Prep to Grade 2:
Prep/1A
What a wonderful fortnight we have had in Prep/1A! In literacy, we introduced the letter F which makes the sound /f/, and the letter A which makes the sound /a/. The children are now very comfortable with the Little Learners Love Literacy routine, and approach the chitter chatter chants, speed sounds, art and craft, and rainbow writing with excitement! Learning our sounds is always a lot of fun in Prep/1A. This fortnight we have constructed a pond full of frogs, went “fishing” for sounds, and made an Ally apple treat to enjoy at lunch!
When our class has been fast at finishing, we have worked on our fine motor skills in activities such as threading beads and penne pasta, squeezing and strengthening with pegs and mini tongs, completing pencil mazes and scissor paths, and making our letters out of playdough. These are all things you might like to try at home!
In numeracy, we are learning to use our superhero eyes to quickly identify small collections of objects (subitising). We have practiced counting and recording using tally marks and completed a problem-solving challenge task to arrange small groups of items in different ways.
1/2A
In Literacy this fortnight, our grade 1s have been very busy learning three new graphemes 'ee' (tree), 'ea' (beach), and '--y' (happy), all of which represent the long e sound, /ē/. Students have also begun to discover the concept of homophones - words that sound the same but have different spellings or meanings like week and weak.
Grade 2 students have revised the long i sound represented by both the split digraph 'i-e' and the standalone letter 'i'. Students have also revisited the rules around when 'c' and 'g' make their second sounds /s/ and /j/.
In Numeracy, students have continued to develop their ability to read, order and compare 2- and 3-digit numbers with and without materials.
Inquisitive Minds
In our geography focused Inquisitive Minds unit, we have explored the idea of community and discussed the places and people we find around us.
In Prep/1A, we made local places out of Duplo and positioned these on our oversized Wheelers Hill map. We included WMPS, Monash library, the police, fire brigade, supermarket, dentist, vet, Columbia Park playground and the mechanic. We also talked about all the other places in our local area we could build if we had an endless supply of bricks!
In 1/2 A, we looked at a map of our local area and used key landmarks to help us position some important local places including schools, parks, and emergency services. We also looked at how we could travel between local places, and charted the course we will take on our excursion next week.
On Monday 18th March we will be venturing into our local community on our local walking excursion to Wheelers Hill Shopping Centre. On Wednesday 20th March,we are very lucky to have two very special visitors coming from Police Victoria to share what they do in their jobs as Police Officers, and how they serve and protect our community! Both of these will be wonderful experiences for the children, and we look forward to sharing photos with you in the coming days.