Reading 

In Term 1, our Prep students are beginning to explore the wonderful world of stories. 

We have started our learning with the book “Stay for Dinner”, by Sandhya Parappukkaran, which helped the children understand how stories are built. We have been identifying the characters, the setting, and the way a story moves from a beginning to a middle and an end.

Over this term we will also enjoy books like “Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf”, by Roald Dahl and “The Three Billy Goats Gruff”, by Nick Bland. During these units, the students will be practising how to retell a story in their own words. We are encouraging them to use "story openers," such as ‘Once upon a time’, and to use who, what, where, and when to describe the pictures they see. This helps build their confidence in speaking and helps them learn new and interesting vocabulary. At this stage, we are also focusing on foundational skills, such as learning how to hold a book correctly and noticing the difference between a single letter and a whole word.

In our UFLI work with Phonics, our Prep students will be covering the following sounds: a, m, s, t, p, f, i as well as simple vowel/consonant (VC) and consonant/vowel/consonant (CVC) words. Students will be engaged with reading some simple decodable passages and learning how to spell some simple high frequency words.