Year 3-4

New words

Year 3: adapt extinct habitat there their inspect respect spectator spectacular spectacles

Year 4: adapt extinct habitat there their calendar grammar regular peculiar popular

Dear Parents and children,

Next week we will return to in-class teaching. Please ensure that your child brings their laptops with all accessories as well as the folders with all the teaching supplies that we provided at the beginning of the E-learning program. The  completed work sheets may remain at home although students should bring their posters and comic creations to display and share with the class.

This week we covered a great deal of work in our learning. In English the students created their own fables with a moral that they chose. they then converted their fables into comic books. In grammar we practiced homophones to avoid confusion between to, too and two and there their and they’re. in literacy we completed chapters 9 and 10 of Matilda and discovered Miss Trunchbull’s scary talent for “Throwing the Hammer”.

In Math this week we focused on division. first reviewing basic division facts and calculating division sums with remainders before moving on to strategies such as the Bus Stop written method. We then learned how to find fractions of whole numbers. We ended off the week with our weekly test and a game of “Division Bingo”.

In IPC this week we neared the end of our unit of “The Nature of Life” by understanding different habitats and what living creatures need to survive to avoid becoming extinct. The students made excellent presentations about animals that they researched. We learned about how animals adapt to the conditions of their habitat and the students got to create their own imaginary animal and explain how it has adapted to suit it’s environment.

We finished off our P.E. unit on Health and Fitness with the students reviewing videos of the fitness activities that they have learned and practicing their favourite activities.

That is all for this week. I look forward to seeing them all back at school on Wednesday. Please ensure that your child comes to school with a face mask and, if they use the school bus, be sure to accompany your child to the bus stop at the regular scheduled time.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Mr. Kearney

New Words

Year 3: possession apostrophe carnivore herbivore omnivore scope telescope microscope periscope gyroscope

Year 4: possession apostrophe carnivore herbivore omnivore exit extend explode external export

Dear Parents and Children,

It has been another full week of online teaching and learning in the year 3-4 classroom and the students really showed their creative chops in their work this week.

In English the year 3’s learned that the meaning of the word”scope” is related to seeing as it is applied to different words and the year 4’s learned the prefix “ex” is related to “outside”. The students had fun working in pairs analyzing a fable and present it to the class. They then had to work together creating their own fables around the moral  “Be kind to nature and it will be kind to you”. Their stories are wonderfully creative. We reviewed and practiced using possessive apostrophe’s in grammar.  In literacy we continued with chapter 7 and 8 of Matilda, reading about Matilda starting school and meeting Miss Honey and the formidable Miss Trunchbull. The students wrote fantastic limericks about Miss Honey and reflected on what makes a good teacher and role model.

For Math this week we practiced multiplication by using partitioning to break up  numbers and used that to make calculations with really big numbers. I am impressed with the students abilities to use this method to solve multiplication problems. We applied that to using different formal methods of multiplication, including the grid and ladder or vertical method of multiplication. We then used these method’s to solving tricky word problems.

In IPC we continued our exploration of “The Nature of Life” learning about herbivores, carnivores and omnivores. The students also used their plans from last week to create their own plant and animal classification key. They were then tasked with researching and animal of their choosing and I look forward to seeing their presentations next week.

In P.E We had fun with dance exercises and played the freeze game. We also learned about doing exercises in a given time limit and took note of the importance of resting between sets of exercises.

Another fun week of learning has passed us by. That is all for this week. Have a wonderful weekend.

Mr. Kearney

New words
Year 3 – factor dilemma reptiles mammals amphibians enough young touch double courage
Year 4 – factor dilemma reptiles mammals amphibians autograph autopilot automobile autobiography automatic

Dear Parents and Children,

I am pleased that the year 3 -4’s will return to in-class teaching on Wednesday 3 June.

We have accomplished a lot in this full week of online teaching and learning. I am so impressed with how hard the year 3-4’s have worked.

In English the year 3’s learned that the letters “ou” can sound like “u” and the year 4’s learned the prefix “auto”. The students had fun making anagrams out of words and their names. In literacy we continued learning about fables, this week the famous stories of the Town mouse and Country Mouse and the Tortoise and the Hare. We even saw the story being put into practice for real and were all surprised when the tortoise also won in real life as the hare stopped midway for a rest. Next week the students will research a fable of their own and plan an original fable with a moral based on what we have learned. The students really enjoyed this weeks chapters of Matilda. They practiced their “Arithmetic” and came up with wonderfully creative tricks to play on Mr. Wormwood. For Teachers day the students wrote lovely character descriptions of what their perfect teacher would be like.

In Math this week we learned about Factors – numbers that fit in to other numbers without any remainders or leftovers. The students also learned strategies for remembering their times tables up to 12’s. We will continue with multiplication and division next week.

In IPC we continued or exploration on the nature of life. The students are getting quite adept at classifying animals. We now understand that animals can be vertebrates or invertebrates and vertebrates can be further classified into other groups. The students brought some math into the IPC class by calculating the area of a leaf. They had a great time learning about life cycles and creating  a life cycle on a paper plate.

In P.E. the students got some exercise by practicing their Karate and Ninja skills. They also practiced their juggling skills that we learned before.

Finally, We all wish Reyansh a awesometastically splendiferously Happy Birthday for Saturday 16 May! Have a great day Reyansh!

That is all for this week. Have a wonderful weekend.

– Mr. Kearney

New spelling words for this week

Year 3: dialogue vertebrate classify predator prey wonder month brother another discover

Year 4: dialogue vertebrate classify predator prey anticlockwise antifreeze antivenom antisocial anti-gravity

Dear Parents and Children,

We hope you enjoyed Children’s Day on Tuesday and spent time with your family.

Despite it being a short week we covered a lot of work in the year 3-4 online classroom.

In English we continued looking at fables, this week reading about the mouse and the lion and understanding that what goes around come around. In grammar we reviewed the rules for direct speech and learned about reported speech.  In literacy we read chapters 3 and 4 of “Matilda”. We enjoyed reading about Matilda’s cunning plans to discipline her parents but also discussed if her actions were the right thing to do. We will continue with this fantastic book next week.

In Math we continued working with money amounts, decimals and fractions, correctly ordering and placing decimals on a timeline. We also compared decimals in terms of smaller, greater and equal to. Next week we will look at multiplication and division.

In IPC we continued our unit on “The nature of life” learning about food chains and food webs and understanding that organisms in an ecosystem can be classified into producers, consumers and predators and prey.  Jeremy showed us his carnivorous plant. We also played a game of “20 Questions” and then learned how to use a classification key to sort living organisms, particularly vertebrates (Mammals, reptiles, fish, amphibians and birds).

In P.E. the students learned that we can do a fitness routine at home with a simple piece of paper and we had fun doing “Frozen Yoga”.

A special message wishing Jeremy and Lois a happy birthday for Thursday and Friday and Happy Parents Day to all the mothers and fathers today. We hope that you all have a memorable day.

It was a full week of teaching and learning, have a wonderful weekend.

Mr Kearney.

New spelling words:
Year 3: producer consumer decompose fable process library dictionary summary secondary ordinary

Year 4: producer consumer decompose fable process interact internet intergalactic international interrupt

Dear Parents and Children,

We have plunged straight into learning in our first term of week 3 and the students have worked very hard.

In Math this week we reviewed place value, multiplying and dividing by 10 and 100, even with decimals. We applied this to making calculations with money – Pounds and pennies. We will continue with decimals and money next week.

In English we started learning about fables. We looked at 2 different fables and the morals and lessons that we learn from them. we learned that fables can be positive and negative stories but what is important is the lesson that we learn from them and how we can apply it to our own life. We will look at two more fables next week. We also started our new class reader, “Matilda” by Roald Dahl.  We read the first two chapters and learned about why Matilda is a very special girl and why reading books is important and can transport us to magical places in our imagination. We will continue with this fantastic book throughout the term.

In IPC we started our unit on “The nature of life” understanding that all living organisms are connected in the way they live. We learned about the 7 life processes that living creatures have in common and in an ecosystem we can group organisms into producers, consumers and decomposers. We will continue exploring the nature of life in the coming weeks.

For P.E. the students made their own exercise wheels to create a daily exercise routine. We had fun selecting different exercise for the class to perform.

Tuesday 5 May is Children’s Day and the school will be closed. There will be no online classes on that day so do take the time to spend it with your child.

That is all for this week. Have a wonderful weekend.

Mr. Kearney

New Spelling words.
Year 3: position interval measure reason opinion strange complete extreme forwards business

Year 4: position interval measure reason opinion separate purpose difficult suppose therefore

Dear Parents and Children,

I can’t believe we have reached the end of term 2. What an exciting and eventful term it has been. Thank you to all the parents for meeting with me yesterday. I enjoyed discussing your child’s learning progress with you.

This week we must also sadly bid farewell to Angela as she departs HFS. Angela is a hard working students with a cheerful disposition who is popular in the year 3-4 class. We all wish her luck as she leaves for her next adventure and hope we will see her again soon. Take care Angela, We will miss you!

In our classes this week the students did a great deal of excellent work. In math we worked on our measurement skills, converting between centimetres and millimetres and reviewing how  to measure angles using a protractor. The students then completed their own measurements of household objects showing the results in a graph that they created.

In English and IPC the students continued developing their persuasive writing skills by creating fantastic brochures for HFS.  They can be the new HFS marketing and publicity team. In IPC, after learning about the features of a persuasive argument, the students worked in groups formulating their own arguments on the topic of “Are zoos good or bad?” They had to take a stance on the argument, come up with reasons and create a persuasive argument with an introduction and a conclusion. I was impressed with their reasoning skills, well done! Here is Reyansh’s fantastic brochure which he unfortunately couldn’t present in assembly.

We rounded off the week with a fun P.E. lesson about how to juggle. I hope they continue to practice.

Finally, a big congratulations to all of our award winners for this term. Anna, you truly deserve your award for Good Citizenship because you are always showing excellent character traits. Angela, you have made great progress in your studies over the time you have been here and I hope it continues to progress from from strength to strength. Look forward to seeing your name on our HFS wall of honour.

That is all for this week. Don’t forget that Thursday 30 April is Buddha’s Birthday and the school will be closed on that day. There will be no online learning.

Have a wonderful weekend

-Mr Kearney

Spelling

Year 3: convert slogan appealing argument rhetorical league plague rogue vague fatigue

Year 4: convert slogan appealing argument rhetorical phone phonics microphone telephone homophone

Dear Parents,

Another week of online learning has flown by and the students have done well keeping busy and hard at work.

An important note for today is that students Term 2 progress reports went home with the school van learning material delivery. Please ensure that you have received your child’s report and review it to discuss at next week’s parent teacher conferences.

In English this week the students had fun creating crossword puzzles from their new spelling words. It is a great way to learn new words and build vocabulary while thinking laterally to solve clues. In our non-fiction unit, we delved further into learning about persuasive writing. We looked at the features of print and video advertisements as well as some creative ads from favourite children’s stories before planning and creating our own advertisement to sell a gingerbread house.  Next week the students will plan and create their own advertisement for something special.

In Math we continued our unit on time as the students learned how to calculate time in different intervals and apply that to real world uses such as television schedules and train time tables. Next week we will end our unit on measurement by converting measurements of lengths.

In IPC we are rounding off our unit on “Active Planet with an exploration of human disasters. We took an in depth look at the Titanic disaster and students had to research and explain the causes of the tragedy and what could have done differently to avert it.  We also looked at global warming and the causes and effect of that on our planet for people and animals.

The students enjoyed dancing to music videos for P.E. and I look forward to seeing the videos that they created. We also practiced our health and fitness skills.

A full week of learning and fun. Have a wonderful weekend!

Mr Kearney

Year 3: persuade symbol compose advertisement express chef machine crochet brochure parachute

Year 4: persuade symbol compose advertisement express decide medicine exercise citizen special

Dear Parents and Children,

Welcome back to school in the online world! It is good to return to teaching and learning and I have been impressed with how much we have been able to cover this week. Well done to all the students for working so hard online!

In English we reviewed parts of speech, compound words and learned new spelling words “ch” as “s” sound for the year 3’s and “ci” as “s” sound for the year 4’s. We also started our non-fiction unit on persuasive writing by looking at humorous advertisements and how they persuade us to buy things. We will go deeper into this in the coming weeks.

In Math we reviewed telling the time in analogue and digital formats and progressed on to representing time as data. Next week we will go into measurement.

We had a lot of fun in IPC this week as the students got to present their natural disaster slideshows that they made during the closure. The Students also enjoyed composing music to express the drama and emotion of a natural disaster. We will refine and tweak our composition skills further. Next we will look at human disasters.

In P.E. the students were active and had fun learning dance moves and they will try and record their own dance video to a song of their choice.

A full week of learning and fun and I look forward to the next one.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Mr. Kearney

Dear Parents and Children,

I am pleased that the online learning platform that we setup was such a success. thank you for your patience and understanding as we worked to get it up and running. I am glad that, despite the sudden need to close the school on Monday morning, we were able to get a full week of teaching and learning in. The students were very productive and we managed to cover all the material that was planned for this week. Well done to the super-tech-smart 3-4 class for quickly learning how to use Google classroom and Meets. I had fun in our daily lesson conferences. It was impressive to be able to conduct lessons with students as they were dispersed across the world.

In English we learned new spelling words, revised adverbials and learned about pronouns in our grammar. The students tied in to their IPC learning to create wonderfully creative myth stories explaining natural phenomena. the students shared their stories with each other in the online meeting.

In Math we learned about telling the time in analogue, digital and 24 -hour format. The students are now confident in their time-telling abilities so no excuses for skipping chores or being late.

In IPC we finished off looking at natural phenomena with an awesome home- experiment where we made a tornado in a bottle. We then  progressed on to how to be safe before, during and after certain natural disasters. The irony is not lost on me.

The school will be closed until Friday 13 March as we weather the spread of the Covid-19 virus. We are set to reopen on Monday 16 March should the situation be under control. If this is not the case and it is necessary for the school to be closed for a longer period, parents will be notified by email and text message before Monday 16 March.

Take care and be safe as we wait to overcome this challenge. I look forward to everything returning to normal soon.

Mr Kearney