In Week 4, as it is Maths Week during Lunchtime we will be running a Maths Spellathon daily.
Guidelines :
1. Participants are requested to learn the pronunciations, definitions and other details of the words while studying them.
2. Some words have alternate pronunciations. It is good to know all pronunciations of the word while preparing for the competition.
3. Participants are encouraged to take time, think and spell the word.
5. The Speller may ask for the following details about the word:
Definition of the word Use the word in a sentence Pronounce the word again
The Competition will start with the Study list of easy words and progress towards the hard word list as needed.
Rules:
If the speller correctly spells the word, he/she remains in the competition.
If the speller does not spell the word correctly, he/she will return to the audience.
Each speller remaining at the start of a round spells one word in each round.
There is no time limit for a speller to spell the word.
The speller can ask questions related to the word as per the guidelines provided
A speller should say the word before and after spelling the word as this helps the judges, but a speller will not be disqualified for failing to do so.
The Ara Pakeke List can be found below.
Slides done by Year 4 Stepping Up to support class learning of Lines, Angles and Shapes in Geometry.
Reading
It’s important that students read for a period of time each day. We call this reading mileage. This is a chance to reread a text from a lesson, become exposed to new vocab, read for enjoyment or personal interest, and feel confident about engaging in texts.
Students are required to:
- Read on a daily basis
- Write the text or pages read in the reading log in their notebook
Levelled texts for independent reading are available from class. They are often 1-2 levels lower than instructional level. This promotes more successful reading, where the student is more likely to grasp the meaning of the text rather than spend all their time working out words. Students are also encouraged to choose texts based on their own interests e.g. chapter books, or non-fiction books from the library.
‘Reading-to’ your child is highly valuable, and can also be logged. This allows them to hear what good reading sounds like, and promotes discussion around ideas, words and language in the text.
The bottom line is, reading needs to be fun; not a source of anxiety or stress for students or whanau.
BasicFactsDocuments.pdfBasic Facts
The nuts and bolts of mathematics, basic facts are the foundation on which more complex concepts can be built. Students are tested each week in class to measure their progress. Leveled worksheets are attached for practice at home. Once the basic facts are learned, Sumdog is a useful tool for developing speed of recall.
Spelling
Students will bring home 10 spelling words each week to learn. Please support your child to learn and revise these each day. These will be a combination of words from the Essential Spelling Lists, words from the spelling programme, errors from written work, and topic related vocabulary. Students will be tested in class once a week. Words can be learned in different ways so talk to your child’s teacher some strategies that might work best for them. Games like Upwords, Boggle and Scrabble can be fun, social ways to develop spelling ability.
Essential Spelling Words.pdfHomework Contract
Each term there will be an optional homework contract. The contract will consist of a number of tasks that will allow students to engage in a range of creative activities, explore areas of their passions and interests, and develop presentation skills. There will be opportunity in class each fortnight for students to present tasks for peer and teacher feedback. See each pod’s page for specific contracts.