CLASSROOM NEWS!
Prep/1 News
What a busy and exciting fortnight we have had in Prep/1! In Literacy, we have been learning new sounds through our program and using fun word-building games to practise constructing words in playful ways.
Students have also been exploring different types of sentences – statements, questions, commands and exclamations – through construction and cut-and-paste activities, and are becoming very confident in identifying each type. Our youngest learners have enjoyed making their very own superworms as part of our Foundation InitiaLit/Story Book program.
In Numeracy, we have been learning about data and mass, using balancing scales to compare objects. Students have had great fun estimating and hefting to predict which objects would be heavier or lighter, before checking to see if their guesses were correct.
In Genius Hour, the highlight has been our balloon rocket races, with students designing and testing rockets to see which could travel the fastest. During Science, we have been investigating the movement of the sun by creating our very own sundials.
It has been a wonderful fortnight of hands-on learning, teamwork and lots of fun!
News from the 2/3 Room
What an exciting fortnight for the 2/3 class. We've had 4 of our students experiencing the 'big city' of Melbourne on city camp, and are buzzing with anticipation for this week's P-2 sleepover. We are so proud of our grade 3s' conduct on camp; they were such great sports that we almost forgot it was their first camp ever!
In Literacy this fortnight, we have been working a little more on developing some beautiful poetry; specifically, we've learnt about the exciting Japanese style of poetry known as 'haiku'. A haiku's main rule is the syllables 5-7-5. However, they don't rhyme! The students have blown me away with their beautiful ideas around Australian vegetation. Our Harry Potter adventure has been getting very exciting - ask your child to summarise the latest chapter for you, or share with you some of our interesting vocabulary! In spelling, we have been deep into exploring contractions and how they work (using the 'imposter' apostrophe to replace one or more letter).
In Maths, we have been hard at work at understanding the connection between multiplication and division, as well as refining our skills with addition and subtraction. This week we are applying our knowledge of the 4 operations to play some fun and challenging number games, such as the games below, '5 in a row' and '4 cards'.
4/5/6
This past fortnight has been extremely busy. Full of fun and lots of wonderful learning experiences.
Our literacy journey continues to develop our poetry skills and builds on our knowledge and understanding using a variety of techniques and patterns. From creating "Odes to our Father/Dad/Grandpa/Special person" to "Holiday poetry" based on our wonderful camp experiences. Keep an eye out for your student's Poetry book coming home soon. We hope you will enjoy reading all of their wonderful work, as much as we have had creating them.
In maths, the students have enjoyed working on their “Design their own Zoo project”, and the results from their efforts are truly amazing. This project was relevant and topic related as we had just finished working on “area and perimeter and money.
The students were set the challenge of using their perimeter, area and money knowledge to budget for and plan out a zoo. They had a set of rules that they had to follow and only a budget of $1,000. They were provided with an itemised price list of animals and items to choose from and the minimum area and perimeter requirements for each animal’s enclosure.
Be sure to have a look at them when you come in.
Mrs. Clarke's Groups
We have had busy fortnight in maths, working on our Zoos and participating in a lesson to that helped us practice reading decimal numbers. The students completed long jumps, then measured and recorded to the mm. Then they timed their 100m sprint and read and recorded their times to the millisecond. Later the students compared their jump lengths and times and found the difference between them.
In literacy, we have been reading Charlotte's Web. We have been practicing finding the main idea/s in each chapter, making predictions and now we are beginning to write a summary after reading different chapters of the book. When we have finished the book we will watch the movie and look for the similarities and differences
Cooking
This cooking lesson, we made the most of our small groups. With the 3-6s on camp, we decided to divide the F-2's into two groups.
Main - Cabbage mincechow mein
We made Cabbage mince chow mein, recipe attached below. We were able to use the last of the cabbages, carrots and some celery straight from the garden. We also used some frozen produce out of the fridge, adding a few extra ingredients that weren't on the ingredients list.
https://www.cookingwithnanaling.com/cabbage-mince-chow-mein/
Dessert #1 - Puff Pastry Apple (and Pear) Turnovers
Our next item on the menu was apple and pear turnovers. With the pastry and stewed apple already in the freezer, it was just a matter of the pears. A special thanks to Kim, Ethan and Shelbie who stewed the pears for us before they left for camp.
https://www.katiescucina.com/apple-pear-turnovers/#recipe
Dessert #2 - Homemade Lemon Cupcakes
These cupcakes were delicious, no icing needed! It must have been because of the beautiful lemons we had, straight from the Luckman's lemon tree.
https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/homemade-lemon-cupcakes-with-vanilla-frosting/
