Upper Primary

Upper Primary Learning

Welcome

Term four is action packed with a variety of different activities and experiences happening almost every week in the Upper Primary Section. The students are currently preparing for the upcoming Presentation Night where they will showcase learning from their Integrated Unit ‘Spot the Difference’.

English

Over the past few weeks the Reading and Viewing program has continued to focus on Decoding Strategies.  The students have built on their repertoire and application of decoding strategies to read new words with texts. 

 

Some of the strategies the students have been using include:  

Eagle Eye – look at the picture.

Lips the Fish – Get your mouth ready.  Make the first sound.

Stretchy Snake – Take the individual sounds of letters and blend them together to read the word.

Skippy Frog – Skip over the word, then come back and re-read.

Chunky Monkey – Look for chunks and small words you know.

Careful Caterpillar – Carefully read the whole word.

Flippy Dolphin – If the short vowel doesn’t work, flip it and try the long vowel.

Trying Lion – If one strategy doesn’t work, try another and another.

The students have been regularly participating in shared and guided reading sessions where they have been supported to apply decoding strategies to texts. They have also been immersed in a variety of learning activities to support the development of these strategies.  Some of these activities include:

  • Locating images with a picture that start with a given sound
  • Using images and initial sounds to predict what the covered word might be
  • Sorting pictures according to their initial sounds
  • Using sound boxes to record sounds within a word
  • Reading sentences with a word covered up and guessing what the missing word might be
  • Matching images/words with short/long vowel sounds
  • Using magnetic letters to break words into chunks
  • Sight word games such as  - memory, bingo, snakes and ladders

 

The Writing focus for weeks 1-5 is Simple Reports.  The students started out by exploring the differences between reports and other text types.  They then moved on to building their language through research, class discussions and experiences as part of the planning phase.  Students have used graphic organisers to document important details to be included in their writing (definition, facts, summary, diagrams). They have now completed a draft of their simple report and are moving into the revising, editing and publishing phases.

Mathematics

For the first two weeks of term 4 the focus for Number and Algebra was on Place Value.  Students revised reading numbers and made a human number line using cards.  Lots of discussion was generated around where to place the numbers on the line and why the numbers were in a particular order. Students also used resources such as counters, unfix, bundling sticks and MAB (multibasearithmetic blocks)to make models of various numbers on 5/10 frames and place value mats.  Some classes also explored how many groups of 1s, 10s, 100s, 1000s are within various numbers and then recording this information in expanded form.  Eg, 354 = 300 + 50 + 4.

 

This week the focus moved to Addition.  Classes revisited anchor charts they had made earlier in the year and added new learning to the chart. They have started exploring different strategies they can use to solve addition problems.

These strategies include:

  • Counting All
  • Counting On
  • Doubles
  • Near Doubles

In the coming weeks the students will be using manipulatives, drawings, and number lines to solve number and worded problems.

 

Classes are also learning about Time.  Books such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Bad Tempered Lady Bug and The Tiny Town Train have been used to revise time concepts such as days of the week, analogue time and time duration.

Social Competencies

This term  we have started by looking at healthy foods to link in with our medicine unit. Students have explored how eating a mix of healthy foods can help to keep them healthy each and every day.

 

Students made a food pyramid to explore the food groups such as sugars and fats, protein, dairy, fruits and vegetables and grains.

 

I have loved teaching all the Upper Primary students about how to be safe with medicine and how to be healthy every day. Well done Upper Primary!

Integrated Unit

PKO have looked at the changes that popcorn goes through from kernel to popcorn. Students have begun gathering information on popcorn, which will presented on presentation night. They have been tasting different flavours of popcorn, with some students gathering data  about their likes and dislikes. Each student is working on presenting information about popcorn. This information will look at facts, descriptive vocabulary and procedures.

 

In PJT, students are working on researching for their presentation night. The topic is chocolate.  All students are looking at making a chocolate bar. This will entail each student coming up with a name, motto and a wrapper design. They will also be deciding on the specific ingredients, which will go into making the chocolate bar.

 

PJF are looking at the parts and properties of an egg. Through a range of "egg-speriments", they have investigated the effects that cooling and heating have on a raw egg, changing it from its liquid state into a solid. They have aerated egg whites to make them light, fluffy and observed the process of dissolving an egg shell in vinegar while the contents of the egg remain intact.

 

PDJ have been making healthy banana ice-cream. They left the bananas on the bench in the classroom so they could soften and become over ripe. This made the bananas sweeter to make ice-cream. They cut the bananas into chunks and put them in a freezer container to freeze overnight. The students squeezed some lemon juice over the bananas so they didn’t turn brown. The banana chunks are going to be blended until they are smooth and velvety. A pinch of cinnamon will be added. The mixture will then be put into the freezer to turn into delicious banana ice-cream.

The students have discussed the changes in the bananas, for example soft to hard, unfrozen to frozen, chunky to smooth. They are going to use the banana ice-cream to see what physical reaction occurs when they add a fizzy soft drink to it. Maybe an ice-cream spider!

 

PMB has spent some time looking at different types of icy-poles.

They have discussed how water can freeze, be melted and the cycle can commence again. They are beginning to plan their icy-pole information posters which they are really excited about! They are planning to make their own icy-poles very soon.

 

PSP and PCS have revised changes in different foods. Last week they started to look at their projects for presentation night. Students have begun researching the changes in chocolate.

Focus on Fun

It is always great to have something to look forward to.  Plan a special family activity or event (eg, movie night, games night or outing).  Have your child record the event on a calendar and mark off each passing day.  This will help support your child to learn the days of the week, dates and time periods such as day/week/fortnight/month.

 

 

Chris Norman - Upper Primary Team Leader

Kirsten Coulter - Teaching and Learning Coordinator