Classroom News Foundation

In Foundation, the mentor texts at the beginning of Term 4 focus on keeping our bodies healthy. We study healthy foods and what they do for our body. Treats are also a focus and why we only eat these sometimes. The effects of exercise on different parts of the body are investigated too. As part of the health and safety unit, we will have a police officer visit and fire fighters in for fire education. Next, we use a range of Aboriginal texts with rich vocabulary and beautiful illustrations to engage the children and to teach grammar. 

Reading 

The mentor texts based around health are a mixture of entertaining fiction books containing facts, as well as non-fiction books. These texts have been carefully selected to teach the health curriculum but also provide strong literacy examples of rhyming words and scientific vocabulary. Recognising and producing rhyming words is an important skill to tune into sound patterns for reading and spelling. Students are also continuing to develop their sticky note thinking with an added element of comprehending the mentor text on their iPads.  

Writing 

As we cycle through the writing process our lessons focus on the following: 

• Brainstorming Ideas – ‘Word Choice’ is the key area, including adjectives, verbs and scientific vocabulary. 
• Drafting – ‘Sentence Fluency’, where we look at starting sentences with different words to help the writing flow effectively. We also ensure the strategy of reading sentences back to see if they sound right grammatically. Some students are extended to follow the text structure and features of different genres. 
• Editing – The ‘Conventions’ of punctuation, using carats for forgotten words or enhancing vocabulary, as well as correcting spelling from sight word charts are the skills we focus on. 
• Publishing – Involves the ‘Presentation’ of writing in creative ways for readers to enjoy. 

Maths 

Our Maths units this term include roleplay transactions of money, positioning shapes, as well as continuing to build counting, place value and operation skills 

This term we have many end of year assessments. They all need to be done individually with each child, so you could imagine they take a long time. This is in preparation for the end of year reports. Soon students will have practice in their 2023 classes with their new teacher and classmates. This will give some familiarity and hopefully eliminate some anxiousness. 

We have a busy term ahead of us! 

Lou, Zoe and Terena