Classroom learning

YEAR 1/2 LEARNING

We have had an action packed Term Three! Here’s a snapshot of what we have been up to this term.

ACU Pre Service Teachers: 

We have been lucky and blessed to have Gemma and Ava teach us in year 1/2W and 1/N. We will miss them when they leave at the end of term. 

Swimming

We have had a wonderful swimming program at Victoria University, learning new swimming skills. Here are some student highlights about their swimming experience: 

Ferdi: “The instructors were really nice and I loved learning Freestyle”

Olivia: “It helped us learn how to swim in a fun way. I also loved going in the deep end.”

Harvey: “I loved doing the torpedo move.”

Grace: “I loved the pin drop.”

Charlie: “I liked learning the survival backstroke because it will help me in an emergency.”

Mathematics

In Mathematics, we have measured everything around us.  We used informal units like blocks, paper clips and even feet, to identify the length of everyday objects. We investigated measuring capacity (measuring how much something holds). We enjoyed comparing the capacity of different containers, estimating which one would hold more.  We explored volume and how to measure it. We worked on a range of hands on activities. It was fun creating boxes of specific volumes and measuring the volume of boxes using Unifix blocks. 

We are now shifting our focus to multiplication and division.  Have a look at some of our work.

English

In writing, we spent time earlier this term working on something special… personalised Father’s Day books inspired by Anthony Browne’s ‘My Dad’. 

We loved creating books which celebrated our dads. We explored different adjectives to describe our dads and learnt about similes (comparing two different things). 

We are now exploring simple and compound sentences, with a strong focus on using the correct punctuation. We are working hard to perfect our sentences, ensuring they are grammatically correct and fun to read.

In reading, we have focused on building comprehension skills, with a focus on summarising stories. Together, we explored a variety of engaging texts and identified key story elements such as: characters, setting, problem, and solution. We used the 'Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then' strategy to help summarise texts we read. We also had fun reading Handa’s Surprise and then created a short play to retell the story. 

Inquiry

A Step Back in Time with Mrs Sargood- Inquiry has taken us on an incredible journey to the 1800s.  We recently had an incursion where Mrs. Sargood, our special guest, taught us how children learned over 200 years ago. We got to write with ink and quills and examine old photos, providing a real sense of how different school was back then. It was an unforgettable day which sparked lots of curiosity and conversation! 

We are now comparing our current childhood to our parent's childhood.  We are creating a ‘then and now’ picture book to show how things have changed over time. 

We are so proud of the hard work and enthusiasm the 1/2 children have shown in all areas of their learning. 

Warm regards,  

The Year 1/2 Teaching Team