Platypus Classroom

Literacy

We have had quite the busy fortnight in the Platypus literacy classroom!

Last week, we introduced our Daily Quickwrites. These short, independent writing tasks are designed to build confidence, familiarity, and essential writing skills. Each Quickwrite has a specific writing focus, allowing students to self-assess their work and receive targeted teacher feedback.

In reading, we are now midway through our class novel, Storm Boy by Colin Thiele. Students are highly engaged in the story and are using it to explore narrative structure and the author’s language choices. Later in the unit we will use this understanding to develop our own narrative based on Storm Boy.

This heartfelt novel has sparked thoughtful discussions about the actions of the hunters and students’ own experiences with hunting. Students are exploring different perspectives, including how the author’s viewpoint shapes the story and how their own perspectives influence their understanding. It has been wonderful to see respectful and meaningful conversations in class.

Students have been making strong progress in targeted spelling groups, designed to support students at their individual point of need. These groups are led by Miss Leanne, Miss Graison, Jasmin, and myself. Today, students enjoyed a fun and engaging spelling game—ask your child to teach it to you at home! It’s a great way to combine learning and fun together.

Gallery Image — Spelling Game "Last and First"

Maths

In Maths this fortnight, Stage 2 students have been busy learning all about fractions. They have taken a hands-on approach, folding paper strips into quarters and eighths, thirds and sixths, and fifths and tenths. This has helped them understand how a whole can be partitioned into equal parts and how different denominators are related. Students have also been finding complementary fractions to complete a whole, showing strong understanding through practical learning experiences. As part of our class focus on additive thinking, Stage 2 have been learning how to use the algorithm to solve addition and subtraction questions involving trading. This is a tricky concept that requires a solid understanding of place value. Our Stage 2 students are going great!

Stage 3 students have nearly wrapped up their Maths Challenge, which they have been working on with Miss Graison through the Australian Maths Trust. They have also been learning about fractions, including adding and subtracting fractions, finding the lowest common denominator, and finding fractions of a quantity. Students have engaged in wonderful problem-solving activities, working cooperatively to complete set tasks.