The B.F.G.

Do you know who this is?

This is the B.F.G.

We are going to be reading all about him this term before this wonderful looking new movie comes out at the end of term.

Have a watch of the trailer and make some predictions about what you might expect from our new class novel.

ANZAC Day

During the last part of the term we have been continuing our work on different celebrations and we have turned our attention to the commemoration of ANZAC Day. In our Writing lessons we have started writing a class persuasive text on why we should still commemorate ANZAC Day. Based on their research on this special day, this is the introductory paragraph that the class wrote.

“We should commemorate ANZAC Day. ANZAC Day is definitely a day that should be remembered. The sacrifices that Australian and New Zealand soldiers made were important. Also, learning about wars teaches us never to have them again. Finally, there are still soldiers serving our country who deserve our respect. All Australian and New Zealand people should find a way to commemorate ANZAC Day.”

We will post the rest on the blog when we finish it at the beginning of next term.

We also furthered our learning about ANZAC Day by watching the rather sad episode of My Place (our class novel for this term) which centered around a child’s life in the aftermath of WWI. A big highlight of this viewing on the last day of term was also having some ANZAC biscuits to nibble on while we watched.

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Me and My Shadow…

Part of the year 3/4 curriculum involves learning about the connection between the Sun, Moon and Earth and observing how these connections can be seen in our everyday lives. So far we have already been observing and recording the changes we see in the moon and looking at how our days, years and seasons are determined by the rotation and revolution of the Sun, Moon and Earth.

Today M10 were conducting experiments to see what happened to a shadow over the course of the day. We set up an experiment, measuring the shadow of a pop stick and every hour we recorded the changes in length and direction. Have a chat with your child to see how their group fared and what they discovered!

Here are some of our groups in action

Swimming

Today was the first day of our week of swimming lessons for this year. Of course we can’t show you any photos from our lessons – they are a photo free zone! We can however show you what a beautiful day we had for our first day and we are going to enjoy this while it lasts as the rest of the week looks a little wet. Mrs Knipe has been very impressed with the way all the children have been very organised and quick to follow instructions. Everyone got changed very responsibly and we were back on the bus to go back to school right on time. Well done everyone. This level of organisation and independence means we should have a great week ahead of us!

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Norwood comes to MWS

Today M10 took part in a clinic with some players from Norwood Football Club. We got to practise lots of different skills, rotating through 4 different stations. We learnt about kicking goals, dodging and other body movements, handballs and even had a chance to practise our skills in a short game. We also enjoyed asking lots of questions of the players and seeing how our skills matched up to theirs – they could certainly kick a lot further than we could!

Easter Bunny Visits

Here in M10 we wish everyone a very happy Easter and we hope you all get to spend some lovely family time together over the 4 days. Here are a few quick shots of when the Easter Bunny came to visit us here in the room before we left for the long weekend.

Potatoes for St Patrick’s Day

Part of the year 3/4 curriculum is learning about different celebrations that are celebrated in different cultures around the world. M10 and M11 took our learning to a very yummy level today, not only learning about the reasons behind the celebration of St Patrick’s Day but also having  a delicious shared lunch of baked potatoes.

Some of the facts we learned are:

  • St. Patrick’s Day is the national holiday of Ireland and is usually celebrated on March 17.
  • Lots of people, whether they are Irish or not, wear green on this day.
  • The shamrock, pot-of-gold and leprechans are also associated with St. Patrick’s Day. The shamrock was worn as a badge on the lapel. Three is Ireland’s magic number and the three petals that make up the shamrock are supposed to bring good luck.
  • The leprechaun is a small Irish fairy and if someone catches a leprechaun, he will be forced to tell where he hides all his pots of gold.

Here we are enjoying our yummy potatoes for St Patrick’s Day

Hockey 1, Hockey 2, Hockey M10

Today we were lucky enough to be visited by some people from Hockey SA. They shared some tips with us about the basics of playing hockey. We learnt about the safety equipment used and then how to hold and use a hockey stick properly. We then got to have a go at the basics of dribbling and stopping a hockey ball.

We also learnt a lot about just how skilled our Australian National teams are.

Did you know the Kookaburras, the Australian men’s team have won a medal at every Olympic hockey tournament since the 1992 Games in Barcelona?

Did you also know that the Hockeyroos, the Australian women’s team won back-to-back gold medals at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games?

Now that we know what a fun sport this is, we are certainly going to keep an eye on these hockey teams when the Rio Olympics start up later in the year.

Here we are having a go at our hockey skills

 

My Place

my-place This term we are reading Nadia Wheatley’s marvellous book My Place. This book chronicles the lives of children living on the same patch of land in New South Wales and records how the children and the land change as each decade passes. It is a great resource for learning about Australian history as the book takes us on a journey from before the arrival of Europeans right up until recent times.

This book has also been made into a children’s television series by the ABC and after we have read different decades of the book, we will also view the episodes and compare how the book and series differ.

The ABC has a great website which provides lots of information about the book, the series and the eras of history it covers which the students will enjoy exploring as well.

The website can be found by clicking here