Australia’s First People

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Hey everyone!

Welcome to the last term of grade 4! This term I am really excited about our topic. We will be looking at Australian history. I love history and I’m really excited to be learning about our history.

We will first people looking at Australia’s first people. Did you know that people have been living in Australia for over 40,000 years, before there were castles in Europe, before the pyramids were built in Egypt! I think this is incredible!

I wonder how people lived in Australia for so long?

What do you know about Aboriginal culture?

What wonder questions do you have about Australia’s first people?

The Stolen Generation and National Sorry Day

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Hi everyone,

May 26 2014 is National Sorry Day and it falls within National Reconciliation Week.

Watch the two BTN videos to find out more about the Stolen Generation and the Government Apology.

 

 

Answer as many of the following questions as possible (100 house points per answer). You can answer them in any order and you can use the internet to help you research. Write answers in sentences.

Stolen Generations

1. What was the main point of this story?
2. Why do you think the Indigenous children taken from their families are known as the “stolen”
generations?
3. It was Government policy that Indigenous children be removed. Why do you think they thought
this was necessary?
4. “They thought they were doing the right thing.” How has social policy changed?
5. What does the sentence “a gross violation of human rights” mean?
6. What is assimilation?
7. Imagine being taken away from your family. How does it make you feel?

Government Apology

1. Why do you think the current government has chosen to apologise?
2. Describe how Indigenous people may have felt when the Prime Minister was apologising.
3. Why is it considered one of the most important speeches in Australian history?
4. It’s been described as an important part of the healing process. Discuss.
5. Do you think it’ll help the reconciliation process? Why or why not?
6. Should the Stolen Generations receive compensation?
7. The government has stated there will be no compensation fund. Discuss.
8. Is it ever too late to say sorry?
9. There was ‘bi-partisan’ support for the apology. What does this mean?

South Korea – First Call

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Hi everyone,

Well we had our first phone call with our South Korean class last week. I thought it went really well and I was impressed at how confident some people were when it was their turn to speak and how good the English of the Korean students was.

IMG_0372 IMG_0373

What did you think of the call? Were you nervous when it was your turn to speak? What are you most looking forward to with the link up?

Have you emailed your buddy yet? What did you say? Have you heard from them?

South Korean School Link Up

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Hi everyone,

This week we will have our first video conference with our partner school in South Korea on Thursday. This will be an introductory to the other students were we can introduce ourselves to the and meet your E-Pal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We will then do this every week until December when we will finish with a joint Christmas party. We will get to learn a lot of South Korean culture and we will be able to teach them all about Australia. It will also include two virtual excursions to the Great Barrier Reef and the Sydney Olympic Park.

This the first time I have done anything like this and Mr. Hall and I are extremely excited.

The school is called Hakjang Primary School and is in South Korea’s second biggest city Busan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are you excited about this link about? What are you excited about?

Do you know anything about South Korea? What wonder questions do you have?

Explorers

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People have been exploring the world for thousands of years. From the Vikings of Europe to Columbus, right up today, were people are still exploring the deep oceans and right out into space.

Why do you think people explored?

What do you think happened between the native people and the explorers when thy arrived  on their land?

Have you any wonder questions about explorers?

Horrible Histories – Christopher Columbus

Early Explorers of Australia

Term 3

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Hey everyone,

Can’t believe we are in the last week of Term 3! Only one more term of grade 4 to go 🙁

What have been your highlights of Term 3?

What new things have you learnt? 

I’ve had lots of highlights including the trip to the NGV, learning lots about art history and camp.

I have learnt a lot of new things about artists and different art types.

David

Japanese Bunraku Puppetry

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Hi everyone,

This week in reading groups we will be learning about Japanese Bunraku puppetry. Bunraku (pronounced boon-rah-koo) puppetry involves life-size puppets controlled by three puppeteers and is very famous in Japan.

Read this article http://www.asiaeducation.edu.au/curriculum_resources/arts_cr/year_3-4_bunraku_puppetry/traditional_bunraku_puppetry.html on the iPad and then answer the following questions below, use the dictionary app if come across any tricky words.

  • When did Bunraku puppetry begin?
  • What other art forms are involved?
  • How do you think the puppets are operated?
If you answer these then write five of your own questions for your classmates to answer.

Post-Impressionism

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Hi everyone,

This week we will be looking at Post-Impressionism.

General Overview

The Impressionist artists opened up a new world of modern art. The Post-impressionists wanted to continue to stretch those boundaries. The term was coined by Roger Fry, a British art critic, to describe the artists who came immediately after the Impressionists.

When was the Post-impressionism Era?

Post-impressionism began with a new generation of artists after the Impressionists such as Monet, Degas, and Renoir. It lasted approximately from 1885 to 1910.

What are the characteristics of Post-impressionism?

The Post-impressionists had learned about using light, shadows, and colors in their art from the Impressionists. They wanted to add their own new ideas to art. They began to try new subjects, techniques, perspectives, and shapes to express their thoughts and emotions in art.

Rodin

Rousseau

Van Gogh

To find out more check out this website. I got the above info from it.