Term 3 Week 2

Hello,

Here we are back in home learning. We hope that you are all well and safe.

We want to take this opportunity to remind you that the Preps made progress during home learning last term and we are confident that they will do so again.

The Prep team have been working to set things up in preparation. Home learning will be very similar to last term and will revolve around Seesaw. We are looking forward to seeing the Preps develop their skills and become more independent in their use of Seesaw.

As with last time, we know that home learning will look different in each household and that everyone will be doing their best. Please make it work for you. If you have had one of those days and little has managed to get completed, remember that bedtime stories not only contribute to a child's emotional well being but also to their literacy development.

As always, please do not hesitate to let us know if there is anything we can do to support you and your child in this home learning adventure.

Codes

As you know we have been using the Write to Read word study programme in literacy. We have been using flashcards daily to expose students to phonic codes. This week we will introduce the codes 'ay' and 'ai'. 'ai' is said as 'ai never' because it is never at the end of an English word. These codes make the same sound but have different letters. In addition to the codes, we have been using the reading and spelling tools process as a strategy to support reading and writing words.

W2R Reading tools – As part of the Write to Read programme students use the ‘Reading Tools’ strategy to decode words when they are reading. This four step strategy can be applied to whichever level your child is at with their reading.

The four steps include:

Code spot – This is where you look for codes in the word.

Rule check – This is where you check if any of the codes you have spotted have a rule. We haven’t learnt many rules yet, we will continue to work on this later in the year.

Blender – This is where you blend the codes together.

Final check – This is where you check if the word make sense and you try to put it in a sentence or picture it in your head.

W2R Spelling tools – Spelling tools is a strategy students use when attempting to spell words and learn spelling rules. This is also a four step strategy.

The four steps include:

Sound check/chunk sounds – What sounds can you hear in the word?

Code match – What codes do you know make those sounds?

Rule check – Do any of those codes have a rule e.g. qu are always together.

Final check – This is where we use our reading tools to help us to read the word we have written.

Literacy

The Prep team are so proud of how far the Preps have progressed with their writing. We ask that during remote learning students don’t copy an adult’s writing but have a go at writing the sounds they hear, even if it is only the first sound or a couple of sounds in the word. This enables students to begin to write independently. We also stress that it is OK for our Preps to make mistakes in their writing. We like to let our Preps know that mistakes are a good thing as they show we are learning and trying new things. We also request that students don’t use rubbers to fix mistakes, rather they just put a cross or line over their error. This is part of the editing stage of the writing process and something we look for in a student’s writing development. Our Prep students are also writing drafts not pieces to be published. As you would know in your own writing, your drafts have mistakes and you edit while writing. Please watch the Seesaw video with your child on writing during remote learning 2.0 to demonstrate how the students write.

This week there will also be a focus on teaching students syllables, what they are and how to count them. There are a variety of ways to count syllables, clapping, robot talk, body tapping and putting your hand under your chin. As people pronounce words differently we find students can miscount through clapping. Placing your hand under your chin can be an easier way to accurately count syllables as you can feel when your mouth opens for each syllable. Later students can use syllables to help them chunk when reading and spelling words, however for now we just want our Prep students to know what a syllable is (beats in a word) and how to count them.

Numeracy

This week in numeracy, we will be revisiting ordering numbers to, and from, 20 and beyond. We will be looking at numbers that come before and after, starting at zero and numbers other than zero. For the children that are ready, they will be ordering non-consecutive numbers to and from 100.

As children begin to explore their own home for our Unit of Inquiry into ‘Homes are influenced by different factors’ they will be auditing certain items in their homes and creating a tally chart. Then, they will be using their tally chart to create a graph and analyse the data they have collected.

Unit of Inquiry

This term we are beginning our new unit of inquiry with the central idea 'Homes are influenced by different factors'. The students will begin with thinking about their own home and broaden their learning to homes around the world. They will be developing their ability to compare objects in order to find similarities and differences between objects, in this case homes. We will inquire into how family and culture can influence homes including different routines families have, such as travelling to school. The Preps will also be exploring how climate and location can impact homes. For example, a home near water might have stilts.

To begin this week, the Preps will be thinking about their own home and who lives there.

Well being

The Prep team understand that one of the most challenging things for the Preps will be missing the social aspects of school. The team is mindful of ensuring that our Preps do not feel disconnected from their class after having just reconnected. One of the important elements of the Google Meet sessions will be providing students with an opportunity to feel connected to their class. You may find that your child's teacher 'leaves them to chat'. Please be assured that they will have only stepped out of view and will still be monitoring the conversation. We found out last time (by accident) that the students were more likely to converse freely when they thought their teacher wasn't there.

We encourage your child to maintain their connection with their teacher through using the voice recording option on Seesaw. This can be used to ask questions, share information or respond to a teacher's comment or question.

The Prep team

0A - Kathryn Morrison

kathryn.morrison@education.vic.gov.au

0B - Deb Barden

deborah.barden@education.vic.gov.au

0C - Danielle Palombi

danielle.palombi@education.vic.gov.au

0D - Julie Daniel

julie.daniel@education.vic.gov.au

HU - Krystle Horadam

krystle.horadam@education.vic.gov.au

Prep Fortnightly Snapshot

Issue 10 · 19 Jul 2020

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