1/2A

More Fun with Fractions!

1/2A have continued their foray into the fascinating world of fractions. We have explored creating fractions from a whole object, and are now looking at creating fractions of a collection. Students have discovered that it does not matter what your collection is made of - blocks, sticks, or even playdough - you can always make smaller, equal groups! However many smaller, equal groups you make helps you know which fraction you have made: 2 equal groups is half, 4 equal groups is quarters, and 8 equal groups is eighths!

Shared Writing

This term, our Mentor Text has been 'Wendy' by Gus Gordon. We have thoroughly enjoyed exploring the many aspects of literacy that can be learnt through looking at wonderful literature. Our focus for the past two weeks has been working on sentence types, the correct punctuation to go with sentences, and using appropriate question words and modal verbs to support question words.

Our question words have been: who, what, when, where, why, and how?

Our modal verb focus words have been: could, should, would, can, might, will, may and must.

With a partner, students brainstormed a question they could ask based on what we have read in our Mentor Text. They then took turns in writing one word each until their sentence was complete. This activity did not just focus on literacy and understanding, but it also included teamwork, supporting each other, and encouraging each other to learn. Students were very proud of their sentences at the end of their writing time, and wanted to share them with the newsletter community!

EarthEd Incursion - Meeting the Indi robots!

On Tuesday, Rachel (Miss Feely) and Jess from EarthEd in Ballarat came out to visit and brought with them some robots! Students learnt how to give commands to the Indi robots and solve challenges together. We were all so excited to attend our session and many students were surprised to see the Indi robots looked like small cars! This session helped us learn about the importance of programming instructions correctly, because we definitely had some rogue cars roaming about during the final challenge!

We also learnt that it is okay to make mistakes, because that's how we learn for next time! Remember, a growth mindset is a powerful tool. It's not "I can't do this", it's "I'm new to this so I'm not sure how to do it yet". This can be applied to so many situations!