, who is 5 years older than him, peeking through a crack in the door.

Suddenly he knew what had happened! He marched over to the door as angry as hulk, he quickly opened the door and found his older brother named Leo holding a universal remote and some batteries. His brother must have switched the remote batteries for almost flat ones!”

~ From ‘Brother vs Brother’, written by Remy, 4B

“It was a dark and gloomy morning in New York City, thick fog hung in the air. Sydney could barely see three feet in front of her, as she started her slow trudge to MS High.

Tall buildings loomed over Sydney, everywhere she looked all she could see was grey.

Sydney’s blue eyes stood out in the mist, as rain thundered down, she tucked in her long, golden blonde hair into her hood. When Sydney finally reached the high school’s gates she was drenched.”

~ From ‘Netball Star’, written by Bethany, 4B

“BOOM! The plane crashed into the dusty mountains. The plane skidded to a stop on a bumpy slope. I smashed the door open and jumped out of the plane with a rough landing and rolled down into a lake. The water was so cold, it felt like I was going to freeze to death.”

~ From ‘The Disaster of Flight 881’, written by Harry, 4C

“Two months ago, his mum was called to have a chat about spelling. “Is there something I need to know?” asked his mum. Tim shrugged, he was eating a nutella sandwich, could that be the reason? 

At the meeting, Tim sat until his teacher declared Tim needed help with spelling. It was not death by nutella, it was death by spelling!”

~ From ‘Death by Spelling’, written by Jamie, 4C

Maths

Year 4 students have learnt about fractions and decimals. Students created halves, thirds, quarters and fifths through paper folding, and investigated equivalent fractions used in context e.g. half a pizza equals two-quarters of a pizza. They also counted by fractions such as quarters, halves and thirds, including improper and mixed numbers, and located these fractions on a number line. 

Students learned that place value can be extended into decimals, such as tenths and hundredths. Students explored the connection between fractions and decimals, for example, one tenth is the same as 0.1. 

Student Reflections: 

• We learned how to add fractions and how to turn improper fractions into mixed numbers. I liked learning how to extend decimals into the thousandths. ~ Emily, 4C
• We used fraction walls and counters, which made learning fractions easier and more fun. I liked how fractions could be related to shapes. ~ Maggie, 4C

Resilience Rights & Respectful Relationships

This term, students have been exploring:

Stress Management 

Students learned how people, situations, and events can affect their emotions. They explored strategies for managing physical, social, and emotional changes effectively. Students also discussed methods for handling situations that make us feel uncomfortable or unsafe. Additionally, we examined the importance of self-discipline and goal-setting in helping us learn and cope with changes and challenges. Finally, we identified our personal strengths and discovered coping strategies to manage change and difficulties effectively.

Help-seeking

Students were encouraged to improve their communication skills for better peer support and seeking help. They explored various strategies for resolving conflicts and finding positive solutions to problems through role-play. Additionally, they discussed how important it is to seek help when needed and wrote down trusted people who they can seek help from. 

Student Reflections: 

• We learnt strategies for how to manage stress like go for a run, cuddle a toy, ride a bike or pat your pet if you have one. ~ Penny, 4B
• We created a story about help-seeking which will be read to the buddies when we are finished. ~ Ari, 4B
• We have learnt how to calm down when there are tough times like going for a walk, balloon breathing, having a drink of water or eating some food. ~ Lewis, 4B
• We learned about help-seeking through role-playing different problems. We also wrote down five people who we could trust to help us. ~ Lizzie, 4B
• We made books for the buddies to read and learn about problems and how you can solve them. Also our books are teaching them about not overreacting to a small problem and that we are responsible people when we ask for help. ~ Hattie, 4B

~ Year 4 Teachers (Holly, Jade & Katie) and Students