What's happening?
Foundation
It was great to hear that the students had an enjoyable and relaxing long weekend! By now your child should also be bringing home weekly readers. Thank you for supporting their reading at home by listening to them each day. Remember, at the back of student reader folders, they have ‘List words’ and ‘Weird words’, to support their reading and fluency of known and unknown words they can’t sound out. A reminder to return reading satchels each day. Books are changed once a week. Please ensure your child has read each book at least twice and filled in their reading log journal. When you read the same book twice, just add a date to the previous read.
We will be beginning corridor reading from next term.
Literacy: Students have been learning the sound codes e, r, qu, and z. We are continuing to review the previously learnt codes. Students are improving their reading and writing skills every week by practicing and taking part in fun, interactive activities..
Maths: Maths Groups are running smoothly as we continue with our ‘Time’ topic. Next week, we move into ‘Pattern’. This will be our second last unit for the term, alongside learning ‘Location’ in our classroom groups each Friday.
Social skills: We are continuing to explore our ‘Super Six’ values, focusing on the value Cooperation over the next two weeks. This will be the value focused on for our assembly values award next week, due to Grandparents day this week.
Inquiry: Last week, we began our Inquiry topic ‘All about me’. In this unit, students have been learning all about themselves by investigating their likes and dislikes and sharing about their families. This is a short two-week unit!
A reminder that Buddies is now every 2nd Thursday. Last week students enjoyed making some ‘all about us’ rainbows, where they got to know their buddies and record some of their favourite things.
Thank you to all the parent/carers for your support so far this term. All the students loved having their special people and grandparents in the classroom, showing off their amazing progress this term.
On March 19th, we will be celebrating ‘Breakfast at school’. It is always a fun day when students can come to school in their pyjamas with their friends and enjoy fruit, toast, and pancakes. If your child has any dietary requirements, please let your classroom teacher know.
Grade 1
Over the past few weeks in Literacy, the students have continued to focus on writing recounts and have this week worked on writing about the wonderful incursion experience they had on Tuesday. We are sure your child has shared with you all the amazing toys that they played with, as well as the engaging stories they were told about toys from the past.
Over the next two weeks, our spelling code will be ‘ai’ and ‘ay’. The students will practise reading and spelling words containing these letter combinations in words and identifying when to use each. When practising these codes we refer to ‘ai’ spelling as ‘never being at the end’ of a word and ‘ay’ will ‘usually be at the end’ of a word. Both combinations make the same long "A" sound, but understanding this rule helps children spell words correctly by knowing where to place each combination. A new word study practise page will be place in take home folders this week, for families to further strengthen their child’s understanding of this code at home.
As we move into our next math unit, Grade 1 learners will be diving into the exciting world of addition! This unit will focus on building a strong foundation in key concepts such as part-part-whole, number bonds, and subitising. Students will explore how numbers can be broken down into parts and combined to make a whole, helping them understand addition in a hands-on way. They will also develop their subitising skills, which will allow them to quickly recognize small quantities without counting. As part of this shift, you may notice changes in math groups as we tailor instruction to better meet each student's needs. This approach ensures that all learners receive the right level of challenge and support, helping everyone progress at their own pace, if you have any questions or concerns regarding this, please contact your child's teacher.
It has been wonderful to see students engaged with their reading and regularly changing over readers. We have also welcomed the readers helpers into the classroom and seen the excitement and enthusiasm the students show when reading to parent helpers.
We have some stimulating events coming up over the next two weeks with Grandparents Day this Friday and a visit to Parkdale Secondary School for a complimentary experience watching the Year 10 Drama class perform a “Fairytale.” The Year 1’s will be walking to the Secondary School for the matinee performance. Please be sure to consent to your child attending this event on Compass, and if you are available to volunteer let your child’s teacher know as soon as possible.
For Grandparents/ Special Friends Day the students will continue to engage with their Inquiry Topic and will be asking their grandparent’s questions about some of their favourite things when they were young. A notice was sent out on Compass on the 8th of March to families regarding the event.
It has certainly been a contrasting term with the fast pace of the days and weeks and yet the slow pace of the grass sprouting in our small gardens. The students have been caring for their seeds and are excited when at last the seeds start to sprout and grow.
Grade 2
Literacy: Last week, students further developed their recount writing skills by learning about the structure and features of this text type. They have been learning about the importance of adding adjectives to their writing pieces this week, to make their writing more descriptive and interesting.
Students have also been learning to apply their knowledge from our ‘Grammar Project’ lessons to identify and define proper and common nouns and capitalise proper nouns.
During our PhOrMeS/Word Study lessons students have been learning to read and spell words pertaining to the ‘silent final E rules’. Last week we learnt about the SFE job 3 which is the silent ‘e’ goes at the end of words to make c and g say their second sounds. For example, in the words ‘cage’ and ‘race’. This week we have been learning about job 4 which is every syllable needs a vowel. In words like ‘fumble’ and ‘raffle’ we need to add an ‘e’ to the end to ensure the second syllables have a vowel.
This week we started fluency pairs where students read to a partner for a set amount of time. Once reading fluency is developed to an automatic/proficient level, readers can focus much less on decoding and more on the comprehension of the texts they read.
Maths: In Maths, students have been exploring different types of Addition problems, and they are developing efficient strategies for solving. Practice at home is always beneficial, from ‘quick facts’ games using dice and playing cards, to explaining which strategy was used to solve a problem.
Inquiry: As part of our Inquiry topic, ‘Animals and their Habitats’, students have been learning about animal adaptations and understanding how these adaptations help them to survive in their habitat.
Wellbeing: This fortnight our wellbeing and social skills focus is on Integrity and Co-operation.
A couple of reminders: *On Wednesday the 19th of March we will be heading on our first excursion to Moonlit Sanctuary.
*On Tuesday 25th of March we will be going on our second excursion to Parkdale Secondary College to watch a performance. Please ensure you have read all the information on the notice (sent out via Compass) and consented.
*Students are completing their habitat research and planning for their diorama, which they will begin constructing in week 9. It would be wonderful if named shoeboxes (or similar size) and any additional materials could please be brought into school by Friday 21st of March (end of week 8).
Thank you for your support with homework: Regular reading aloud. Optional online extras: ‘Nessy Reading and Spelling’ and ‘Sunset/Jetpack Maths’ (Essential Assessment).
Grade 3
Core Knowledge: Last week, students read a range of texts exploring the effects and potential consequences of overfishing. This week and next, we are reading ‘One Well, The Story of Water’ and will explore the effects and potential consequences of water overuse. As well as building students’ knowledge, we are focusing on developing their ability to identify information within a text, link information across a table within a text, and answer questions after reading.
Writing: This fortnight, we will wrap up our focus on the persuasive writing genre. Students have looked at structure and language features, as well as brainstormed multiple arguments, selecting the strongest three to support their opinion before writing their persuasive text. In our grammar and syntax lessons, we have worked on verb tense within sentences, and will move onto using apostrophes with contractions
Word Study: We have been reviewing the silent-final-e plus suffix rule; recognising when ‘o’ says /u/, and using ti or ci when adding a suffix. Students have also been investigating some ‘silent letters’, as well as reading and spelling a range of homophones and ‘weird words’.
Maths: We completed our ‘Time’ topic last week, with a focus on using formal units of time to estimate the duration of events, use the start/stop function on a digital device to time the duration of events or activities, and set, read and record time with accuracy to the minute and/or second using a digital device. This week, we revisited ‘Place Value’. Students were learning to write the standard and non-standard expanded form for numbers up to six digits, as well as identify 1, 10, or 100 more or less for numbers up to six digits.
Wellbeing/Values: Our whole school focus this fortnight has been on our Super Six Value of ‘Integrity’.
Homework: Please encourage your child to read daily and help them to record this in their diary (parent to sign at the end of the week). Diaries are checked by their classroom teacher every Friday and house points are given.
NAPLAN: This week, students completed their first two NAPLAN assessments, with their final two assessments next week. Well done Grade 3s!
Grade 4
Grade 4s are really starting to find their feet here in the Hub at Parkdale. Thank you for all the efforts and amazing attitudes towards their learning.
Literacy: We are completing our information report writing unit by looking at the different elements and structure of our pieces. Along side many great examples we will be diving into the learning of short and long sentences (compound sentences) and how to write an engaging introduction. Grade 4’s are loving our inquiry unit of ‘Into the Unknown’ where we are delving deep into our history of Australia and how our society was formed. Students will continue to either borrow a book from school or read a book from home for their daily reading.
Numeracy: Our maths topic of multiplication and division has been our focus. Using the mathematical language of product and groups of, students are able to multiply multiple numbers together and show their understand through grid methods and distributive properties.
We encourage all students to be practising their times tables at home through the use of Splash Learn or sunset maths (Essential Assessment).
Reminders: Please ensure your child is bringing their diary with them each day, and recording their reading each night. Students should be dressing according to the weather, and labelling all of their belongings!
Grade 5
Well done to our students on completing 2 of the 4 NAPLAN tests. On Wednesday it was ‘Writing’, Thursday was ‘Reading’. On Friday Mr Bainbridge ran a catch up session for those who missed any. We are proud of all students with their willingness and positivity! Next week will be Spelling (Monday) and Mathematics (Tuesday).
Literacy:
Students have been working hard on persuasive writing over the last few weeks and will continue to do so for the remainder of the term. We are learning to include a variety of persuasive techniques in each of our paragraphs to convince the reader of our argument.
In reading, we have been focusing on energy and matter. During these lessons, there has been a specific focus on vocabulary retrieval, comprehension questions and fluency readings in response to a variety of non-fiction texts. Students have been answering deep questions on inferring, predicting, clarifying, summarising and questioning.
Mathematics:
We have begun our Multiplication & Division topic, initially with multiplying three-digit numbers by one or two-digit numbers using efficient written and mental strategies. Students are exploring the patterns, properties, and relationships in multiplication (such as the distributive and associative properties) and applying these skills to solve real-world problems. Additionally, they are extending their understanding of factors and multiples.
Inquiry:
Our Inquiry unit has been a busy one this term! It has been full of interactive experiments which have displayed students’ cooperation and critical thinking skills. The students are excited to begin their projects this week. They will start by selecting their experiment and understanding the scientific method required to conduct it, as well as what materials it requires. Experiments will be conducted from next week. Students are required to bring in some of the materials that they need. They will be in pairs/groups and need to bring in their materials early next week, which will require assistance from home.
Other notes..
We were lucky enough to have a SEDA soccer clinic on Tuesday. This will be on again in 2 weeks (25th March).
5S will have a student teacher from Monash University for the final three weeks of this Term. Miss Cahill will also return later in the year.
A reminder that we use whiteboard markers in many lessons throughout the day. Please check with your child as to whether they need more. It is extremely important that they have access to one.
Grade 6
Beach Program is fast approaching! Please check Compass for permission and payment, as well as other important information. Be sure children are aware what they need to be bringing and to be organised and ready to go.
In Maths, we have just finished our recent topic of Order of Operations. Students have been following their BODMAS rules to complete some complex equations. Now we are moving onto Area, including the area of varying shapes.
Writing has been full of excitement, as we have started our persuasive writing. Students have been improving their research skills around their favourite countries and will soon be exploring world dilemmas.
Last week we held our Junior Mayor trials and had a very successful showing. We were very proud of all that applied, and it made our decision very difficult. We are pleased with our team, and they have already started writing their speech. More to come!