The World's most Pointless/Wonderful Animals

Our Junior Room students have been having lots of fun exploring The World’s Most Pointless Animals by Philip Bunting. This funny and fascinating book is helping us learn all about information texts while discovering some very weird and wonderful animals!

As we read, we have been learning how to:

🔎 find our way around an information book using the contents page and index
📖 recognise features such as titles and labelled diagrams
💡 find and share interesting facts
😂 work out the difference between a fact and something the author has added to make us laugh
🐡 use pictures and labelled diagrams to discover extra information
✏️ use the facts we find to write our own information sentences

We have met some pretty interesting creatures along the way, including axolotls, pufferfish, zooplankton, naked mole-rats, leafy seadragons, blobfish and pink fairy armadillos!

The students are becoming fantastic information detectives – finding facts, talking about what they have discovered and then using their new knowledge in their own writing.

Numeracy -🔢 What We’re Learning in Maths

Our Junior Room mathematicians have been busy building their addition and subtraction strategies!

➖ Subtraction – Jumping Backwards

We have been learning how to subtract two-digit numbers using a number line. Students are learning to break a number into tens and ones, then make backwards jumps to help find the answer. For example, when solving 54 − 23, we can jump back 2 tens and 3 ones. This is helping students see what happens to numbers when we subtract and explain their mathematical thinking.

➕ Addition – Doubles & Near Doubles

We have also been using the doubles facts we already know to solve new addition problems. Students have discovered that when two numbers are close together, such as 6 + 7, we can think double 6 is 12, then add one more to make 13.

We are learning that great mathematicians don’t just find the answer, they can choose a strategy, show their thinking and explain how they worked it out! 🧠✨

Science -🔬 Exploring Earth & Space 🌏🌙🪐

This term in Science (Whole School), we have been looking up, asking questions and discovering more about our amazing Earth and the space around us! Students have explored the Earth, Sun and Moon, how they move, and how scientists use observations, models and evidence to answer big questions about our world. We also discovered how new technology, such as telescopes, has helped scientists learn more and change their ideas over time.

We have had lots of fun learning about our Solar System, including the order of the planets and some amazing planet facts. We explored the rocky inner planets, gas giants and ice giants, and discovered some fun facts along the way. Venus is the hottest planet, Jupiter is the largest, and Saturn is famous for its incredible rings!

We also explored Aboriginal astronomy and learned how Aboriginal peoples have carefully watched the night sky for thousands of years. Students discovered how knowledge of the stars and sky can connect with seasons, finding food, travelling and caring for Country. We particularly enjoyed learning about the Southern Cross and Emu in the Sky.

To finish our learning, students will take on a whole-school Kahoot challenge to see just how much they can remember!

We can't wait to see who will become our Cowwarr Space Expert! 🚀⭐

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