Learning in my Level – Level 1

What a term it has been already!! The Level 1 students have returned with amazing enthusiasm!

To start the term, the students shared their experiences over the holidays. They definitely had lots of fun over the break! Here are some holiday recounts:

The students have also shared some true and false facts about their holidays. Which of the following statements are true?

The students are now focusing on writing narratives. They are learning about character traits, settings, problems and solutions. The students aim to use adjectives when writing to encourage a mental picture for their audience.

Our Reading groups always keep the students busy with a variety of activities. With a strong phoneme/grapheme focus in Little Learners Love Literacy, the students are becoming stronger decoders as they read, and this knowledge compliments their writing and spelling development. We now have a focus on Fairy Tales this term and the students have enjoyed listening to a variety of stories in this genre.

For our Inquiry unit on ‘Push and Pull’, CraftPower incursions visited our school, and the students had an opportunity to their use woodworking skills to create these amazing cars. We’ve learnt how different toys require a different force. Some toys require a pushing force, some require a pulling force and some require both!

For Maths, the Level 1 students have been learning about subtraction. They’ve been using tens frame, number lines and abacuses to help improve their knowledge of subtraction. Students are using concrete materials to represent their thinking, such as playdough, beads, unifixes etc.

Learning in My Level – Level 2

What a productive start to the term we have had! The Level 2 students have begun the term with enthusiasm, as they launched straight into their learning. We have already enjoyed a woodworking incursion and learned about the significance of ANZAC Day, and it feels like the term has just begun!

Literacy

We have thoroughly enjoyed our Writing unit on narratives this term. It was wonderful to see the students’ creative ideas shine through, as they shared their unique narrative ideas and carefully crafted their stories in order to engage their reader. The students learnt how to launch their story with a ‘sizzling start’, including use of dialogue and onomatopoeia or sound words. They practised using a range of adjectives to describe their characters and settings, and included engaging problems that draw the reader in.

During our Reading sessions, Level 2 students have furthered their application of comprehension skills, including questioning before, during and after reading a text. This is something that the children can continue at home, as they enjoy their daily reader books. Please remember to fill out the yellow reading log once a book is complete, as your teacher checks these on a regular basis.

We have continued our phonics focus of long vowel sounds, including ‘igh’, ‘i_e’, and ‘oa’. We have also studied suffixes and how we can apply them to our reading and writing. The students are encouraged to continue their weekly Word Work homework to support their growth in this area.

In News Time, we have been practising enhancing our public speaking skills leading up to our annual Public Speaking Competition, which is held later on in the year. The students have worked towards maintaining positive eye contact, using an appropriate voice level for the context and utilising their notes effectively. Thank you for the effort put in at home, as you support your child to rehearse their short speech prior to arriving at school.

Mathematics

In Maths, we have continued to reinforce mathematical ideas and introduce new topics. The students have furthered their understanding of place value, including re-naming numbers in different ways. They have explored patterns in everyday life and solved additive number patterns. It was lovely to see the way the students engaged with learning about calendars and how they can be used in real-life contexts.

Inquiry

In our Inquiry topic ‘Push and Pull’, the students have investigated the power of force and how they can use it in their construction. The students have used their creativity to design and make an object that moves in some way. Additionally, they were fortunate enough to have Craftpower come and facilitate an incursion where the students made a vehicle out of wood. There were many proud faces as they completed their project.

How wonderful it was to open up our classrooms during the recent Open Afternoon, as the students shared some of their Inquiry work with guests and family members. It was evident that the students felt very proud of their work and enjoyed showing their learning with those who visited.

Along with the rest of the school, we have enjoyed learning a new Indigenous Woiwurrung word each week. As the term progresses, we look forward to commemorating National Sorry Day and celebrating Reconciliation Week. The students have been exploring what our new Rangeview school values mean to us and how they can apply in our classrooms and beyond.

We extend our thanks to those family members who have generously given of their time to support, whether it be to hear children read or for our recent incursion.

We anticipate further connection and continued growth as a class learning community together!

Level 2 Team

Reading Challenge