Grade 1 & 2
Term 4

Literacy

Grade 2 students have continued their Intialit program with a strong focus on Monitoring our reading a well as drawing all of the comprehension stratgies together that we have learnt this year;

Students have loved reading "The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs!" and are busily making connections with the story and planning and writing their own stories about "The True Story of Little Red Riding Hood!" showing how far they have come in their writing this year.

Our Grade 1 students have been working on strengthening their comprehension skills through a powerful strategy: highlighting key words in the questions before reading. By identifying important words first, they knew exactly what information to look for, which helps them focus while reading and deepens their understanding of texts they were already familiar with. Students had prior knowledge of the stories and passages, highlighting key words supported their ability to make connections, locate relevant details, and answer questions with greater confidence. Our Grade 1 students have continued to grow as confident readers and writers, and we are proud of the progress they are making each day as they build strong literacy skills.

Maths

For the last few weeks of term we will have a strong focus on revision and practising all of the concepts we have learnt throughout the year. In Grade 2 we have recently revisited data. We collected some data on the number of birds in our playground at ACPS on two different days - a Monday and a Wednesday, presented it in tables and bar charts, both hand drawn and in Google Sheets and then made some comparisions between the two sets of data, answering questions and noting our findings about the data that we collected. Students loved getting outdoors and counting all of the different birds around the playground and then did a great job presenting their data, noting some fabulous observations about the differences between the two data sets.

Over the past few weeks, our Grade 1 students have been revising and reviewing the four number operations through a variety of engaging small-group and partner activities. Using dice games, hands-on tasks, and large poster paper, students have had fun practising their skills while building confidence in addition, subtraction, multiplication (as repeated addition), and division (as sharing). Students especially enjoyed working with partners to solve problems, create number sentences, and record their thinking in clear, visual ways. They also had opportunities to teach their peers, explain how they completed their number sentences, and share different strategies for solving problems.

We are proud of the enthusiasm and effort students have shown as they continue to build strong foundations in numeracy.

Inquiry: Design and technologies projects

Grade 2 students will be designing a protective seed pod as part of our Exploring our World unit this term. Students will explore how seeds travel and survive in different environments, then design and create a seed container that keeps a seed safe, dry and protected during transport. The project will build understanding of materials, sustainability and the needs of living things.

Our Grade 1 students also explored design and technologies by creating their own seedcontainers to keep a seed safe. As a class, we discussed different shapes, materials, and designfeatures that could protect a seed. Students sketched their ideas, explained the purpose of their design, and then brought their plans to life by building a 3D model of their seed container. The students thoughtfully designed, tested, and presented their creations to their peers.

Our Grade 2 students have been thinking about who we are grateful for in our community recently. We chatted about who helps us when we are sick, who helps us learn, what we can use for transport in our community and who can help us to keep safe. Students looked at some community artwork that was designed to thank community workers and then they designed their own bright and colourful artworks that they would use to thank all the people that help them in the community.

This week, our Grade 1 students used origami as a way to practise mindfulness. Mindfulness—or the act of being mindful—is the practice of paying intentional attention to the present moment. It helps us notice what is happening in our bodies and minds so we can respond thoughtfully to situations rather than simply react. Origami is a wonderful mindfulness activity because it requires students to slow down and focus on each fold. As they concentrate on the steps, they are fully engaged in what they are doing right at that moment. Students created a simple origami fish and a cute origami dog, both of which supported a calm and thoughtful learning atmosphere.

Our Grade 1 students shared their reflections on the experience:

“We focus on folding the paper.”
“I don’t think about anything else—just concentrating on folding the paper.”
“I feel relaxed and calm.”
“I can use this when I need to calm down, when I need to turn my mood around, or when I want to do some mindfulness.”

We reminded students that when practising mindfulness, it’s important to choose activities that work for them—activities that help them feel centred, calm, and present.

We are proud of the thoughtful ways our students explored mindfulness this week!