Learning to Code

This term we have been learning to code basic animations and game programs using Scratch.

Our first project was called 'Rock Band' and it taught us how to add sound and music to our projects, as well as how to change the look of our sprite (a sprite is the code term for the characters/people in our projects). 

The second project that we worked on is called 'Lost in Space' and it taught us how to combine blocks of code to make a simple animation. 

Our most recent project has been, 'Ghostbusters' which taught us about making a sprite hide and reappear as well as turning our project into a game using a timer and counter.

We have been working incredibly hard on all of our projects and have really had to develop our problem solving skills. Take a look at some of the code that we have written.

What is something that you have learnt while coding?

Readers' Workshop

Carla's Sandwich

 

Carla’s classmates make fun of her sandwich choices because they were different or unique. When was a time someone made fun of you because you liked something different. 

How did this make you feel?

Orienteering

Over the last 4 weeks, Year 3/4 have been incredibly lucky to be able to participate in weekly Orienteering lessons, run by Anita from Orienteering ACT. The aim in orienteering is to navigate your way around a course with a series of numbered checkpoints. The course is marked on a map  with coloured symbols. We have been learning about compass points for direction, how to read maps and how to use specialist Orienteering equipment such as SI Sticks to record our accuracy and time around a mapped course.Take a look at some of the fantastic photos of our Orienteering experience.

What was something you learnt about Orinteering?

Geography - North, South, East, West

We started off this term with our new Geography Inquiry - North, South East, West. We have mapped how we get to school and included some of the natural and human-made features that we see along the way. We also played a whole class game of Battleships to begin learning about how to use coordinates. Click on the link below to play a game yourself.

http://www.primarygames.com/puzzles/strategy/battleship/

We are very excited to continue to work on our mapping skills on Thursday, when we get to map John Knight Park. 

What are some of the features that make a map easy to read and follow?

E.g. Coordinates or landmarks.

What's Happening in Term 4...

Geography 

North, South, East, West - The representation of Australia as states and territories, and Australia’s major natural and human features. 

•  A map is a visual-spatial representation of the world that reflects the views of the person drawing it.
•  Maps can help us to identify location, human and natural features, and the distance between places.
•  People’s feelings and perceptions about places influence views about the protection of these places.
•  A legend is an essential aspect to reading, interpreting and designing maps. 

Science 



The Among the Gumtrees unit provides opportunities for students to explore the fruit and flowers of eucalypts, identify how different living things interact with the trees, and plan and conduct an investigation of whether Eucalyptus oil inhabits the germination of plants beneath its canopy or the growth of microorganisms.


Maths

Year 3 

• Problem solving with money
• Working with angles
• Exploring a range of subtraction strategies
• Read, write and compare common fractions
• Exploring transformations
• Using the extending mental computation strategies 

Year 4 

• Problem solving using the four operations
• Exploring formal units of measure (capacity, mass, length)
• Interpreting graphs
• Read, write and compare common fractions, and explore the connection between fractions and decimals
• Review a range of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division strategies

English 

Reading 

Through our Readers' Workshops students will continue to work towards their personal goals (Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, Expanding Vocabulary) and make their thinking visible. 

Our mini lessons will focus on supporting students' comprehension:
-  navigating online texts
-  exploring the characters, problems and plots

Writing

Text Types – Writing to persuade (exposition), writing to entertain (narrative)

 

Mini Lesson Focus – Selecting words carefully (high modality words), complex sentences, adding detail, punctuation, generating ideas, organising ideas (graphic organisers), editing skills (pit stops)

Technologies (Design and Digital Technologies)

• Investigate food and fibre production and food technology used in modern and traditional societies.
• Coding - All Year 3/4 students will be participating in coding lessons this term. Learning to code strengthens problem solving skills and logical thinking, and supports key academic subjects such as science, maths and technology. Programming is an incredible skill that engages both our creative and our problem solving sides.

Upcoming Events

20 October - Geography excursion (John Knight Memorial Park)
Week 2 -5 - Orienteering Workshops
28 October - Japanese Fun Day
24-25 November - Camp Birrigai
30 November - End of Year Celebration
14 December - Moving Up Day

Keep an eye out on our blog for regular updates on what's happening in our classrooms.

The Rainbow Fish

What is the author's message?

Readers' Workshop - Week 10

I Need My Monster

In the story different monsters appear under the bed. 

Describe the monster that you would like to have under your bed.

E.g. My monster would have lots of fur to keep warm, strong arms to be able to move my bed and large bright eyes like a torch, so that she can light up the dark and we could make shadows.

Fresh and Free Food at Fraser

Throughout the term we have been investigating:

Today the Dumbledores and Gryffindors had a taste of a couple of homemade dips. 

Click on the links to a couple of recipes:

           

Please share some links to some Fresh and Free recipes.

Proofreading and Recrafting

During our writing sessions we have been focussing on our editing skills. We have developed a range of symbols to help us improve our writing. This week we have written Cinquain poems. We used our highlighters and pens to take a pit stop to proofread and recraft our writing. Check out some of our improvements:

Jellyfish

Jiggly, deadly

Pouncing, infecting, killing

Drifting through the glistening sea

Jellies

Tigers

Majestic, camouflaged

Hunting, prowling, chuffing

Viciously stalking its prey

Cat

Harry 

Talented, Wizard

Flying, adventuring, duelling

Battling the evil Voldemort

Potter

Coconut

Rough, hazel

Hanging, falling, dropping

Slowly gushing tropical liquid

Milk

What are some of the types of proofreading and recrafting you can see above? e.g. highlighting capital letters

Readers' Workshop - Week 8

Library Lion

The title of the book uses alliteration. 

Can you write an alliterative sentence that makes sense?

e.g. Quiet Kylie cleverly cuts capsicums into quarters. 

Technology- Makey Makey

Today, some of our students were lucky enough to do some investigating and testing with our new Makey Makey. A Makey Makey is a circuit board which allows students to turn everyday objects into touchpads and combine them with the internet. We created a control pad, by drawing it on paper using a pencil and connecting it to the Makey Makey board to control an online piano! The possibilities are as endless as our imaginations!!

A Makey Makey board works by connecting alligator clips between objects and the Makey Makey board. Today it was the graphite from our pencil. 

When you touch the graphite control pad, you make a connection, and Makey Makey sends the computer a keyboard message. The computer just thinks Makey Makey is a regular keyboard (or mouse). Therefore it works with all programs and webpages, because all programs and webpages take keyboard and mouse input. 

Make + Key = Makey Makey! 

What objects/items do you think we could try as conductors to control the
 piano next? (We were thinking bananas!)

Inquiry - Beneath Our Feet

We have begun our new Science Inquiry called 'Beneath Our Feet'. During our Inquiry students will have opportunities to explore how natural processes and human activity shape their surroundings. Today, we investigated what we know and what we would like to learn about soils, rocks and landscapes and how they change over time. 

What questions do you have about soil or rocks?

Reread and Sketch with More Detail

Last week during Readers' Workshop sessions we were learning about a new reading strategy called Reread and Sketch with More Detail. We used nonfiction texts and sketched a picture based on the information we remembered. Then we would reread the text and try to add more detail to our pictures using a different colour, based on the detail we read and remembered from the text. We repeated this until we thought we had all of the important information represented in our drawings. Take a look at some of our incredible thinking.

What interesting facts about volcanoes could you add to our boards?

ROCK & SOIL SAMPLES ARE DUE!!!!

If you haven't brought in your rock and soil samples, this is just a friendly reminder to have them in by this Monday, the 5th September!

See the below sheet for further details.

Readers' Workshop Week 6 (In class only)

Sebastian's Roller Skates

Sebastian didn’t talk very much, even though he had a lot to say. Sebastian was shy. He was very shy. 

Can you make a suggestion for someone who is shy to help them say what they want to say?

Grandfriends' Morning

Don't forget we have our special Grandfriends' Morning this coming Monday. We are looking forward to sharing all of our incredible learning with you, we hope that you all enjoy the exciting activities we have planned to share with you.

Help your Grandfriend to tell us about their favourite activity, something they have learnt or something they enjoyed seeing during our Grandfriends' Morning, by leaving a comment below.

FRESH AND FREE MONDAY

Fresh and Free Mondays are about reducing the amount of packaging in children’s lunchboxes  and increasing the number of fresh, healthy and homemade items. Every Monday we hope to see lunchboxes that are ‘fresh’ and ‘free’ (of packaging).

Can you give some suggestions for a fresh and free lunch box?

Student Led Conferences

The 3/4 team and their students would love you to share their learning progress and achievements during the Student Led Conferences.

The Student Led Conference will ‘look and feel like’ a Learning Journey, however, there will be a few small differences which we hope will make a big difference to the information you receive about your child’s learning.

Unlike in past years, all families will not attend at the same time. This should allow greater access to learning areas within the classroom.

During the Student Led Conference, students will lead parent/carers through several aspects of their learning in the classroom environment. You will have the opportunity to view items that students have chosen to share with you, particularly in English, Mathematics and Inquiry Learning (Science, Humanities and Social Sciences) and share their learning goals in these areas. Performing Arts, Japanese and Visual Arts will also feature in the conferences, along with their portfolios. 

Teachers will pop into each of the Student Led Conferences and you will have an opportunity to talk to them during this time.

Times available:

Monday 29 August - 3.15 pm

Tuesday 30 August - 4.00 pm, 5.15 pm and 6.00 pm

Wednesday 31 August - 8.15 am and 3.15 pm

Please book a time to attend your child/ren’s Student Led Conference by logging onto to:

www.parentteacheronline.com.au 

More information will be sent home on Monday 22 August regarding booking for the conferences. We know that the Student Led Conference will be a fabulous opportunity to see your child’s learning goals and progress.

Hogwarts Olympic Events

This afternoon our Hogwarts Olympics continued with three more events testing our manners, keen eye sight, stamina and patience. We competed in the team event of an Olympic find-a-word and we all entered into the individual event of the Last Lifesaver Standing. Congratulations to all of our medal winning teams!

What was your favourite event at the Rio Olympics and why?