Year 4 Update – Wk 9

24th October – Whole school photo 4F & 4W individual andclass photos

25th October – 4L indiv idual and c lass photos

27th October – Year 4 Wetland Park field trip

28th October – Sibling photos

1st November – Year 6 bake sale – bring $5-$10 for a tasty

treat!

4th November – 4F class assembly

16th-18th November – Year 4 Camp

Typhoon Haima!Hope you all stay safe and dry today as the typhoon approaches. Visiting author – Jacqueline HarveyYear 4 were due to spend some time with popular children’s author,Jacqueline Harvey today. The intention was for her to talk to all Year 4& 5 students together about the writing process, then spend an hourwith each Year 4 class running some inspiring writing workshops.Fingers crossed that we will be able to re-arrange her visit forWednesday 26th October, before she travels to Australia.Homework 21.10.16Obviously we will be unable to give the children hard copies of theirhomework task this week until Monday. However, if you wish to make

a start on it before then, you will find it pasted at the bottom of thepage and we have also shared it via email with all Year 4 students. Wetland Park field trip – Parent helpersThank you to all parents who have offered to accompany us on ourexcursion next Thursday. The typhoon may impact on our ability tocontact you to confirm whether we will require your help on thisoccasion, however, we will contact you by Monday at the very latest.*4L is a little short of parent volunteers, please contact Ms. Fisher ifyou would be able to support the class on this occasion, thank you. School photosPlease refer to the dates above and ensure the children are wearingschool uniform (not PE kits) on the relevant date(s). This isparticularly important for their individual and sibling photos.Here is a message from Mr. Pheasant about the school photos.School Photographs 24th – 25th October 2015 Our school photographer will be in Beacon Hill next Monday 24th and Tuesday25th October. All children should come to school in their school uniformon these days. If your child has PE on Monday or Tuesday then please makesure that they bring their PE kit to school and they will be able to changeat school.Siblings Photographs For those of you who have more than one child at Beacon Hill thesiblings photographs will be taken on Friday 28th October. If you would like asibling photograph then please click on the link below and fill in the online formto book a space.https://goo.gl/forms/8bykkRWa8NbVvSXr2If you have any questions then please email Mr. Pheasant:chad.pheasant@bhs.edu.hk

Reminders

Please support us and your child by helping themcreate a positive impact on the habitat aroundthem by bringing their snacks in reusable snackboxes and drinks in reusable bottles.

AthleticsOur current focus in P.E. is Athletics. Here are some photos of 4W and4F enjoying some athletic activities on Thursday during a brief respitefrom the rain. You should have received letter about our upcoming PEsessions at the Pitch (starting 3rd November), please sign and returnthe reply slip to school.

Paul Melsom

We were fortunate to enjoy a visit from BHS’sfavourite environmental expert this week, whenPaul Melsom came to work with Year 4. Despite therain on Wednesday, he managed to spend timewith all of the children teaching them about waysthey can identify native HK plants. They evenlearnt some species’ Latin names, too!

Paul is very knowledgeable and his input is very valuable during ourcurrent U.O.I. We are hoping he can come back in two weeks to dosome planting with all Year 4 students.Wetland ParkThe Year 4 teachers went to Hong Kong Wetland Park this week (inthe midst of the amber, red and black rainstormwarnings on Wednesday!) to make plans for ourexcursion next week. We are really looking forwardto the excursion as we know it will support the workwe are doing during this U.O.I. very well.

Here are Ms. Fisher and Mrs Fennelly on our rainy visit (thanks tophotographer, Miss Wu).

Who We Are

Central Idea: People’s behaviour impacts on the habitats of

other living things.

Lines of Inquiry

An inquiry into:

Different habitats and the living things found in Hong KongImpact of behaviour on habitatsHuman responsibility to habitats

The children have continued inquiring into habitats this week, throughtheir work with Paul Melsom and, also, through their InformationLiteracy lessons with Ms. Jeves.

Ms. Jeves is helping the children to develop their observational skillsand they watched a video about the impact of the re-introduction ofwolves to Yellowstone National Park in USA. The children identifiedthe consequences of this decision and recorded their thoughts on aconsequence wheel.

This week, the children will be beginning to focus on Hong Konghabitats and Mr. Thompson will be visiting all classes to share a casestudy he has completed about forest habitats in Hong Kong. Duringour excursion, we will be considering the importance of wetlandhabitats to Hong Kong and how humans have impacted on theseareas.

Number Maths: Four Operations (Multiplication and Division)Central Idea – Multiplication and division are related to eachother and used to help us solve problems.

Lines of Inquiry:

The methods that are used to solve calculationsThe operations of multiplication and divisionThe different relationships between the four operations

This week we have continued with our open-ended learningengagements around multiplicative thinking. The children arebecoming more confident about tackling a challenge by themselves,sharing their strategies and persisting in order to reach a solution.This week, the students have been recapping on what they knowabout arrays in order to find out how many squares were needed tocreate a larger shapes (see example of 4F Hena’s work below).

Next week, we will be continuing our inquiries into arrays, whist alsorevising some useful written and mental strategies for solvingmultiplication problems.

Strand Maths: Data Handling

Central Idea – Different graph forms highlight different aspects ofdata more efficiently.

Lines of Inquiry:

Collect, organize and represent data (including bar and line

graphs, 3 ring Venn diagrams and Carroll diagrams) where oneobject or symbol can represent many data valuesInterpret data and draw conclusions using a variety of scalesDescribe the advantages and disadvantages of datarepresentation forms

This week’s homework will give the students an opportunity topractise some of these skills.

Text Type: Narrative ~ FablesThe children have now all had the chance to write a simple fable oftheir own that they have evaluated. The evaluations have allowed thechildren to identify the ways in which they could improve their writing

when they come to write their next fable.

The teachers have been continuing to use English lessons todevelop the skill of inference as this is our comprehension focus forthis unit. We have been making inferences from pictures, animatedshorts and writing.

4F watched this lovely animation and were amazed how much they

could ifer about the meaning of the story, despite their being nowords!

It is well worth watching if you haven’t seen it before (see videobelow).

There was no Golden Book Assembly on Monday 17th October, due tothe ESF CPD day.*Please note there will be no Golden Book Assembly on Monday 24thOctober either, as we will be having the whole school photographtaken at this time instead.

*Daily home reading

A reminder that the colour of the home reading book your child bringshome will reflect their reading ability at the end of Year 3. However,as reading assessments continue over the course of the coming fewweeks, this may or may not change. PLEASE be reminded that thecolour sticker on the reading book your child brings home is far lesssignificant than the development of fluency AND comprehension.There is also an expectation that your child will read a book andcomplete any quizzes on Reading Eggspress twice a week.

*Spelling

The children will have 10 new words to learn each week (Friday) andwill be tested on them by a classmate three times per week. Thewords they have comprise of some vocabulary relevant to our currentU.O.I., some words relating to the spelling rule that we are currentlylearning about and some words of their choic

*Home learning task 21.10.16

Year 4 Home Learning – MATHS – 21.10.16

To support your understanding of data-handling, thisweek’s home learning will give you the opportunity to “collect, organise

and represent data” about how much you, your family andneighbours/friends are impacting the habitats around you.

Collect Data

Conduct the survey: Complete this survey for yourself and then survey as1.many members of your family, etc. as possible. Record their answersusing a tally system in the space provided.

Organise Data

Add these two sets of data together and write the total in the space1.provided.

Represent Data

Use the totals given to create a graph or chart showing how “green” your1.group is!

“KNOW YOUR IMPACT” SURVEY

How green are you? Me OthersGroupTotal

Have you travelled by car in the last two weeks?

Have you used public transport in the last two weeks?

Have you recycled your plastic/paper waste in the last twoweeks?

Have you recycled your aluminium waste in the last twoweeks?

Have you recycled your glass waste in the last two weeks?

Have you used disposable chopsticks/straws/fast foodcontainers in the last two weeks?

Have you paid more for something because it’senvironmentally friendly in the last two weeks?

Have you bought organic fruit or vegetables in the last twoweeks?

Have you used plastic bags for your shopping in the last 2weeks?

Have you picked up litter and put it in the bin in the lasttwo weeks?

Now use the squared paper (or an online system, if you like!) to represent thesefindings in a chart or graph.What does that information show us? How can youuse that information?

Optional:

Create more than one graph/chart.Show your data in a double bar graphWrite a summary of what the data shows.