Prep

Initial Lit

In Initial Lit, our Preps have been exploring foundational reading skills. Last week, we focused on breaking words into syllables. Students engaged in various activities, such as clapping out syllables, identifying them on the bodies of caterpillars, jumping in hula hoops for each syllable, and using their fingers to count the syllables. We also worked on rhyme recognition and counting words in sentences. 

This week, we shifted our focus to blending onset and rime, where we learned to combine the beginning and ending sounds of words for fluent pronunciation. We introduced the letters 'm' and 's' along with their corresponding sounds. To help the students remember these letters and sounds, we introduced new friends, Maggie Mouse and Sammy Seal. 

The students enjoyed learning the sounds and identifying them in spoken words and pictures. In our StoryBook sessions, we explored "The Very Hungry Bear." Through these stories, we discussed the beginnings, middles, and ends of narratives. We also made connections beyond the texts and explored vocabulary meanings, such as "grumpy," "yanked," and "shrinking."

We are incredibly proud of the progress the Preps are making and are excited to continue building on their knowledge of letters and sounds in the coming weeks!

Writing

This week in writing we are continuing to practice writing both our names and our letters. We have implemented several fun name building activities like building an ice cream cone with the letters in our names, ordering the letters correctly and focusing on the use of a capital letter at the beginning of everyone’s name every time.  Students have also been practicing writing their names by tracing existing letters, tracing dotted letters and then writing it themselves.

Continuing on practicing forming letters is strengthening their fine motor skills and it is really starting to show. Even their scissor skills are noticeably improving which is great. The letters we write are mirrored from what we are learning in IniaLit (reading) which at the moment are the letters a, m, s, and t.

The other area we have been working on in writing is getting the students to categorise letters, words and pictures and understanding why they are what they are. This is designed to assist them to be able to decode texts when they start reading and using pictures as cues to help with that..

The growth students are making is brilliant, in just six short weeks it is clearly apparent that they not only are settling in but beginning to further develop their skills including their fine motor skills..

Maths

In Maths this fortnight, students have begun to explore our new topic of ‘time’. Students have enjoyed engaging in learning about days of the week, distinguishing between weekdays and weekends, as well as ordering daily events that occur throughout the week. 

They have been practicing recognising and naming the days in sequence, along with discussing routines that happen regularly on specific days. This hands-on learning has helped them understand how time structures our daily lives and the importance of routines. It’s been exciting to see the students relate their own experiences to the concepts they’re learning, making connections between the classroom and their own schedules. 

Additionally, we have been using picture storybooks to sequence two events in a familiar story, encouraging students to use the language “first” and “then” to describe the order of events.

Respectful Relationships

This week in Prep, students have been exploring their emotions and learning how to identify and express them. We’ve been discussing the importance of sharing how we’re feeling so we can be "ready to learn" in the classroom. Students have been using our "Ready to Learn" scale to help understand where they are emotionally, which helps them recognise when they’re ready to focus and engage.

To bring this to life, we watched The Color Monster and had fun guessing how the monster was feeling based on its body language, color, and facial expressions. It was a great way for students to connect emotions with visual cues! Afterward, the students got creative and made their very own monsters, using colors, facial expressions, and features to express different feelings. It’s been wonderful to see them start to express their emotions in such a fun and imaginative way!