Our explorer ships look great on display! As a class we read through an informational text on the reasons for European exploration. Students highlighted key facts under the headings God, Glory and Gold, then later transferred this information to a tree graph. They then created these explorer ships and filled each sail under a different heading. Our research confirmed that the predominant reason for exploration was Gold! 

We have now moved on to researching significant European explorers in groups. 

This is an entertaining audio version of The Twits. Students will start writing their new chapter next week so this may be a good refresher.



Hint: You can save this to your computer (and then mp3 player / iPad) by using www.keepvid.com and posting the link from YouTube. Once you've pressed Download, select the largest Mp4 format :)

Swimming is well underway and payment is due tomorrow. If there are any issues with paying on time, just contact the school and they can help you sort it :)

Estimating length

Gosh we had fun today in math! Students learnt about using personal referents to estimate length. For example,  the width of a pinky finger is about 1cm; one very large step is about 1m.

4A had to find arrows that were 'hiding' around the room and record their estimate. After the rotations we measured the arrows using a ruler and discussed the difference between our estimates. This led into why formal units of measure are important. 

Parade

Our students did an amazing job of presenting today. Special mention to Josie, our journalist in the making!

Hoping there will be more opportunities for other class members to present on stage. 

Some 4A students will be presenting talks on pride tomorrow on assembly. We would love to see you there!

Don't forget formal school uniform. 

Parent teacher night is next Wednesday 17th February. It will commence at 5:00pm in the hall. See you then!

 

Don't forget your daily reading 4A.

 

Remember: Your Reading Eggspress logins work at home too!

Our Twitter feed is constantly being updated in our classroom. After a lesson today, it was good to hear some students asking 'Can I tweet about that?' It's great for visitors to our classroom to see what interests our kids, and quick method for students to reflect on their learning. Be sure to come and check it out next time you're in 4A.

You may have heard your child mention 'Plickers'. It's a definite favourite of 4A's! As a teacher, it's such a quick and easy way to see where everyone is at.

We've been using it to answer questions about time. It's anonymous so students don't know what each other has answered. 

Today, 4A was encouraged to reflect on their learning - what a great way to inform  my planning! 

(We decided 'noun groups' would encompass all the parts of speech we've looked at this week). 

Math Rotations

Today our math rotations revolved around telling time, and more specifically identifying am and pm. Activities included:

- Teacher time: Smartboard activities + lots of discussion! 

- Activity: Students completed am and pm timelines (with our aide Mrs Shields facilitating) as well as practiced those all important time facts (how many seconds in 1 minute, how many days in 1 year etc). 

- Game: Students could choose from 3 different time games and play as a whole group, in pairs or independently. 

Students: Comment with a time fact

Today in English, we talked all about connectives and why they are important in our writing. Students were given specific examples, then we played a game on Studyladder where they needed to pick the right connective. This was a great activity as we discussed why a certain connective was a better choice than another.

After this, students were shown a basic piece of text which they needed to edit by adding in connectives and more detail. Some students created fabulous pieces of writing! It was great to see so many students immediately acting on their feedback. Most feedback during this lesson related to capital letters, spelling and rereading their sentence to make sure it made sense. 

Visual Timetable

This is what we use in our classroom to make sure everyone knows what's coming up during each day.

Conversation starters

As kids get older, it can sometimes be like trying to draw blood from a stone to get them to tell us about their day. Here are some great conversation starters that may help to get them talking.

Made by "The Reading Bungalow"