Year 4 Overviews
Term 2, 2013

Religion Weeks 1-6
"Why is the Bible a best seller for us today?"

Students will identify the importance and significance that the Bible still has for us today.  They will identify and explain language features in the parables and how these can be interpreted to have significance for us today.  Throughout this unit children will be able to explain these following questions: Why did Jesus tell stories? (parables) What is a parable? Why are the parables of Jesus important for Christians today?

Weeks 7 – 2 of Term 3
"How does the Church offer healing to people?"

Students will investigate the ways in which the Catholic Church offers healing for all peoples.  They will make connections between Jesus’ healing and how the Church offers healing for the sick and also for Penance.

English: The Narrative

Student writing is often underdeveloped and uninteresting, relying only on simple words and phrases such as "he was scared", "the witch was ugly" or "I felt bad". Sometimes students don't understand what it means to develop an idea or to describe a character or setting fully. Using quality children's literature by authors such as Roald Dahl is a highly engaging means of demonstrating for students how to effectively describe settings, develop characters and write more effectively. Choosing examples students connect with, and which provide good writing models for children can help ignite the imagination of the young writer. Showing students how other authors have described the place of the story or the characters in the story, having students attempt to model the writing after the author and discussing and sharing the results in class, are valuable strategies for inspiring children to elaborate more in their writing.

History: What was life like for the Indigenous Peoples before the arrival of the Europeans?

Students will investigate why the natural environment was so important for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples before European colonization. Students will learn to respect and value different community groups and traditions. Students, in small groups, will create a presentation that demonstrates their knowledge and understanding of the diversity and longevity of the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. 

Science: Chemical Science – “Material World”

This unit provides opportunities for students to develop an understanding of the properties of materials and how they relate to use. Through investigations, students will explore how to test the properties of materials fairly and how to use this knowledge to choose materials wisely.