Year 1/2 News

Inquiry

The Reef has been learning about, 'what impact do the seasons have on our planet'? We have been investigating whether different seasons trigger extreme weather, volcanoes, tsunamis, and earthquakes. Students have created drawings and informative posters for each season. They have shown their understanding of a period of the year that is distinguished by special climate conditions, such as its light, temperature, and weather patterns.

Students participated in STEM experiments by simulating an earthquake, avalanche, flood, and heat to gain further understanding. Wonderings students had include:

“Is an earthquake created due to a particular season?”

“Does an earthquake occur only when the weather temperature is hot?”

“Why do floods occur?”

“Does heavy winds create an avalanche?”

Students will then make a diorama showing how seasons impact people and Earth.

Literacy

We are learning about developing our fluency as readers and practising digraphs (two or more vowel sounds) to read unfamiliar words. Students have been engaged with listening to Phonics Monsters to practice the sounds ‘oo’, ‘ee’. Other digraphs include, ‘ow’ and ‘oa’.

In Writing, we are learning to use graphic organisers to plan a narrative. Students have been challenged to write a bold beginning and a mighty middle to hold the reader's attention. The stories written show the students' creativity in their storytelling such as a character being a villain or monster and the jungle or forest being popular choices for a setting. 

Mathematics

We are learning about adding and subtracting numbers using a variety of strategies. Students have been practising counting on or back using a number line. This strategy uses place value (tens and ones) to first jump by tens and then by ones. For example, 68 + 35 students start with the biggest number, 68 and then show the 35 as 3 tens and 5 ones. Starting at 68 on the number line, make a big jump by 10s 3 times to 98 then show small jumps by ones.

This week we have started on units of time which ties in with our Inquiry unit showing how Earth changes from night to day (24 hours) and the time it takes Earth to travel around the sun.