Learning News 3/4

Years 3/4

Modelled reading  

This term, our class has been captivated by the powerful story of Wonder by R.J. Palacio. We've been using this novel for modelled reading, where we explore the book together as a class. This has been a fantastic way to develop our comprehension skills using the Super Six strategies. We've been making connections to our own lives and other books we've read, creating visualizations of the characters and scenes, and asking questions to help us understand the plot. We're also learning to infer what characters are thinking and feeling, and summarize key events. The final strategy is monitoring, where we check if we understand what we're reading and re-read if needed. This has been a fantastic way to discuss the tricky themes of empathy and kindness, and we can't wait to see what happens next!

Writing

We have been buzzing with excitement as we've explored the fascinating world of bees and their incredible honey-making process. We've been working on our own explanation texts, learning how to use technical language like "nectar," "pollination," and "hive" to make our writing more accurate and interesting. We've also focused on using sequencing words and phrases such as "first," "next," and "after that" to make sure our paragraphs are in the correct order. The final step was to add descriptive detail to our sentences, turning simple explanations into clear and detailed guides.

PDH  (Personal Development Health)

In PDH, our students have been learning about the importance of respectful relationships. We've focused on developing our social skills at school, understanding how we can all contribute to a safe and inclusive environment. A key part of our learning has been exploring the role of an upstander—someone who stands up for others when they see bullying happen. To practice these vital skills, we took part in a series of role-playing scenarios. Students acted out different situations involving bullying and used the four key upstander strategies we've learned: to be a friend, interfere, speak up, and tell someone.