Year 1/2's
Welcome Back to Term 3!
Welcome back! It has been wonderful to see everyone return with smiling faces and a positive attitude towards learning. The students have settled in very well and are quickly getting back into classroom routines.
This term, we are continuing to use our Classroom Expectations Matrix to help create a safe, respectful, and positive learning environment. The matrix outlines what it looks like to be a learner in different situations throughout the day, including during instruction, independent work, group work, transitions, and break times. We refer to these expectations regularly, celebrate students who demonstrate them, and use them to support everyone in making positive choices. Please see attached photo of our classroom matrices.
Reading
Over the first two weeks of term, students explored Uluru, learning about its unique ecosystem, native flora and fauna, tourism, conservation and sustainability, and the rich culture of the Anangu people, the Traditional Owners of Uluru.
We are now beginning our new inquiry, The First Scientists – Deadly Inventions and Innovations. Through stories and informational texts, students will discover the incredible knowledge, inventions and innovations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. They will learn how these scientific understandings have been developed and shared over thousands of years. Students will begin planning to write an Information Report on Inventions, demonstrating their learning of informative text structure.
Phonics
Our daily phonics sessions continue to build strong literacy foundations. Students are practising:
High-frequency sight words
Reading fluency
Correct letter formation and handwriting
Grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPCs) to strengthen their decoding and spelling skills
Sentence writing in the form of dictation and modelled sentences.
Mathematics
Our paired fluency sessions are back in action! These short, engaging activities help students become more automatic and confident with their addition and subtraction facts. Developing fluency allows students to solve problems more efficiently and supports their learning across all areas of mathematics. It has been wonderful seeing students support each other when reading and correcting themselves.
Students have been exploring the features of 2D shapes and 3D objects, learning to identify, describe and compare their properties, using words like ‘vertices’, ‘sides’, parallel’, ‘curved’ and ‘straight’. Next week, we will begin our new unit on multiplication and division, where students will develop their understanding of equal groups, arrays and strategies for solving multiplication and division problems.
Auslan
We've had a fantastic start to Auslan this term! Students are learning the signs for a variety of animals and have especially enjoyed reinforcing their learning through fun games of Auslan charades. It's been wonderful to see their confidence grow as they communicate using signs.
PMP ICT PBL
The year 2’s have been introduced to Google Sheets, learning about rows, columns and cells. We are working towards collecting and representing different types of data while conditioning cells by colour and category.
In PBL, our Year 1 students have engaged in a range of different types of play. In construction play, students challenged themselves to build the tallest tower using foam blocks and then compared their creations with wooden blocks, discovering which materials worked best and why. During games with rules, they developed important social skills such as taking turns, while playing Snakes and Ladders, UNO and I Spy. Students have also enjoyed completing jigsaw puzzles, strengthening their persistence and spatial thinking. A particular highlight has been dramatic play, with many students enthusiastically taking on the role of the teacher, using their imaginations to recreate classroom experiences and practise communication and leadership skills.
In PMP, our Year 1 students have been building their coordination, balance, spatial awareness, and confidence through our weekly PMP sessions. They are also developing control, accuracy, and strength in their movements, along with improving their ability to follow instructions and work cooperatively with others. It has been wonderful to see their enthusiasm, persistence, and growing independence during these sessions.
