Middle School News

Important Reminders

• Book Week is coming up in Week 7. We are having a dress up day to celebrate this on Friday 25th August so get creative! 
• Grade 4 camp - 18th-20th October. More information to come soon. 

Learning in Action

Literacy: 

Grade 3: 

This fortnight, as part of our reading program, students analysed, discussed and shared their ideas about fiction and non-fiction texts in Literature Circles. They enjoyed learning the new roles of Summariser and Word Wizard. This enabled them to practise finding the keywords and identifying the main idea or message that the author was sharing through the use of descriptive words.

As we are concluding our poetry unit, we have enjoyed reading and writing different forms of poetry. This fortnight we have focused on Haiku and Diamante poems and have made Anthology books with all our published poems. 

Grade 4: The students are continuing with their poetry study. This fortnight they have looked at the structure of cinquain poems, and written their own by adhering to the strict number of nouns, adjectives and verbs required to abide by the correct format. 

e.g.

Art                                                                      Poisonous snakes

Fun, messy,                                                     Venonous, deadly,

Drawing, sculpting, painting,                     Biting, suffocating, killing,

Have fun being creative,                              Don't try to tame a wild one,

Making                                                              Reptiles

                            by Olivia                                                              by Levon

This week the students read free verse poetry and made comparisons regarding themes, word choices, and the imagery they incited. They then wrote their own free verse poetry, and although doesn't adhere to strict rules, the students were encouraged to include similes to ignite the reader's imagination, and to emphasise the theme. 

Preview: 

Grade 3: Students will read biographies of significant Indigenous people and practise using the past tense. They will be introduced to the biography writing format. 

Grade 4: The students will continue reading and writing poetry. Next week they will be focusing on rhyming poems. The attention will not only be on creating rhyme at the end of the line, but also on maintaining a syllable balance so that it can be read with prosody.    

Maths: 

Grade 3:  

The Year 3s have continued with their study of strategies to add to their toolbox when solving multiplication strategies. They have used subitising cards to match equations to pictures and used the split strategy and doubling to solve unknown multiplication tables i.e. 4x9=2x9+2x9. Our focus on multiplication is gradually coming to an end but not before the students will revise all the strategies taught – Tables, Split, Using what we know to solve what we don’t know and Doubling. The learning of the 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x and 10x tables is imperative for the development of number fluency and will assist learning in the years to come. The students have also continued work on Problem Solving  strategies by breaking larger problems down to smaller ones. They have also explored data tables looking at the data, identifying the rule and making predictions. The Year 3s have continued to reinforce their ability to tell the time to the minute using analogue and digital clocks. 

Grade 4: The students have now completed their unit on multiplication.  They have explored doubling and halving to make the numbers more manageable.

e.g.

The students have also revised previous different strategies to enable them to be more efficient with their calculations. 

The Grade 4 students have continued to work on their Maths Investigation of creating their own symmetrical shape. Thus far they have created their shape, identified smaller shapes within their creation, and identified lines of symmetry. The students have even named their shapes. 

Preview: 

Grade 3: The Year will commence their study of division looking at the sharing aspect and using skip counting and number lines to repeatedly count backwards. 

Grade 4:  Next week the Grade 4s will be starting their study on division. They will explore the two different types of division: sharing and quotition. 

A simple example is 8 ÷ 2 = 4 

This could be solved as:

8 shared between 2   

or

8 grouped into bundles of 2 (or 8 how many 2s) 

The two different methods will be explored through worded problems, and students will be encouraged to articulate what the questions are asking, and how the problems need to be solved. 

Next week the students will complete their Maths Investigation by measuring the area of their shape and comparing it to others. 

Wellbeing

The focus for Friendology has been learning about the Friend O Cycle and Friendship Fires. 

 Students have continued identifying what makes a good friend and the ups and downs of friendships and relationships. With Friendship Fires, they learnt the step-by-step process of conflict resolution.  They have been discussing common, low-level friendship issues like hurt feelings, misunderstandings, and disagreements and compared the difference between a positive and negative reactions, practising how to respond appropriately.  

Inquiry: 

Grade 3: Over the last two weeks the Year 3s have viewed film clips and taken notes to summarise indigenous agricultural practices. They have also studied indigenous technology which shaped the tools they needed for day-to-day living. The students will record these tools in a poster and explain their use.

Grade 4:  The students have looked at early explorers; where they are from, what they found, and their motives for setting out in the first place. They have also investigated the lives of some of the early settlers, and discussed reasons for different behaviours. 

The excursion on Monday related beautifully to the Inquiry unit. The students saw various historically significant monuments around the city, and even noticed the fish fossils in the cobblestones at Federation Square. The exploration of Polly Woodside was an interactive experience whereby the students learnt about the life of a sailor on a tall ship, which would have been similar to the people on the First Fleet. 

The students were very interested to learn that this particular working ship was bought for one cent!!!

Preview: 

Grade 3:  Looking at Indigenous Connection to Country and Culture. Reviewing the significance and importance of Welcome to Country. 

Grade 4:  The students will study the First Fleet, and the early life of European settlers in Australia. 

Using similies to describe our Mums -3W

My Mum is like a butterfly who shows her true colours.

My Mum is like a sloth and takes things nice and slow.

My Mum is like fairy floss- nice and sweet.  

My Mum is like a diamond in the sky and shines.

My Mum is like a superhero-strong and kind.

My Mum is like a monkey and is very funny. 

My Mum is like wind and water and goes with the flow.

My Mum is like Skittles sweet and bright.

My Mum is like a hand warmer on a frosty day.

My Mum is like a pillow and makes me comfortable.

My Mum is like a blanket with soft hugs. 

My Mum is like a bear who hibernates. 

My Mum is like a happy puppy who loves people. 

My Mum is like a teddy bear- cuddly. 

My Mum is like a bear who is strong.

My Mum is like a crystal that shines bright. 

My Mum is like sprinkles on chocolate cake- lots of colour and expression.  

Pyjama Day

Last Tuesday, you could have been forgiven to think that the whole of Lysterfield Primary School had seriously muddled up the time of the day. Staff and students were a sea of pyjamas, Ugg boots, fluffy slippers, dressing gowns and oversized fleece hoodies. It was Pyjama Day and all gold coin donations went to the State Schools Relief.