Apollo

Wow! What a busy few weeks we have had in grade 4, with the highlights being our week of swimming and working very hard on completing our sustainability action projects. Well done on a great first half the year Grade 4’s!

Reading

This month Year 4 Apollo students have been further immersed in texts about diversity and inclusion. We have explored Aboriginal perspectives, parallels between their daily life and that of other cultures, disability and Kevin Rudd’s apology speech to the Stolen Generation. 

Throughout these texts, the students have made connections between themselves and the characters or events within the texts, made comparisons between two similar texts, and responded to the texts by stating their opinions and conclusions with supporting evidence from the texts. 

The students have continued to explore how textual features such as text structure, illustrations, headings and persuasive techniques impact the reader and their comprehension of a text. The students have greatly enjoyed investigating different ways authors can tell a story using both words and rich illustrations.

 They have used metaphors and similes to describe themselves as plants, like one of the authors had in the text, Just Ask. They have investigated and identified the tense of texts and sentences.

The students have worked consistently to dive deeper into texts that broaden their understanding of diversity and themselves.

Writing

This term, the Year 4 Apollo students have been developing their skills in writing information texts and persuasive texts. They learned how to plan, research, revise, edit, and publish their work using various formats such as posters, brochures, booklets, and digital presentations. The students explored the purpose of advertising and used persuasive devices to create eye-catching and convincing advertisements. They also worked hard to write and present their own persuasive speeches, using strong arguments, emotive language, and clear structure to engage their audience. It’s been wonderful to see their creativity and confidence shine through their writing!

Maths

Recently in Maths, the Year 4 Apollo students have been exploring the concept of probability through a range of chance-based games and activities. They’ve been learning to use accurate probability language, such as “impossible,” “likely,” “unlikely” and “certain,” while predicting and analysing outcomes. These hands-on learning experiences helped students deepen their understanding of chance and develop critical thinking and reasoning skills in a fun and engaging way.

In addition to this, the students have also been diving further into their place value knowledge and using this to strengthen their problem-solving. They have investigated the place value system past the decimal point to the tenths, hundredths and thousands and experimented with renaming these in multiple ways. And finally, to finish off the term, the students have been looking at the connection between multiplication and division, and learning how to solve addition problems using a range of different strategies with and without concrete materials for support.

It has been a busy term in grade 4 in the maths world. Well done to our Grade 4’s!

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)

In our recent Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) sessions, students explored key topics such as gratitude, screen time, stress, and emotional regulation. They learned what gratitude means and reflected on people and experiences they are thankful for. Students also discussed how excessive screen time can affect their emotions and bodies, and identified other activities that bring calm and joy. We explored what it means to feel stressed, recognised common stress triggers, and practised personal calming strategies. Students engaged in class discussions, shared their own experiences, and listened to others with empathy. They also explored how their online actions and screen use can affect not only their own wellbeing but also the feelings of others. These lessons helped students build greater self-awareness, emotional understanding, and respectful behaviour—both online and offline.

Inquiry

The students have been working extremely hard in the last few weeks, putting their learning into action. We have had a range of purposeful creations or actions in which the students have put forward to be implemented throughout the school. Some of these include; Bug Hotels (to save bugs which are important for our ecosystems), Planting (to provide clean air and habitat), Engaging educational posters about recycling and bin use, Educational Speeches to encourage less littering and much much more! 

Bug Hotels created by 4A students in inquiry.