May 2019 archive

National Reconciliation Week

On Sunday 26 May, Australia commemorated National Sorry Day to remember the mistreatment of the country’s Aboriginal People. This week is Reconciliation Week. The date commemorates the successful 1967 referendum and the High Court Mabo decision, two significant events in the reconciliation journey.

This year’s theme is  ‘Grounded in Truth: Walk Together with Courage.‘

Read the questions below and then follow this link to watch the video from BTN about Reconciliation Week. 

  • Explain what National Reconciliation Week is in your own words.

  • What are 2 ways you think Australia could become a more equal and accepting place? What would we need to do to achieve this?

  • Which Positive Learner Attribute has been demonstrated in this video and how was it portrayed? 

Choose two of the questions to leave as a comment. 

National Simultaneous Storytime

National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS) is held annually by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). Every year a picture book, written and illustrated by an Australian author and illustrator, is read simultaneously in libraries, schools, pre-schools, childcare centres, family homes, bookshops and many other places around the country. 

This year it is taking place on Wednesday 22nd May, 2019 at 11am.

Alpacas with Maraccas is a story about Macca the Alpaca and his best friend Al. The two Alpacas are determined to enter the talent show and have no intention of letting their lack of talent get in the way.

Like Macca identifying his talents, leave a comment with one of your strengths and what you enjoy about it.

Indigenous Culture Excursion

As part of our new Integrated topic this term ‘First Contacts,’ we are learning about the impact of the European Settlement on Indigenous Australian culture.

Have you ever wondered what traditional life was like for the Wurundjeri people (the Aboriginal tribe of the Melbourne area)? Well, take a trip to Royal Botanic Gardens, Cranbourne and you are sure to learn lots of new information!

We spent the first half of the day with our guide Bridget, who guided us through 3 activities:

  • Indigenous tools – we learnt a lot about how Indigenous people used materials from the bic (land) to make tools for hunting, cooking and clothing. Cordials made from nectar, bags made from reeds, fire sticks and spear throwers. 

  • Indigenous art – ochre is a type of paint used to tell and pass on stories through art. We learnt how to make the red and orange paint from rocks and left our own mark at the gardens…until the next rainfall that is!

  • Indigenous food –  There were so many wonderful smelling plants which excited our senses as we walked through the garden. We heard how the indigenous people used various plants for water, seasoning such as salty pig face and much more. We even drank some delicious warm lemon myrtle tea!

We then finished the day off with a scavenger hunt throughout the gardens with various challenges which brought out the competitive and creative side in many of us – particularly the adults! Challenges included: make a stick sculpture, sniff out the plant with the best smell and hug a tree with smooth bark. 

Be sure to check our individual student blog pages to see the group research videos that 4T have created on their own Indigenous culture inquiry questions. 

Royal Botanic Gardens, Cranbourne 2019

4T, you can find these photos and more in our shared folder.

What was your most interesting part of the day at Cranbourne Gardens?

Homophones

Homophones are two or more words which have the same pronunciation but have different meanings or word spellings. 

In 4T this week we have been investigating these word pairs and have created short skits to demonstrate our knowledge of the difference between two homophones.

Made with Padlet

 

Create your own video and add it to our Padlet wall OR try to use a pair of homophones int he same sentence and leave it as a comment.