Grade 4

Literacy - Novel Study: Kensuke’s Kingdom

We have continued reading Kensuke’s Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo. As we explore the story, we are learning about what life might be like living on a boat — including the challenges, routines, and problem solving needed when travelling at sea. We have discussed the pros and cons of remote island life, and have begun to unpack the issue of deforestation, the reasons for it and its impacts on our planet.

Our writing lessons are closely linked to our novel study. Students are working on a persuasive piece where they choose to argue for or against the statement ‘We must stop deforestation’. To help them build strong reasons, we have connected our writing to our Humanities learning. Students are researching real information about why deforestation occurs, how it happens and how it impacts our planet and our life on it. 

Numeracy 

In Numeracy, we have continued building our confidence with addition and subtraction strategies. Students are learning how to use the vertical addition algorithm, both with and without regrouping, to solve problems accurately. We have also been practising the compensation strategy, which helps students adjust numbers to make calculations easier when adding or subtracting. We have begun to explore fractions of a shape and fractions of collections, placing fractions on number lines and adding like fractions.

Melbourne Football Club Q&A

We were thrilled to host four players from the Melbourne Football Club. They spoke about their lives as professional football players and then answered our questions regarding life in the AFL.