Welcome to our class blog!

We will be team teaching this year. Jessica Thorburn will teach 4A every Monday, Tuesday while Julianne Bluhdorn will teach every Thursday, Friday. Wednesdays will be alternated.

The blog will be a great resource for you as parents and students to keep in touch with what's going on in our classroom throughout the year. We love when parents and students comment!

Students spent a lot of time today getting their resources sorted, and becoming aware of some operational processes in our classroom. 4A talked about what students need to do to make sure our class runs smoothly as well as talking about what they want to learn this year. Over the next 2 weeks, each student will identify their goals for the term.

In regards to the booklist, it is perfectly acceptable to keep things at home so you can ration them over the year. In saying that, we do start off using quite a few books at the same time so that each subject area has its own section. If you haven't already, please send in:

• 7 - A4 Exercise books 48 page, year 3/4 red and blue lines
• A4 Grid book 10mm
• A4 Exercise book 96 page, blue lines
• Plastic Document Folder
• New Wave Maths Mentals (understand that quite a few people are waiting on the newsagent which is fine).
• Student Homework Diary
• Sketch book
• HB lead pencils
• Eraser
• Sharpener
• Colouring pencils and felt pens
• Glue
• Scissors
• Highlighter
• Red biro

We are using all of these items on a day to day basis and it is essential each student has their own belongings. Please let me know if any of this is a problem.

Students have come home with a 'Parent Survey' today. This is purely to give us a kick start on getting to know your child and in turn, supporting them. Please fill this out and send back to school. Alternatively, you can email the information: jthor175@eq.edu.au

What you need to know:
Monday - P.E. / Music
Tuesday - Parade (formal uniform)
Thursday - Swimming (starts week 2)
Friday - ICT / Homework goes home

4A students: We would love for you to leave a comment about what you are excited about for the year ahead!

I hope your child came home today buzzing about some of the activities we did in class. If you had popped your head into our classroom today, you would have seen children scattered around the room completely engaged in their learning. 

One of our projects today was 'My Summer Holiday'. Students were given a $10000 budget for a family of 4. They needed to do costings for transport, accommodation, car hire, food, day trips and still have spending money left over. Ask your student about where they planned to go. 

In our middle session, students used Bee-Bots / Pro-Bots and programmed them around objects in the room. They knew that each robot moved 15 / 25cm so had to work out how many times they needed to press 'forward' etc. I loved listening to the problem solving dialogue during this session! 

Week 9

Happy first day of Summer! 

Christmas has officially arrived in 4F. 

Some of our 'elf' selves, reindeer paintings and snowflakes. 

Writing prompt: The day I got stuck in a sand globe.

Don't forget the Christmas carols tomorrow at 4:30pm. 

I think we can safely say that everyone was blown away by the standard of the production put on last night. The time spent rehearsing has clearly paid off!

**Click on the image for a larger view**

 

 

Our school Christmas Carols are next Wednesday afternoon the 2nd December. Year 4 are singing the Australian version of the Twelve Days of Christmas.

 

Come and join in the fun!

Spirit Night

If you haven't heard about Banksia's Spirit Night, you must have been living under a rock. Last night, students went through a full rehearsal in preparation for the show. We have 6 students from 4F participating. I hope you've got your tickets as it's going to be amazing!!

Here's a sneak peek.

Using iMovie in English

We had a very active English session yesterday. In small groups, students used iPads to film snippets of our school using iMovie. Students even managed an interview with Mrs King and Mr Hartshorn. They then needed to edit their clips, add sound and voice overs. Their aim is to create a persuasive advertisement for Banksia Beach State School. 

Well it's week 8 and we are certainly on the home stretch to holidays.

Here is some of what we've been working on over the past couple of weeks: 

Revising money. Students had to add the coins on each card then put in order. We then played 'I have, who has?'  

We have also been working on time word problems and using number lines to solve. 

In English we have been analysing the persuasive features used on breakfast cereal boxes. First we did one together: 

Then students used the information to analyse cereal boxes in pairs. They then had to create a poster with this information.

Remember that apart from following us by email, the easiest way to get all the info is to keep our page open on your phone. All you need to do then is refresh!

Term 4

It's hard to believe that it's already halfway through week 2! My apologies for the delay in my welcome back post.

Important Notes:

- Family Fun Day this Saturday from 2pm. School needs to know numbers by tomorrow.

- Next Monday (19th October) is a Pupil Free Day.


Our timetable has changed slightly this term and as such, we will now be doing literacy rotations Monday and Tuesday. If you are free on Monday morning for 1/2 - 1hr, I would love an extra helper.

This term we are continuing our focus on Advertising and will complete a written and reading/comprehension assessment in relation to this. Students will need to analyse a commercial and explain the effectiveness of the persuasive language features. They will also need to write an opinion of the advertisement.

WE ARE LEARNING TO:

ENGLISH
- Identify persuasive language features used in advertising
- Explore, identify and analyse a variety of moving image advertisements and to compare a variety of television advertisements from the past and the present.
- Research a toy website
- Research a TV advertisement from the past
- Evaluate an advertisement from the past
- Research visual and sound techniques
- Compare two advertisements
- Review structure of persuasive writing
- Research cereal box design features
- Plan breakfast cereal package design
- Understand how to compose an effective persuasive design for a breakfast cereal package
- Design breakfast cereal package  

MATH

Strands
Number	Money Make calculations with money; calculating money problems
	Fractions Count and identify equivalent fractions, represent and locate fractions on number lines; identify equivalence tenths, hundredths and other fractions; read, write, represent and record fractions as decimals; create representations of decimal numbers, equivalence between decimals, estimate decimal amounts; model, represent, compare and sequence decimals to hundredths; relationship of families of fractions
	Addition Calculate addition using a range of mental and written strategies
	Subtraction Apply place value to partition, rearrange and regroup numbers, calculate subtractions using a range of mental and written strategies Multiplication Solve multiplication problems using a range of strategies Division Solve division problems using a range of mental and written strategies
Space
Measurement	Area Compare area, use informal measurement Volume Measure and compare volume using centicubes and draw on grid paper Time Read a timetable, solve simple time problems, convert between units of time; focus reading calendars. Inquiry into time (eg How long does it take to read a book?). Look at measurement conversions, how to use a stop watch, what data should be collected, recording data and presenting findings)
Chance and Data   Links to Geography inquiry and assessment – students need to collect and represent their data in relation to sustainable/unsustainable practices. They need to represent their findings and take action.	Describe the likelihood of everyday events using the language of chance. Order events on continua based on their likelihood of occurring; Likelihood of events – spinners, certain colours being more likely; Collecting data, investigate methods of collecting data in real life applications, write relevant questions to collect data; Representing Data investigating methods of displaying data, producing an accurate and relevant data display; Interpreting data; Representing data using digital resources; Define different methods for data collection and representation and evaluate effectiveness. Construct data displays from the given or collected data.
Patterns and Algebra	Describe and continue patterns created from multiplication, solve multiplication problems, identify unknowns in equivalent number sentences using multiplication; Identifying equivalence in division – continue patterns, solve word problems, find unknowns in number sentences