Sunday, 16 October 2016

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.



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.