Have you ever wondered where teachers go at the end of the day?  The preps read a poem about this age-old mystery and they used creative thinking to answer the question ‘where do teachers go?’. Have a look at their fabulous ideas…

Imagine you are writing out all the numbers…

One

Two

Three

Four….and so on.

How far would you have to go before you needed to use the letter A?

How far would you have to go before you needed to use the letter B?

And how far would you have to go before you needed to use the letter C?

….why?

It is the first year to have no repeating digits for a long time.

For example: 1922 has two 2′s. 2005 has two 0′s. 1979 has two 9′s.

When was the last year that had no repeating digits?

Can you write a funny, interesting, engaging story about this picture?
Can you make your story 50 words or less?

In this picture are two of my friends. One is called Kiki and the other is called Boopa. Which one do you think is called Kiki? Which one is called Boopa? Why?

This may seem like an odd question, but it’s actually a famous scientific/linguistic experiment. I wonder what your creative responses might be…..

Red Hat Thinking: How does listening to the Christmas Story make you feel?
White Hat Thinking: What is the main message of the Christmas Story?
Green Hat Thinking: What can you do to help spread a Christmas message of joy and hope?

Do you prefer online learning to offline learning? Why? Is online learning more engaging or more frustrating? Do you think we should have more online learning at school? What are the benefits of online learning? What are the challenges?

Please feel free to write a comment about your response in this poll. Thank you!

What I’m Looking For: That you are able to read a short text and write it in your own words without losing the meaning.

During this term the 3/4s have been learning about Old Testament characters in Religion. Today we heard a story about King Solomon. Solomon is famous for his wisdom. But what wisdom mean?
Audrey R: Wisdom means that you have an understanding of other people, not just your own needs and you realise things that need to be fixed and you don’t just walk past them.
Daniel: I think wisdom is being a responsible and kind person.
Darcy: I think that wisdom is you being smart and not doing silly things to other people and yourself.
Alisha: Wisdom is being wise and not just thinking about yourself and also kind and caring and other people can trust you.
Kylah: I think wisdom means following in your own footsteps, not just looking at other people and copying them.
Maddy C: It is thinking about other people and once you do that you might get something for yourself.
Lucas: I think wisdom is being clever and not being greedy. It’s making right choices and helping people.
Helena: Unfortunately I think wisdom is an occasional act. When I think of wisdom, I see people caring for each other. I don’t think it’s used all the time. I think people should use wisdom more often.
Please leave a comment on this post. Tell us where you have seen an example of wisdom in your own life.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything on my beloved blog. To any visitors who may not be aware, I have had term three away from school. While the 3/4′s have been busy growing and learning, I have been resting, creating, relaxing and spending lots of time with my family.
My break has flown and now it’s nearly time for a brand new term. The LAST term of the year. I can hardly believe it. I am really excited to be returning to school and have lots of fun and interesting learning planned for the children. I look forward to sharing some of our learning here on the blog.

Oh, and yes, I have changed the look of the blog! What do you think?

Watch and listen to this video with your family. Then work together to write a comment on this post. Your comment should share with us how this song makes you feel, and what it makes you think about.

Hello to all the grades in our school and welcome to our first experience of quadblogging! I wonder how it will go….

Last week some of the 3/4 children entered the 100 Word Challenge (see below). It was great fun. We enjoyed reading stories written by children all around the world. This gave me a great idea for our first Quadblogging Challenge.

You are challenged to write a 25 word story inspired by this image…

These are the rules:
1. Anyone may enter a story. It might be a grade story, a group story or an individual story.
2. All stories entered must be EXACTLY 25 words long.
3. You may submit your story as a comment on this post.
4. We will read one another’s stories and leave feedback by clicking on the ‘reply’ button.
5. Storywriters may like to revise their story based on the feedback they get, and then submit it again.

Good luck everyone! Let’s get writing.

The Lion and the Gold

The Lost Treasure by Luke, Samuel and Peter

The jungle

The safari by Dearna and Lauren

Josh, Mitchell and Cooper

We are becoming experts in subtraction with trading (or borrowing). Here is a video that really helps us understand how and why trading (or borrowing) works.

Did you know that some mathematicians believe this is the hardest part of primary school maths? But we can do it.

3/4 Goes Back to the ’80′s! on PhotoPeach

Now that you are immersed in the 1980′s, use this post to share your wonderings, write about the ‘treasure’ you have brought in or something your parents might have told you about the 1980′s. Remember to make this a ‘conversation’ by responding to the contributions of others.

The supper at Emmaus, Ceri Richards (1903-1971) Gouache, 1958.

This week, we would like you to read the story of the Road to Emmaus with your family. You can find this story in Luke’s Gospel (Chapter 24, verses 13 – 35). You might have a family Bible you can look in, or you may be able to find the scripture on the internet.

When you have read and talked about the story, have a good look at the artwork above. Then answer these three questions, with your family, as a comment on this post.

1. How do you think this scripture story relates to the Sacrament of First Holy Communion?
2. What part of the story is shown in the artwork?
3. How has the artist used shape and colour to tell us more about Jesus and this story?

In Grade 3/4 during term two we will be focusing on the following:

English: How can text change your mind? – Persuasive texts.
Maths: Shape, symmetry, angles, measurement, time and graphing.
Religion: Eucharist. Welcome to the Table.
Inquiry: Australians in wartime. Australia on the world stage in the 1980′s.
Art: Exploring a variety of Aboriginal artists and art pieces.
Social and Emotional Learning: Working cooperatively in small groups.

Performing Arts and Mandarin lessons will take place on Tuesdays.
Sport will take place on Mondays and Fridays.
Library will take place on a Thursday and you will need your library bags.

Click on the link below to access the Term Two homework expectations.

Term Two Homework

The grade 3/4′s have been learning about the Dutch artist Piet Mondrian. Mondrian’s use of black line and coloured blocks inspired this series of Holy Week artworks. You will see representations of Palm Sunday, The Last Supper, The Agony in the Garden, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection.

To view the artworks more clearly – click on the ‘full screen’ symbol and then click on individual pictures.

Mondrian Inspired Holy Week Images

Today, inspired by Prof. Mike Askew I asked my 3/4′s to ‘show me a difference of three’. At first they came up with some simple number differences, like 5 and 8, or 10 and 13. Then they started to get even more clever. Matt said ‘Eighteen thirty sevenths and Three and eighteen thirty sevenths’. Gemma said ‘The number of letters in GEMMA and the number of letters in LANGUAGE’, Nikita crossed a decade by saying 18 and 21.
And then the children became even smarter still….
Elena said (amongst other things) ‘The note C and the note D#’.
Luke said ‘Western Australia to New South Wales’.
Audrey said ’99cm to 1.2m’.
Lucas said ‘Eleven o’clock to two o’clock’.
Sophie said ‘Mercury to Mars’.
WOW! I had my socks knocked RIGHT OFF.
There were many more wonderful examples of ‘differences of three’. If you can think of another one, add it as a comment!

1. What do you know about the events of Holy Week? Can you put them in order?
2. What do you wonder about the events of Holy Week?
3. Many people say Easter is the most important event in the Catholic Calendar. Why do you think this is?

Please check your spelling and grammar before posting your reply.
Please make sure you answer all questions.
Please comment on someone else’s response if you have time.

This term we have been revising place value, expanded notation and trading.
Some of the children accepted the challenge to create powerpoints explaining these important terms.
Have a look at the great work, and leave some feedback.

Elena and Jordan’s Place Value Powerpoint

Harry and Gemma’s Place Value Powerpoint

Matt and Luca’s Place Value Powerpoint

We have been learning about the Nicene Creed this week.
The children were asked to select one of the following challenges:
1. Compose your own creed about your own personal beliefs.
or
2. Have a go at writing the Nicene Creed in more child-friendly language; see if you can make it a little bit easier to understand without losing the main message.
Here are some examples of their wonderful work. Please click on the links to view the documents and remember to leave feedback for these thoughtful authors.

Alisha’s version of the Nicene Creed
Dakotah’s Creed
Daniel’s Creed
Dearna’s Creed
Elena’s Version of the Nicene Creed
Holly’s Creed
Imogen’s Creed
Katie’s Creed
Lucas’ Creed
Marcus’ Creed
Matthew’s Version of the Nicene Creed
Reeya’s Version of the Nicene Creed
Sophie’s Creed
Thomas’ Creed

More to come! Watch this space!

Please use this post, grade 3/4′s, to tell us everything you have learnt about the deep ocean.
You have heard from Sir David Attenborough, you have seen lots of amazing footage, and even watched some of Finding Nemo.
What do you know now that you didn’t know before?
What do you think and feel now that you know this?
Write it here, and if you make any spelling mistakes, I’ll send my angler fish to GOBBLE YOU UP!!

In Maths today the children worked together to solve this problem:

“You have a cake. You may cut the cake four times. What is the smallest numbers of pieces you can make? What is the largest number of pieces?”

Here’s what happened….

A film of our reflections…(click the play arrow)

Here is the link to Reading Eggs.
We are lucky enough to have a six week trial of this online program, so make the most of it, Grade 3/4′s. What a wonderful option for nightly reading!

In Grade 3/4 this term we will be focusing on the following:

English: Spelling, Grammar, Purposeful Writing and Reading for an Audience.
Maths: Place Value, Ordering Numbers, Addition and Subtraction.
Religion: Catholic Identity and Holy Week.
Inquiry: What Lies Beneath (Under the Sea, Under the Skin, Under the Stage).
Art: Line, Colour and Easter in Art.
Sport: Ball Skills.
Elearning: File Management and Cyber-safety.
SEL: Friendship and Social Skills.

Performing Arts and Mandarin lessons will take place on Tuesdays.
Sport will take place on Wednesdays, Fridays and every odd Monday (wks 3,5,7,9).
Library will take place on a Thursday and you will need your library bags.

Homework for this term is nightly reading. You must read for a minimum of 15 minutes, five nights per week. This must be recorded in your school diary according to this format:
Author, Title, Pages Read.
e.g. Roald Dahl, Matilda, pp 15-27.
You must then write a brief comment about what you have read.
e.g. “I couldn’t believe it when the headmistress swung the little girl around by her pigtails.”
If you are unable to meet your nightly reading commitment, you may attend Homework Club on Monday and Tuesday lunchtimes.

You may also access Mathletics, Spellodrome and Reading Eggs to support your learning.

Students, Parents and Visitors, please feel free to ask questions or offer suggestions regarding this information.