This week in Grade 4, students explored systems by designing their own island society. They imagined being shipwrecked and worked in groups to plan leadership, rules, housing, and resource management. Through this activity, students applied their learning about systems—understanding how different parts of a system work together to keep people safe, fed, and organised.

Next week, students will present their island societies, explaining how each part of their system—leadership, rules, resources, and roles—works together. This will give them a chance to demonstrate their understanding of how systems function and affect people in real-life contexts. 

Central idea: Systems are created to bring about change and meet the needs of society.

Specified Concepts: Form, Function and Responsibility

Lines of inquiry: 

•  How different systems function and what their parts do

•  How people participate in and influence systems

• Ways systems can create change in communities or the environment

Learner Profile: Thinker, Inquirer and Knowledgeable 

In Maths, Grade 4 students explored how to solve multi-step problems using multiplication and division. They practiced deciding which operation to use first and discussed why following the correct order of steps is important. Students also learned to check their work using estimation and discovered that some problems can be solved in more than one correct way. 

Next week, students will review key concepts such as factors, multiples, and multiplying digits. They will practice applying these skills in different problems to build confidence and strengthen their understanding. 

This week, in Literacy, students continued working on their myths. They revised their stories to improve sequencing, used clear transitions, and varied paragraph lengths and structures. Students also used “I can” statements to reflect on their own learning and progress.

Next week, students will design props and present their stories to their classmates in a fun and creative way, bringing their myths to life and sharing their learning with the class. 

This week in Science, Grade 4 students explored how animals use their senses and nervous system to survive. They began with a fun reaction-time activity, catching a falling ruler to see how quickly the eyes, nerves, and brain work together. Students then rotated through hands-on learning stations to discover how different animals gather information, react to danger, and use both instinct and learned behavior. They ended the lesson by comparing perception and memory in animals, applying their understanding to real-world examples.

Next week, students will reflect on the scientific skills they used in this unit to explore and learn about animal and human senses.

Each Friday, activities will be shared via SeeSaw, including weekly spelling words. Students are expected to return their completed home learning by the following Friday. This can be submitted in one of three ways: directly on SeeSaw, as a physical copy, or in a home learning journal (which we can provide if preferred).

In addition, we highly recommend that students read every day at home. Daily reading builds fluency, strengthens comprehension, and nurtures a lifelong love of books.

Thank you for supporting your child in developing positive and consistent learning habits.

Spelling
For spelling, students received their words to practice at home. They will get tested next Friday. 

Math
For math, students practice short and long division tasks.

 Literacy
For reading, students will choose their spice level to read the text and answer the questions. For grammar, we learned all about the commonly mistaken words there/their/they're and to/too/two. Can you choose your spice level and edit or answer the questions?

Unit of Inquiry (UOI)
For UOI, you will prepare interview questions to further enhance how we want to improve certain systems at school.

Arabic/ Islamic
Our weekly newsletter provides a comprehensive overview of the content covered in class, including upcoming topics, Home Learning activities, and interactive resources to support your child's learning. We encourage you to check the newsletter regularly to stay connected and engaged in your child's educational journey.

Wednesday 19th November: PYP Winter Concert | 1:30 pm G1 to 3; 2:45 pm G4 & 5| Auditorium
Thursday 20 November: WORLD CHILDREN'S DAY | Winter Fayre* for Lower & Upper School | 3.30 - 4.30 | Campus Grounds
* For the Winter Fayre, students will be selling seasonal items so it is recommended that students have some money to spend.