Ulysses Community Report

Term 3 2023

We would like to say a big welcome back to all of our families of the Ulysses community. We all hope you had an enjoyable break, kept warm and had enormous amounts of fun with your child/ren. The teachers and students are well rested and ready for another fun filled term.

Our students have started off the term extremely well and we are very excited to continue our learning journey together.

We look forward to celebrating all of our successes, achievements and learnings with you throughout the term. 

Our Learning

Reading

To start off the term in Reading, we have been exploring the structure of Information reports. Students have explored some really engaging and informative texts about animals such as: Rhinos, Crocodiles and Bees to name a few. Students continued to add to their already extensive knowledge of reading strategies. When reading we asked the students to demonstrate their understanding of the texts via the following: the difference between facts and opinions, comparing texts and discussing the similarities and differences, building on vocabulary by completing glossaries also known as technical words, questioning, summarising, synthesising and many more. These were fun and engaging for all students and they had lots of fun learning new and exciting facts about animals. We will be exploring information reports for a few more weeks and look forward to sharing what other information our students have learnt about different animals. 

Writing

To start off the term in Writing, we have been exploring how to write Information reports. Students have been exploring online texts and QR codes based on the following animals: Quokkas, Koalas, Turtles and Coral. Students watched videos and collected information to then use to assist in writing their own information report based on their selected animal. They loved learning about their animals’ classification, diet, appearance, habitat and lifestyle. They developed their knowledge on the structure of an Information report, were able to successfully collect information and write one page report highlighting the most informative facts about their chosen animal to share with our school community.

Maths:

This term, students have begun to work on multiplication and location. Our community has been practising making equal groups and repeated addition to show our understanding. We have used maths resources as well as our own pictures to solve multiplication problems in different ways. We have also been exploring different vocabulary that can be used to describe location, such as in, on, over, under, through and around . There have been lots of fun activities and games we have played to develop our understanding of these words and to use them with our peers both giving and following directions.

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(Making equal groups of a given number)

SEL-  To start off the Term in SEL, students have been focusing on their own and their peers character strengths. They identified what makes them unique and took part in activities that identified their area of talent and how they can apply what strength they believe they possess in a variety of life domains, including family and friend relationships, valued members of the Ulysses Community and their learning and ability to take on challenges.

Inquiry   To start off the term in Inquiry, students have been learning about living things. We were able to successfully identify both living and nonliving things, as well as some things that were once living. We were very lucky to have the opportunity to visit Werribee Open Range Zoo, to deepen our understanding of animals as living things. We were about to get up close with many of the animals on the Safari Bus, which showed us many African animals such as rhinos, giraffes, zebras, bison, antelopes and many more! We are looking forward to continuing to learn about all of these animals and many more in the coming weeks.

Important Notes to Remember

• Please label all belongings.
• Students bring blue reading folders, diaries and homework books daily.
• Please ensure students come dressed appropriately for the weather, making sure they have thick jackets, gloves and beanies to wear outside.
• Please ensure your children are attending school as  ‘It is not ok to be away’. If your child is away please notify the office or upload the absence into Compass.
• Pack brain break (healthy snack) in their lunch box for our early morning break between sessions.
• Please check compass daily for any announcements or updates from the teachers or the school, this is a main  source of communication.
• 100 days of school Pyjama party, come dressed in pyjamas or something comfortable, August 2nd.