Classroom News

Grade 1 & 2

This term has flown by with so many wonderful school events and classroom activities. Our students are making strong connections from all of our learning throughout the year and using this in class work and projects. It’s amazing to see the “ah ha” moments as it all comes together for them. 

Inquiry

Our unit this term “Life at Home - Then and Now” has been an exciting one, as students have felt transported back in time! They have learnt about how life, technology, families and houses have all changed. We have watched video clips, read historical fiction books and investigated all the wonderful inventions that have made our life so much easier in the present.

It is not long now until our Inquiry Expo ‘Through the Window’. Students are working hard creating trioramas depicting a room in a home from the past and comparing it to the same room in the present. 

We warmly invite you to attend our expo:

📅 When: Wednesday 17th September at 3:00pm

📍 Where: Your child’s classroom

⭐Dress-up: For a bit of fun, children may dress up as a student from the past (olden days). Teachers will discuss with students what this may look like. 

Reading, Writing, and Spelling

This term we have had fun exploring stories about the past to help us understand what life used to be like in Australia. Students enjoyed learning about child characters being leaders on adventures and to inspire change. Examples of the books we have read include To the Bridge, The Jolly Swagman, Window, Belonging and The Shop Train.  

In writing, our students have enjoyed writing non fiction texts such as procedures and information reports. They have been careful to include many details in the steps of their procedures to make sure everything goes to plan. They have also loved choosing topics to research for their information reports. These fantastic pieces of writing are being included in your child’s Writer’s Gift which will be shared at the end of the year. We encourage you to visit your child’s classroom in the meantime to take a sneak peek at all of this fabulous writing! 

In Term 3, we continued our daily phonics focus alongside our weekly spelling lessons. Our focus has been on long vowel sounds and the sometimes strange ‘codes’ or letters used to spell these sounds. It’s been wonderful to see students applying their growing knowledge of spelling patterns and strategies in their own writing. 

Mathematics

This term we revisited addition and subtraction strategies and explored 2D and 3D shapes. We even played a fun First Nations string weaving game to locate 2D shapes.

Our big idea in the second half of the term was multiplicative thinking through our multiplication and division units. We have used repeated addition, arrays and equal groups to show how we can make groups and share equally. Using hands-on materials has supported our understanding of these ideas and when ready, students have used equations to show how this might look. 

Each week, our classrooms have a fluency focus too. This is where we use engaging games and activities to help students develop number sense and master basic mathematical facts (such as addition, subtraction and multiplication) quickly and accurately. A fun game the students love is Flippers! You might like to also try this at home, and all you need is a deck of cards! 

In Flippers, a deck of cards is shuffled and made into a ‘draw’ pile. The child and their partner take a card each. They then double the number on each of their cards. The person with the highest number wins both cards. Continue to take cards each until all cards have been drawn. The person with the most cards at the end wins! 

Some variations of game can also be: 

• Double the card and add one (to practice our near doubles facts)
• Use only cards 1-9 and when the card is drawn state how many more is needed to make 10.
• Draw two cards each and add them together, or subtract them. The person with the highest number or lowest number (for subtraction) wins the cards. 

Reminders

• Change take home readers regularly and fill in those Reading Logs! Reading with an adult 3–4 times a week not only supports fluency, accuracy, and understanding, but also provides a special opportunity to slow down and enjoy some quiet time together.
• Bring charged iPads to school every day
• Don’t forget your library books and bags on your designated library day
• A reminder to check that your child’s items are clearly labelled so lost items can be returned easily. Sometimes names can fade after lots of washing so get those sharpies or labels out again.

We hope you all have a restful holiday break, ready for a busy final term in Grade 1 and 2 for 2025! 

The 1/2 Team 

Mrs Rohit (1R), Miss Crabb (1C), Mr Ringin (1M), Ms Fabris and Mr Merlino (2FM), Ms Sage (2S) and Miss Wood (2W).