Prep News
New Unit of Inquiry
The Preps have been really enjoying their new Unit of Inquiry - How We Express Ourselves. We started the unit by considering how our senses help us to explore the world around us.
We brainstormed ideas about our sight, taste, hearing, touch and sense of smell.
We loved getting together in the Great Hall as a whole year level to read Mrs Wishy-Washy. Miss Evins taught us about sign language and together we read and signed the story. The Preps learnt the sign for cow, pig, duck, into, house, away, listening, looking, sit up and sit down. It was a lot of fun!
The children were all engrossed when we went on our 'senses walk,' we were so lucky that it is autumn as the lovely autumn leaves gave us pretty colours to look at, leaves to crunch as we walked over them and we even felt them in our hands. We also smelt some lovely eucalyptus leaves and lavender, touched the rough asphalt and the cold, smooth metal on the playground, saw some birds flying in the sky, listened to the sounds of the traffic whizzing along Reserve Road and to other students chattering, and even tasted water from the drinking fountains.
It is wonderful to see the children experience their surroundings through a different lens as they focus on what their senses tell them!
Inquiry/Science - Slime
The Preps had an amazing time in Science this week. As part of our Unit of Inquiry, 'How our senses help us to explore the world around us', we looked at the science of edible slime. We considered how heat can change the properties of things such as popcorn or ice and we considered what would happen to marshmallows if they were heated up.
We discussed different ways we could heat up our marshmallows such as using fire, the stove top or the microwave.
Prep A
Prep B
The Preps noticed how the marshmallows went from being squishy to soft and melted when they were put in the microwave for one minute. We then added cornflour and icing sugar to make our slime.
Prep C
The Preps got to explore the slime through their senses, noticing that it looked pink, it smelt sweet, it felt sticky and gooey, it made popping noises when they played with it and the Preps even got to have a little taste, noticing how yummy the slime was!
SMART Spelling
Each week the Prep children enjoy participating in a SMART Spelling lesson with Michelle Huchison. SMART Spelling incorporates both the systematic teaching of spelling each week and also common words.
At the beginning of each week, we watch one of Michelle’s lessons on our ‘Word of the Week’ and ‘Sentence of the Week’. The Preps really enjoy the weekly videos, and we find the program easy to implement. The SMART Spelling program caters to a range of abilities and the children are learning a range of strategies they can apply.
The Prep children love completing a craft activity related to the ‘Word of the Week’.
Last week, the children used the technique of paper tearing to create their gorgeous froggies with long red tongues. Great job kids!