Prep

The Preps have fully embraced everything KEFAR in their first term at school and are looking forward to a well-earned break.

Literacy (Reading, Writing and Speaking and Listening)

In Literacy, we will build on our learning from last term as we learn to write sentences using familiar sounds. Through daily written and oral practise, students will develop their sound knowledge, letter formation and understanding of sentence structure. They will learn to use capital letters at the start of a sentence, finger spaces between words and full stops and question marks at the end of sentences. Through modelled dictation and independent writing, students will write simple sentences that include a noun and a verb. Later in the term, we will learn to expand our sentences by including the "when" and the "where". Handwriting will be practised daily on Sky, Grass and Ground dotted thirds to help with correct sizing and direction.

Students will be reading short decodable texts and will continue to expand their sound knowledge through daily practise of building, writing and reading simple words with two and three sounds. They will do this by breaking the words into individual sounds and then blending the sounds back together to read and write the word. We will also read a range of rich picture books together and build our comprehension skills through class discussions.

Mathematics

This term in Mathematics, we are learning to count collections and write the corresponding numeral. Students are building confidence in their ability to identify numbers to 10 and beyond and understand the value of these numbers. To advance this understanding, students are comparing collections using words such as ‘more’ and ‘‘less’, ‘same as/equal’. Recently, Prep students have been recalling and creating 2D shapes. They are building an understanding of the shape features such as sides and vertices. As part of our daily routine, we track and count how many days we have been at school and link the Days of the Week to familiar recurring events.

Inquiry - My School, Altona Green and The Resilience Project

This term, our Inquiry unit of study is “My School, Altona Green”. We will focus on personal and family history, our significant life events, special places and how to care for them. We will also look at what it means to be a part of a community. The Resilience Project further immerses us with strategies for recognising and managing our emotions.

Independence

We have already seen fantastic growth in students building their independence. Some ways you can further assist with this is to continue encouraging them to pack their own school bags and check that they have tools necessary for the school day, such as a drink bottle, a fully charged iPad, headphones and their library book (on relevant days). Our goal is for students to walk into the classroom independently and confidently by bringing in their own bag and waving goodbye to you at the door.

Thank you for your support,

The Prep Team

Grade 1

In Term 2 Literacy, students will continue to build on their knowledge of phonics through participating in the Sounds Write program daily. We will continue building our knowledge that sounds can be represented by 1, 2, 3 or 4 letters. During Sounds Write, students complete a range of activities, including reading and spelling words, to reinforce the different spellings that can represent a given sound. Throughout the term, we will read a range of fiction and non-fiction texts related to our topic “Now and Then” including a range of Dreaming stories. We will have a particular focus on the comprehension strategies of answering questions, inferring, making connections and summarising. Students will continue to participate in partner reading daily where they have the opportunity to improve their accuracy and fluency by reading aloud to a peer.

In writing students will continue to learn about and apply different sentence structures correctly including asking questions and expanding simple sentences. They will edit sentences to ensure that they are complete sentences and contain correct punctuation including capital letters, full stops or question marks. As part of our morphology study, students will learn about different suffixes e.g. how ‘ing’ or ‘ed’ change the tense of a word or suffixes such as ‘er’ and ‘est’ are used when comparing things e.g. longer or longest. We will continue to work towards using a range of conjunctions in our writing and also sequencing our ideas correctly when writing retells using first, next, then and finally.

In Numeracy, the students will develop their ability to use a range of strategies when solving addition and subtraction equations including counting forwards and backwards on a numberline and bridging 10 using 10s frames. They will also develop fluency when solving and recalling addition and subtraction fact families within 10 e.g. 7+3=10, 3+7=10, 10-3=7 and 10-7=3. Students will learn how to measure and compare lengths using informal units such as paddle pop sticks, counters and blocks. They will also learn how to choose suitable questions and collect data using tally marks then extend their knowledge and understandings to create picture graphs from a tally. Students will continue to have the opportunity to practise and consolidate their understanding of all concepts through participating in Daily Review.

During our inquiry topic “Now and Then”, students will learn about their own history and that of their family, including stories from different cultures and other parts of the world. As participants in their own history, students will develop their knowledge and understanding of how the past is different from the present. They will also learn about continuity and change in family life by comparing the present with the past.

Each week we will continue our work with the Resilience Project focussing on gratitude, empathy and mindfulness. Students will continue to work through strategies that promote friendship, develop calm strategies and assist with problem solving skills.

Grade 2/3

Term 2 is looking to be an exciting and busy time in Grade 2/3. Students will be exploring the indigenous history of Australia including indigenous traditions, practices and beliefs. We will read a variety of non-fiction and fiction texts on our topic including stories from, ‘The Dreaming’. Students will be furthering their knowledge of narrative text structures, identifying and discussing the settings, character’s feelings and problems and how they resolve them. Students will be composing their own stories using the writing process to edit for punctuation and spelling and revise their pieces to include rich descriptions and detail. Students will continue to participate daily in the Sounds Write program to develop their knowledge of letter-sound patterns to support their spelling and reading.

In numeracy, students will continue to practise solving addition and subtraction problems with vertical algorithms while applying their understanding of place value to help when ‘regrouping’. We will be practising times tables up to 12 and solving problems using multiplication and division. Students will also explore fractions including halves, quarters, eighths, thirds and sixths and begin exploring measurement.

In addition to the learning within our classroom, students will participate in the Garden program, Sports Day, our annual Mother’s Day celebration and swimming program. An incursion/excursion is currently in the booking process that aligns with our current Unit of Inquiry with further details to be released early next term. The end of term will see Semester One reports completed.

Grade 4/5

In Term 2, the grade 4/5 students will be learning about Australian history from 1700-1800. They will investigate what life was like for Australia’s First Peoples prior to European settlement and how things changed with the arrival of the first settlers. The Inquiry unit will focus on the perspectives of different groups of people at the time, including the Australian Aboriginal people and the European officers who established the colonies and the convicts who built them.

Similarly, Literacy concepts will be learned through the historical lens of our Inquiry unit. In Reading lessons, students will learn to use comprehension strategies, such as, identifying important information, note taking, making inferences, summarising and retelling key information. They will learn about the history and perspectives of Australia’s First Peoples through their Dreamtime stories and the experiences of convicts and officers from historical documentation.

In Writing, our grade 4/5 students will write factual reports using what they have learned about European settlement in Australia. They will also put themselves in the shoes of a European convict, officer, navigator or Indigenous Australian to write a personal recount from their perspective of the time. Students will consolidate their understanding of the planning, drafting, revising, editing and final publishing process authors go through to write both the non-fiction and fiction texts. Additionally, students will learn to complete sentence stems, write compound sentences, identify different clauses in sentences and incorporate adverbs in their writing.

In Mathematics, the grade 4/5 students will participate in daily review of mathematical concepts in number and algebra, measurement and geometry and statistics and probability to ensure their learning is embedded in long-term memory. They will learn to calculate the length of an unknown side of a rectangle, use addition, subtraction, multiplication and division to solve hypothetical, true-to-life questions and use a written algorithm to calculate division problems, with and without remainders.

Grade 6

Literacy this term will centre around on our Inquiry unit, ‘Australian History.’ During Reading sessions, the students will be looking at various literature pieces based on our country's history. Students will analyse and investigate the events that helped shape our nation, particularly looking at the economic, social and political effects on our country as a result of things such as immigration and the world wars. We will look at case studies of immigrants who have come to Australia and become famous for their input into our country.

In Writing, the students will be focusing on informative pieces. During this time, we will be focusing on note taking skills and using abbreviations during the process. These notes will then be used in writing pieces and a project at the end of term. We will also be keeping individual timelines to record many important moments in Australia’s history.

In Mathematics this term, the students will continue the great work from Term 1 where we will undertake daily reviews of the concepts introduced and also touching on future concepts. The areas that we will cover this term include perimeter, measuring angles using a protractor, interpreting & constructing graphs and interpreting timetables.

Our Inquiry unit for this term looks at ‘Australian History,’ dating back to 1900. Some of the topics that we will cover include the Federation of Australia, immigration and its huge impact on this new nation. The students will also investigate both World War One and the Vietnam War and look in depth at the impact recent colonisation has had on the indigenous population.

Team Kids