Year-end Concert 4B Dance: Big Time Rush

Hey! Boys and girls! Great job! All of you danced wonderfully!
I'm extremely proud of all of you! Thanks for your hard work!
Love, Mrs Tong

Conquering Defeat!

You are given a reading passage: Conquering Defeat as your reading assignment this week.

Read for pleasure and complete the following:

1) Which band was Pat and John playing in?

2) From page 1, identify as many words as possible, that have the same meaning as 'great'.
(Hints: sp____, en_______, s________, f________, b________, m________, c_______)

3)Identify and highlight the following good phrases which show happiness:
a) broke loose with whoops and shrieks of joy
b) exchanged hugs of self-congratulations
c) went wild in their shouting and clapping
d) stirring beyond what words can describe

4)Identify and highlight (in a different colour, if possible) the following good phrases which show sadness:
a) utterly unable to hide its unhappiness and disappointment
b) wept on each other's shoulders
c) our hearts went out to them
d) shed a tear

5) What do you learn from the story: Conquering Defeat?

Post your answers for questions 1, 2 and 5.
File this reading passage in your red English Compo file.
Keep the file, with many model compo and lists of good phrases,for future use.

Have fun!

4B's Big Time Rush!

Hey boys and girls!

I'm so excited about our coming dance performance during the Year-end school concert! Are you looking forward to it too?

We have been so busy after SA2 that we did not have many practices so far.
We must put our heads together to think of some new dance steps to replace the 'line-dance steps'.

I hope we can learn all the new steps well and do our best next week during all our practices and rehearsals on stage.

As for dance costume: we will be wearing jeans or pants (as we did during Rainbow Day 4) but we will need to change our T-shirts to more vibrant colours! Let's discuss this in class soon.

Listen to the music and revise the steps at home.

Big Time Rush - Theme Song

Found at: FilesTube

Term 4 is coming to an end soon!

Dear boys and girls of 4B,

Exams' over!
Thank you for studying so hard for SA2!
Well done everyone!
I'm glad to see that most of you have shown improvement in your results!
Keep up the good work!

As you relax and have lots of fun during the coming long school holidays, do plan time to revise your weak topics and to read a lot of books.

This coming Friday (12 Nov) is our school Adm Day and you do not need to come to school for lessons.

I'll be giving all of you a reading passage: Conquering Defeat for you to read for pleasure and to answer some questions about the story online.

There is a post-exams Math reasoning blog for you to try out during your free time.

Enjoy learning and learn to enjoy in an educational way.

Rainbow Day 4

Dear boys and girls of 4B!



Well done!
You have performed wonderfully on Rainbow Day 4!
Your dance - Big Time Rush was marvellous!
Thanks for your diligence and perseverance in all practices and rehearsals.
I was especially delighted to see many of you helping your friends to revise the dance steps and you have also helped to ease your friends nervousness just before the show time.
You have indeed learnt to care for one another and have worked cooperatively in this event.
Keep up the class spirit!



Learn to transfer this enthusiasm and passion into your studies.
Now, focus on learning and revising your school work as SA2 is coming soon.
You may wish to form study groups to do homework and revision together.
Learn from one another and help one another out.
Keep up the good work!

Army Museum Learning Journey

Term 4 is here!

Dear boys and girls,
The one week short holiday is over and welcome back to Term 4.
I hope that all of us have a good rest during this one week.
And that all of you have spent your time wisely revising your studies too.
I'm glad that many of you have visited the online Math activities and lessons to revise your work.

Term 4 is going to be very busy.
We will been practising for our Rainbow Day 4 dance.
There will be Children's Day Celebration.
We will have to finish all the topics in the textbooks.
There will also be a lot more practice papers to help us prepare for the final-year exams.

Please be prepared to work hard for this term.
Let's do our very best so that we can enjoy the December long holiday thereafter!
Do take care of your health too!
Eat well, do exercise, sleep well, stay cheerful and healthy!

See you when term starts!

English Project Reflection

This term, pupils are required to work in group to do a group writing based on a given situation. The pupils worked in mixed-ability groups to:
- brainstorm for story ideas,
- write a draft for the group story,
- edit group story by adding suitable good phrases learnt in Spelling,
- publish group story using powerpoint presentation, and
- present the story to the class.

I've observed that most pupils are able to cooperate very well with their group members. During the oral presentation, almost all of you are confident in sharing your group stories to the class. Great job!

Here are 3 questions as post-project reflection.
Write down:

• 3 things you've learnt from this project.
• 2 things which your group has done well.
• 1 thing which your group needs to improve on.

Math: Area and Perimeter

We have learnt Area and Perimeter of squares and rectangles.
In P4, squares and rectangles are combined to form composite figures.
We are to find the Area and Perimeter of composite figures.

Summary:
Perimeter is the outline of the figure.
Perimeter of rectangle / square = Length + Breadth + Length + Breadth

Area is the space within the figure.
Area of rectangle / square = Length x Breadth

Powerpoint Slide Lesson

P4 Area and Perimeter

Teaching Videos

1. Area and Perimeter Irregular Shapes (13.41 min)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97gIIl0NPBY&feature=related


2. Perimeter Area Song (0.29 min)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaU1eX_DPkY&feature=related

3. Perimeter Song (0.10 min)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_TGtkD2P7g&feature=related

4. A Review of Area, Perimeter (1.10 min)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8Ao2gdGvr0&feature=related

Online Practices and Games

1. Game: Find area and perimeter of plane figures.
Also includes quick simple notes.
http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks2/maths/perimeter_and_area/index.html

2. Interactive Activity: Find area and perimeter of rectangles
http://www.mathplayground.com/area_perimeter.html

3. Interactive Activity: Calculate area of random shapes
http://www.shodor.org/interactiv%21ate/activities/AreaExplorer/

4. Interactive Activity: Calculate perimeter of random shapes
http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/activities/PerimeterExplorer/

5. Quiz: Perimeter
http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/numbers/measuring/perimeter/quiz.shtml

Class Discussion - Do Not Give Up!

On Wednesday (18 Aug), we viewed a short video clip during English lesson.

Here is the video:

Video on Nick Vulucic


The following are post-video discussion questions:
1) What did you learn from Nick Vulucic's story?
2) Is there a difficult situation in your life now? What is it?
3) How are you going to handle the difficult situation in your life?
4) What would you tell a friend who is facing a difficult situation in his/her life?

Math: Time (online practices and games)

Interactive Online-self marking Practices
1. Find start time and end time:
http://www.ixl.com/math/practice/grade-4-find-start-and-end-times-multi-step-word-problems

2. Word Problems:
http://www.ixl.com/math/practice/grade-5-find-start-and-end-times-word-problems

3. Elapsed time:
http://www.ixl.com/math/practice/grade-4-elapsed-time

4. Transportation schedules:
http://www.ixl.com/math/practice/grade-4-transportation-schedules

Online Resource: Interactive Games
1. Time:
http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks2/maths/time/index.htm

2. Train Time:
http://www.mathsyear2000.org/magnet/minus3/trains/index.html

3. Bang on Time:
http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/BangOnTime/clockwordres.html

4. Digital Clock Match:
http://www.apples4theteacher.com/clocks.html

5. 24-hour Clock:

http://www.crickweb.co.uk/assets/resources/flash.php?&file=Toolkit%20index2a

Math: Time (Powerpoint slide and Videos)

This week, we will be starting on a new Math topic: Time.
The learning outcomes are as follows:
1) Telling time in seconds (s).
2) Understanding and using the 24-hour clock.
3) Solve word problem related to time (starting time, ending time, duration)

The following is a powerpoint presentation on the topic: Time.
You may use it for revision at home.

Time

View more presentations from pangwanching.

Here are 2 videos on 24-hour clock:
1. AM/PM vs 24-hour clock (32 min)


2. 24 Hour Clock Explained (7.05 min)

Canberra National Day Banner Design Competition

Congratulations!
We attended the Canberra National Day Observance Ceremony on 8 Aug 2010.
We took part in the National Day Banner Design Competition.
We won the BEST Banner Design Competition!!!
Well done, boys and girls!
Great effort!
Wonderful class spirit!

National Day Long Weekend

Fri 6 Aug: School National Day Celebration and SEMTREX
Sun 8 Aug: Canberra National Day Observance Ceremony
* Meet at 7 am
* Wear school uniform
* 4B won the Best Banner Design Competition!
Mon 9 Aug: National Day Public Holiday
* Remember to watch the NDP (National Day Parade) at 6pm on TV.
* At 20 10 (8.10 pm), let's recite the pledge and sing the National Anthem in One Voice
Tue 10 Aug: School Holiday
Wed 11 Aug: YOG Games Day
* Report to school at 1.30 pm
* Gather in the school hall
* Wear PE attire
* Bring water bottle and cap

4B Rainbow Day Preparation

Dear boys and girls,

After enjoying 3 Rainbow Days so far, it is going to be our turn next term in Rainbow Day 4.
After brainstorming for songs and ideas, we have decided on Big Time Rush and all of us wish to do a hip hop dance.
We had our first practice last week and we only managed to try out some moves.



Let's learn the song well and think of some new moves to share with the class.
Here's a link to view some simple hip hop steps:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erGwwMajqEw&annotation_id=annotation_664427&feature=iv
We may use some of the moves from the video and modify some.
Looking forward to our next practice.

What do you think of line dance?
Please comment.

Math Online Activities on Decimals

Dear children,
we have started term 3 and our first new Math topic is Decimal.
It is a brand new topic and many of you may find it tough to understand at first.
I've found some interesting online Math games on Decimals.
Enjoy!

1) Decimals in Space:
In this game, you have to shoot the space rocks with decimal numbers on them.
Shoot the smallest or largest decimals as instructed.
http://themathgames.com/arithmetic-games/place-value/decimal-place-value-math-game.php

2) Decimals of the Carribean:
You are the captain of a pirate ship.
Your goal is to blast the Spanish treasure ships with your decimal cannonballs.
http://www.mrnussbaum.com/docrb2.htm

3) The Award Ceremony:
You are at a Sports event award ceremony.
You task is to arrange the event results in order.
Example:
The fastest time goes on position one in a 100 metres swimming event or
the furthest distance wins the first prize in the long jump event.
http://www.mathsonline.co.uk/nonmembers/gamesroom/awards/awardc.html
Try the 100 metres, long jump, cycling and swimming events.

4) Death to Decimals
Match the decimals to the fractions of the same values.
http://www.mrnussbaum.com/death_decimals/index.html


5) The following links: http://www.ixl.com/math/grade/fourth/ and http://www.ixl.com/math/grade/fifth/ goes to IXL Math lessons and online practices. Select Decimals and try out the different practices there!

6) Videos on Decimals:
1. Rounding Decimals (8.48)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDt-5hnE4IA&feature=related
2. Rounding Decimals (1.27 min)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIbMWR5Ft9M&feature=channel
3. Fractions to Decimals (1.14 min)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGiSW2fvKdw&feature=channel
4. Decimals to Fractions (1.02 min)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJbd3eLt1SY&feature=related
You may wish to explore related videos on Decimals Lessons.

Do be attentive and inquisitive in class.
Revise your work daily.
Enjoy the above online Math games on decimals.

Leadership - Pastoral Care Lesson

Today we discussed the quality of being a good leader in Endeavour Pri.
A good leader possesses the 4Cs qualities:
1) Confident: able to give clear instructions and to address the class with confidence.
2) Curious: able to accept tasks enthusiastically and to come up with ideas to help others.
3) Cooperative: able to accept responsibilities and to respond positively to feedback and criticism.
4) Competent: able to lead by example and to be accountable for group actions.

Discussions:
1) What role(s) do you play in the class? (eg. Math leader, PE Monitor etc)
2) How do you feel being a leader in your class?
3) What do you do to be a good leader?
4) Write about an example of someone in your class who has been a good leader.

Compassion

Dear boys and girls,

Last weekend, you were given a worksheet to write, draw or even create comic strips or poems to illustrate how you can show compassion.

1) What does compassion mean to you?
2) How can you show compassion?
3) How do you feel when someone shows compassion towards you?
4) Give an example of someone showing compassion to others.

Compassion = to love, care for and understand others.

P4 Vietnam Trip

P4 pupils and teachers went on an Overseas Learning Journey to Vietnam during the June Holidays (1-4 June 2010). It was an enriching and unforgettable trip.



To read up more on Vietnam:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho_Chi_Minh_City

Post-reading Book Reviews

Hi boys and girls,

Remember to plan time to enjoy reading during the holidays!
Choose books which you are interested in.
Remember, reading is for enjoyment.
When you enjoy doing something, you will be able to learn new things from it.

Book Review Questions:
1) Title of book: _______________
2) Author of book: ___________________
3) Favourite character(s): ________________________
4) Which is your favourite part of the story?
5) What do you learn from the story?

You can post more than 1 book reviews.
Have fun!

June Holiday Homework

English
1) Read at least 4 storybooks (about 1 book per week)
2) Class Blog activity: Choose your favourite book(s) to post book review(s) online.
3) Read 4A textbook and revise terms 1 and 2 spelling words.
4) Read 4B textbook and find meaning of difficult words.

Mathematics
1) School Portal Math Blogging: Adding Consecutive Numbers.
2) Revise 4A Math topics.
3) Read 4B chapters 9 and 10: Decimals.

For Mother Tongue Languages and Science, please refer to subject teachers' instructions.

Post SA1 Activity 3: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

The novel Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was written by Ian Fleming.
Roald Dahl & Ken Hughes were the screenplay writers for its movie.

This is an enthralling story of the adventures of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
It is a magical car that sails the seas and flies through the air!

To find out more about the story, read the following links:

1. http://www.thisistheatre.com/londonshows/chittychittybangbang.html
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chitty_Chitty_Bang_Bang

Here is a youtube video on the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylNwSv6c7m0

Check out the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang song lyrics here:
http://www.stlyrics.com/songs/d/disney6472/chittychittybangbang246545.html

Here are some pre-movie questions. Look for the answers as we watch the movie.

a) What are the names of the 2 children?
b) Who sent the children home in a motorcar ride?
c) What was the 'job' of Mr Potts?
d) What invention did Mr Potts show Lord Scrumptious?
e) What was the car plate on Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?
f) What was the car plate on Miss Scrumptious car?
g) Which 'country' was Baron Bomburst from?
h) What was the law made by Baron Bomburst?

Have fun!

Post-movie discussions:
1) Who is your favourite character? Why?
2) Which is your favourite part of the show? Why?
3) Can you think of an invention? Why would you like to invent it?
4) What is your dream? Why?

Let's Reflect: Dr Goh Keng Swee

Today, the pupils were given a reflection worksheet: Let's Reflect.
One of the topics is on Dr Goh Keng Swee.
Dr Goh was Singapore's former* Deputy Prime Minister and our nation's economic* architect.
He died on Friday (14 May) after a long illness. He was 91.

*former: past, earlier, previous
*economic: related to the wealth and income of a country

We read some online information on Dr Goh in class:

1. Dr Goh was born in Malacca in the Straits Settlements into a Peranakan family.
2. He came to Singapore when he was 2 years old.
3. He studied at Raffles College and the London School of Economics and Political Science.
4. Dr Goh was Minister for the Interior and Defence (1965), Finance Minister (1967–1970), Minister for Defence (1970–1979) and Minister for Education (1979–1980, 1981–1985).
5. Through Dr Goh's efforts, 15 thousand acres of swamp in Jurong was turned into a modern industrial park.
6. He introduced streaming policy and Gifted Education Programme in schools.
7. Schools observed half mast* during morning flag-raising ceremonies as a mark of respect for the passing*.
   

*half mast: flag is raised to halfway position on the flag pole
*passing: death

Here are some online links on Dr Goh Keng Swee:
1) Straits Times Breaking News
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_526470.html

2) Channel News Asia
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1056561/1/.html

3) TODAY Online
http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC100517-0000078/Life-with-Goh-Keng-Swee,-his-wife-shares-memories

4) Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goh_Keng_Swee

Complete the reflection worksheet for submission on Monday.

1. If you had a chance to meet up with Dr Goh Keng Swee, what would you have said to him?
2. Who can you care for now? What will you do to show care? When will you start caring for this person?

Post SA1 Activity 2: James and the Giant Peach

Today Mrs Tong shared with the class on one of her favourite Roald Dahl's books: James and the Giant Peach. Selected excerpts from the novel were read in class.

Here is the story introduction:

One day, James gets a bag of magic crystals that will free him from life with his horrible aunts. In his excitement, James drops the bag and the crystals are sucked into the ground around the old peach tree. Something magical begins to happen to a peach at the tip of the tree – something that will truly change his life.

Then we watched the first part of the movie.

Here are some questions about the story:
a) What were the creatures found in the giant peach?
b) How did the giant peach fly?
c) What was the bait used to attract the seagulls?
d) What did the characters use to help them navigate out of the icebox?
e) Who played the violin?
f) Where was the giant peach flying to?
g) Which building did the giant peach land on?

The class is to find out the answers as we watch the show.


Here is an online quiz on James and the Giant Peach:
http://www.roalddahlfans.com/games/quiz.php?quizID=14

Here is an online reading material on James and the Giant Peach:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_and_the_Giant_Peach

Here is a link to find out more about Roald Dahl:
http://www.roalddahl.com/

Post-movie discussion questions:
1) Would you want to have Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker as your aunts? Why?
2) If you were to write a letter to Roald Dahl, what would you tell him?
3) What would you have done if the old man had given you the magic crystals?
4) What did you learn from James about facing the fear(s) in his life? What would you do when you encounter problems?

We shall continue watching the movie next week.
Meanwhile, you can borrow James and the Giant Peach from the library or read some online information about the story.

Post SA1 Activity 1: Matilda

Yeah! SA1 is over!
After studying very hard for the mid-year assessment, it is finally time to relax a little :)
For post exam activity, our class watched the movie: Matilda.
Matilda is a children novel written by Roald Dahl (illustrated by Quentin Blake).
Roald Dahl is also the author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Here are the pre-movie questions:
1) What special power does Matilda have?
2) Who is Matilda's best friend?
3) Who believes in Matilda?

The following is a website link to the novel Matilda:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matilda_%28novel%29
And here is an online word puzzle on Matilda! Try it!
http://www.armoredpenguin.com/crossword/Data/2009.08/1013/10133858.367.html

Here are the post-movie discussions:
1) Who is your favourite character in the story? Why?
2) Which is your favourite part of the show? Why?
3) What lesson(s) can you learn from the story?

Let's get into our English project groups to discuss these questions.
I look forward to your comments! Enjoy!

Math: Angles Online Activity

Today, we started on a new topic: Angles.
We went to our NHSB Math Room to work on some online activities.
It was fun rotating virtual protractor, trying to measure angles of different sizes online.
We must remember to place the vertex of an angle in the middle of the protractor.
With one line of the angle along the base line of the protractor, start to measure from the zero mark.

Here is the website which we used in class:
http://www.amblesideprimary.com/ambleweb/mentalmaths/protractor.html (What’s My Angle?)

CCP - Outdoor Education Programme

Wow! Compass reading can be this fun!

Assignment on ASEAN

Since we are celebrating International Friendship Day in school this week, let's read up more about ASEAN to find out more about our Inter-Connected World.

1) What does ASEAN stand for?

2) What are the countries that make up ASEAN?

3) What are the aims of ASEAN?

You may do a simple research on ASEAN or click on the following links to find out more:

1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASEAN

2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASEAN_members

3) http://www.asean.org/

I'm looking forward to read your comments.

Math: Fractions Activity-Centres

We went to the Math NHSB Room to engage in Fractions Activity-Centre lessons.

There were 7 centres altogether:
1) Mixed number centre
2) Improper fraction centre
3) Learn-to-add-fractions centre
4) I-can-add-fractions centre
5) Netbook centre (online applet)
6) Fraction games centre
7) Fraction quiz centre

Pupils were grouped into mixed-ability-teams.
All of you enjoyed learning together with friends.
I'm proud to see you confidently helping those team members who were in need.
I enjoyed observing the sparks in your eyes when you were curious to find out something new by exploring the given fraction dics.

Let's look forward to more of such learning experiences!

Here's a video on mixed numbers and improper fractions:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxpbMg_WASs


Here are some online practices on Fractions:
(self marking; explanation is provided if answer is incorrect)
http://www.ixl.com/math/grade/fourth/

Math Reasoning Blogging Activity

Dear boys and girls

This term we have started a new bi-weekly blogging activity during our Math lessons. Through blogging, we answer interesting Math questions whereby incorrect solutions to Math sums are given.

Individually or in pairs, all of you attempt to provide mathematical reasoning to highlight 'What's wrong" in the given solutions.

It was great fun during our 1st blogging experience. Do log in to the school's EDP portal to read your friends' comments and teacher's remarks.

We have done Blog (2) this week. For those of you who could not complete Blog (2) activity, you may continue it at home.

See you soon for Blog (3) !

Chinatown Learning Journey

Dear 4B boys and girls, are you looking forward to our 2nd learning journey to Chinatown next Monday? I'm sure it is going to be a fun day learning something new outside the classroom! Let's pray and hope for wonderful weather that day! (16 April)

We had a great learning journey to Chinatown on 19 April 2010.
Here are the pictures!


Thian Hock Keng Temple:

• Temple of Heavenly Happiness.
• Located on Telok Ayer Street.
• Singapore's olderst Hokkien temple.
• Amazingly, no nails were used in building it!

The eager-to-learn pupils were with a knowledgeable tour guide, who was relating the history of the temple to the pupils.








The Ann Siang Hill was where bullock carts were used to transport water supply in Chinatown.
"Bullock carts water" = 'Niu Che Shui" in Chinese.


Monuments of Samsui Women who wore red headgears and worked on construction sites in olden Singapore.





Pupils walking along the five-foot way (shophouses).