Grade 1
Literacy:
This fortnight Grade 1 students added the digraphs ue and ew to their growing long vowel knowledge. They enjoyed exploring words like blue, glue, stew, and chew, and practised identifying and using these digraphs in both reading and writing tasks. We also began learning about adding the suffix -s to make words plural, which sparked lots of great discussions about how words change and why. Students confidently used plurals in their writing and showcased their understanding by creating super sentences that included more than one of something.
Storybook/ Writing:
Over the past fortnight, we began by taking part in the Nation Wide Simultaneous Storytime on Wednesday the 21st of May, where we read The Truck Cat. Following this story, students responded to the prompt “Is a cat a good pet? Why?”. This gave them an opportunity to practise writing an opinion and justifying with reasons through persuasive writing.
We then moved into our main focus text, The Day the Crayons Quit, which has been a fantastic story for exploring opinion writing. Students chose their favourite crayon and supported their opinion with clear reasons.
We also introduced new vocabulary including gorgeous, congratulate, and prove, and practised using the conjunction “so” to show cause and effect in our sentences.
As a creative link to the story, students painted with primary colours and mixed them to make secondary colours, helping them connect with each crayon’s colour. We also had discussions about the book’s intended audience and whether it was written for children or adults.
It’s been a fun and colourful few weeks full of creativity and persuasive thinking!
Maths
Over the last 2 weeks, students have been learning about measurement in the forms of length and mass. During our week of length, students participated in comparing and ordering the lengths of different objects, by directly laying them side by side. Students also engaged in using the language of short, long, shorter, longer, shortest and longest. During our week of mass, students participated in comparing and ordering the weight of different objects by using their hefting skills. Students would place one object in each hand and test to see which object would drag them down more, thus learning which one was the heavier object. They engaged in using language such as heavy, heavier, heaviest, light, lighter and lightest. Next week, we will be moving onto capacity and learning how to compare and order how much a container can hold.
Additional Subjects
Over the past fortnight, Year 1 students have participated in a variety of engaging learning experiences that focused on understanding change, celebrating diversity, and developing reading skills. In History, students discussed how communication has changed from the past to the present. They explored different methods of communication used by their grandparents compared to the technology we use today.
As part of our Respectful Relationships lessons, students played a game designed to help them explore how they are similar to and different from others. This activity encouraged students to appreciate diversity and build stronger connections with their peers.
In Library, students were introduced to the table of contents in non-fiction books. They practised using this feature to locate sections or chapters, building their confidence in navigating factual texts independently.