Melton West Primary School

Year 1


English

Reading 

In Reading this term, the Grade 1 students have been learning how to infer using a variety of fiction texts. Students have practised using their prior knowledge and clues in the text, such as pictures and words, to infer how a character may be feeling or why a character may have done something.  This term we have been learning about inside and outside character traits, and students have explored different vocabulary words to explain a character's personality and appearance. Students will continue asking questions while reading to help them make meaning of a text, when questioning, they can use their strategy of inferring to find answers to their questions. Students have been making meaningful text to self connections, where they connect the story to their own personal experiences. For the remainder of the term, the Grade 1 students will use keywords in a text to help them visualise and create a mental image or movie to further their understanding of a text. 

Writing 

This term the Grade 2s have been learning about realistic narratives. Students have been exploring the structure and features of realistic narratives and use examples from exemplar texts to write their own stories. During this unit, students have focused on character and setting development, as well as realistic problems that link with an appropriate and realistic solution. The Grade 2 students have been learning about the use of adjectives and verbs to make their stories more interesting. They have been using revision strategies to continue adding to and improving their stories. For the remainder of the term, the students will be learning about Poetry. Students will be shown a variety of different types of poems, such as Clerihew, Diamonte and Found poems and will have the opportunity to be guided through writing their own poem. The students are learning to understand that poems are used to communicate feelings. This term we have continued to consolidate their grammar skills including capital letters, full stops, past/present tense and punctuation. 

 

Mathematics

In mathematics, the Grade 1 students continued learning about addition and subtraction, they have learned how to use different strategies such as tens facts, doubles and near doubles to solve simple addition and subtraction problems and scenarios. The students completed a short focus on mass, where they had the opportunity to identify how heavy or light an object is by using hefting with their hands. Recently students have been learning about multiplication and division. In multiplication and division, students have been learning about creating equal groups and using equal sharing with materials to solve problems. Students have explored different 3D shapes and their features, while learning to use vocabulary such as faces, edges and corners to describe them. Students will spend the remainder of the term also learning about time, where they will practice telling the time to the hour and look at half past times, on both analogue and digital clocks. 

 

Attendance

A friendly reminder that here at Melton West Primary School we strongly advocate that going to school every day is the single most important part of your child’s education. As you know, they learn new things every day – missing school puts them behind. If your child is unfortunately sick or absent, you are required to notify our school before or on the day of absence using one of the following methods:

  1. Online: using our Class Dojo IT App to notify and explain the reason for your child’s absence, to their classroom teacher.
  2. Telephone: call our school office and let the staff know your child’s name, class, date of absences and reason of absence.
  3. Face-to-Face: speaking with your child’s teacher on the day or prior to the day they will be absent.

Notifying our school of your child’s absence either prior to, or on the day that they will be away, helps ensure the safety and wellbeing of children and will fulfil your legal responsibility. Please keep in mind that any unexplained absence will negatively impact your child’s attendance rate so please ensure you inform us of any absence, in a timely manner. We look forward to improving and maintaining high attendance here at Melton West Primary School for all students!

 

Inquiry

In Inquiry this term, the Grade 1 students have been learning about how daily life has changed or remained the same over time. The students have been exploring their own families' histories through creating family trees. The students have learnt about how different aspects of daily life such as transport, technology, cooking, schooling, toys, clothes and other aspects of everyday life have changed or remained the same. Students have been using technology to display their understanding and complete further research of areas of interest. They will complete an assessment piece in the remaining weeks of term where they will explore an area of daily life and showcase their learning through a presentation of their choice. They could present their learning using technology such as Google Slides, Popplet and Book Creator or using classroom materials to make a poster, brochure or diorama.   

 

Science

During Term 3 students have completed their Earth and Space unit before beginning the Physical Science unit, this will continue to the end of term. During the Physical Science unit students have been learning about light and sound, and how light and sound are produced by a range of sources.

Students have learnt about natural and artificial light sources, and have taken part in experiments which show that objects need to be illuminated by light in order to be seen. The Grade 1s have investigated sounds by making predictions on sounds that can be heard inside and outside of the classroom and have enjoyed exploring different ways to produce sound using familiar objects and actions.

 

LOTE - Chinese

This term in Chinese Grade1 students  began with countries’ unit and learnt four countries both in speaking and writing forms. Basically, they traced the Chinese names of Australia and China, coloured in the flags for Australia and China. And then they learnt facial parts and mooncake festival – Mid Autumn Festival. At the end, they did some revision on numbers and colours which we learnt from the previous semester.

 

Art

During Grade 1 Art, Term 3, 2023, students learned how to apply lines to create a self portrait. They looked at the shapes required to create individual facial features. Grade 1’s worked on techniques to apply solid colour using different mediums. They analysed their work and referred to famous artists to see how they can improve their skills in adding solid colour and making their artwork neat and presentable. Grade 1’s looked at the element of pattern and applied their knowledge of colours and lines when creating art. Patterns included the use of one to two elements, for example; two different colours or two different lines. Students used their mathematical knowledge to apply patterns in art which provided cross-curricular learning. Well done on another wonderful term of art, Grade 1! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

P.E

The Grade One students have had another fantastic term in Physical Education. The main focus was on the sports of football and soccer. Students were introduced to the correct kicking technique for both football and soccer. They were shown how to kick and handpass a football and shown how to kick a soccer ball to pass, kick a soccer ball to score, and dribble a soccer ball to keep control of it. In addition to this, students practised all of these skills and were able to apply them to mini game situations.

Well done Grade One. There may be some future rising AFL stars, or even some Socceroos or Matildas within our school! We look forward to another fantastic term in Physical Education, with lots more fun to be had!