Hi Everyone!
Term 4 is
here already! Classrooms are in ‘full steam ahead’ mode and each is a busy hive
of activity. In a typical week your child will have had learning opportunities
in all areas of the curriculum, including Reading, Writing, Mathematics, Science and Social Sciences, Art, PE, Te Reo
Maori, all with our School Value and Key Competencies threaded throughout.
Our classroom CARE (Citizenship, Achievement, Responsibility and Effort)
programme is a reflection of our School Values and Key Competencies in action
and will be acknowledged and celebrated at our Team Assemblies.
Towards the
end of the term we will have another ‘Celebration of Learning’ evening where
your child will share with you the learning they have recently undertaken. Make
sure Monday 28th November, 3:00pm-6:00pm is a date left free in your
diary.
Teaching
and Learning in Years 3-4 in Term 4
Below is an
outline of what you can expect your child to be learning this coming term:
Literacy
Our
main writing focus for this term is poetry. The children
enjoy reading poems and especially love writing poetry, as it often breaks all
the conventional writing rules! We will be identifying visual
effects and language features of poetry and exploring a wide variety of poem
styles. There will be plenty of opportunities to write and recite poetry aloud
to an audience. We will also be learning the art of writing letters
and will be developing procedural writing skills. There is still of
course, the ongoing focus of embedding effective editing, proofreading and
re-crafting skills into every piece of writing the children do.
Oral Language will focus on skills of oral presentation, with an emphasis on using vocal expression, confident body language and addressing an audience. Children will have opportunities to present their Inquiry based procedural writing, recite poetry and will continue to share news and items of personal interest.
Reading opportunities
will be varied: teacher directed (reading groups) and independent (personal
interest and enjoyment); and will be integrated across all areas of the
curriculum. Children will be researching and reading for information, reading
for meaning and understanding a range of texts. We will continue to
encourage fluency, expression and the reading of punctuation to enhance
comprehension levels. As previously mentioned, poetry will also feature in
our class reading programmes.
Numeracy
This term
we will be revising all four number operations: addition, subtraction,
multiplication and division and will continue to develop our basic facts
instant recall. We will also be covering Fractions and will begin our
maths learning in our cross-grouped classes for the first three weeks of
Term 4 before returning to our home rooms for the remainder of the term.
“Everyone, everywhere
needs water” is our term long Integrated curriculum study. Our big idea, which
guides the study, is that “Everyone, everywhere needs water to survive”. On a
rainy Wellington day, it can be hard to believe that water can sometimes be a Taonga
and how we chose to use freshwater can impact on our quality of life. Children
will be guides through a number of investigations into water and it’s use-
firstly from a scientific approach- what is water, actually, and then we intend
to branch into more social science investigations- how is water used, how much
do people use, and what happens if water gets polluted- where does it go? Later in the term your child will be given a
small homework investigation to find out how much water they personally use in
a day. A bucket may be called into use!
Physical
Education
* Fitness this term includes a fun rotation of games including: Bat Down/French Cricket, Number Hockey, Bounce Strike, T Ball and the game of Whack and Run.
* Athletics Every Friday in the lead up to our School Athletics Day in Week 4, the children will be taking part in Athletics practice. Children will need to wear running shoes on these days to be able to fully participate.
* Fitness this term includes a fun rotation of games including: Bat Down/French Cricket, Number Hockey, Bounce Strike, T Ball and the game of Whack and Run.
* Athletics Every Friday in the lead up to our School Athletics Day in Week 4, the children will be taking part in Athletics practice. Children will need to wear running shoes on these days to be able to fully participate.
* Swimming is
scheduled to begin in Week 7, however this is of course weather dependent. In
our experience, the weather never really comes to the party at this time of the
year to allow a solid programme of swimming, and we will play this by ear again
this year.
* EOTC Week Planning
for EOTC Week in Week 9 is underway, and we are planning a fun filled week of
events. More details to follow!
The Arts
Visual Art - Stitching and Sewing. One of our most popular arts and crafts topic, sewing returns again to each classroom.
Visual Art - Stitching and Sewing. One of our most popular arts and crafts topic, sewing returns again to each classroom.
Performing Arts - Each class will also have sessions with Ruth Hooke, our Performing Arts teacher.
Te Reo
Maori
Our children will be attending
alternate Friday arts and crafts sessions where they will learn the
significance of arts and crafts in Maori culture and will also be making a
variety of Maori arts and craft, with a modern twist.
Housekeeping
~ drink
bottles, sunscreen and sunhats are of course essential this term. We have
a 'no hat - no play' policy!
~
stationary: many children may need a top up of their stationary items.
Pencils, pens, rubbers in particular. Please check with
your child as they will know what they require.
Parent Help
Many of you
have kindly offered to help out in our classrooms this year. Thank you once
again to all our wonderful parent helpers from Term 2 who listened to children
read as part of our "Hooked on Books Programme".
EOTC week - We would love for you to come and join us at Days Bay on Friday 9th December for our annual Days Bay picnic. Please let your child's teacher know if you would like to attend- from 10:00am onwards.
Getting in
touch
As always,
your first port of call is your child’s teacher. We can be contacted by our
email address (surname@muritai.school.nz), or feel free to pop in before/ after
school for a quick chat. If you wish to talk about your child’s learning at any
stage of the term, you do not have to wait until parent interviews to do so!
Your child’s teacher will be happy to talk with you - however be aware that
Monday and Tuesday after school are usually staff meeting times.
Dates for the Diary
Here is a
summary of upcoming events particular to the Year 3/4 Team:
October
Monday 24th ~
Labour Day – (School Closed)
Tuesday 25th ~ Teacher Only Day - (School Closed)
Tuesday 25th ~ Teacher Only Day - (School Closed)
November
Tuesday 1st ~
Athletics Day
Tuesday 22nd and Tuesday 23rd ~ Year 3 Anniversary reporting will take place. Further details to come!
Tuesday 22nd and Tuesday 23rd ~ Year 3 Anniversary reporting will take place. Further details to come!
Sunday 27th-
Eastbourne Carnival!!!
Monday 28th
- Celebration of Learning afternoon, Swimming starts (weather dependant).
December
Monday 5th
December ~ EOTC week begins
Friday 9th - Year 4 Reports and 2016 class lists go home.
Friday 9th - Year 4 Reports and 2016 class lists go home.
Monday 12th ~
Meet the Teacher for 2016
Friday 16th~
Last day of Term – Leaver’s Assembly at 11am
Looking Ahead to 2017
We are
about to begin the thorough process of placing children into classes for 2016.
If you are considering moving out of the area and your child will not be
coming back to Muritai next year please email me as soon as possible.
We all look
forward to another great term. Our thanks for your support, as always.
Kind
regards,
Richard
Dobson and Gabrielle Heath in R7, Karen Chao and Christa Pitman in R8, Heather Mawby in R9, Mikaela Cody and Trish Theobald in R10, Jess Davidson and Fiona Ranchod in R11.
