GIS Grade 4 week starting 22 October 2018

Dear Parents
This week's homework will once again be on Reading Eggs and Mathletics.
Please assist your child by helping them memorise their multiplication times tables.

Thank you to all parents who sent in canned food for our Food Dive on World Food Day last week.  These will be given to representatives from Fountain House and the Salvation Army this Wednesday 24 October at 1pm, in a special assembly.  A reporter from the local newspaper will be there to capture the event.
Just a reminder that it would be great if your child could dress in the colours of their national flag for UN Day 24th October!

A reminder that there will be a parents' coffee morning this Wednesday 24th October at 8.30am for PYP parents.  You are welcome to bring along a friend who might be interested in finding out more about our school.  The MYP coffee morning will follow the PYP coffee morning.

We have been incorporating our Art into our units of inquiry.  Many of you saw our large religious icons we created in our unit on Belief Systems.  In our unit on Explorers, we explored water colours as a background and experimented with picture transfer.  Some of the results were quite stunning.  We are currently looking at Picasso as an art explorer and are trying to make cubist paintings using oil pastels.

On the 5th November, we'll be hosting the PYP assembly at 2.20pm.  We'll be presenting the rap songs about Explorers that we wrote to music we composed on Garage Band.  All parents are welcome to come and watch our assembly.

Working on our religious icons.

And some of the finished products.

Some of our explorations into water colour and picture transfer.

Working on GarageBand to compose the music for our Explorer Rap Songs.

Grade 4 week starting 15 October 2018

Dear Parents
Hope you had a fantastic holiday and are ready for the new term.
This week's homework is on Mathletics and Reading Eggs.
We have started our new unit of inquiry on how exploration contributes to change.  In Norwegian class, your child will be learning about some famous Norwegian explorers.  We'll be focusing on the changes exploration brought, rather than the explorers themselves, the different perspectives involved and the effect on the indigenous population.
We have some exciting events coming up this month.
World Food Day
World Food Day is on the 16th October.  We invite you to send in a can of food with your child on the 16th October.  All cans collected will be donated to a local charity.
UN Day
We shall be having a special assembly for UN Day where we shall be highlighting the United Nations and what it does and what it means to be a global citizen.  We'd like your child to wear the colours of their national flag for UN Day.
We'll also be holding a coffee morning for all parents and any possibly interested parents at the start of school.  We'll be giving a short presentation about the PYP and how it benefits your child's learning.  You are invited to bring a friend along.
Halloween
Your child may come to school dressed in fancy dress on the 31st October.  While we realise that many do not support Halloween, children love an opportunity to dress in costumes and fancy dress and that will be our focus, rather than what Halloween actually represents.  The student council are planning a fundraising activity, and there will be more on this in the next blog post.
Kind regards,
Miss Cindy and Mr Wanda

Week 4 in Grade 4

Last week was an exciting week for us!
We had a visitor on Monday who taught us how to blow the shofar and we ate apples with honey and challah bread for Jewish New Year. (Pictures below)
On Wednesday we celebrated International Chocolate Day and drank hot chocolate.  Student Council managed to raise 1500kr.
On Friday Ellen Johansen came to talk to us about people with disabilities and how people's beliefs about people in wheelchairs affects the way they react to them.
This week on Wednesday we celebrate International Talk like a Pirate Day.  For 5kr your child can come dressed like a pirate.
As usual, homework is on Mathletics and Reading Eggs.
Regards,
Miss Cindy and Mr Wanda

Week 3 in Grade 4

Good day
Homework for this week has been posted on Mathletics and Reading Eggs.
This week we have continued inquiring into Belief Systems.  Please share your personal beliefs with your child.  It can be your beliefs about religion, creation, government, etc.
In Literacy we heard some stories from other religions and created a comic strip of one of the stories. 
In Art we started on a project creating a mixed media portrait of a religious icon.
In Maths we finished with expanded notation and rounding off numbers.  Next week we'll be starting with addition and subtraction.
Things to look out for next week.
As part of our inquiry, we will be celebrating Rosh Hashana on Monday which is the Jewish New Year.  This holiday is marked by the blowing of the shofar (a ram’s horn) and a professional shofar blower will be demonstrating how to blow the shofar and will be giving our students each a turn to blow the shofar.  Our whole primary school will be taking part in this event, as we believe in widening the experiences and knowledge of our learners.  After the blowing of the shofar, we will celebrate Rosh Hashana by eating special challah bread and apples dipped in honey.  Rosh Hashanah commemorates the creation of the world and marks the beginning of the Days of Awe.  I am hoping that we'll be able to bake some challah at school on Monday.
International Chocolate Day is on the 13th September and we will be selling hot chocolate for 10kr a cup to raise money for Student Council's charities they support.
Upcoming Events 
On Wednesday 19th September is International Talk like a Pirate Day.  For a 5kr donation to the Student Council Charities Fund, your child can come dressed like a pirate on that day.
On Thursday 20th September, straight after snack, we'll be having a fun Sport's Day for our primary students.  Your child will be put into a Colour Team and it would be great if they can wear their colour on that day.  More information on this will be given next week.
Kind regards,
Miss Cindy and Mr Wanda  

Week 2 in Grade 4

Grade 4 have settled in well and are embracing their new Unit of Inquiry.  Our central Idea is People's beliefs influence their behaviour.  We've started looking at stereotypes and how we might make decisions based on how a person looks.
We've also started going in-depth into different religions and looking at the behaviours associated with that religion.
In Art we have made stained glass windows and designed our own mandalas.
In Maths we have been looking at Number and comparing and ordering numbers, place value, rounding off numbers and how to write numbers in words.
Next week we'll be using expanded notation.
Homework for this week is on Mathletics and Reading Eggs.  Your child will have taken home a laminated card with both their Mathletics and Reading Eggs log in details on it.  Please keep the card in a safe place.
Have a great week ahead!
Miss Cindy and Mr Wanda

Welcome to Grade 4

Dear Parents and Students,

Greetings and welcome to Grade 4! We hope you have had a wonderful summer holiday and are excited to come back to school.

As you know, school starts on Monday 20 August.   The Grade 4 Team consists of Miss Cindy and Mr Wanda, plus the specialist teachers.  We are all looking forward to continuing your learning journey with you.

Our first unit of inquiry this year is in the Transdisciplinary theme of Who we are. Our inquiry will be into personal belief systems and how they influence our behaviour. In each of our six units, we will develop Approaches to Learning skills such as critical thinking, time management, research, cooperation, and communication. We shall also be working on developing independence to start preparing for the MYP in a few years’ time.

You can help your child have a successful year by:

• Letting me know if there are any special concerns or needs regarding your child.

• Making sure your student is well rested and nourished when he or she arrives at school.

• Talking about school in a positive manner. Be interested in what your child is doing.

• Helping your child set up a successful reading routine, aiming for 30 minutes a night.

Our schedule for the week is below.

Important Upcoming Dates:

Thursday 23 August - Meet the Teacher Night

We look forward to not only working with your child this year, but with you as well.

Please do not hesitate to contact either Mr Wanda or Miss Cindy with any questions or concerns. Dennis.wanda@gjovikis.no cindy.van.den.heuvel@gjovikis.no

Sincerely,

Miss Cindy and Mr Wanda

Your Grade 4 Teaching Team