Year 1 Term 2 Overviews

Dear Year 1 Families,

Welcome back to school for Term 2. We have been very proud of the Year 1 students’ transition back into the routines and they have already demonstrated their growth since Prep! We are excited to watch their growth continue this term.! 

Curriculum: 

Literacy

Reading will be a priority for all Year 1 students with a larger emphasis on comprehension of texts (understanding) and text features. As your child begins to develop their reading skills through decoding (solving the words) and fluency (notice and using punctuation to make meaning), they will encounter a larger variety of Fiction and Non-Fiction texts which will further develop their love for reading.

This term in reading, while engaging in fiction texts students will focus on making connections (text to self-connections), predictions (before and during reading), inferences (using evidence to support reasoning), summarising (retelling key parts of the text) and visualising (imaging what is happening/what something looks like in a text during reading). While engaging in non-fiction texts students will also focus on questioning (asking questions and finding key information), synthesising (prior knowledge and new learnings), Summarising (Relaying the key facts about a topic), visualising (What the fact looks like) and decoding. To support the development of reading, students will engage in daily guided reading sessions, reading conferences, buddy reading, and independent reading. 

This term in Writing, Year 1 students will engage in phonics as well as handwriting practice to understand that letters and sounds can be combined to make words. They will learn how writers develop their ideas and use this as inspiration to create their own narratives and information reports whilst also exploring the 6+1 writing traits to further support their writing. Using their knowledge of letter sounds, High-Frequency-Words, syllables and regular spelling patterns, students will write sentences that include one or more ideas and draw a picture to add detail. As authors, they will form upper-case and lower-case letters to present their writing, experiment with adding and deleting sounds to create new words and read back their writing to ensure that it makes sense. 

Numeracy 

This term in Numeracy, Year 1 students will begin by learning about Space (location), giving and following directions to move people and objects to different locations within a space. Using their knowledge of numbers they will then focus on Number (addition and subtraction). Students will be working with numbers, using physical, virtual tools and part-part-whole knowledge. They will use real-life situations to solve additive problems like simple money transactions using a range of calculation strategies. In Algebra students will continue to build their understanding of skip counting by twos, fives and tens, and by identifying and creating pattern sequences with numbers, symbols, shapes and objects, including Australian coins. Using their prior knowledge they will recognise and create repeating patterns, identifying and explaining the importance of repetition in solving problems. As the term progresses students will explore measurement (time), learning how to describe the duration and sequence of events using years, months, weeks, days, and hours. Another Number focus will be sharing and fractions. Students will apply different calculation strategies to solve practical problems involving equal sharing and grouping. Students will represent their answers with diagrams, as well as physical and virtual materials. Building on their understanding, students will continue to develop confidence in counting larger collections, expanding their number knowledge by partitioning two-digit numbers into tens and ones, and applying skip counting. 

SEL (Social and Emotional Learning) 

This term in SEL students will learn to understand that people experience emotions differently, foster compassion through their actions, and develop an appreciation for diversity. Throughout this term students will reflect on their own emotions and recognize how others might feel in various situations. They will also explore their own sense of identity by identifying their likes, dislikes and interests, and will learn that these personal preferences should not be limited by gender stereotypes. By engaging in activities that celebrate individuality, students will build a stronger sense of self while appreciating the differences in others. This term students will be encouraged to step out of their comfort zones by trying new activities and embracing unfamiliar or challenging situations. Students will develop resilience and a growth mindset. Students will practice compassion in their daily actions, such as performing acts of kindness, and engage in discussions and reflections that promote empathy and respect for diversity. This will be explored through the PATHS, Respectful Relationships and Berry Street Program.

Unit of Inquiry - How the World Works

This term, students will explore how ‘our senses help inform us about the world’. Students will investigate how our senses are used to learn about the world around us: our eyes to detect light, our ears to detect sound, touch to feel vibrations, our noses to detect smell and our tongues to detect taste, by exploring a variety of sensory situations and identifying what they see, hear, smell, feel and taste. Students will explore properties of different materials through the senses, as well as the properties of light and sound. Students will make connections between our senses and keeping themselves safe. Students will make comparisons between animal senses and their own five senses. Students will explore how our senses connect to emotions and how senses can invoke different emotions. The students are all very excited about our upcoming excursion to Scienceworks which will be a great opportunity for students to grasp the understanding of the connection between our senses and the world around them.

Ways to Help Your Child At Home: 

Home Reading - Our Home Reading program continues. The expectation is for your child to read their take home book 5 nights a week, answer some comprehension questions that an older family member asks them and record the title, date and a comment in the yellow reading journal themselves. Take home books are for enjoyment and for your child to practise their reading strategies, and are not meant to be a challenging task for your child. 

Learning Apps - Your child can use Wushka for levelled texts to support their home reading. IXL can be used to support literacy and numeracy at home, and practice the skills that are being taught in the classroom. There are content specific tasks as well as fun games that students can play to help support learning. Classroom teachers will be using Seesaw to share learning and achievements with families. Each week a Student of The Week will be celebrated with families, as well as PATHs kid compliments sent to PATHs kid of the week. Teachers will also be sharing with families a learning experience each week to provide insight into what students are exploring and learning about in our classrooms. Please contact your child’s teacher if you need any assistance in accessing any of these learning platforms.

Library - Library sessions have begun this term for Year 1. Each week your child will have the opportunity to go to our school library, explore different books, and borrow a book. Please ensure your child has a library bag or satchel they can use in order to be able to borrow a book. Books must be returned each week before a new book can be borrowed.

Thank you for your continued support with your child’s learning. 

Year 1 Team