Prep | Year 4 News
Maths
In Maths the boys have been inquiring into ‘Fractions and Decimals’. In particular their relationship with each other and also being able to compare and contrast them. Understanding fractions of a collection was key. This also helped the students with the next unit on using money. There were many conversations about budgeting and how you can round up or round down when using cash. Some of the boys even wanted to know about income tax. This is something that they do get exposed to next year so if you want to talk to them about how this works in your family, the ‘interest’ is there. Next term we will begin looking at other units including time, and 2D and 3D space.
English
Over the last few weeks, the boys have completed persuasive texts and also begun looking at information reports. Understanding how these are structured to make information easy to understand and gather is an important part of this. This term we have also had a major focus on understanding the main idea of a text and its supporting details. This is something that across the grade the boys needed some help on. We are all looking forward to next term when we will begin looking at poetry.
UOI
In our units of inquiry, we have been looking at the transdisciplinary theme of ‘Sharing the Planet’. You may have heard them talking about responsible consumption. We looked in depth at the global goals for sustainable development and what action we can take as individuals that might still make a difference. This, along with the ‘Nude Food’ day, has sparked a lot of interest in environmental causes. The boys loved hearing about other children around the world who had an impact in their communities. As we are about to embark on Camp for the first time in years, we are looking forward to seeing the growth the boys can make in their personal development. Trying new things on this camp will be a highlight.
Music
In music, the boys performed a medley of Hamilton Highlights so confidently at the Primary Arts Festival in week 6. They then explored the idea of ‘Foley Artists’ in their Stand Alone: Musica Viva Unit. They worked on their writing skills and comprehension by defining the concept of what a Foley Artist is and what they do in their own words. The students became Foley Artists to the silent film track from Timmy and the Breakfast band, in which they had to choose appropriate instruments to match the actions to what was happening in the scene. The boys did this very successfully and loved how they got to be in control of how the scene sounded. Then, the boys were in small groups, and each created a storyboard which consisted of 6 different scenes/ actions. They had to plan what appropriate percussion instruments they needed to use to represent this. Then, the boys had to film and present their group ideas on the iPad program clips, where they could use different titles, headings, speech bubbles, effects and filming to create an engaging story with Foley Artist sound effects. The incorporation of the iPad into the classroom has been a focus this term and for future lessons, as they can use these apps over multiple disciplines and effectively present ideas.
