Year 4 Term 4 Letter, 2018 Print version
Dear Year Four students, parents and carers.
Welcome back to Term Four! We have certainly hit the ground running and with a pace that will most likely continue until the end of this term [See Term Overview below]. But, what an exciting school term it’s going to be as our school year draws to an end, just as the Advent season begins. In the interim, here are a few notes to begin the term…
Homework:
Homework can be downloaded from the Year 4 Blog this term in an effort to be more sustainable with the use of paper. A tab for ‘Homework’ has been included on the top right section of the home page. Homework instructions are included on the homework sheet itself. If you have any problems accessing this then please let me know via the below listed email and I will endeavour to forward you an e-copy.
Term 4 Overview: Teaching & Learning
Maths:
Students will develop measurement, spatial and geometric thinking when they interpret information contained in maps. This will be integrated with and applied to our study of early European explorers during HaSS. Students will also develop mathematical thinking as they continue number sequences involving multiples of single digit numbers; describe number patterns resulting from multiplication and; identify and explain strategies for finding unknown quantities in number sentences. Students will develop thinking with Data and Probability when they list the probabilities of everyday events; describe different methods for data collection and representation, and evaluate their effectiveness; identify dependent and independent events and; construct data displays form given or collected data.
English, History & Social Science [HaSS]:
Students will be expanding their world knowledge as they integrate their learning in History, Geography, and English. Specifically, students will investigate the significance of James Cook’s voyage to Australia and consider how Aboriginals lived off the land (sustainability) before contact with the British. Through a study of early exploration (sources), students will come to develop understandings about contact between societies (continuity and change, cause and effect) and its effects on people and their environments (perspectives, empathy). In doing so, students’ will also expand their mental map and knowledge of world to include Africa and South America. They will present and express their ideas, findings and conclusions using a variety of spoken, written and multi-modal forms of communication.
Science & Technology:
Students will be building on concepts, skills and processes developed in the first semester in the area of coding. They will apply these in a practical way as they learn how to code our new robots. Using colour codes, they will create a set of commands for the ‘Ozobots’ to follow as they solve problems. On iPads, they will use block coding to navigate ‘Dot’ and ‘Dash’ (two of our other new robots) in a series of sequential steps. They will relate this practical application of coding to real world situations.
Religion:
Students will further develop their understanding of community through an exploration of the Decalogue [Ten Commandments], and through an exploration of the experiences of early Australian church communities, from 1788 to 1850. They will broaden their understanding of the significance of the Sacraments for Church communities through an exploration of the Sacraments of Healing [Anointing of the Sick and Penance]. They will also examine prayers of blessing to facilitate an appreciation of the significance of these forms of prayer for Christian communities.
Health & P.E:
Students will continue to be provided with opportunities to develop through movement, personal and social skills such as leadership, communication, collaboration, problem-solving, persistence and decision-making. In Health students will be looking at their own heritage to identify some of the games [and rules] their parents and/or grandparents use to play. We will be sharing and playing some of these games during weeks 8 and 9. In P.E students will be specifically testing alternative responses to movement challenges and predicting the success or effectiveness of each. They will also be posing questions to others as a strategy for solving movement challenges in Modified Hockey.
Music and Japanese:
Students will continue participating in weekly Japanese lessons. They will also be participating in weekly, specialist Music lessons this term, during which they will be learning to structure movements into dance sequences using the elements of dance (space – levels, time – speed and in sync and relationship – performing with others) and choreographic devices (sequence, repetition, transition and contrast) to represent a story. As a class the students will perform a routine using these dance sequences in the school musical in week 8.
Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns.
Kindest regards,
Jenny Green
Year 4 Classroom Teacher [Monday to Thursday]
E: jennifer.green@bne.catholic.edu.au
Terrence Madden
Year 4 Classroom Teacher [Fridays]
E: tmadden@bne.catholic.edu.au