Grade 1 News
Important Dates & Reminders
All important dates and events are available on our Compass Calendar. Please check the calendar regularly to stay up to date.
Upcoming dates
Every Thursday for weeks 1-5 - Swimming at Paul Sadler Swimland (10:30am-12pm) Grade 1s in the pool from 11am until 11:30am.
17th August - LPS Science Day
25th August - 26th August - Parent/Teacher Interviews - information to come
1st September - Melbourne Zoo Excursion - information to come
18th September - Footy Dress Up Day and last day of Term 3 (2:30pm dismissal)
Key Information
- Students are to bring their take-home bags to school daily (optional) to swap books for home.
- Icy Poles will be sold outside the senior school Monday & Tuesday lunchtimes
Timetables for Term 3
Please find the updated timetables for Term 3 attached. As students will be participating in swimming during the first five weeks of the term, their specialist classes will take place on different days. Please refer to the appropriate timetable for your child's specialist schedule throughout this period.
STEM NEWS:
STEM Room Donations Needed
We are currently collecting recycled materials for our exciting Term 3 Science Projects in the STEM room. We would greatly appreciate donations of clean items such as plastic water bottles or soft drink bottles, shoe boxes, plastic lids, and cardboard tubing or paper rolls (please no toilet rolls).
Donations can be dropped off at the STEM room at any time. Thank you for your continued support in helping provide valuable hands-on learning opportunities for our students.
Learning Reflection
➗Maths
Over the next fortnight in Mathematics, students will be exploring patterns and skip counting. We will begin by identifying, continuing and creating a range of repeating patterns, including patterns with two and three items. Students will learn to identify the unit of repeat and use the pattern rule to predict what comes next.
We will then focus on skip counting in 2s, 5s and 10s. Students will practise counting forwards and backwards using number tracks and hundred charts, while developing their understanding of how numbers change when we add or take away 2, 5 or 10. Students will also learn to identify the rule in skip counting patterns and use this rule to continue both increasing and decreasing number patterns.
Preview: Next fortnight students will continue exploring skip counting in 2s, 5s and 10s, organising collections into groups, and creating growing and shrinking patterns. They will also start their new topic of sharing and grouping.
📖 Literacy
Word Work:
This fortnight, students have been revising previously learnt digraphs, including 'ar', 'ai' and 'ay', through review activities. They have also been learning the new digraphs 'or', 'aw' and 'au', applying them in a variety of words. Students have explored where each digraph is commonly used within words to support them in choosing and using the correct spelling patterns accurately. They have also learnt that ‘or’ can be placed at the end of a baseword in order to make a suffix. When ‘or’ is placed at the end of a word it makes the word a person. For example, ‘act’ changes to ‘actor’.
Preview: Next fortnight students will begin looking at the ‘er, ir, ur, ear and wor’ digraphs and trigraphs.
Handwriting
This fortnight, students have been practising writing words that correspond to their Sparkle level in their handwriting books. They have responded very positively to this new routine, enjoying the opportunity to choose words that match their learning level. Reading and writing the words simultaneously has also provided valuable extra practise in blending sounds to read words, helping to strengthen both their handwriting and phonics skills.
Preview: Students will continue their handwriting practise using their correlated Sparkle goals.
Literature:
In Literature this fortnight, students have been exploring the characters and emotions in our first mentor text, The Boy Who Tried to Shrink His Name. They had lots of fun learning to say the main character's name, Zimdalamashkermishkada, while using the supporting illustrations to explore the many ways he tried to "shrink" his name. Students discussed how Zimdalamashkermishkada felt when starting at a new school and why he wanted to change his name. They also explored how the kindness and friendship shown by Elly helped him realise that he did not need to change who he was and that everyone should be proud of what makes them unique.
Students have also begun our next Literature Unit on Jetty Jumping, where they have been exploring the emotions of the main character, Milla, and making connections to times they have experienced similar feelings.
In Sentence Level Writing, students have been identifying the 'when' and 'where' parts of a sentence while expanding simple sentences with additional detail. For example, Zimdalamashkermishkada went to the skatepark early in the afternoon. Students have also been reintroduced to adverbs which describe how a verb is performed. For example, Elly skated gently down the ramp. Students have begun using the conjunction ‘and’ to combine two ideas together.
Preview: Next fortnight students will continue their newly started Literature Unit of Jetty Jumping focusing on character feelings along with continuing their sentence level writing on expanding two ideas together using the conjunction ‘and’.
Knowledge Rich
This fortnight in our Knowledge Rich lessons, Grade 1 students have been exploring the rich cultures and histories of Australia's First Nations Peoples. We learnt that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples are the First Peoples of Australia and have the world's oldest continuing living culture. Students discovered the significance of Country, explored important places such as Uluru and the Yarra River, and learnt about the meanings behind the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags. We also investigated how stories, art, music and traditional instruments are used to share culture, knowledge and care for Country. Students listened to Dreaming stories and learnt how stories and songlines have been passed down through generations to teach people about Country, culture and caring for the land. Throughout these lessons, students developed a deeper appreciation for the enduring cultures and traditions of First Nations Australians.
Preview: Next fortnight, students will continue exploring the rich culture and history of Australia’s First Nations People.
Wellbeing😊
This fortnight in our 4Rs program, we have been learning about personal boundaries, body safety and identifying trusted adults who can help us stay safe. Students explored the importance of respecting their own boundaries and the boundaries of others, practised using their voice to say "no" when something doesn't feel right, and discussed the difference between safe secrets and secrets that should never be kept. We also learnt about private parts, using correct body part names, and when it is appropriate for someone to see or help with private parts. Throughout these lessons, teachers reinforced the importance of recognising unsafe situations and speaking to a trusted adult if they ever feel worried, uncomfortable or unsafe.
Preview: Next fortnight, students will be learning about respect and the many ways we can show respect to ourselves, each other, and the environment.
Curious Corner
This fortnight, our Grade 1 students had the exciting opportunity to visit our newly established Curious Corner! We loved exploring the animal and habitat displays, farm-themed activities, animal vet role-play area, Duplo station, farmers' market, bug conservatory, craft activities, books and many other engaging experiences. Curious Corner provides a wonderful space for students to explore their interests through hands-on learning while developing important social skills. Throughout our visits, students practised showing respect, collaborating with others, sharing resources and working together as they discovered, created and learned through play.
Friendship Day
On Friday, our students celebrated Friendship Day by exploring what it means to be a kind, caring and inclusive friend. Together, we discussed ways to make new friends, practised being a "friendship magnet" by showing kindness, respect and acceptance, and reflected on why friendships are so important for helping us feel happy, connected and supported. Students enjoyed creating their own Friendship Magnets to celebrate the special qualities of a great friend and finished the day by completing the exciting Friend-o-meter Hunt around the school.
Homework
Optional Homework for Grade 1
For homework in Grade 1, the expectation is that students will read their take-home book to an adult each day. Every student will choose a new book from their classroom on a daily basis (optional). Students will need to return their previous book before receiving a new book. Here is a link to a folder to access Sparkle at home activities if you wish: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/126BRm52aR9NyaCdEgnCljLC3X0MWqupj
If you are not sure which level your child is on, please ask your child’s teacher.
For those students who are off Sparkle, please encourage them to read any book of their choice at home.
Thank you for reading our newsletter. Please remember, if you have any questions, feel free to contact your child’s teacher.
Grade 1 Teachers,
Catia Anson, Bella Albanese and Jess Kitteringham.