Grade 3/4

What’s Happening in Term 2 – 2024

Reading

In term two of reading, students will learn to construct meaning from the text by using implied information and prior knowledge to deepen their understanding. We will also be learning clarification strategies to infer meaning from uncommon and unfamiliar vocabulary contained within our texts. They will read fiction and non-fiction texts and make connections to themselves and other texts. Each class will be reading ‘Finders Keepers‘ by Emily Rodda. We will be using this novel to explore new vocabulary and examine different perspectives.

Writing

In writing, we will be building on our skills from last term and improving our craft through persuasive writing. Students will be covering a range of topics such as ‘beach or bush’, the best holiday destinations, and a free-choice topic. They will use mentor texts to generate interesting ideas and form opinions. Through whole class discussion and partner sharing, students will develop convincing reasons to persuade their readers. They will work towards planning and writing three strong reasons with clear examples and details to support their arguments. Using this persuasive writing structure, students will learn to use a range of persuasive devices with greater control to convince the reader of their opinion. In grade three and four, we are supporting students to develop and strengthen their ideas and reasons by detailing specific evidence, examples and personal experiences. Following our persuasive writing unit, we will develop our transactional writing skills by composing postcards, informal letters and responses.

Maths

In mathematics, students will use their knowledge of place value to find unknown quantities in addition and subtraction number sentences and equations. They will learn a range of mental and written strategies like partitioning and the vertical algorithm, as well as improve their automatic recall of basic number facts. Students will deepen their understanding of the connection between addition and subtraction. The grade three and four students will be encouraged to explain and show their mathematical thinking when solving problems.

In applied mathematics, we are focusing on money and finances. Students will investigate the relationship between dollars and cents using physical and virtual resources to make various values in different ways. Students will learn to represent money amounts in multiple ways to help solve problems involving purchases and the calculation of change

Inquiry and SEL

This term in inquiry students will be learning about the properties of materials. This learning will involve scientific investigations based upon the main states of matter: solids, liquids and gas. Students will expand and challenge their knowledge of matter by engaging with the scientific method of making hypotheses, conducting experiments, recording observations and drawing conclusions. They will also design, build and test a device for a particular purpose. Both the scientific method and design process will require students to work independently, with a partner and in a small group whilst using the 21CLD skills of collaboration and skilful communication.