Year One
Literacy – Reading & Writing
Over the past two weeks, our Grade 1 students have been exploring the wonderful world of poetry! In reading lessons, students have learnt to identify the differences between poetry and prose, discuss why authors write poems, and explore poems written by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors. They have also investigated rhyming words, learnt new poetry vocabulary, and begun identifying features such as theme, repetition, rhythm, similes, refrains and line breaks.
In writing, students have been busy becoming poets themselves. They created alliteration poems using repeated beginning sounds, developed Writer’s Notebook seed ideas, and then drafted and published their own rhyming poems. We are incredibly proud of the creativity, imagination and growing confidence students have shown as authors.
Numeracy
Our mathematicians have been building strong addition and subtraction skills through hands-on learning experiences.
In Week 8, students focused on addition strategies, particularly counting on and using part-part-whole thinking. They used materials, drawings, stories and number sentences to solve addition problems and began exploring how larger numbers can be broken into tens and ones.
In Week 9, students transitioned to subtraction. They practised counting backwards, solving subtraction story problems, and representing their thinking using pictures, materials, Think Boards and mathematical symbols. Throughout both weeks, students have continued developing their understanding of how addition and subtraction are connected.
Phonics
Students have continued strengthening their decoding and spelling skills through the study of consonant blends.
Week 8 Focus: dr and fr
dream, drive, drop, drink
freeze, fry, friend, fruit
Week 9 Focus: gr and tr
grow, great, grin, grape
tree, treat, trunk, trip
Students participated in sound hunts, word investigations, dictation activities, blending practice, sentence writing and word-building tasks. These activities help students become more confident readers, writers and spellers.
Wellbeing
Our wellbeing focus has centred on developing positive learning habits, confidence and respectful classroom relationships. Through class discussions, collaborative learning activities and reflection opportunities, students have practised listening to others, sharing ideas, showing empathy and celebrating each other's successes.
As always, we continue encouraging students to be kind, resilient learners who try their best, learn from mistakes and support their classmates. We are so proud of the positive attitude and enthusiasm our students bring to school each day!
Thank you for your continued support at home. We look forward to another exciting fortnight of learning ahead!
