Yr 3/4

In Maths, I taught the students a new Maths game, 'Word Football Maths Game,' which also involves spelling and learning how to use a dictionary.

In the game, the students are given the beginning of a word such as ‘pr’ or ‘th’ and in teams, they need to come up with as many words as they can using these beginnings. For each letter the word has they get 1 point (minus the starting letters that were given to them).

The word must be spelled correctly and must be a word in the dictionary so they have an opportunity to come to the front of the classroom and look in the dictionary to make sure they have a real word and that the word is spelt correctly.

The maths comes into it when they add up all their points to get their total score. Then, since it is called Word Football, they need to work out how many goals they scored. For every 6 points they get, they get 1 goal. The students need to figure out how many goals and points they have by using their maths knowledge. The kids had a great time! 

During Term 4, the Year 3/4 students have been learning about poetry. They have been discovering poetic devices such as alliteration, similes, metaphors, personification, and onomatopoeia. The children have been using these tools to create amazing poems such as odes, limericks and haikus. 

The 3/4 students practise their handwriting on a weekly basis. The Year 4s have been learning cursive writing and the Year 3s have been getting better at joining their letters in a more simplified way.

They are getting excited because they will be able to go for their pen licence next year, as long as they can prove themselves. Each student has their own handwriting book which they use to trace over letters and words then they face the real challenge of writing them freely.

We love Brain Breaks in the Year 3/4 classroom and we have a range we cycle through. Any Brain Break that involves getting up and moving around is always a favourite. Brain Breaks are a great way to reset after a lesson. The kids can take a break for 5 - 10 minutes to help them focus once we start the next lesson.

One we did recently was a Disney Guess the Voice game. The children heard a voice of a Disney character and they needed to guess who it was from four options. Once they had decided which character they thought it was, they were given a movement they had to do. This ranged from running on the spot, a dance move or a stretch.

Every morning when the children come into the classroom, we spend the first 10 minutes of the day reading silently. The children have an opportunity to borrow books from the library or bring their own books in from home. This is a good opportunity for the students to practise their reading skills as well as hopefully gain a love of and for reading. 

Without Maths in the world, things would look very different. In a recent Maths lesson, the kids had to think about where we see Maths in the world and what would happen if Maths didn't exist. We brainstormed ideas on where we see Maths. Afterwards, they were given an activity that showed a room where all the Maths was taken out. They had to circle or colour all the things that were wrong with that room.

Next, the students had to draw a room around their house with all the Maths removed. They had a great time and it gave them an opportunity to be creative.

During Term 4, the Year 3/4 students were lucky enough to go to Alexandra for camp. It took about 2 hours to get there on the bus but when we finally arrived, we were greeted by the friendly staff. There were so many activities to do over the 3 days we were there.

We did the Giant Swing, Flying Fox, Rock Climbing, Crate Stacking, Swimming, Raft Building, Gaga Ball, Low Ropes, Frisbee Golf, Archery and a Wildlife Show.

The camp provided meals which were delicious. We got things such as chicken schnitzel, hot dogs, pasta, ice cream and mousse.

On the way home, we stopped for lunch at a park but unfortunately it was pouring with rain so that put a wrinkle in our plans. 

By the time we got back, we were exhausted, but it was an amazing 3 days.

The Year 3/4 students have been learning about procedures. Recently, the students followed a procedure to make their own stress balls. The children needed to write up the procedure in their books and then follow the instructions to create a stress ball from a balloon. They poured rice into the balloon using a funnel. Then, some of them drew faces on their stress balls and gave them a name.

During Term 4, the Year 3/4 classroom has had a very special visitor, Livinia Mason who is a pre-service teacher from the Australian Catholic University. She is in her third year, completing her Bachelor of Primary Education. 

In the 4 weeks Miss Mason was with us, she went to camp, took small groups and even had full control of the classroom. She planned a Maths unit on angles with fun and engaging activities. It was a very special experience having Miss Mason with us and we are going to miss her a lot. We wish her all the best for her final year of university.

The Year 3/4 students have been working on procedures during Term 4. They learned that procedures are a type of writing genre that tells us how to do something. To practise their procedures, they made lemonade scones and a substance called Oobleck. They also wrote a procedure on their favourite game: Dodgeball!

They learned that it is important have the steps in the correct order and be clear and precise. They also focused on adding verbs and adverbs.

In Inquiry, the students have been working on making a stop motion animation. It has been so much fun seeing the ideas the students come up with. I was impressed with the amount of work that went into these short animations. It can be quite hard making a stop motion animation due to the amount of photos it takes to make one. One group had over 700 photos!

Kind regards

Mr Tom Brophy

Year 3/4 Classroom Teacher