Classroom News
Year Prep/1
The term is flying along! Week 4 already!
In Maths the Prep/Ones have been working on time. Telling time to the hour and half hour. We sent home clocks that the children made for you to practice with them at home. We are also reviewing the days of the week and the months of the year. We have begun to look at addition using concrete materials and will soon move onto subtraction. We had great fun on the ‘100 days of school’ with lots of activities and games related to 100.
In Literacy, we have been working through our “Let’s Decode” reading program. We have covered all of the letters and sounds in the alphabet and are moving onto diagraphs (2 letters that make one sound - sh, ph, wh, th and some vowel sounds such as ‘or’ on corn). In writing, we have been doing some old school dictation of sentences using words we have learned in “Let’s Decode” – dictation is explicit teaching! Our focus story writing topic has been recounts about holidays and special days. We will be moving onto simple narratives – looking at character and setting descriptions. We will write simple narratives with a start, middle and end.
Nat & Wendi
Year 1/2
It has been a big start to term 3. In Maths we have been looking at giving directions, looking at and creating graphs as well as likelihood of events occurring.
We have started Orton-Gillingham lessons where the students learn new phonograms each week and use their knowledge to apply that to spelling. Students have shown huge improvements in their daily rocket writing. They have created more interesting and detailed stories with more accurate spelling.
During inquiry we have been looking at Australian landmarks, including the Great Ocean Road, Souveign Hill, Great Barrier Reef, Uluru, Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House.
Students have looked at interesting vocabulary in The Magic Hat and Little Red Riding Hood. They also compared Little Red Riding Hood by Lisa Campbell Ernst to the original Little Red Riding Hood.
In writing we have been looking at narrative structure and what makes up characters and settings. We are working towards writing our own stories that have detailed characters and settings.
Miss Shaw
Year 2/3
It has been a great term so far with the 2/3 class, and a great pleasure to fill in for Mrs M while she gets better. Students have been working hard on their narrative writing, using fractured fairy tales to inspire them to think of the many possibilities available in story telling. They have been looking at the structures of these narratives to help them plan their own stories. In Maths we have been looking at fractions, data and revising telling the time, and learning how to count AND skip count in Chinese!
The start of this term has seen the Grade 2/3s begin an inquiry into Australia and it's place within the Oceania region and within the world. The students have a great wealth of knowledge about our country, but have also shown a great desire to learn more.
It was wonderful to meet families at the Parent Teacher Interviews. Please feel free to drop in to see me if you have anything to discuss. It has been a wonderful experience teaching your kids.
Mr Jobe
Year 3/4
The last few weeks have seen the 3/ 4 students investigating narratives in our literacy block. They have loved reading Chose Your Own Adventure novels and comparing and contrasting picture story books with scripts. During Inquiry we have been learning how to use the features of atlas' in order to quickly and efficiently find the information we are looking for. We have also been collecting, sorting and analysing data.
Ms G
Year 4/5
Literacy:
We have been working hard on improving our reading fluency. Each day we read a passage of text together and answer questions about it. Students have produced some exciting results in their latest comprehension assessment. We have focused on reviewing sounds we know and well as learning new sounds. This term we are learning about narratives. Students have learnt how to start their narratives in interesting ways including starting with an adverb (i.e. frantically) or a verb (running). We have enjoyed listening to amusing stories written by members of our class. A special mention to James for his funny Story about Jackson the dog.
Please remind students to keep up the home reading and record this in their diary.
Maths:
We have focused on growing patterns, physically making a problem, making a list or table , telling the time and what things are impossible, unlikely, have an even chance, likely and certain. Students completed a timed multiplication grid last week and a special mention goes to Emiley, Phoenix, Mercedes, Jaelah, Tait and Blake for their wonderful progress in speed and accuracy.
Inquiry:
We have been learning about the ocean. Students have learnt about the different oceans in the world, rips, erosion and the human impact on marine life. Students have found this topic particularly interesting as we were able to link this to local issues including the erosion at the Inverloch Surf Beach.
Miss J