Indigenous Studies - Year 4

Outcomes include:

Improving learning conditions of Indigenous students
Improving knowledge of indigenous issues and cultures

Objectives:

The student demonstrates intercultural understanding
The student understands about Australia and Australians

Challenge activities:

1. Find out about the traditional owners of the land you were born on.
2. Research the life of a prominent Indigenous person - choose from writing, visual art, literature, as well as sport.
3. Research and find at least 10 significant dates in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history.
4. Research at least 10 local place/street names and find out their Aboriginal meaning.

Word Bank:

Aboriginal, Dreamtime, boomerang, community, spirit, ancestors, shelter, storytelling, waterholes, kangaroo, hunting, spears, canoe, fire, children, elders, kinship, digging, Bogong moth, Witchetty grub

Activities:

Introduction to topic:

- Word Bank activity
- 'What I know' (pre test) journal entry.

Background Information:

- Study of The Dreamtime to gain insight into how traditional Aboriginal people view the world.
- Analysis and illustration of the Aboriginal creation story

Elements of traditional Aboriginal culture:
Tribes/Families/Community

- Comparison of similarities and differences between family structure of students and traditional Aboriginal families.
- Researching roles/routines of different tribe members, act/draw/write what they would do in a typical day - present to class.

Living off the land

- Research different food and shelter sources (lakes, bush, etc) summarising what is found there and how it is gathered.
- Design an ideal environment showing where food can be found and shelter can be formed. Evaluate each design and discuss what we can learn from this way of living.

Storytelling

- Read/view several traditional Dreamtime stories, identify common elements (morals, characters, language, themes). Discuss purpose and modes of storytelling in both our own and the traditional Aboriginal societies.
- Write class Dreamtime story to be acted out and shared.

Reflection

- Final written entry - What have you learned/enjoyed.

Assessment and evalutation will include:

Journal entries
Anecdotal evidence (discussions and group work)
Work samples
Presentation and illustration of work

STUDIES OF SOCIETY AND ENVIRONMENT

Society and Environment is an essential part of a balanced education where all students learn about the factors that shape their individual identity and that of their society.

This area is important because it expands students’ knowledge and understanding of their own society, other societies, local and global environments and the relationships between environments and societies. It develops knowledge about Australia , the diversity of its people, its cultural and natural environmental heritage, and its place in the world.

Our classroom provides opportunities for the development of:

- investigation, communication and participation skills,
practical survival skills,
- interpersonal skills necessary for getting along with others and establishing attitudes, values and beliefs,
- strategies for making decisions and choices,
- developing skills that enhance the ability to live in peace and harmony in our independent and interconnected world of natural and social systems.

SOSE: Adventures in Time and Place

The dimensions of thinking for SOSE in term 3, 2009, for the Year 4 class will focus on:
- critical thinking and creative thinking
- assess significant local and current affairs from a variety of sources, with a
focus on examining bias and distinguishing fact from opinion
- historical thinking use primary sources to broaden understanding of historical events and issues
- geographic thinking construct and interpret various types of maps (i.e., historical, physical, political maps) to broaden understanding of topics being studied
- decision making and problem solving
- propose and apply new ideas, strategies and options, supported with facts and
reasons, to contribute to decision making and problem solving.

Research and resource materials will focus on:

1. Volcanic activity
2. Tropical Rain forests
3. The Great Barrier Reef

Student communication will focus on:

- Communication by oral, written and visual literacy
- Student will express opinions and present perspectives and information in a variety of forms, such as oral or written presentations, speeches or debates.

Student skills involve initially watching a class SOSE DVD then working on the topic to research information, have small group then whole group discussion. Topics for discussion will involve the gathering of new information and the writing of a spelling word bank. Factual reports will be written and given orally.

Activities:

Introduction to topic -
1. Keyword strategy
2. 'What I know' pre testing by journal writing

Background -
Study of the SOSE DVD to gain insight into the topic and then analysis and illustration of the research completed in class using classroom computers.

Presenting and sharing competed themes -
By class circle time, by presentation using electronic media.

Treasure Hunt for Knowledge!

You are on a quest. Work in pairs in your workbooks.
Here are your tasks:

How many words can you make from "elephant"?
Write down as many words as you can for the color "red".
List six bones in the human body.
Find the author of The Wind in the Willows.
Draw a net of a cube and put it together.
List six words that have the THRASS sound "oa".
Write down the frst four lines of William Shakespeare's Sonnet 18.
Write a haiku about rain.
Draw a map of a treasure island and include a key and a compass.
What are the symbols for lead, gold and silver?

Grade 4 Spelling Test

This spelling test (Test 2) comprehensively covers spelling areas like compound words; adding s,ed, er, est; dropping final 'e' before adding 'ing'; silent 'g'; and non phonetic spelling.

CLOZE for Grade 4 - Matilda by Roald Dahl

Matilda is a great book for ______ in Grade 3-5. It tells the story of a 5 year old girl ______ Matilda. Matilda is a very bright girl. She started talking ________ when she was one year old and could read _______ when she was five. All her parents thought of her was a noisy little _________.

At Matilda's school there is a very mean Headmistress called Miss Trunchbull. She is very ________ and doesn't seem to like children. Then there is Matilda's teacher called Miss Honey who is nice to everyone. This ________ book tells about the wonderful adventures of Matilda and what type of special powers she _______.

If you like the ______ of this book go down to your local or school library to read it and be amazed by Matilda.

fluently, readers, violent, gets, named, perfectly, wonderful, chatterbox, sound




Written by Slinky.

CLOZE for Grade 4 - The Swimming Carnival

On the 4th of May our school went to the swimming _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ and had a really good time. Jack V. was the Junior Boy's Champion _ _ _ _ _ _ _ all his races and the
Junior Girls _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ was Freda S. who swam really well in _ _ _ _ of her races.

The races at the carnival included freestyle, breaststroke, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ , backstroke and the girls and boys medley. All the children at Howards Primary School got on the _ _ _ at 9:30 in the morning and got at the pool at 9:45. The first race _ _ _ _ _ _ off at 9:50 and was the girls and boys medley. This was just one of the _ _ _ _ _ that Freda and Jack won.

Altogether the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ carnival was the best ever one I have been to.



bus
pool
winning
Champion
most
races
kicked
carnival
swimming
butterfly

Written by Slinky.

SOSE - Australian Mapping

In our mapping we will get a black line master of a map of a state or territory of Australia. Trim and glue it into your SOSE (Studies of Society and the Environment) book.

On it, put the capital city and three other cities. Put in any mountain ranges, rivers and lakes. On the side of the map, do a key which will list all the things you have placed on your map, and a compass.

On the next page you will do your writing about the state or territory. Include information about the emblems, and make lists of coastal towns, rivers, lakes and all the famous tourist spots.

List flora and fauna (animals and plants) that are found in the state or territory.

Lastly, write a short story, using descriptive words about a time you visited one of the locations.

CLOZE for Grade 4 - The Golden Wishing Ring

Meanwhile the farmer reached home and showed his ring to his wife. "Now we cannot fail to make a fortune," he said.

"We must think very carefully how we shall use our _ _ _ _ ."

"Why don't we wish for the land next _ _ _ _ so that our farm can be twice as big?" _ _ _ _ _ his wife.

"Well that would be all right," said the _ _ _ _ _ _ , "but I'd rather _ _ _ _ really hard and see if we can save the money for the land, and in that way we will still have our wish."

And that's what happened. They worked so hard that they were able to buy the land next door. " Let's wish for a horse and a cow,"said the wife.
"No, we don't want to waste our wish'" said the farmer. "If we work hard it will not take long to buy the cow."

Sure enough, they were soon able to buy a beautiful horse and cow.



Answers:

wish, door, asked, farmer, work, money, wish, happened, were, buy, horse, waste, work, animals

CLOZE for Grade 4 - Ali Baba

The men stayed inside the rock for some time but Ali Baba didn't move. At last the door opened and forty men came out. The door closed and the rock looked like an ordinary _ _ _ _ again. Then the men galloped away. As soon _ _ they were gone, Ali Baba climbed _ _ _ _ and stared at the rock for a _ _ _ _ time. Then he cried, "Open Sesame!"

The door opened. Ali Baba _ _ _ _ _ _ inside and couldn't believe
his _ _ _ _ . There was _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ everywhere. Gold and _ _ _ _ _ _ laying heaps on the floor and jars were filled to the brim _ _ _ _ gleaming jewels. Costly silks _ _ _ _ thrown everywhere. Rare carpets were heaped in the _ _ _ _ _ _ . Money _ _ _ _ lay in piles.

When Ali Baba _ _ _ this, he was sure the forty _ _ _ had been robbers, and that this was their treasure . "Thank _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ they didn't see me, " he thought.


Answers:

rock, as, down, long, looked, eyes, treasure, silver, with, were, corners, bags,
saw, men, goodness

Canberra Mapping Treasure Hunt

Using a post from Pyewacket's Party, we worked in teams to decipher the clue beneath each picture of a Canberra tourist site. We needed to name the tourist spot and to discover its location.

We marked the locations on a map of Canberra we printed from Google Maps. We listed the 11 places and locations in our SOSE books and discussed each place with our team members.

Teams worked on two Smartboards, 5 classroom computers and a student's personal laptop.

Word bank:

fish, lake, location, flowers, green, tourists, aquarium, map, museum, earth, interesting, national, land marks, water, park, fountain, buildings, area, library, places, mountain, zoo, trees, travel, animals, parliament, capital, tower, educational, road

Africa

During our studies of who we are, and where we have come from in Australia, we discovered that some of our students are from Africa.

We made an African unit of work with the following:

• Write a haiku about Africa
• It's Great to be a Cheetah
• Choose a country in Africa to focus on
• Watch an IMAX Africa DVD
• Draw an African animal and the flag from your country you chose
• List of facts about the country we chose
• Word bank list
• African Grasslands foodweb
• Study the Big Five

Word bank list:

Africa, cheetah, big five, safari, giraffe, hippopotamus, captivity, deserts, savanna, continent, desert, flag

Discuss the Big Five:

- lion, leopard, buffalo, rhinoceros, elephant

Flags of Africa

Cooperative reading

Reading engagement and successful reading are linked and research supports this view, so Cooperative Reading in our classroom focuses on specific processes that facilitate reading engagement and motivation to read.

Engaged readers are motivated to make choices about what they read, how they read and what they take from the reading.

Engaged readers:

- are motivated to read by personal goals
- use a range of effective reading strategies to understand what they read
- are knowledgeable in the way they built new understanding from text
- are socially interactive in their approach to literacy

In our classroom:

- students choose from a range of books
- the teacher explicitly teaches social skills necessary for partner and group discussions and cooperative learning
- students interact around a text
- teacher reads aloud with pauses from time to time to model explicitly what readers do as they read
- students read aloud and use peer support to scaffold reading of difficult texts
- students read exciting and interesting novels, poems, short stories and specifically - blog entries such as Daisy's Designs and Jessica Watson's solo voyage around the world.

We will also read aloud the works of Beatrix Potter, namely Peter Rabbit and Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle.

Children Learn What They Live

If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight.
If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy.
If a child lives with shame, he learns to feel guilty.
If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient.
If a child lives with encouragement, he learns confidence.
If a child lives with praise, he learns to appreciate.
If a child lives with fairness, he learns justice.
If a child lives with security, he learns to have faith.
If a child lives with approval, he learns to like himself.
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship, he learns to find love in the world.

- Dorothy Law Nolte 1972

Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome

Word List:
anchor, fathom, engine, port, starboard, dinghy, chart, mast, sail, porthole,

Writing Topics

New Experiences
Learning to ride a bike
Flying
Making friends
Moving house

Favourite Things
Being in a sports team
Eating out
Favourite games
Foods I like
Friends
Hobbies
Holidays
My cubby
My family
My favourite toy
My pet
Parties
Staying overnight

Games and pastimes
Board games
Building a go-kart
Dressing Up
Swimming
The cooking experiment

Special Days
Christmas Day
First day of school
School holidays
Dress up day

People in my life
Aunts
Siblings
Best friends
Favourite singers
Grandparents
People I like

Special Places
My Bedroom
My trip overseas
My Favourite country
Staying at a motel/hotel
The most unusual place I've ever been
The museum
My treehouse

Good Times
After school
Going fishing
Going on a plane
Horse riding
In my spare time
My biggest success so far

Spelling Yr 4 2010

Unit 1

spade, blade, trade, lane, mane, cane, crane, ape, cape, tape, shape, scape, grape, escape, daze, blaze, gaze, maze, graze, crate, plate, skate, state, grate, slave, grave, shave, behave

Challenge Words:

barricade, decade, lemonade, debate, insane, humane, hurricane, elevate, inflation, vibrate, operate, amazed

Unit 2

dare, care, hare, mare, fare, ware, pare, rare, bare, spare, blare, scare, stare, glare, share, square, aware, beware

Challenge Words:

compare, declare, prepare, nightmare, welfare

Unit 3

time, mime, lime, crime, slime, grime, chime, prime, overtime, pantomime

Challenge Words:

sublime, limelight

Unit 4

role, dole, home, dome, zone, alone, cone, tone, cope, lope, mope, scope

Challenge Words:

rissole, gnome, chrome, aerodrome, telephone, microphone, microscope, stethoscope, telescope, periscope, kaleidoscope

Unit 5

sheep, green, speed, creek, creep, sleep, greet, bleed, sweet, breed, knee, queen, fleet, steep, agree, greed, sweep, street, teeth, speech, screech

Challenge Words:

agreed, decree, asleep, esteem, tweed, freedom, screen

Unit 6

stout, cloud, blouse, drought, trout, proud, trousers, plough, spout, shroud, thousand, scout, shout, flour, crouch, sprout

Challenge Words:

pronoun, scoundrel, flounder, pronounce


Unit 7

bow, crow, show, tow, blow, know, row, glow, stow, sow, flow, throw, mow, slow, bowl, low, grow, below, own, snow

Challenge Words:

tomorrow

Unit 8

roast, toast, coast, boast, float, throat, coach, grown, croak, cloak, cocoa, approach

Challenge Words:

gloat, loathe, shoal, encroach, cockroach

Unit 9

air, fair, hair, pair, lair, chair, stairs, fairy, repair, upstairs

Challenge Words

affair, flair, prairie

Unit 10

real, deal, seal, steal, meal, heal, squeal, beam, seam, cream, steam, peak, leak, bleak, freak, streak, neat, beat, heat, feat, bleat, treat, lean, lead, leaf, leap, peach, bleach, least, yeast, leash

Challenge Words:

conceal, appeal, league, reveal, ideal

Unit 11

head, dead, lead, read, tread, bread, ahead, spread, thread, ready, stead, already, instead, homestead, meadow

Challenge Words:

measure, pleasure, treasure, steadfast, breadth, dreadful

Unit 12

boil, soil, toil, oil, foil, coil, spoil, toilet, join, coin, point, choice, voice, rejoice, noise, poison, moist, hoist, avoid

Challenge Words:

appoint, quoit, void, recoil, poise, joist, ointment, invoice

Unit 13

tie, die, lie, pie, magpie, fried, flies, pied, science, society

Challenge Words:

anxiety, piety, piebald

Unit 14

dew, blew, grew, nephew, few, brew, knew, jewel, new, chew, stew, ewe, crew, screw, drew, threw, flew

Challenge Words:

pew, shrewd, renew, skewer, mildew, jewelry, newspaper

Unit 15

Reading List - for children of all ages

Including me.

Anne of Green Gables - L.M. Montgomery
Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
The Father Christmas Letters - J.R.R. Tolkien
The Tale of Peter Rabbit - Beatrix Potter
The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Graham
The House at Pooh Corner - A.A. Milne
Ballet Shoes - Noel Streatfeild
Just William - Richmal Compton
Dr Dolittle - Hugh Lofting
My Family and Other Animals - Gerald Durrel
P.L. Travers
Round The Twist - Paul Jennings
Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy - Lynley Dodd
Where the Wild Things Are - Maurice Sendak
Dr Seuss
Madeline - Ludwig Bemelmans

Terminology - for the differentiated classroom

Curriculum telescoping - is a form of acceleration as students complete several years of the school curriculum in less time than their peers. Note that material is not 'skipped', rather, students move through the program more rapidly by increasing the pace of instruction.

Enrichment - the student's learning pace is faster than that of their cohort. The student's learning is broadened by enrichment activities that are related to the content area.

Extension - leads to deepening of knowledge and a greater understanding. Students are given additional tasks, projects, and research questions and have a variety of ways to present their work such as by publishing it to the Internet and by teaching it to others. Extension activities are more challenging, abstract, have advanced content and are appropriate in difficulty.

There are five levels of giftedness: mild, moderate, high, exceptional and profound.

Differentiation - is where students learn differently and have different needs. It's where there is a commitment to plan for students' differences. It celebrates diversity. Its goal is to maximise student growth and to promote individual student success. It builds academic self esteem.

When planning a teaching unit:

- pre-assess to identify current levels of knowledge and understanding
- base a unit on a concept rather than a topic
- be prepared to modify the content, process and product
- layer tasks to contain at least three levels of teaching and learning experiences-
use higher order questioning strategies
- use creative/divergent thinking strategies
- ensure students have a choice of activities
- students may negotiate aspects of the curriculum
- layered assessments are planned to assess students of different skills and abilities
- students know and accept that other students may be engaged in different tasks within the classroom.
- student work samples are used to evaluate differentiation
- parents are informed of student progress using learning gain measures not just with test scores.