Altona Green Primary School Newsletter

Term 3 Curriculum Newsletters

Prep

The Prep area is sure to be abuzz with excitement in preparation for our 100th Day of School celebration in Week 3! We are absolutely amazed by their progress and enthusiasm as learners as they proceed past the halfway point of their first year of school, and we can’t wait to continue this journey. 

 

Literacy (Reading, Writing and Speaking and Listening)

In Literacy this term, students will continue to develop their sound knowledge, letter formation and further expand their understanding of sentence structure. Students will analyse fragments (incomplete sentences) and complete sentences that begin with a capital letter, use appropriate finger spaces and punctuation such as full stops and question marks. We will continue our learning about how we can extend a simple sentence by adding adjectives, ‘when’ and ‘where’. We will also learn how to write compound and complex sentences using the conjunctions “because” and “but”. Handwriting of lowercase letters will be practised daily to help with correct sizing and direction.

 

Students will learn to read decodable texts with growing fluency and automaticity by practising reading with their reading partners regularly. They will also continue to expand their sound knowledge by building, writing and reading words with four and five sounds. They will learn how to read and write words with digraphs (two letters that represent one sound) such as ff, ch, sh, th and ng. We will also read a range of rich picture books together, particularly focusing on wonderful Australian stories about our native animals, and build our comprehension skills through class discussions. 

 

Mathematics - Skills (Counting, Addition, Subtraction & Measurement)

In Numeracy, students will continue to develop their number knowledge and skill in being able to count and compare collections of 20 or more objects. Through daily practise, we will revise handwriting of numerals and accurate pronunciation of two-digit numbers, particularly teen numbers, when counting forwards and backwards. We will build on our skills in interpreting and solving number stories and representing the solutions using concrete materials and addition and subtraction equations. Students will expand on their knowledge of different measurement areas such as height, length, mass and time and learn how to use the correct vocabulary to measure and compare these units. 

 

Inquiry: It’s Alive!

For our Biology unit ‘It’s Alive!’, we will look at Australian animals and investigate some of the following questions:  ‘How do we know if something is living or non-living?’, ‘What do living things need to survive?’ and ‘What are the common features of animals?’. We will conduct a number of experiments in class to investigate the needs of plants, animals and humans. Students will visit the Werribee Open Range Zoo in the last week of the term as our chosen excursion to complement all our learning about Australian animals.

 

We ask that you please continue to read with your child every night, practise their handwriting and counting forwards and backwards to 20 and beyond. Please also make sure that your child brings their charged iPad to school every day.

As always, please keep checking Compass and Seesaw for important information throughout the term.

 

Thank you for your support, 

 

The Prep Team

Grade 1

In Term 3 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. A scope and sequence of the different spellings we will be focussing on was provided during parent-teacher interviews. 

Throughout the term, we will read a range of fiction and non-fiction texts related to our topic “Schoolyard Safari”. 

 

As part of our biological science unit, in writing students will focus on constructing informative texts such as short information reports about chosen animals and retells about learning experiences. We will be working towards students adding detail to their writing through descriptions and up-levelling their vocabulary to use a range of adjectives and adverbs. They will edit sentences to ensure that they are complete sentences and contain correct punctuation including capital letters, full stops or question marks. We will also continue our morphology study, learning about how different prefixes and suffixes change a base word e.g. adding ‘re’ as a prefix at the beginning of a word means to ‘do again’ or ‘go back’ like in the words replay or recycle. 

 

In Numeracy, students will develop their ability to use a range of strategies when solving addition and subtraction equations to 100 including adding and subtracting multiples of 10 and revision of bridging 10. They will learn how to describe a collection using the words ‘groups of’. They will then begin to learn how to represent the two-, five- and ten- times tables equations using concrete materials and apply skip counting to find the total. Students will name and describe 3D shapes (including cubes, cylinders, spheres and rectangular prisms) using the words ‘edge’, ‘vertex/vertices’ and ‘face’. They will also learn how to measure and compare the capacity of containers using informal units by filling them e.g. with water or sand. 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 “Schoolyard Safari”, students will study habitats and life cycles as part of a focus on biological sciences. We will be working towards answering the following questions.

  • What living things live in our school environment (plants and animals)?
  • What parts of an animal enable them to move, feed and protect themselves?
  • How does the habitat provide for the animal’s needs?

Students will use their senses to observe and identify small animals in their habitats. They will identify different types of habitats animals can live in and why they live there. They will identify features of animals that allow them to breathe, feed and protect themselves.  Students will describe factors that impact animal habitats (e.g. fires, change in season, deforestation). They will also explore the key life stages of different insects or animals e.g. a frog or butterfly. As part of this study, the Grade Ones will be attending an excursion to the Melbourne Zoo later in the term.

 

Each week we will continue our work with the Resilience Project focussing on gratitude, empathy and mindfulness. We will have a particular focus on calming strategies, emotions and the importance of rules.

Grade 2/3

Welcome to our new school term everyone! This term will be jam packed with many exciting and rich educational experiences for the students. This newsletter highlights some of the key events and projects happening in our classrooms. 

 

Year 2 Angahook Camp 

Our Grade 2 students have the opportunity to attend a fun-filled camp at ‘Angahook’ located Anglesea, where they will participate in a range of outdoor activities including hut building, orienteering, archery, and rope climbing. The camp provides an excellent opportunity for students to develop teamwork, resilience, and independence.  

 

Inquiry into Lifecycles – Incursion 

On the 6th of August the 2/3 students will have some very special visitors. ‘Reptile Encounters Incursions’ will be bringing along some scaly, furry, slimy friends to further the students' understanding of the various ways animal species grow and change. The special guests include 2 lizards, a snake, a mammal, 2 birds and a crocodile. This engaging and interactive experience will provide an unforgettable and valuable learning experience for all. 

 

Silkworms 

To complement our Lifecycle studies, each of the 2/3 classrooms have a collection of Silkworm eggs that we will observe and care for as they grow and change. Students are already excitedly running into class in the morning to check on the grain sized eggs that are already increasing in size. This rich and immersive project will foster a sense of wonder and a deeper understanding of biological processes. 

 

Reading and Writing Explanation Texts 

This term, our primary focus in literacy will be on reading and writing explanation texts. Explanation texts are a type of non-fiction writing that explain how or why something happens. Here’s what we will cover: 

  • Text Structures: Students will learn about the key features of explanation texts, including introduction, supporting details, and conclusion. They will explore how these texts are organised to clearly convey information. 
  • Reading Practice: We will read a variety of explanation texts on different topics to help students understand how to identify main ideas and supporting details. 
  • Writing Activities: Students will practice writing their own explanation texts. They will choose an insect or animal they are passionate about, research them, and then explain the processes or reasons behind them in a structured manner. 

Our ‘Sounds-Write’ program continues to be an essential part of our literacy curriculum. This program is designed to build strong reading, writing, and spelling skills. Students will be consolidating their understanding of the writing process as they will produce and eventually publish their own written pieces. 

 

Numeracy 

Students will continue to develop their proficiency in the four fundamental operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. We will focus on various strategies to enhance their problem-solving abilities, including: 

  • Addition and Subtraction: Exploring different methods such as number lines, regrouping, the bar models, number bonds, mental math techniques and the connection between addition and subtraction. 
  • Multiplication and Division: We will continue to build the students' skills and strategies to solve multiplication and division problems. They will participate in times table challenges and explore the connection between multiplication and division. 

As always, the teaching team are excited about the learning journey ahead this term and we look forward to seeing our students grow as confident readers, writers, mathematicians and scientists.  

Grade 4/5

What are the challenges for survival in the world’s harshest environments? How have animals and plants adapted to survive and thrive in deserts? These are some of the key questions that the 4/5 students will be investigating in our Inquiry unit, ‘Adapt and Survive’. The 4/5 students will explore some of the physical and behavioural features of desert plants and animals, and will have the opportunity to compare them with plants and animals that live in other environments. Through hands-on activities, our 4/5 students will investigate how the features of plants and animals help them to survive in the harshest natural environments. To conclude the Inquiry unit, students will present their findings and make evidence-based claims to address the key questions about how an animal or plant has adapted to its environment.

 

The Adapt and Survive unit is an ideal way to link science with literacy in the classroom. For Reading this term, the Grade 4/5 students will read non-fiction texts about the types of animals and plants found in environments around the world. They will develop research skills, such as note taking, identifying key information and summarising content. Students will be challenged with new and technical vocabulary. They will learn the etymology of words, including base and related words and will practise using their new vocabulary in spoken and written texts. In Writing, the grade 4/5 students will construct non-fiction informative and explanation texts focussing on an animal and/or plant that has adapted and thrives in its environment. 

 

In Mathematics, our 4/5 students will continue the great growth they have achieved following the Shaping Minds program. The Mathematics curriculum interleaves number and algebra, measurement and geometry and statistics and probability concepts throughout daily mathematics lessons, ensuring all concepts are regularly repeated to consolidate our students’ understanding. Key areas of focus this term will be, representing decimal fractions, comparing and ordering decimals, calculating the area of shapes, converting between 12 and 24 hour time, calculating elapsed time, conducting and explaining the outcomes of chance experiments, and testing solutions to solve true to life problems, including financial problems.

Grade 6

The Inquiry unit this term is titled, ‘Our Democracy.’ Some of the sub headings that we will be looking at in this unit include what is democracy, the Australian parliamentary system, the three levels of government, the voting process, laws and how they are made as well as looking at the ‘Old and New Parliament Houses.’ Of course, in week one term four, we will put this knowledge into practice when we visit Canberra and see a number of sites that we have been learning about.

 

In Literacy, our term will be broken into two sections, one looking at biographies and the second half of the term centered on reading and writing persuasive pieces. In Reading, students will be exposed to a number of biographies and the way they are structured. Some of the famous and political figures that we will be looking at include politicians, Steve Jobs and Malala, an activist in Pakistan. Here we will be doing research and note-taking, using search engines accurately, using reliable resources and looking at our organisation of notes. Our persuasive reading section will include lessons on emotive and modal language, as well as research on climate change and preparing for a formal debate.

In Writing, the students will compose a biography on one of our former or current Prime Ministers as well as a biography of choice. Later in the term we will be writing ‘Persuasive pieces’ on a subject such as ‘Nuclear Power,’, taking one side or the other. Student choice! While in the second half of the term, the students will be working on debate presentations that will be put into action within debate teams.

 

In Mathematics this term, the students will continue to work on the ‘Ochre Education & the Shaping Minds,’ programs. Here we will start sessions by undertaking daily reviews of the concepts introduced and also touching on future concepts. The main lesson areas that we will cover this term include working on area & perimeter with missing sides, calculating the percentage of sale items, adding, subtracting and multiplying fractions, chance & data and constructing a pie graph.

 

We encourage family members to volunteer for the Kitchen and/or Garden program. Please check the term roster that will be sent home in early term 3, for dates and times of our sessions in the kitchen and the garden. We would love to see you there!