Yr4 Weekly Update – 12/09/16
General
Our unit on Sharing the Planet is well under way now and students are demonstrating their understanding of adaptation and competition. This is very popular topic with the students and many of them bring a high level of personal knowledge. They are engaged and motivated in their learning and the opportunities for personal choice and real experiences are making this a very successful unit.
Dance lessons have continued with Mrs Tucker and the students are really getting creative with their movements to music.
We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to the cinema to see Trolls on Friday and all came back with big smiles on our faces!
Maths
We have continued challenging students with their thinking around multiplication, this week making the connections with division and ‘times as many”. The open ended questions allow for a wide range of students to find challenge and engagement. We will be working as a team next term to plan learning around fractions in the same ways.
Literacy
The students have enjoyed doing some personal research into an organism that they have chosen. Students used their reading strategies to determine importance when looking through books and online resources. They have used their Big Universe accounts to choose books appropriate both in content and reading level for their own research.
They have also practiced their academic honesty through noticing and recording the sources of information. This will continue after the holidays as they choose information to include in a non-chronological report.
Home Learning
The children have worked hard over a long term and all enjoy a well earned break. There are some fantastic opportunities to get out and about in Hong Kong, especially in this cooler weather. Exploring natural habitats is only a short ride away and children can follow their passion for ‘real’ inquiry with a walk through a country park or a visit to the beach. Keeping a journal is a great way to reflect on these experiences and children have learned observational drawing skills that they will be keen to show you.
I can also highly recommend checking out the new BBC series Planet Earth II. Incredible photography and a great way to share learning as a family about the natural world.
Let us take this opportunity to wish all our Year 4 families the very best for the holidays and we look forward to hearing all about them in the new year.
