2024 Term 4 Class Overviews

Year 1/2 Term 4 Overview

Yr 1/2 Term 4Overview    

Welcome back to Term 4! 

 

We hope you found time to relax and recharge with your family and friends. We have commenced this term producing comic strips about our holidays. We are looking forward to a busy and happy Term 4 as the year continues to fly by.  Please note, students will continue to wear their Sports Uniform on Thursday and Friday this term. In Term 4, the Junior classes will attend swimming lessons at Nunawading Aqualink Leisure centre from the 19th November to the 29th November. 

 

IMPORTANT DATES:

 

OCTOBER

8 Tuesday - 1/2A Class Mass 10 am

15 Tuesday - 1/2B Class Mass 10 am

23 Wednesday - P-2 Excursion Myuna Farm 

25 Friday - Kids Disco

 

NOVEMBER

4 Monday - School Closure Day

5 Tuesday - Melbourne Cup Holiday 

15 Friday - School Closure Day 

16 Saturday - St John’s School Fete 

19 Tuesday to 29 Friday - Junior Swimming Program

 

 

DECEMBER

 

2 Monday - Whole School Advent Liturgy

12 Thursday - Carols on the Green 6pm 

16 Monday - Whole School Picnic at Halliday Park 

17 Tuesday - Students’ Last Day/Final Assembly 

 

Religious Education

This term in Religious Education, we will focus on God's creations and explore scripture stories that highlight love and care for the environment, helping us understand how God provides for our needs and wants. Additionally, we will emphasize the concept of Stewardship and how we can act as Stewards of Creation within our own community. We also dive into the importance of Advent, preparing for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.

 

Inquiry - Nourish Your Life

Our big question this term is ‘How can understanding the origin of our resources help us use them better and protect the environment?’ We will explore the difference between what we need and what we want, focusing on the basics like food, shelter and water. Students will discover how plants and animals are grown to provide for these needs. We are also very excited about our upcoming excursion to Myuna Farm! Students will get to enjoy a range of engaging learning opportunities including Farm Show, Nursery Animals, Farm School and Produce Gardening. This is a great way to kickstart our inquiry unit, sparking curiosity and deepening understanding of how we use and care for the resources around us.

 

Mathematics

This term in Mathematics, we will be focusing on: 

  • Statistics:
    • collecting and recording data on various topics using lists
    • examining, rearranging data and re-surveying to improve data collection
  • Measurement - Time:
    • naming, using and comparing the days of the week and months of the year
    • sequencing familiar events that place throughout the day, month, etc and deciding how long these events might take
    • using calendars to determine the date and number of days between events
    • recognising and reading the time on analogue clocks to the hour, half-hour and quarter hour (Year 2)
    • identifying, describing and demonstrating quarter, half, three-quarter turns in relation to clocks
  • Algebra - Patterns:
    • recognising, continuing and creating pattern sequences with numbers, symbols, shapes and objects including coins, skip counting, etc. 
    • recognising, describing and creating patterns that increase or decrease by a constant amount, using numbers, shapes and objects
    • identifying missing elements in various patterns
  • Number - Fractions:
    • recognising and describing one-half as one of 2 equal parts of a whole
    • connecting halves, quarters and eighths using repeated halving of shapes and objects 
  • Space - Location:
    • giving and following directions to move people and objects to different locations using vocabulary such as ‘forwards’, ‘backwards’, ‘straight ahead’, ‘left’ and ‘right’/’clockwise’, ‘anticlockwise’, ‘quarter turn to the left’, etc
    • using ordinal and positional language to describe the position of people and objects
    • interpreting maps of familiar places and identifying the position of key features

Literacy

In Reading sessions, we will be exploring non fiction texts focusing on where our food and resources come from. We will explore the work of farmers and the journey from the farm to our home for resources such as dairy, wheat bread, cotton and paper. We will explore the language and layout of information texts and learn about the manufacturing process. This will connect with our Writing topic of information reports and our Inquiry investigation into understanding where our food and resources come from and how we can value these resources.

 

The final Reading unit of the term will focus on Poetry. We will look at pattern, rhythm and repetition used in poetry and this will also connect with the writing of our own poetry, leading into the Christmas season.

 

In Writing, we will be exploring and creating information texts. Students will examine the structural and language features, analyse a variety of texts and use their knowledge to create written information texts of their own. 

We will continue our weekly Phonics and Spelling program, both in literacy sessions at school and complimentary spelling tasks at home. 

 

Social & Emotional Learning

As a school we will be re-introducing our behaviour matrix and child-friendly flow chart, co-created with staff and experts, to help guide students in making positive choices. These tools will empower children to build resilience, understand their rights and foster respectful relationships.

 

STEM

In weekly STEM sessions, the junior classes will learn about chemical states and change through food. We will explore the changes that can happen to everyday materials and the best way to manage things such as food handling and cooking, construction and packaging. The students will observe and document changes through the context of food including spaghetti, chocolate and popcorn. Students will learn about how heating or cooling a food can change its properties, whether that change is fast or slow and if that change can be reversed or not. 

 

Digital Technology

This term in Digitech, students will have the opportunity to recognise, identify, and explore familiar digital systems in everyday life. They will learn what a digital system is, understand the roles of hardware and software, and how these elements work together for a particular purpose. Additionally, students will continue to improve and develop their touchpad and typing skills through repeated practice and interactive games.

 

Specialists

Students will have specialist classes weekly (please see timetable below for each class). Each Wednesday we will have STEM, Digitech and ‘Mini Maths’ (a variety of Math games to develop fluency) rotations. Students will stay with their class group and rotate through the different activities. Miss Woolley will teach ‘Mini Maths’, Miss M will teach Digitech and Mrs Webb will teach STEM. 

We will have our junior sport fortnightly on a Friday afternoon. 

The 1/2s will visit the Library every Friday and borrow different books for the classroom as well as some extra Home Reading.

 

 

1/2 Timetable Overview

 

Homework

Homework will be sent home on a Monday and needs to be completed and returned by Friday. We expect students to continue the following:

  • Reading: Daily reading and recording in diaries 
  • Spelling: Complete SMART spelling sheet which is familiar to students and a choice of ONE spelling activity grid (please see photos below)
  • Mathletics: Tasks set in Mathletics will be in relation to topics covered in the classroom to consolidate learning. It is not expected students would complete all tasks in one sitting.

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Classroom Helper Support

Thank you to those who have supported the junior classrooms last term. Please let relevant classroom teachers know when you are able to come in and assist. We would love to have your support!

 

Reminders

Bookbags with Readers are required at school daily. New spelling words for Home Practice are given on Mondays. Spelling and Maths homework is due on Fridays. 

The connections between home and school are very important. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. We can be reached via email or leave a message at the office and we will endeavour to respond in a timely manner, between 8am and 5pm on weekdays. 

1/2A - Anna Hendy - ahendy@sjmitcham.catholic.edu.au (Monday & Tuesday)1/2A - Nicole Webb - nwebb@sjmitcham.catholic.edu.au (Wednesday-Friday)1/2B - Clorinda Maio - cmaio@sjmitcham.catholic.edu.au