Learning Areas

Foundation

Things have been very busy in the Foundation classrooms these past four weeks.

In Phonics we have been learning to connect our letters with the sounds they make. Please practise the following chants at home if your child is still building confidence with their phonics knowledge:

• Seals swim, seals slide, /s/ /s/ /s/
• Ants on apples, /a/ /a/ /a/
• Trotting tigers, /t/ /t/ /t/
• Pretty pink pig, /p/ /p/ /p/
• In the igloo, /i/ /i/ /i/
• Nanny has a net, /n/ /n/ /n/

Playing games such as ‘I Spy’, creating lists of words that begin with a particular sound and identifying different letters in the books you read at home will be useful in reinforcing what we are learning in the classroom.

In Reading we are applying our phonics knowledge to decode unfamiliar words. Our main goal at present is segmenting and blending. Have your child stretch the sounds out as they try to decode the unfamiliar word. For children who are confident with this, our focus is on comprehension. We have been practising retelling the stories we read and sharing new facts we learn from information texts. Everyone has been enjoying our weekly visits to the Library- please remember to send your child with their library  

Our Writing lessons have been lots of fun. Before each Writing session we engage in a hands-on experience. These have included water play at the water pumps, tunnel ball, sticky bubbles, play doh and playing with the bee-bots. After each experience we brainstorm the language we can use to recount this experience. During independent work time some students are working on including clear details in the pictures and attempting labels. For others, the challenge is to record complete sentences using sequential language including ‘first, then, next.’

In Maths the focus has been on counting. We have been working on organising our counting of collections to ensure we don’t double count or miss any items. We have also been ordering numerals and creating collections to match. Some of our learning experiences have included games of ‘Chicken Scramble’, ‘Roll and Build’, scavenger hunts and painting. Some students have also been challenging themselves to recognise skip counting patterns. 

Finally, a big focus throughout the entire year is of course showing our school values of Respect, Responsibility and Resilience. Please make sure you are having regular conversations with your child about the importance of respecting other people’s personal space, using kind words and . A happy, safe classroom is a classroom where every student can be learning to the best of their ability.

Have a great weekend.

Arwen, Joe and Lexie

Grade 1/2

Hi everyone, what a busy month we’ve had settling into our Reading, Writing and Math routines.

In Reading, we have focussed using punctuation to guide us to read out aloud using expression. 

In Writing we have been working on learning about the structure of a recount. The students have had many  opportunities to write their own recount about their favourite experiences.  

As part of  Maths we have focussed on Place Value and Measurement.  

Thank you from all the grade 1/2s 

Grade 3/4

Over the last month, the Grade 3/4s have been busy learning all about place value in Maths. We have been learning all the ways numbers can be expressed. For example, write it in words, partition it, build it using MAB blocks, show it on a place value chart or an abacus, and many other ways. Students have completed a mini project on a real life number (for example, how many people attended the Ed Sheeran concert) and showed us all the ways this number can be represented. See the pictures for their fantastic posters!

In Writing, students have had some time to write and publish some exciting narratives which they planned using a ‘story mountain’ to include an orientation, problem, series of events, climax and resolution. Now we have begun our focus for the rest of the term: persuasive texts. Students have been practising planning their persuasive essays using ‘OREO’ (a yummy way to plan their writing: Opinion, Reason, Explanation, Opinion.)

In Reading, students have been exploring a range of texts from short stories to persuasive advertisements and letters. We have been breaking down the purpose, structure, features and audience for these texts to further understand the choices the author has made to engage their readers. We have also had a number of library visits so far, and all the students are enjoying the time to browse, borrow and read all the awesome books available.

In Integrated Curriculum, the focus for the first half of this last month was digital literacy - how to use a lot of the applications (e.g. Google Slides, Epic) students will be using this year. We have now moved on to our focus for the rest of the term: growth vs fixed mindsets and how to build resilience. We have discussed ‘the learning pit’ and what strategies we can use to get out of that mindset when we are stuck in the pit. Students have also played some team building games such as Human Knot and Pass the Hula Hoop, where we have been practising how to work as part of a team and display good sportsmanship.

The teachers have been very impressed by the outstanding respect, responsibility and resilience that all Grade 3/4 students have been displaying so far. We are so impressed with all of you. Keep it up!

From Elena, Kellie, Kieran and Stefanie

Grade 5/6

Wow what an action packed few weeks we have had with our 5/6s. It has been wonderful seeing all the students settle in their classes and dive into deep learning in reading, writing, maths and PBL.

One of the highlights over the past few weeks has been our excursions down to the Merri Creek. As a part of Project Based Learning, this term students are exploring the guiding question of ‘how can we tell stories to understand the world around us?’ Merri Creek provides a rich basis for students to launch their questioning and exploration of these stories and develop a deeper understanding for the world and community around them. In Week 5, students explored the creek looking at an artistic focus and the 5/6 team were absolutely blown away by the creativity and effort students put into their artwork. This week, students are diving deep into the scientific exploration of the creek and with the help of Daniel, will be using microscopes to investigate the microscopic.

Another highlight of the term has been Twilight Sports which took place this week. Students across all year levels showed great participation, encouragement and effort. Especially in our 5/6s, we saw great leadership through supporting and cheering on their groups, as well as helping the junior kids in the activities. Our House Captains, Nadia and Arlo (Green), Haziq and Isa (Yellow), Nina and Theo (Red) and Hamish, Harry and Dilara (Blue) did a wonderful job cheering, encouraging and hyping up their whole house. It was a fantastic evening that had the whole school community involved. 

Still to come this term we have NAPLAN, an exciting STEM incursion, another visit to the Merri Creek and a visit from John Patten. 

Enjoy the long weekend!

Tori, Lina, Kerry, Sandra, Simon 

Spanish