Prep / 1 Mainstream 

Celebrating Learning

Maths:

Over the past two weeks students have been deepening their division knowledge, looking at how a collection of items can be shared between equal groups. We have been exploring multiplication, how we can use skip counting and repeated addition as strategies to work out how many in each group and how many altogether. They have also looked at arrays as ways to represent groups of items and numbers. We also looked at the relationship between groups of and shared between. 

Writing:

Last week we continued our focus on fiction retelling and creation. We continue to use our story grammar cards which identify:

• Characters
• Setting 
• Problem
• Characters feelings
• Plan to resolve the problem
• Idea to resolve the problem
• Ending
• End feeling.

After retelling a story verbally and through role play, students re-write the story using their own words.

This week we took our narrative unit to the next level by retelling part of a story, then planning and drafting our own endings! Students loved the opportunity to take a story in their own direction and share their creativity with each other.

Reading:

An integral part of building fluency is reading out loud to a partner and receiving feedback. This gives students the chance to notice how reading words accurately impacts their own and their partners' understanding of the text. A listening partner can assist their reading partner to read a word accurately by saying:

• “That word is _____”
• “What’s that word?”
• “Good. Can you read that sentence again, please?”

We have introduced paragraph shrinking in our classrooms to assist with reading comprehension. Paragraph shrinking helps build student understanding of the text and therefore improves fluency. Students are asked to “shrink” either a very short page or paragraph of the text by identifying who the text is mostly about and what the most thing is that has happened. Students then say the main idea in a sentence that is 10 words or less. In line with our writing focus, we are switching our focus back to fiction texts. 

In our phonics groups over the past two weeks we have been focusing on the following sounds:

Rylee/ Anastasia and Jess have been reviewing:

• CVC/ CVCC/ CCVC words
• Our most recent consonant digraphs: /sh/, /ch/, /tch/, /th/

Matt was reviewing:

• /oy/ as in boy and /oi/ as in oink
• /a_e/ as in chase and /a/ as in apron

Steph was learning:

• /ue/ as in rude
• /u_e/ as in blue
• /ew/ as in flew
• /ui/ as in fruit

What’s to come in the next two weeks:

• We have an exciting experience NEXT WEEK! Our Prep/One Aussie Wildlife Incursion is happening on Monday the 24th of November. Check out the compass event for information about consent and payment. 
• Thank you for continuing to support your children to take home readers and practise at home. 
• If your year 1 child brings home a fast fact sheet to revise, have a look at the sheet with them. You can practise any of the number sentences they haven't finished or ones that they might have miscalculated. 
• Maths: We will be finishing our “groups of” and “shared between” unit and revisiting place value.
• Writing: We are continuing to develop our narrative retelling and narrative creating skills with a focus on planning.
• This term, we need to be wearing hats when we go outside for recess and lunch time. Please ensure your child comes to school with a broad brimmed hat to wear! Both classes have a space in the room for students to bring their hats and leave them at school so they don’t get forgotten.

Warmly,

Anastasia, Jess and Rylee