Curriculum News
English
As we continue into Stages 3 and 4 of our Little Learners Love Literacy program, we will learn the remaining 10 single-letter sounds and introduce these into our reading and writing. In class, we will continue to work on reading words, sentences and then books using each new stage of sounds, and continue revising familiar sounds from the previous stages in our take-home book and partner reading.
We are looking forward to welcoming parent helpers in Weeks 4 and 5 after our swimming program is over. Parent helpers are a vital part of our literacy program, enabling students to complete multiple small-group activities throughout the week to complement their independent and partner work. A roster was sent out this week based on responses to the Google Form. If you didn’t respond but are still interested in helping, please email me with your availability and I will try to add you to the roster. Parent helpers are needed each day from 9:30am–10:15am.
To support oral language development, we will continue our Elmer and Magic Box language experiences, with all students completing their first rotation by the end of Term 2. Families can support students in these presentations by practising in front of friends and family at home. We will also continue to encourage students to share special news and events as they happen — you are welcome to send through photos at any time for students to share with the class.
We will continue to explore text genres and writing through picture storybooks. In Term 2 our books will be The Eleventh Hour and Fang Fang’s Chinese New Year for our informative text focus, and The Very Cranky Bear and Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus for our persuasive text focus.
Mathematics
We will explore three units throughout Term 2 and will continue to revise the pattern, time, location, counting and place value skills learnt in Term 1 using the Ochre resource.
Part/Whole – We will learn to partition numbers to 10 into two or three parts, identifying the parts and whole in different collections, as well as ‘how many more’ to complete a collection of 5 or 10.
Shape – This unit involves identifying, naming and making different regular 2D shapes, matching shapes to spaces, sorting objects by their features, and creating pictures from different shapes.
Counting and Place Value (Part 2) – In this topic, we will continue counting forwards and backwards and exploring the value of numbers up to 20, including numbers before and after. We will also be working on writing numbers up to 20 and learning to represent these numbers on a number line.
We will also introduce our mathematics mental strategies, spending 10 minutes each day working on mathematics skills such as subitising and partitioning collections — first using hands-on games before moving into being able to use these skills without the need for concrete materials.
Humanities
In Term 2, we will continue our focus on History by exploring how people share and keep stories from the past using photographs, artefacts, books, oral storytelling, digital media and museums. Students will learn that different people may remember events in different ways and that objects and personal items can help us understand and connect with those memories. We will also explore how timelines show change over time, how transport has evolved, and how First Nations peoples share their history through traditional stories, art and cultural items such as bark and dugout canoes.
Science
This term, students will explore the Physical Science concept of movement. They will learn to describe how objects move and investigate how factors such as size, shape and material can affect the way things move. We will also explore the concept of heat by investigating which surfaces heat up the most in sunlight, and then use this knowledge to design ideas to help keep our playground cool during the summer months.
Religion
We will begin our term by looking at the Resurrection of Jesus and what this means for us. We will be discussing what it means to be a disciple of Jesus and how we can change to be more like Jesus. We will be using scripture passages to find out how Jesus wants us to live, connecting our understanding to the Holy Spirit and Pentecost, with a major focus on forgiveness and change.
Wellbeing
Our Wellbeing focus for Term 2 is Personal and Cultural Strengths. Students will learn to recognise their own personal and cultural strengths and explain how these help them contribute to their family and school community. They will also explore ways to use their strengths to care for others and understand how using their strengths helps them act respectfully towards themselves, others and the environment.