Grade 1 Community News
Hello Grade 1 Families,
We are nearly halfway through Term 3 already and what a thrilling term it has been so far. Here is an update on the outstanding learning that we’ve been busy working on inside our classrooms.
InitiaLit
During the past 2 weeks, in InitiaLit, we have spent time learning about the two graphemes /ow/ (as in cow) and /ou/ (as in cloud) that both make the phoneme /ow/. Students had opportunities to read and write words with both graphemes to consolidate their understanding and know that the letter ‘ow’ can be used at the beginning, in the middle and end of words and ‘ou’ can be used in the middle. They also learnt to add the suffix ‘ed’ to a verb to show that something has already happened. They sang a new song to help them remember the suffix ‘ed.’ Below are the lyrics for your child to sing and practise at home!
Suffix ‘ed’ lyrics to the tune of Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes:
What did we do yesterday?
Did we jump?
What did we do yesterday?
Did we jump?
Add ‘e’‘d’ to ‘jump’ and say
We all jumped yesterday, yesterday!
In Week 4 we will continue to review the bossy ‘e’ rule together with each of the vowels. We know that words with a bossy ‘e’ at the end mean that the vowel sound will be long, and we have been applying this rule to both our reading and our writing. We will develop our understanding even further to become more confident and bossy ‘e’ experts!
Finally, here are our newest Tricky Words:
Maths
In Maths, Grade 1 have been working on the split strategy to help them with adding numbers where the answer will total over 10. Students have been needing to use their friends to 10 facts, addition and subtraction skills to support them with this strategy.
It would be super helpful if your child could practise their friends to 10 facts (2 numbers added together to make 10) e.g. 10+0, 9+1, 8+2, 7+3, 6+4, 5+5 to support them with their automaticity and recall.
The students then built on their prior knowledge of knowing that the area is the amount of space inside a 2D shape. They measured the area of shapes and used informal units and recorded their results ensuring there were no gaps or overlaps.
Finally Grade 1 learnt about finding equal groups where they had to identify how many were in a group and then use their skip counting skills by counting in 2s, 5s and 10s to identify the total amount of objects. The students will also be introduced to clocks and telling the time using the terms o’clock and half past.
Knowledge Building
We have been continuing our travels across the globe with our friend Rattenborough and have been to many diverse, exotic habitats such as a temperate deciduous forest in North America, and the Amazon rainforest in South America. The students have been very enthusiastic about this topic and we have seen lots of excellent writing produced from them. They continued to practice their new skills of writing informative sentences and questions about different habitats across the world. Students also practised a new skill of writing headings to support their informative sentences including habitat, appearance, diet and movement. They know that headings help us know what topic they are writing about and how to find important information. Grade 1 have been using the below icons to support their writing. Each icon has a gesture to match. Ask your child to show you the gesture for each icon and ask what they mean!
In Week 4 the Grade 1s are going to be learning how to revise and edit their informative sentences.
Revise means we change our writing.
It helps our writing make more sense.
We might add or change words.
Edit means we check for:
- Capital letters
- Full stops
- Spelling
Storybook
We have been reading the book called Dingo, by Claire Saxby. Students have been practicing retelling the story in their own words to their peers (you can ask them to retell it at home too!)
Below are three new vocabulary words we came across in the book. We discussed the words and have been putting them into context e.g. thinking of times we have been active, determined or protective.
We will then go on to look beyond the book to find out more information about dingos and create an information report on them.
Respectful Relationships
In Respectful Relationships, we have begun looking at how our body speed can change and what we can do to support ourselves if it works at a faster speed or slower speed to get it back to just right. Grade 1 discussed their experiences and spoke about different times their bodies may have felt too fast or too slow. In Week 4, they will explore the Green Zone and understand what this may look like for their bodies.
Digital Technology
In DigiTech, Grade 1 identified times they have experienced different emotions and explored strategies for managing heavy emotions in appropriate ways online. Students discussed these emotions together and recorded their chosen strategy. They also spoke about who they could talk to at home or school if they felt a negative feeling online.
Reminders:
Please scan the QR code to view the Tricky Words video at 4:51 (pause the video) to practice all the tricky words we have learnt up until now. A little practice each day can make a big difference!
Upcoming Events in Grade 1:
- Bastille Day - Friday, August 15th
- Book Week Dress Up Day - Friday, August 22nd (see below for further book week information)
- Fairytale incursion - Monday 1st & 2nd September (please complete payment on Compass)
📚 Book Week is Coming! 🎉
Get ready to celebrate stories, imagination, and the joy of reading! Book Week is just around the corner, and we have an exciting lineup of activities planned — from dress-up days to book-themed games, school scavenger hunts, and a chance to show off your favourite books. Don’t forget to bring your love of reading and your best costume for our Dress Up Day!
Let’s dive into the magical world of books together! 📖✨
When: Week 5, Dress Up Day - Friday 22nd August
Theme: Book an Adventure
We are also having a Book Fair throughout this special week.
Children will be visiting the Book Fair in Room 6 during Week 5.
Books will be able to be purchased from the Book Fair before school from 8:15am - 8:40am and after school from 3:10pm - 3:45pm.
Thank you for your continued support, it is greatly appreciated.
PLC 1