Grade 1 Community News
Hello Grade 1 families!
Term 2 is off to a fantastic start in Grade 1! It’s been wonderful to see the students growing in confidence as they revisit concepts from Term 1—many are now tackling these with greater fluency and independence. Even more exciting is the way they’re diving into new learning alongside their classmates, full of curiosity and enthusiasm. The classroom is buzzing with questions, ideas, and collaborative energy!
InitiaLit and Vocabulary
In literacy, we’ve been revising our sounds, tricky words, and new digraphs, including ow (as in snow) and oa (as in boat). This week, we also explored homophones—words that sound the same but have different meanings and/or spellings.
Over the next two weeks, we’ll be learning about more ways to spell the long vowels ‘i’: -y (as in cry) and -igh (as in light); and ‘u’: -ue (as in glue) and -ew (as in grew). We'll also be focusing on using adjectives to describe things around us.
Our Week 4 vocabulary words are taken from the reader The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch: devour, scrumptious, ingenious, baffle, and superb.
In Week 5, students will be introduced to the words honest, staggered, panicked, and demanding, and supported to use these words in daily language-building tasks.
To support your child’s learning at home, you can help them practice the new vocabulary by saying the words together and using them in sentences. When reading the take-home readers, look out for and point out the new sounds and digraphs they’re learning in class.
Maths
In Maths, we’ve been revising important skills such as counting forwards and backwards, identifying numbers that come before and after, and identifying subtraction facts from number bonds.
Over the next two weeks, we’ll be learning to order numbers, finding the missing part in number bonds by counting back and counting on, measuring length using informal units (like blocks or hands), and exploring 3-Dimensional objects.
You can support your child by practising basic number facts together to build fluency, and by looking for 3D objects around the house or outdoors and naming them (e.g., cube, sphere, cone).
Knowledge Building
This week, we are wrapping up our unit on the human body. Students have enjoyed learning about the digestive system, five senses, the heart, and how our bodies get energy from the food pantry.
Next week, we’ll begin exploring Mesopotamia! We'll start by looking at how farming has changed over time and comparing life in ancient Mesopotamia to the modern world.
Keep the learning going at home by chatting with your child about topics like which foods give us energy and what inventions from the past we still use today—you might even spot some around Melbourne or your own home!
Respectful relationships
In Respectful Relationships, we’ve been learning about how to show respect, especially from an Aboriginal perspective. We read the book An Important Message from Mr Beaky and had some great class discussions about taking pride in our cultures and showing respect to our elders.
We’ll continue this learning by talking about what respect looks and sounds like in different places, such as at home and at school.
You can support this learning by talking with your child about their strengths that help them show respect, and by discussing what respectful behaviour looks like in your family and community.
We are continuing to practise the important skill of retelling stories by identifying the characters, setting, problem, solution, and how the characters feel at the beginning and end of the story.
You can support your child at home by using these prompts when reading their take-home readers together.
Reminders
Please continue to support your child’s learning by reading at home each day. Regular reading helps build fluency and increases their reading mileage, which is essential for developing confident and capable readers. Every bit of practice makes a difference!
Past and Upcoming Year One Events
Crazy Hair, Sock and Hat DayLast Friday, we had a fantastic time celebrating Crazy Hair, Sock and Hat Day! A big thank you to all families for your generous donations, which will go towards supporting our senior graduation.
Grade 1 Excursion to Scienceworks
A reminder that Grade 1 students have an exciting excursion to Scienceworks coming up in Term 2. Please ensure you’ve checked the dates in June for your child’s grade, and submitted payment via Compass prior to your child’s excursion date.
Pupil Free Day
Please note that Friday 30th May is a Pupil-Free Day for report writing. Students are not required to attend school on this day.
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