Year 4 News
English
Reading
During term two the grade four students will be focusing on summarising their texts. This unit will require students to understand and summarise fictional stories including the key events and details and sequencing in a logical order when reading non-fiction. They will be learning the skills and importance of paraphrasing an author’s words while maintaining the author’s view of the text. During the summarising unit students while also be building the skills in determining important information, inferring, and identifying and understanding text structures and features of both fiction and non-fiction genres using textual evidence to support their thinking.
Writing
Term two will see the students continue to build their skills in the craft of writing with a key focus on Persuasive writing. They will learn the correct textual structure and the persuasive language techniques and devices within a persuasive text to engage and persuade the reader. This will include features such as repetition, emotive language, adjectives, and verbs. They will be identifying how to hook their reader through well-constructed introductions and use evidence to support their views or opinions through facts and statistics that reflect on universal issues.
Mathematics
We will start the term by focusing on angles where students will be creating a measuring tool to compare angles that are greater than, smaller than, or similar to a right angle. We will then move into our main focus of addition and subtraction where students will be learning to identify unknown quantities in number sentences and using strategies to solve addition and subtraction problems of up to four digits. They will learn how to describe these strategies while developing a preferred method to solve addition and subtraction using a place value method e.g., jump strategy (number line), vertical method, mental strategies. Students will then finish off the term with patterns and algebra where they will review and extend their understanding of skip counting, growing patterns and looking at odd and even number patterns.
Science
It is great to see all the Grade 4 students back for an exciting term 2 in STEM. This term, students will be investigating Earth and Space. Students will investigate different rock types and how they are formed and conduct experiments to discover the characteristics of each type. Additionally, students will explore how the landscapes on our planet change as a result of human actions and natural causes. Students will also be exploring the engineering design process by planning, designing, and building small arcade games. This hands-on activity helps to develop critical thinking and analytical skills in a fun and engaging way.
LOTE - Chinese
I would like to welcome back the Grade 4 students to Chinese for this term. In term 2, we will review what Grade 4 students have learnt from last term which are Chinese New Year, Lantern Festival, fruits and vegetables. After this, we will compare and contrast the difference between Easter and the Qingming festival. We will also be covering the topics, such as Dates, Days of the week and months. At the end of the term, we will focus on introducing the Dragon Boat Festival.
Art
Term 2 will be about colour theory and it will be a messy term in the art room! We have started the term using warm and cool colours, and students will be printmaking using leaves as stencils, taking into consideration the current season and tones of ‘Autumn’. Warm and cool colours play a vital part when designing, and particularly when painting to create a sense of mood in the artworks. The 3-4’s will be learning to use the colour wheel, identifying where colours sit together in order and colour opposites.
It will be fun to start working with paint this term and to replicate some of the great artists work, such as Vincent Van Gogh and his sunflowers and Keith Haring’s ‘Subway art’. The students will work with mediums; such as acrylic, watercolours, glue and chalk and will learn new techniques.
I look forward to more fun in the art room this Term with the grade 3 and 4 students.
P.E.
For term 2 the grade 4 students will focus on the sport of basketball and being able to apply the skills required in basketball in a games-based approach. Students will be engaged in small-sided games of 3 v 3 basketball and be asked to apply the skills of bouncing a ball, throwing, catching, and shooting to play the game of basketball. Students will use their prior learning and aim to apply this to the sport. Students will have ample opportunity to play the game and learn as they play. By the end of the unit on basketball, students will have had the opportunity to show their ability to bounce, pass, and shoot a basketball and be able to play the game in a 3 v 3 setting. The grade 4 students will also continue to work on the fundamental skill of running as it applies to athletics. Students will learn correct running form, conduct a relay running race and partake in a hurdles athletic event. Students will also be introduced to shot-put and discus throwing events that take place during athletics carnivals. These skills will be built on through the different year levels as more depth will be added as the students’ progress through their learning in PE. This term will be filled with lots of learning and I look forward to continuing PE with the grade 4 students!