Curriculum Newsletter

Prep/1/2

Teachers

Anna Plackett aplackett@tcs.catholic.edu.au

Lucy O’Dea  lodea@tcs.catholic.edu.au

Urania Rivas  urivas@tcs.catholic.edu.au

Justine Colyer jcolyer@tcs.catholic.edu.au

Literacy

Reading

In reading, students will be learning various reading strategies. They will be learning to identify word patterns and to make connections between texts, objects and images. Students will be learning to formulate questions as they read. They will learn to connect their own experiences with  texts they read in both fiction and non- fiction genres. They will be comparing and contrasting ideas between texts and will also explore concepts about the world around them. Students will be learning how to make predictions before, during and after reading and will be making inferences by identifying clues and information that the author has provided. The students will also be learning how to summarise and explain their understanding of a text, through answering questions relating to the text.

Writing

In writing, students will be focusing on narrative texts, persuasive writing and poetry to show their knowledge of text structure, sentence-level grammar and word choice. In narrative writing, students will continue to use the skills linked to the Seven Steps of Writing including ´Ban the boring bits´and focusing on similies and metaphors. They will have the opportunity to explore new vocabulary that persuades and convinces their reader when writing letters to members of the community on school topics. Students will experiment with rhyming and word patterns found in various poems, create their own and present in correct formation.

Speaking and Listening

In Speaking and Listening, students will be learning to share their ideas with others through share-time before, during and after a lesson. They will be given a ‘talk partner’ inorder to practise communicating their ideas and wonderings. The students will be retelling narratives out loud in front of an audience and they will be learning how to provide positive feedback to others. Students will be exploring how to express their feelings through body language, verbal and visual cues. They will also be learning how to express preferences for different texts and authors, while understanding that others may have different thoughts and opinions.

Maths

Number and Algebra

In Number and Algebra, the students will learn about money and financial maths and the significance of Australian coins and notes. They will explore the value of each coin and begin to count and order them in small collections. We will explore money in context by finding out about simple, everyday financial situations.

Measurement and Geometry

In Measurement and Geometry, the students will learn about length, area, volume and capacity and mass. They will discover ways we can use units of measurement through hands-on tasks and investigate the specific equipment we need for measuring certain objects or areas. Students will be allowed to bring in measuring devices from home to share their use and explore the differences between each of them looking at formal and informal units.

Statistics and Probability

In Statistics and probability, the children will learn to develop questions in order to collect information. They will explore different ways of representing data, such as; in tally charts, picture graphs and bar charts. Students will use Apps, such as Popplet and SeeSaw, to describe data displays, by identifying the most popular and least popular categories. They will be challenged to describe outcomes of familiar events.

Inquiry

Inquiry - Prep/1

The students will learn about the different features of animals and how those features help them to live in their environment. They will learn about Australian animals and consider how they can save water and protect native habitats. The children will use their imagination to design an animal using parts of different animals. They will use basic cutting and pasting skills to create a model of their animal.

Inquiry - Grade 1/2

The students will learn about the lives of people in the past as they interview a person from an older generation. They will learn words to describe events in the past, present, and future and words to describe a point of view. The children will consider the importance of places to people in their community and people from different cultures. They will learn about sequences and different ways that stories from the past can be told.

Religious Education

As part of our religious education students will ask and pose questions about the sacrament of Confirmation. They will investigate the different fruits of the Holy Spirit and make connections with how Jesus uses these different qualities in all the actions he displays from stories in the Bible.

Students will listen and read different stories from the bible and look at images to create a timeline of Jesus’ life. Later they will investigate the signs and symbols of Christmas and investigate St Nicholas. They will use their knowledge of timelines to recreate events from St Nicholas’ life to compare to Jesus’ life events.

Digital Technology

Design technology

The students will learn to describe the purpose of familiar objects, why they were invented and how they meet the needs of the community. The children will ask questions to gather information about how to improve our school environment, they will then begin creating and evaluating their ideas, using drawings and junk-modelling. The children will learn to use tools safely when creating their design solution. 

Digital technology 

In digital technology, the students will learn to use their knowledge of various apps such as Scratch Jr follow a sequence of steps to create an outcome. They will be collecting and gathering data to include on to a workflow in which they will display to share with others. Students will also be exploring how to navigate safe websites to collect and find information on their topics using scroll bars and hyperlinks.

Students use digital systems to represent simple patterns in data in different ways and collect familiar data and display them to convey meaning.

Students design solutions to simple problems using a sequence of steps and decisions. They create and organise ideas and information using information systems and share these in safe online environments.

Student Wellbeing

During term four, the junior levels will be learning to identify and label their emotions. They will explore the different ways emotions can change the way their body feels and how to notice these changes. For example; when I am worried, my body feels_____; or when I feel excited, my body feels ______. Students will be challenged to think about how their relationships and the world around them can influence or change how they are feeling.

The students will unpack the ideas of ‘Red Light’ and ‘Green Light’ thinking, in order to have more positive self-talk and be supported to see learning hurdles and personal challenges as a positive part of their growth, not a negative. The children will be introduced to new self-regulation strategies and learn to ground themselves, in order to think more clearly, make better choices and be successful learners.

Library

Library continues to be on Monday for Prep/1’s and Wednesday for 1/2 ‘s - library bag needs to be brought in those days.  Students borrow and return appropriate books from the library on a weekly basis. They are encouraged to select texts of interest, for research and at their level.

Physical Education

This term students will practice and refine the fundamental movement skills of run, jump, hop and skip. They will practice these skills using different body parts and in a variety of settings. Students will also develop their understanding of basic games emphasising the need for rules and safety.

Visual Arts

Prep and Year One

In term four Prep and Year One students will explore Australian Indigenous Art. Students will draw on two Aboriginal Dreamtime stories to inspire their artwork, ‘The Rainbow Serpent’ and ‘How the birds got their colours’. Prep and Year One students will compare and contrast traditional and contemporary Indigenous art. Students will use traditional colours and dot painting techniques to create a serpent, while using more contemporary colours to create their mixed media bird.  To complete visual arts for the year, Prep and Year One students will create a Christmas tree as they continue to build on their skills in painting, printing, decorating and mixed media. 

Year One and Year Two

Year One and Year Two students will begin the term by exploring Australian Indigenous Art. Students will look in detail at cave paintings and Indigenous symbols. Students will use these symbols to create an image telling their own story, in a cave painting style. Year One and Year Two students will then explore traditional dot painting and use their knowledge to create a rainmaker, a traditional Indigenous instrument.  To complete visual arts for the year, Prep and Year One students will create a Christmas bauble as they continue to build on their skills in painting, printing, decorating and mixed media.

Music

Year Prep

In Term Four, Prep students will compose soundscapes, based on their responses to stories. They will perform using instruments to embellish meaning in stories, with a focus on elements of music such as dynamics, tempo and pitch. They will sing for enjoyment, learning and performing Christmas Carols for an audience. 

Year 1/2

Year 1/2 students will compose soundscapes in response to The Pied Piper story, using voice, recorder and percussion instruments, to embellish meaning. They will explore musical language and how this is used to describe the elements of music. Students will sing for enjoyment, and practise singing with matched pitch and tempo, through learning and performing Christmas Carols for an audience.

Mandarin

In Term four, students from junior year levels are identifying words and short phrases to express colours and to build new words by combining familiar meanings. They are learning to recognise vocabulary of classroom objects and to use them in daily conversations. They also learn to compare gestures and body language associated with language use in different cultures.