Grade 4 News

Important Reminders/Dates 

• Hats - As per our school's SunSmart policy, all students are required to wear hats till the end of April 2024.
• Anaphylaxis awareness - a student in the cohort is allergic to all nuts, dairy and seafood. We ask that you be aware of what is being sent in the students lunchboxes, and remind the students not to share food at school.
• Homework - Today your child will bring home their homework book. Inside you will find logins, year level expectations and helpful questions to ask when reading. Below are the expectations for Grade 4 students.

Learning In Action

Literacy

During Literacy over the last fortnight, Grade 4 students have begun their novel study on the text Kensuke’s Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo. Students have practised summarising pages, analysing different characters, and inferring clues from the text in order to improve their comprehension. Using the ‘Narrative Hill’ students have looked into how narratives are structured, focussing on the orientation, character motives and the build up of events. We are looking forward to applying this to our writing!

In our Word Work sessions students have focused on the learning goal of reading and spelling words with a Silent Final e. It has been fantastic to see their understanding of this develop over the past fortnight, with many students now able to identify words where the ‘e’ at the end of the word is making the vowel ‘say its name’ (long vowel sound).

Finally we have developed on our prior knowledge of verbs by beginning to categorise verbs as either action, state or occurrence. 

Preview: Through our novel study we will continue to explore the narrative hill, whilst honing into the character traits of our secondary characters. In our grammar work students will revise the structure of a sentence, using subjects, verbs and adverbial wheres, whilst focusing on multisyllabic words in Word Work.

Mathematics

During Maths this fortnight we began our whole number unit and goal work. As a class, we looked at numbers that are odd and even, discussing that a number is even when it can be equally divided into two groups. We also looked at making and representing 4 digit numbers in different ways, including MAB, expanded form and on a number line. Students then worked on individual goals, practising whole number skills at their own point of need.

Students also continued with our measurement topic by exploring real life examples of when we use measurement in our day to day lives. We discussed which forms of measurement would be most efficient e.g. We wouldn’t measure the distance from the school to 7/11 in millimetres! Students began their Length Investigation by listening to the story of Jack and the Beanstalk and then attempting to create the correct length clothing and boots for him based on his height of 1m. Students really enjoyed this hands-on challenge and collaborated well with their partners.

Preview: We will continue our whole number unit, working on reading, comparing and ordering numbers as a class. Students will also begin making comparisons in our measurement unit.

To find out more about what will be covered in Grade 4 Maths, click here.

Inquiry

In Inquiry this fortnight, students began their Term 1 topic of Rules and Laws. They have begun by discussing the difference between rules and laws. Students provided some great insights into what makes rules and laws, and were able to provide some examples of known rules and laws at home, school, sports clubs etc.

To explore the topic further, students have also looked into how laws have changed over time, questioning why they may need to change. 

For instance: “Well in the olden days they didn’t have the internet so they didn’t need the online safety act” - Justin 4D

Preview: Students will begin looking at the importance of laws, and what will happen if we did not have them.

Wellbeing

Over the last fortnight, we have looked at and revised what it means to have the ‘Inner Ninja’ in us. This is to ensure we are being respectful and compassionate towards ourselves. Showing ourselves ways in which we can be our own BFF. We discussed things we can and can’t control when it comes to talking to a friend about a friendship fire, e.g. We can control what we say and how we say it. We can’t control what they will say or how they will respond. We also discussed the different ways we can make a new friend, introduce ourselves, and have a conversation that ‘plants a seed for a new friendship to grow’. The Year 4s are having some impressive discussions where they are being so open and honest about their experiences. What superstars!

Preview: Students will delve deeper into our four Friendship Facts and the Friend-o-meter!