Teaching Team

Term 2 Curriculum

Welcome back – we hope you all had a restful break. We are excited for a new term of learning!

Reading  

This term, students are exploring the language choices, images, and vocabulary authors use to engage their audience. Within independent reading and teacher conference groups, we are strengthening our strategies for monitoring and self-correcting, questioning, confirming, and cross-checking. We are also developing our ability to infer the literal and implied meaning across different texts, and looking beyond character motives and feelings. Students will continue to participate in purposeful reading tasks, with weekly teacher-led Guided Reading groups, and independent reading tasks, where students will apply the strategies from the learning focus of the mini lesson to their own text.

Writing 

Year 4 students have begun the term by continuing to use their Writer’s Notebook to unpack ideas and focus on purpose and audience. During the term, students will apply their knowledge of sentence fluency to produce sentences using a variety of lengths, leads, and structures. Students will begin to take risks in their writing by finding their voice and making appropriate word choices, with the aim to make their pieces more engaging. 

Students will continue to reread and edit their writing to improve content, structure, and overall fluency. Each piece will be published and presented in a format that suits the purpose and genre of writing. Students will also continue to have a weekly writing conference with their teacher, where they focus on celebrating success as well as setting goals for the term. 

Word Study 

During our Word Study sessions students will work on spelling, grammar, punctuation, and handwriting. Students will continue to revise and develop our knowledge of parts of speech and sentence structure using Sentence Science Cards. In our Spelling sessions each week students will focus on digraphs, spelling patterns, and letter combinations to build word families. For instance, students will focus on words that use ch, ph, sh, etc. 

Speaking and Listening 

Year 4 students will demonstrate their ability to apply their respectful interaction skills with their peers, through everyday classroom interactions, lesson activities, and reflections. They will use speaking and listening skills to focus on interpreting ideas and information from spoken texts. Students will continue to develop their ability to listen for key points in order to carry out tasks and use information to share and extend their ideas. Our History unit will give students a chance to share their research with peers and work together through a variety of activities. 

Mathematics 

In Numeracy, students will be exploring different mental computation strategies for multiplication and division. They will apply their knowledge to solve open-ended multiplication and division tasks, use their recall of multiplication and division facts and describe number sequences involving multiples of 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 and 9. Later in the term, students will focus on Fractions and Decimals, where they will investigate equivalent fractions, count, locate, and represent quarters, halves and thirds with mixed numerals, and represent these on a number line. As part of our Measurement unit, students will explain and compare length, mass, capacity, duration and temperature, using appropriate units. They will also identify ways of measuring and approximating the perimeter, area and angles of shapes and enclosed spaces, using appropriate formal and informal units. The term will conclude with students exploring shape by comparing the geometric properties of two-dimensional shapes and three-dimensional objects, and identifying line and rotational symmetry of shapes.

Wellbeing 

With student wellbeing remaining our priority, students will continue to engage in weekly Wellbeing sessions, guided by the Respectful Relationships curriculum that focuses on our student social, emotional, and physical wellbeing. Each week students will focus on a behaviour that is part of our School Wide Positive Behaviour Support matrix (SWPBS) and aligned with our RISE values. 

Other Learning Areas (OLA) 

This term the Year 4s will be exploring Australian History. Students will be studying the significance of Australian celebrations, symbols and emblems, as well as focusing on the perspectives of people from the past in Australian history. Topics such as the Stolen Generation and Colonisation will be discussed as part of the Ethical Capability component, where Year 4s will be involved in discourse about how these significant events might be regarded by different people. 

Education Week 

Week 5 is Education week. This is an opportunity for all schools to celebrate and showcase the wonderful achievements of students and share their learning spaces. Further information will be provided closer to the date via Compass. 

Home Learning Expectations 

Year 4 Home Learning commences this term. Students are required to read for 20 minutes per night to improve their reading ability, and in turn, their writing and vocabulary acquisition. This could be a chapter book, SORA, or Reading Eggs. Unfortunately, EPIC does not allow for home access after 3pm. 

Doodlemaths is a home learning expectation for at least ten minutes, once per week. This is for students to practise their mathematical fluency at home. We recognise the busy life of families outside of school with other commitments and interests and we value students taking time to connect with their families and friends and to enjoy an activity that sparks joy. Please speak with your child’s classroom teacher should home learning become an area of concern or challenge for your family.

Finally, just a reminder that you can contact us via Compass or email to make an appointment if you would like to discuss your child’s learning. 

We are looking forward to an engaging Term Two, 

The Year 4 Team