SPECIALIST NEWSLETTER

TERM 1 and 2 – 2018 Grade 3 and 4 (Levels 3 &4)

VISUAL ARTS: Joan McGregor Grade 3/4

This semester students develop skills and techniques in the area of drawing. They consider their use of the art elements of line, shape and space to draw their self-portrait. Students learn the technique of bead weaving and plan a design based on colour and pattern. Students create artworks individually and collaboratively based on their inquiry unit of “Space”. They explore joining techniques and develop skills in the area of construction as they make choices in creating a three-dimensional model. They also use a mixed media approach to extend their understandings of planets and the solar system.

LANGUAGES - Italian: Marie Petersen /Nadia DiVincenzo Grade 3/4

Benvenuti a tutti. This is an exciting semester for Grade 3 and 4 Italian students. In Term 1 they focused on the theme of My Holidays. Students were invited to communicate and interact with students from our Sister School in Milan, Italy. To develop their writing skills, students employed short, familiar texts and modelled language to write a postcard to describe their holidays and to introduce themselves. The aim of this unit was to develop student linguistic capacities in the areas of speaking, writing and reading.

In Term 2, as part of the Italian program, Grade 3 and 4 students will be completing a unit of work on Mathematics and Geography using a new approach called CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning). This method of teaching was adopted in Europe in the mid-1990s 2and is becoming increasingly popular in Australia. It involves the learning of the content of a non-language subject in a foreign language, where all the teaching is done in the foreign language.

At Coburg West, we will be teaching through CLIL a Mathematics/Geography unit based on the Victorian Curriculum Levels 3 & 4 Mathematics and Geography. We will be teaching this unit in Italian. This will be a ten week program.

It would be wonderful if you could engage in conversations with your children about their learning during this CLIL unit, and any anecdotal feedback would be greatly appreciated. LANGUAGES – Greek: Georgia Kyrkilis Grade 3/4

In term one, students engaged in various activities to learn the Time. Playing the Greek version of ‘What’s the Time Mr Wolf’ and learning the song ‘Η Ωρα’ allowed the students to engage in an answer and question dialogue and practice their oral skills. This also formed the basis for a writing task in which students created similar dialogues. Playing games, creating a Puppet Pals show and using clocks allowed the students to further reinforce telling and responding to the time in Greek. In term 2 students will be immersed into the realm of myths and legends. Ancient Greek legends continue to intrigue and captivate people to this day. The ancient Greeks began telling stories over 3,000 years ago, passing them on by word of mouth. Later, the stories were written down, changed and retold. In this unit students will have the opportunity to share in some of these myths and legends. Students will engage in a variety of artistic, writing, reading and oral activities which will reinforce the key vocabulary and language structures provided in this unit.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION: Christopher Harvey & Can Osman Grade 3/4

This semester, students developed their fundamental motor skills in a variety of drills and modified games including basketball, softball, rounders, football, soccer and netball. There was an emphasis on game rules, teamwork and match play. In addition, a focus on developing fitness through participation in a range of running activities such as relays and games of tag. Students have begun to develop their gymnastic skills with basic routines and use of core muscle strength. Students set individual running targets in preparation for the cross country trial.

PERFORMING ARTS: Merinda Meta Grade 3/4

During Terms 1 and 2, 3/4 students have engaged in music through singing, playing and creating various songs, rhymes and patterns. There has been focus on concepts of rhythm, pitch, texture and structure. They completed a rhythmic composition in groups, which gave them opportunity to become familiar with different rhythmic values. Students have also had the opportunity to learn about Jazz music. They learnt about some key features of Jazz music and learnt how a Jazzsong play on glockenspiels, which they then arranged into their own version. This also involved improvising, which was something we focused on as part of the topic. Students were also introduced to the 12 Bar Blues and played this on the glockenspiels and again, created their own arrangement of it including extra rhythms and improvisation with it as well. Students in 3/4 have enjoyed learning about this topic and they will have the opportunity to further develop the new skills and concepts they have learnt in future lessons.

The Coaches from the Coburg Giants

visited our school in term 1. The

students experienced the

techniques of dribbling, passing

and shooting in fun modified basketball

games.