Magnify

Term 1 Week 8

Magnify Around the Classrooms

#magnifysandhurst

Foundation

The Preps have been learning about the beginning sounds of /m/ and /s/.  They have been identifying words that begin with these sounds and have been practising writing the lower-case letter for each sound.  Grade Preps have been introduced to oral blending and segmenting of three sounds eg. /s/ /u/ /n/, /r/ /a/ /t/, /f/ /i/ /sh/.  The children are using the text “Bog Trotter” to make connections to character and identify, classify and compare characters as either a person, animal or imaginary creature.  They are also discussing physical attributes of characters.  

Gr 1

Grade Ones have been very busy learning about sentences: how to order them, combine them and expand them.  Their spelling focus is on syllables and identifying the number of syllables in a word.  They are also learning some of the spelling patterns for the long /a/ sound (ay, ai).  Grade Ones are listening to the story book, “Edwina the Emu,” by Sheena Knowles, a follow-up story to “Edward the Emu.”  They are learning new vocab from this book such as ‘announce,’ ‘require’ and ‘perfect.’ 

Gr 2

Grade Twos have had a busy fortnight in literacy.  They have continued revision of their long vowel sounds, in particular, spelling choices for the long /u/ sound (ew, ue and u-e).  They are learning about the suffix ‘ing’ and how to add it to verbs.  The tricky words they have learnt are: something, ask, what, really, animal and because.  They have been writing simple reports as part of their focus on information texts and their next topic is persuasive texts.  Their current story book is called “The Lost Girl,” by Ambelin Kwaymullina.  This story has an indigenous focus.  Children predicted what they thought the text would be about and have learnt new vocab from the text: huddled, glow and foolishness.  As part of learning this new vocab the children also identified the part of speech each word belongs to (noun, adjective, verb or adverb). 

Foundation

In Mathematics, Grade Prep children are learning how to form the numbers 1 to 10, focusing on correct starting points and pencil grip.  They are comparing collections to 10, adding ‘one more’ to a collection up to ten, reading and writing numerals 6-10.  They are writing numerals to match a set and are practising counting. 

Gr 1 

In Mathematics, Grade Ones are learning to compare and order numbers to 99 (numerals), learning to identify the value of a digit based on its place value eg. In the number 34, what is the value of the 3? (3 tens or 30) and are learning how to locate numbers to 100 on a 100 chart.   

Gr 2

In Mathematics, the Grade Twos are learning to tell time to the quarter hour on an analogue clock, are identifying clockwise and anti-clockwise turns and are learning how to identify quarter, half and three quarter clockwise and anti-clockwise turns.  Part of this learning requires them to turn shapes clockwise and anti-clockwise and to select the correct shape after it has been rotated clockwise or anti-clockwise. 

Gr 3 and 4

In Literacy, students are learning and have been given opportunities to to read and spell complex words with consonant, blends and looking at 2 letters that make one sound. Partner work within the lessons and lots of discussion about how to spell words. During these lessons students are encouraged to consider the sounds, letter combinations and the meaning of words.  

In Mathematics, students are beginning to recognise and use the relationship between formal unit of time, including days, hours, minutes and seconds, to estimate and compare the duration of events.  

In Science, students are learning to describe how buildings can stay cool in summer and warm in winter. Students are thinking about the colour of roofs and that shade will minimise the heat absorbed from the sun in summer. They are also thinking about insulation, curtains and preventing draughts will help minimise the heat lost in winter.  

In Humanities, students are learning todescribe factors that contribute to change in communities, and the role community members play in driving change over time. They are learning to identify and describe key factors that are catalysts for change in Australian communities, describe ways community members can contribute to these changes, understand the unique roles some Australians have played in driving changes in communities., evaluate the pros and cons of changes in communities. 

Gr 5 and 6

In Mathematics, all students have been learning about the four operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. 

In Literacy, the the Grade 5 students are continuing their unit of work that centres around the novel ‘War Horse’ by Michael Morpurgo. This story is told from the perspective of Joey, a farm horse sold to the British Army during World War 1. Students have finished their narrative writing and are now working on a persuasive writing piece arguing for or against the topic – ‘Horses should have been used in WW1’. 

Our Grade 6 students have started reading our new novel this week – ‘The Silver Donkey’ by Sonya Hartnett. This is a poignant WWI-era tale about two French sisters, Coco and Marcelle, who discover a British soldier blinded by war, Lieutenant Shepard, hiding in the woods. The girls care for him, and in return, he shares tales about a small silver donkey, inspiring themes of courage, hope, and kindness. As part of this unit, students will be focusing on understanding the features of a fable and writing their own fable. 

In Science, the Grade 5’s are enjoying their first OCHRE Science unit of the year -  ‘Animal Survival’ and the Grade 6’s are enjoying learning about ‘Reversible & Irreversible Changes’. 

In Humanities, the Grade 5’s are studying a history unit called ‘Australia in the 1800’s’ and the Grade 6’s are starting the year with a geography unit called ‘The Globe’.