Term 4 Week 1-3 

This term in Reading we are learning about the features and purpose of Persuasive texts. 

In Week One we read a variety of persuasive texts; Dont Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, All Schools Should have Therapy Dogs, The Day the Crayon Quit and Give Bees the Chance. We used these books to  activate and using our prior knowledge to make connections and to ask meaningful questions to help us understand their features and purpose.  

In Week Two we started reading The Wild Robot. We made connections with the text through the use of our prior knowledge and asking power questions to enable us to engage deeper with the text. We also summaraised chapters to help us identify the main idea and evidence to support with an explanation. We aslo watched an article on Behind the New called Robot Revolution where we also learnt to find evidence that supports an author's idea to help us understand the purpose. Lastly, we watch Episode 1 of the Inbestigators to judge how well an author uses evidence to support their arguments. We learnt that evidence should be relevant, accurate and convincing.

In Week Three we continued reading The Wild Robot and identifying the main idea and important details.  We learnt to explain how these details connect to the main idea to help us understand what the text is mostly about. We then read the persuasive text Should Children Wear School Uniforms to locate the main idea. We did this by identifying key information and determine the importance details. Lastly we watch a Behind the News article called Why More Aussies Are being Homeschooled. We did this to learn how to support our ideas with evidence from a multi media text.

This term in Writing we are continuing to plant seeds in our Writer's Notebook to use for Passion writing and write persuasive texts.

In Week One we continued to plant a seeds in our Writer's Notebook by brainstorming topics we are passionate about to collect a bank of ideas to spark our interests. Then we learnt how to form an argument by sharing our opinions for and/or against a topic to understand how to use persuasive language to convey a message. We also learnt to choose a genre of our own choice to write and engaging piece of writing and how to use transition words effectively in a writing piece.

In Week Two we started the week by developing our seeds from our writer’s notebook. We choose a seed and built arguements so that we can turn our ideas into strong arguments that can persuade our readers.  Then we learnt to plan and draft our persuasive text by using the OREO model to plan the persuasive piece and write the introduction to organise our ideas clearly and engage our reader from the beginning. We then continued during the week to draft the main body of our persuasive writing piece by adding details and evidence to support our arguments to persuade our readers. Lastly we learnt to choose and develop a writing piece by using main and subordinate clauses to add reasons, details and explanations to create an engaging and convincing piece of writing.

In Week Three we learnt about persuasive devices by making a list of devices to use in my writing to ensure we include interesting vocabulary in my writing pieces. We are also continued to write our persuasive text and make them more impactful by using a variety of modailty words. We also learnt to include rhetorical questions that trigger specific thoughts and feelings so that we can build on our sentence structure and build detail into our texts. We also included emotive language so as to evoke specific emotions in our readers and influence thier opinion. Lastly we learnt to add detail to our writing by using figurative language to bump up our work so that we can build on our description and make our texts more engaging.

In Week One we started the topic data representation. We learnt to pose relevant questions for collecting data by creating and testing survey questions about our school playground. So we can collect useful data to help us make informed decisions. We then conducted data investigations by collecting data in an appropriate format so that we could create a visual representation. We then recorded the data collected in our frequency tables, selected the most effective graph for the data and then recorded it in the graph. We also learnt to create a graph by using digital technologies and then practised intrepreting the findings.

In Week Two we redid the whole process again by posing relevant questions and collecting data by creating and testing questions about transport and created frequency tables using digital technologies. Then we  used the data we have collected, and identified what the data told us by creating a spreadsheet so we can use data to answer questions, make comparisons and draw conclusions. We also practised creating graphs when one symbol represents more than one piece of data and also interpreted data displays when one symbol represents more than one piece of data. Lastly we presented our data by recording and verbally sharing our findings.

In Week Three we started a new unit on 3D objects. We started the week by refreshing our knowledge of two dimension and three dimensional shapes by exploring properties of these shapes and objects so as to understand the connection between 2D shapes and 3D objects.  Then we learnt to name, describe and draw three dimensional objects by identifying their properties such as faces, edges, vertices and apex to accurately describe them. Next we sorted and compared three-dimensional objects by looking at their properties, such as faces, edges, vertices and curved surfaces so we can describe how objects are alike and different and explain how we sorted them. 

This term our big idea is Power. We aim to explore the topic to answer the essential question How can we design a solution to help protect living things and their habitats?

In Week One we started to investigate living and non living things by showing our prior knowledge in a mindmap, based on guiding questions so that we can start gaining an understanding of our new topic. We then inquired into living and non living things by exploring multi media sources and documenting noticings and wonderings using a KWL chart.

In Week Two we identified and describe the features of living and non-living things by observing things in our classroom and schoolyard and classifying them based on their features so that we can explain how features help us classify things as living or non-living. Then we identifed how animals are different by observing, describing and comparing features such as body coverings, size, shape and movement. This helped us to understand that animals have different features that help them survive in their environments.

In Week Three we learnt that plants can be identified by thier different features and structures by identifying and describing the observable features of plants by observing real plants, photographs or specimens and labelling features such as roots, stems, leaves, flowers and seeds. We also learnt that all living things have different features by observing, investigating and researching different types of plants, thier features and how to classify the

In Week One we revisited our Wellbeing plans and learnt to recognise when we need help. We practised three different grounding strategies and then updated our plans so that we know what to do and who to ask when feelings become difficult. We also learnt to identify the correct ACPS school uniform. We did this by examining different uniform pictures and comparing them with our school uniform policy. This helps us to come to school dressed safely, appropriately and ready to learn.

In Week Two we started to explore what resilience means by identifying how people respond to challenges, mistakes and difficult situations so we can use helpful strategies to recover, keep trying and adapt when things do not go as planned. We also learnt to understand gender stereotypes by exploring ways we are the same and different by completed an identity wheel.

In Week Three we continued to explore how to be resilient. We listened to After the Fall and identifed how Humpty Dumpty used resilence to overcome his problem by identifying small steps we can take to work through a challenge so that we know how to bounce back after a challenge. We started creating a resilence ladder by identifying a current problem and the steps we can use to overcome the problem. We also leart to understand stereotypes in stories by comparing traditional fairytales and modern fairytales to understand that traditional fairytales and stories can be gender stereotypical .