4T News
The 4T boys have bounced into the school year with enthusiasm for new friends, new learning and a not-so-new teacher who wasn't content to let them go. Friendships were quickly re-established and strong routines adopted. Vibrant personalities with strong leadership potential and a zest for life fill our classroom and the dynamic is exciting and rigorous!
Our first Unit of Inquiry "Who We Are", saw us investigate our overall wellbeing through the lens of physical, mental and emotional health. Boys engaged in a vast range of activities that allowed them to consider actions that supported optimum health. Physical activity was a given, but we gained a deeper appreciation for good nutrition, meditation, drawing, music to create a peaceful space, the positive effect of twenty-second hugs, and the calming nature of soft things like cuddling pets, and snuggling toys and blankets. We are sensory creatures and should encourage natural and healthy practices that support this.
With blood and guts playing a part in our investigation, scientific experimentation took front and centre to support boys making deeper conceptual understandings of bigger physical issues. Jelly, marshmallows, jaffas and sprinkles made a deliciously gruesome cup of blood. And observing eggs soaked in vinegar left us quaking at the effect of food acid on the teeth. A parent guest-speaker highlighted the surprising and disturbing amounts of sugar in drinks, which made us shudder in horror and vow never to consume such liquids again! Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man allowed us to explore bodily proportions in relation to geometry and we actually measured the length of our guts based on these findings.
Continuing the theme of the gruesome and grotesque, boys celebrated their love of language by dabbling in the realm of spook. Poetic phrases were written about body parts, and narratives were written to frighten and scare. Scary doors were drawn and we visualised and described what it would be to stand before such a power. Would you dare to enter, was the question on everyone's lips. Strangely, filled with fear, scared beyond belief, screams ready to escape, every boy turned the handle on their imagination and entered the frightening landscape of their minds. Oh, the power of words!
I could continue to wax lyrical about the wonders of our year's beginning; however, most important is that each and every boy in 4T is to be congratulated for the effort and effervescence they have brought to our classroom and our school. We can only look forward to celebrating and harnessing all this enthusiasm as we go forth!
Mrs Rebecca Turkich
Year 4 Teacher
