What's happening?
Foundation
The students have returned to school nice and refreshed after their extra-long weekend (which the children definitely deserved after a busy week of assessment last week). The teachers have enjoyed hearing about their fun adventures!
In writing, the students have been working hard on their narratives and have begun writing their very own stories. The children will need to include a character, a setting, a problem, and a solution. We have been so impressed with their work and understanding so far and know they are going to do a wonderful job.
In maths, the students will be finishing their unit on Division this week, and we have been very impressed with their growth on the topic.
Upcoming Event: Foundation Swimming Week (10–15 November)
A reminder that swimming starts next week. Thank you to the parents who have volunteered to assist, we really appreciate your help. If you are coming to help, please ensure that you have a valid WWCC and you have shown your child’s teacher if you wish to help in the change rooms after the session.
Swimming bag checklist
Students need to bring their school bag with a separate swimming bag.
Their swimming bags should have the follow items in it each day:
-Towel
-Goggles
-Swimming cap (provided by school and teachers will hand out on Monday).
-Underwear
-Plastic Bag (for wet items)
-Crocs/thongs
Grade 1
Last week we were treated to perfect weather and very excited students for Japanese Day! The children had a wonderful time taking part in the sporting activities, showing great teamwork in their mixed-grade teams.
In Literacy, students are working on developing the solution to the problem in their narrative writing. Next week they will continue with Narratives and write their stories from beginning to end, unassisted.
We are also learning about spelling rules, focusing on when to use “ck” after a short vowel sound and when to use “c” on its own. To help students remember, we explain that, when there is a short vowel it needs protection so it needs “ck” spelling! Next week, we’ll explore short vowels followed by the /j/ sound, using “dge” instead of “ge.”
For Handwriting, students are practising the letter W this week and the number 5 next week. In Grammar and Punctuation, they are learning about plurals and past tense. In Morphology, they are discovering how prefixes and suffixes can be added to base words and will learn a new suffix — “sub.”
Our Minibeast study has now moved on to Myriapods, and next we’ll learn about Annelids. Students have also been introduced to silkworm larvae, which they can observe over the term as they grow and hopefully undergo metamorphosis.
In Mathematics, students have been exploring shapes and position, learning new directional language and working with grids. Next week, we’ll begin graphing — collecting data and learning how to display it clearly.
During Wellbeing, our focus has been on developing a growth mindset, particularly around attending swimming lessons. We’ve discussed independence when changing, keeping track of belongings, and following new instructors at the Mentone Grammar Aquatic Centre.
Please remember that students need to:
Arrive at school on time (especially 1L, 1P, and half of 1J as their bus leaves at 9:00 a.m.)
Wear bathers under their school clothes
Bring underpants, a towel, cap, goggles, and a pair of thongs or crocs for the pool. If your child has lost or broken their swim cap, a new one can be purchased from the office at school ($7).
Finally, a big thank you to families for supporting the homework practice each week. The double-sided homework sheets have been a great reflection of our classroom learning. We know it can be tricky to fit everything in after a busy day, and we really appreciate your continued encouragement and effort at home!
Grade 2
Writing: Students have been continuing to develop their understanding of narrative structure and features. They’ve explored a range of engaging mentor texts and narrative clips and are now transforming their own ideas into stories. Within a given timeframe, students have been writing narratives that include an orientation, complication, resolution, and ending. They are doing a fabulous job using time order words and phrases (e.g., all of a sudden, a few seconds later, meanwhile, later) and interesting adjectives to add detail and description to their writing.
PhOrMeS / Word Study: In our PhOrMeS lessons, students have been learning to read and spell homophones—words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings. They’ve also been exploring words with ‘al’ spellings that make the sounds ‘or’, ‘orl’, and ‘o’ (e.g., halt, recall).
The Grammar Project: Next week, students will practise completing sentences when provided with a sentence stem containing one of the conjunctions since or whenever.
Maths: This week, we are wrapping up our unit on mass and capacity. Next week, we will begin our Patterns topic, where students will recognise, describe and create additive patterns that increase or decrease by a constant amount. They will also use numbers, shapes and objects to form patterns and identify missing elements within a pattern.
Inquiry: Due to the short week, there were no Inquiry lessons. Next week, students will explore how different items we use have changed over time, why those changes occurred, and how to use a timeline to describe the order of life events.
Wellbeing: As part of our RRRR (Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships) program, students have been role-playing ways to organise play in friendly, fair and respectful ways. They’ve also been identifying and practising strategies peers can use to solve problems respectfully. Through our ‘U R Strong’ program, students are learning about ‘Friendship Fires’—how to resolve conflict with a friend step by step and how to respond to hurt feelings and misunderstandings.
Homework: Thank you for your support with homework: Regular reading aloud and a weekly Word Study/PhOrMeS worksheet. Optional online extras: ‘Nessy Reading and Spelling’ and ‘Sunset/Jetpack Maths’ (Essential Assessment).
Grade 3
Novel Study: As well as enjoying the story ‘Charlotte’s Web’, students have been learning many new ‘vocabulary words’ encountered in the text, building their understanding of complex sentences, i.e. identifying an independent clause, dependent clause and subordinating conjunction, and revising and editing paragraphs to improve their sentence writing in response to the text.
Core Knowledge: For our ‘Earth Science’ inquiry unit this fortnight, students continue to learn about Earth’s moving crust and how Earth’s surface changes over time as a result of natural and human activity. The big question we explored over this last fortnight was, ‘How can things that happen on Earth change the land?’.
Writing: As part of our narrative writing unit, this fortnight, students have been learning to do the following with both a problem and resolution paragraph:
Identify the purpose and structure.
Identify common language features.
Adapt the plot from a familiar text to plan.
Experiment with descriptive language, text connectives, and character dialogue when planning.
Word Study: Students have been reviewing words that include Greek number roots, as well as a range of suffixes and ‘weird words’. We continue to learn more about Latin etymology, with a focus on Latin number roots and the history behind the names and spelling of the final six months of our year.
Maths: Last week we completed our ‘Mass and Capacity’ topic, with students estimating, measuring, comparing and recording the capacity of various containers. As always, we encourage opportunities to explore these concepts further at home. This week, we began our ‘Probability’ topic which will continue over the next few weeks, with students ordering familiar events and chance outcomes from least to most likely.
Reminder of upcoming events (see communication on Compass over this next fortnight):
Swimming – Week 6
Camp – Week 7
We have been encouraging students to try a sleepover at a friend’s house (if they have not done this before/often), to help prepare them for camp.
Homework: As part of our core knowledge topic, students have been assigned a home project over the next few weeks, to research a natural landform. They have been given a hard copy of the template that appears on Seesaw, on which they can record their information. Students should bring their completed research sheet to school by Monday 24th November (Week 8), as well as any printed photos they would like to use. They will refer to their research sheet when working on their poster at school in the weeks following.
Students should also continue their regular home reading, record in diary, get it signed by a grown up, and bring it to school every Friday. Thanks for your ongoing support with this.
Grade 4
We hope everyone had a lovely long weekend and is feeling well rested, ready to continue the remainder of Term 4. It is hard to believe it is Week 5 already!
A reminder that Bike Ed starts next week on Friday (week 6).
Literacy: Our Wonder study has continued and the kids are delving deeply into the book, being exposed to some complex topics such as genetics and identifying various perspectives. We are continuing to see the students strengthen their ability to use evidence from the book to support their responses. Our class narratives are coming along well with stories reaching their climax and resolutions being developed.
Numeracy: The students are continuing to show enormous improvement in our numeracy topic angles. Naming different types of angles, reading protractors and identifying complimentary and supplementary angles. Next week's math focus will be on Probability.
Inquiry: Our study of “Our Island Home and Beyond” has continued with exploration into the similarities and differences of vegetation in Africa and Australia, as well as the animal species in South America and Australia and the factors that affect this diversity. Next week we are looking forward to our African Drumming Incursion next Tuesday, which will be a great cultural experience!
Grade 5
We hope everyone had a wonderful long weekend and enjoyed some time to relax and recharge as we head into the second half of Term 4. Over the next few weeks, our Grade 5 students will be busy planning and writing their leadership speeches, which they’ll present to their house groups.
Maths
In Maths, students have been developing their knowledge and understanding of how to read and interpret the x and y axis of a Cartesian plane and have been exploring all four quadrants, including the use of negative numbers when stating coordinates.
Writing
Students have continued to explore the structure of narrative writing through a modelled text. They have been planning their own narratives and crafting engaging introductions by using strategies to add greater detail to their characters and settings. This week, students are focusing on developing their action paragraphs to build excitement and move their stories forward.
Reading
Students have continued to deepen their understanding of our class text A Long Walk to Water. They have followed the journeys of Nya and Salva, exploring the significance of water in South Sudan. Through Salva’s story, students have learnt about the importance of the Nile River and the challenges faced when crossing the Atout tribal region of Southern Sudan. Throughout these sessions, they have been developing their ability to respond to comprehension questions using evidence from the text and to engage thoughtfully in group discussions.
Inquiry
Students have continued their research on various aspects of their chosen country and have been working diligently on compiling information for their informational booklet. Last week, they explored significant landmarks and cultural events, selecting one to investigate in greater depth.
Homework
This term - literacy, maths, and a minimum 20 minutes of reading each night recorded in diaries and signed off each week by a parent.
Grade 6
Literacy
Our reading and study of the novel Rivet Boy continues. We are studying the themes and meaning behind the writing throughout the different chapters. We have revisited juxtaposition, a literary technique for the placement of two or more ideas, characters, actions, settings, phrases, or words side by side for a particular purpose to highlight contrast or for rhetorical effect.
We have looked at how it can be used by the author, as well as practising writing sentences which incorporate juxtaposition. The students are also practising the use of conjunctions, but, so and because in their sentence writing, linked to the book.
Writing
The grade 6 students have been learning about narrative structure through lessons that focus on different sections of a story. The students will have a go at writing several introductions/orientations based on a variety of visual prompts. They have also developed their understanding of how to use dialogue in their stories and how adding nonverbal details can enhance the writing. Another area of study is the correct use and consistency of tense in narratives.
Mathematics
In Mathematics, we have completed multiplication and subtraction and are reviewing decimals and percentages. This includes calculating fractions of amounts and percentage discounts and dealing with decimals in all four operations.
Inquiry
Students have been working on developing their own individual business and product, which they will present and pitch to their market day group next week. This will include two different prototypes or samples of their product (homework task) and a marketing pitch.
Interschool Sport
Good luck to all our teams for the Lacrosse Gala Day taking place today. The students have enjoyed learning and participating in a different sport and are looking forward to the day.
End of Year Celebrations
A Compass notification was sent out at the start of this week outlining all the upcoming important dates for our busy end of year in Grade 6. Please make sure you have read and have noted these events.