Term 4 newsletter for Year 3 and 4
The year has flown by so quickly! It is now Term 4 and thoughts are turning to Athletics day, E.O.T.C week and the end of year Christmas concert.
Looking back over Terms 1,2 and 3, it has been such a busy year filled with so many amazing learning experiences. Ancient Egypt, Fizzing and Foaming (and in some classes, yeast and Breadmaking), writing competitions, the kitchen garden Matariki harvest, Artsplash…. And this is only scratching the surface! The teachers hope that you are able to visit your child’s class blog from time to time and see for yourself some of the wonderful learning opportunities that happen in their classroom.
The flowing is an outline of what will be happening this term. Later in the year, extra emails about E.O.T.C week and Athletics Day will be sent by class teachers, so look out for those.
“ORPHANS OF NEPAL”
Every two years, the Year 3 and 4 team aim to make a small difference in the day-to-day lives of the children at Brighter Future Children's Home (Bistachap Orphanage) in Nepal. For those of you who don’t know, Muritai School has a strong and ongoing relationship with this orphanage in Nepal, thanks to the ‘Orphans of Nepal Trust’, a local Eastbourne charity organisation. Their website can be found here: http://www.orphansofnepal.org.nz/
After spending some time investigating how the movement of continental plates made Nepal, and looking at the flora and fauna of the Himalayan Mountains, we will explore a ‘typical’ day of a child living at Brighter Future.
Our children will then be given an opportunity to plan, prepare for and run a small fundraising event at the Year 3-4 mini-carnival in late November. This year, money raised will be used by the Orphans of Nepal trust to build chicken coups and buy chickens for the orphanage. Two years ago the Year 3 and 4’s raised close to $800.00, this year our goal is to do even better!
Closer to the time, your child’s teacher will email you to keep you up-to-date with progress being made on the fundraising plan. As this is a ‘child driven’ inquiry, we may ask that you, at home, provide a bit of assistance here and there, if your child needs it.
READING AND WRITING:
Our writing focus for this term is Poetry, where we will be exploring the ideas of descriptive, figurative language. There is also the ongoing focus on embedding effective editing and proofreading skills into every piece of writing the children do. Some of the poetry created will be shared in a 'poets walk', to be created in the Potato garden under the Eucalyptus trees behind Room 2.
Oral language will focus on the oral presentation of poems, with a focus on using vocal expression and confident body language.
Reading continues in all classes, with particular emphasis on reading for meaning and (out aloud) for expression. There will also be a strong emphasis on ‘reading for meaning’ as children read about continental shift, the Himalayas, and Nepal.
NUMERACY:
We start the term in cross-grouped classes, re-visiting the addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and fraction skills learned earlier in the year. We finish the term by learning about the features of 2D (Year 3’s) and 3D shapes (Year 4’s).
Ongoing basic facts practice and learning how to problem solve will also feature.
PE:
Each Tuesday and Thursday morning, the children will be taking part in Athletics practice. The school’s Athletics Day is Thursday 11th November (Week 5) at Petone Rec. The PE team, a little closer to the time, will send an email about this.
Swimming is scheduled to start on Monday 22rd November (Week 7), however in reality this date is weather dependent and we will not begin swimming until the weather has warmed up a little.
ART:
We will be teaching your child how to sew this term! Most classes have already started teaching children how to thread a needle, tie a knot and sew a simple stitch. As the term progresses, children will learn to cross-stitch and sew some simple patterns on material.
Please check our class blogs! We would love to have you visit and leave a comment. Your child will know how to do this and will be able to guide you through the process. It’s easy! Just follow the class blog link at the school website www.muritai.school.nz
As you can see, it is a very, very busy term. To contact us, the easiest way is to email us (teachers surname @ muritai.school.nz), or just pop in.
Kind Regards,
The Year 3 and 4 Team.
