Yr4 Curriculum Update – 17/01/20

Working together to achieve success for every child

Where We Are in Place and Time

Central idea:

Learning about past civilisations helps us understand the present.

Lines of inquiry:

• Characteristics of civilizations and societies (form)
• How characteristics of civilizations have changed over time (change)
• Connections between past and present (connection)

We have had a very busy first two weeks back at school – starting a new unit and reflecting on the first half of being in Year 4! We can’t believe that we are halfway through the academic year already! Time flies when you’re having fun!

We started the term reflecting on what was going well in our learning and what our next steps will be. The students are looking forward to you reading their student reflections as part of their mid year reports that will be going live in a few weeks. The students enjoyed looking through their books to see evidence of learning like achieving their writing targets and discussing what they feel their next steps are. This is an example of how using student AGENCY gives the students a voice in their learning.

A focus for our writing this term is to use ‘Voice’ and ‘Sentence Fluency” from the 6 traits of writing. We have been inquiring into what makes a sentence a sentence and all the parts that make up a sentence. We have been focusing on how to up-level a simple sentence and make it more informative and descriptive by including openers, adjectives, adverbs and connections for example:

• The cat slept.’​
• The lazy cat slept soundly.​
• The black cat slept soundly through the thunderstorm.​
• Anxiously, the black Persian cat slept lightly that night, anticipating the return of the dog

 

Maths

In the first two weeks we have been revising our understanding of the concept of division and using our visualising Mindset targets to help us explain our thinking. “My mindset target is to visualise by drawing because it helps me understand the problem more” Hitomi 4M.

We have also started a unit on Shape and Space.

Central idea:

Geometric shapes and vocabulary are useful to describe objects and events in real-world situations.

Lines of inquiry:

• Visualization helps us to identify shapes and their properties (FORM)
• Common language to describe shapes and their properties (FORM)
• Rotation and reflection of shapes (PERSPECTIVE)

The students have been sorting and categorising 2D shapes and explaining the properties that the different shapes have.

 

Well being

We have been continuing our Morning Movement sessions. The KJS loop has been popular now that the weather is cooler!

 

KJS Community and Upcoming Events

The KJS Disco is this week. The theme is the World of Disney. Tickets can be bought from the KJS PTA for $80 per person. This includes popcorn! Hopefully we’ll see you on the dance floor!

 

Chinese Book Fair

 

Holiday task for next UOI

After the chinese new year holiday we will be starting our How We Express Ourselves unit of inquiry. Our Central idea is:

Beliefs, values and passions can be communicated in a variety of ways. 

Please have a conversation with your child and ask them to bring to school an object that shows either their beliefs, values or passions? All objects will be looked after. They will be used as the inspiration to creating a piece of art.

 

Reminders

• Please help us in making sure students are given the opportunity to read everyday, either on their own or with someone at home
• Due to severe nut allergies in Y4, please do not send any food with any type of nut. Thank you for helping keep all of our students safe!
• Students are reminded to only use the central staircase in the morning and to wait until 8:15 before coming upstairs to ensure there is supervision in all the classrooms
• Students also need to bring a reusable water bottle every day, labeled clearly with their name

 

Important Dates (From KJS website)

Friday 17 January                                     Chinese New Year Celebration assembly

Wed 22nd January                                      Y4  Sports Day  Perth St Sports Ground.- wear PE kit.

Thurs 23rd January                                     FULL DAY – Chinese New Year holiday starts

The students were given the opportunity to browse and purchase some Chinese books yesterday. It was lovely to see the range of texts available to the students.