Front Desk Reflections
categories: Literacy
Posts Tagged ‘connectedness’
Community Service Project
categories: Weekly Updates
A large focus in Year 4 at our school is on community service. We try to empathise with the issues people face in our community and what we can do to help.
We support the Salvation Army who support families going through rough times or at risk of homelessness. Peter from the Salvation Army came to speak to all of the Year 4s about the different ways that this organisation supports people.They help those experiencing rough times by:
- support people in finding somewhere safe and secure to live.
- talk through the different emotions they might be experiencing.
- link them with other services they may need eg. doctors.
- assist with booking appointments or driving them to medical appointments.
- assist with access to food and self care products.
In conjunction with our Integrated science units focussing on properties of materials, we created a project where students had to test various materials to see which would be most suitable for a blanket.
Our blankets with a small care message
The students in 4T raised money by doing extra chores at home as part of their weekly home tasks. Our class alone raised a whopping $783.
With this money we purchased the materials to make our blankets and also bought and donated various toiletries items which will go into care packages created by the Salvation Army to give out to those experiencing homelessness. Peter also mentioned to us that another temporary and last resort which they offer are swags or ‘backpack beds.‘ With the incredible efforts of the Year 4s and strong empathy for those who are disadvantaged in our community, we pooled our funds with the other classes to be able to buy and donate 4 of these beds.
On Friday we had a special ceremony where
Presenting to Peter
each of the year 4 classes presented various aspects of the project to Peter and helped him pack the donations into his car.
Well done Year 4. We are all so proud of you!
4T with their donations
4T, what was your favourite part of this project?
Grandfriends Day
categories: Weekly Updates
To be grateful means to display deep appreciation for something done or received.
Today the students in 4T showed enormous gratitude towards our special visitors – and we had a whole lot of fun!
The Year 4s started off with an impromptu song along with our Bumble4 conductor and music teacher Mrs Summers on the deck. Click play below for a small snippet:
Then, together with our grandfriends we had to complete a sheet called figure me out where we had to think of an answer to a question. Eg. What year did you start Prep? We then had to come up with an equation for someone to solve so they could learn our answer to the question. ‘This is trickier than some of the maths I did at school!’ one of the grandfriends was overheard saying.
4T with their special visitors
We then went off to a wonderful assembly where we heard many uplifting musical items and were reminded of the importance of the special people in our life who support us, love us and who we can turn to at anytime.
Leave a comment with something that you are grateful for and why.
4T, can you also share one of your equations you created with your grandfriend.
GRA Week 3 responses
categories: Literacy
We have reached the 1/3 marker in our #GRA18Amal book.
So far 4T have enjoyed responding to comments on our own blog and leaving our thoughts about the themes of the book on our buddy class’ blogs from Saskatoon, Canada and Powhatan, Virginia in the United States of America.
Our thoughts so far on what we have read:
- I think it is unfair that Amal’s dad is keeping her away from her education and pursuing her dreams. – Joanna and Max
- Amal is like Malala in some ways, they both want to go to school and learn. – Esther
- Girls are treated unfairly compared to boys. For example, boys get a bigger library and are encouraged to learn more than the girls. – Alex and Morgan
- I think that it is scary how different Amal’s life is to ours. – Tori
- The Khan landlords treat others with disrespect. – Lucas
- I think the author Aisha Saeed has written the book really well because she leaves a cliff hanger at the end of each chapter. – Joanna
This week, we would like you to record yourselves filming a short (20 sec) clip responding to one of the questions in the Padlet below.
Global Read Aloud
categories: Literacy, Weekly Updates
This term 4T will be participating in the Global Read Aloud (GRA) where classes all over the world connect with each other and discuss their thoughts and predictions about a chosen class novel. Click here to read more about classes that we will be connecting with.
This year, the chosen book is called ‘Amal Unbound’ written by Aisha Seed.
In the first chapter, Amal tells us that she dreams of becoming a teacher when she grows up. Leave a comment below and share your dreams for your future.
For our international visitors, don’t forget to also tell us where you are from in your comment!
Comment Bonanza Month – OVER
categories: Weekly Updates
In Year 4, we called August ‘COMMENT BONANZA MONTH.’
The focus was to teach as many people as they could how to write a great comment and share their learning with their family.
At the beginning of the month we predicted we would receive approximately 100-150 comments and that we would get many at first and then less towards the end of the month.
WELL, we in fact received 689 comments and were busy feeding our comment monsters EVERYDAY!
Click here to see just how many cookies that is!
This is the most comments ever received in Ms Tirtilas’s comment bonanza month history – a new record!
Our very full cookie comment monsters
Our totals were:
145 Mum and Dad comments
59 Brother and Sister comments
40 Aunties and Uncles comments
9 cousin comments
27 grandparents cookies
48 family friend comments
27 teacher comments
333 blog buddy comments
Have a look at the world map on our sidebar to see where many of these comments came from.
Leave a comment telling us about someone that you taught to write a quality comment.
August Is…
categories: Weekly Updates
Year 4 Camp 2018
categories: Weekly Updates
What an action-packed couple of days Year 4 camp has been!
Not only did we learn about the natural environment and Indigenous culture, we have also done a heap of team building and exciting activities. Yes, we even developed our understandings about what it really means to set the table and clean up.
Gee we had fun!
The 4km Silvan Dam walk to the Mt Evelyn Recreation Camp was a bit of a hike, but was well worth it when we were welcomed by Jeff from Indigicate. He invited us to participate in a traditional Indigenous smoking ceremony. Engulfed by the smoke, we had to make the loudest sound we could (anything will do, there were some interesting versions) to alert our ancestors that we were there at the camp site, but also to protect us during our stay.
During our stay, we spent the next two days participating in so many fun and educational activities which included:
- Hut building
- Damper making
- Giant swing
- Kaos scavenger hunt
- Wildlife encounter
- Nature Bush Craft
- Indigicate aboriginal culture experience
- Night walk
- Movie night
Just before our 4km hike to the campsite.
To see more photos of our fabulous time at Camp, log on to CLASSe and look for the ‘4T 2018 Camp Photos’ link underneath the Home Tasks tab.
We all showed terrific courage and curiosity that throughout the different challenges, both physical and mental. We also tried to remain positive by encouraging others to do and be their best. It was an amazing experience.
Check out the individual student blogs of 4T to read more about our camp experiences.
Positive Learner Attributes
Using our school’s Personal Learner Attributes, can you give me an example of a time that you had to use one of these traits?
Hello and Welcome 2018
categories: Literacy
Welcome to the 4T 2018 Class Blog!
New year, new teacher, new opportunities to connect around the world!
We have been learning a lot about eachother and what we share in common. One thing many of us have found (particularly us Harry Potter fans) is that we LOVE reading!
This week we received our first Year 4 Book Chat books. The class have to read their book in 3 weeks and record their thinking 6 different times on post it notes. They will bring their notes along with them to our Book Chat session and share their thoughts and curiosities about the book.
Our Book Chat Selection