Over the last two weeks we have continued to explore realistic fiction. We have been reading Wonder as a whole class and then rereading the chapter ourselves. We continued to work on inferencing what characters feel and think by using what we already know and the text clues to make an informed guess. 

For example, we predicted that Auggie would feel uncomfortable on the tour of the school because he has been homeschooled for many years and only has a few friends who will not be attending the same school. 

We investigated different ways to infer - through events that occur in the story, through dialogue  between characters and the choices characters make. 

We also learnt to identify the themes in Wonder, by using the evidence in the story to identify the them. We learnt that the theme is more than one word - that is the topic whereas the theme is the big idea or message the character learns. 

We also watched another episode of Little Lunch. We used this to consolidate our understanding of themes and we learnt that the author wanted us to understand not to judge a book by its cover. This means we should look deeper at things and people not just the appearance. E.g. We should not judge Auggie by how he looks just like we should not judge Ya Ya's food because it looks different.

In Week 8 we learnt about dialogue and the purpose it plays in a story. We used pictures and scenarios to produce a list of possible conversations to use in our writing. We explored using direct and indirect speech and learnt the difference between the two. We also explored different speech tags instead of said. 

In Week 8, as Father's Day was approaching we learnt to practising adding detail by using sensory language to create something for a special person in our lives. This allowed us to express our thoughts and feelings about that person clearly. 

In Week 9, we started planning a new realistic fiction using a story mountain. We also learnt about adding clauses to our story mountains to give more information about people, places and things. We explored using conjunctions to make compound sentences by adding two main clauses with a conjunction.  Eg. Joe wanted to make a call but his phone was upstairs.

We further developed our sentences making complex sentences by exploring adding subordinating conjunctions to a main clause and a dependent clause. Eg. Mia was scared because she had to present in front of the class. We attempted to add both compound and complex sentences in our realistic ficton to help our writing come alive.

In Week 8 we learnt about partition decimal numbers using standard and non standard form to identify and understand the value of each digit. 

In Week 9 we took our understanding of decimals and explored them with money so that we can understand using them accurately in everyday financial situations. We did this by reading, writing and calculating with amounts of money using both dollars and cents. 

We also learnt how to use decimals when measuring length, weighing items and capacity. We did this  by reading, partitioning and comparing measurements for different items to find their length, mass or capacity.

Over the last two weeks we have continued using Minecraft Education to build a sustainable city with innovations that suppport how can digital technologies create positive change and help us solve problems in our lives and communities.  

In RRRR and Personal and Social lessons we learnt how to understand how actions can impact others. We did this by exploring empathy for others. We were given a scenario and explained how an action could affect someone else. We drew pictures and wrote sentences to describe how we can show empathy to others.

Our second lesson on empathy we explored further how our actions can impact others. We chose one situation, drew or wrote about it on a flower. On each petal we answered one of the following: what happened?, How did they feel? Why did they feel this way, and lastly a better choice - what could they do instead?

We also explored ways we can manage stress. We discussed what stress felt like and what things can make us feel stresful. We then created self-calming strategies. In small groups we brainstormed stressful situations and then discussed strategies we could use to reduce the stress.

On Thursday 10th September it was R U Ok? Day. We got to show our support by wearing a splash of yellow. This is a day we remind ourselves and each other that a simple conversation can change a life, and you do not need to be a mental health expert to reach out. As a part of this day we identified qualities a good friend by  thinking about the actions and words that help others feel cared for, included and supported. We did this so we can build positive friendships and know how to support someone who might be having a hard day. Then on a key we listed/drew the quality we thought was most important and therefore the KEY to being a good friend. We then pasted it onto a poster with a lock showing that these keys can unlock how to be a good friend. 

On Wednesday 9th September after school ACPS held a Showcase. The Year 4 cohort were in room 34 and room 35. In one room there was Maths activities to complete and in the other room there were Literacy activities. Teachers then stamped our passport which we them submitted into a raffle. Congratulations to Ammytoj 4A, Angela 4B and Mason 4C on winning minor prizes and Rutiana 4C on winning a major prize.

On Friday 11th September in Session 3 the Year 4 cohort went to the Gym for the Year 6 Market Day. The Years 6's have been creating different stalls to  sell items to help them understand business and economics. We brought along change up to $10 to make purchases. Some of the different stalls were; trading cards, bracelets, temporary tattoos, games to play, henna, etc. All the money raised through the Market Day businesses will be donated to charities selected by each Year 6 class.

Year 4 again enjoyed getting outside and particiating in Year 4 sport. We are enjoying choosing the activity we want to complete each week. Some sport on offer was the Gaga Pit, Tower Adventure Playground, Soccer, Golden Child and Dodgeball.