Level 1: Connect

)ceowe Welcome back as we begin the second half of the year! We have certainly enjoyed listening to students stories about their holidays- some restful and calm, some full of adventure, and some a little of both. Wonderful!

Term 3 Reminders:

Science:

Science with Wilko and Safety Sue is always fun! This Term students are looking at materials that can be mixed together. Students read the book 'There was an old woman who swallowed a fly'. They then made their own 'people' who swallowed all sorts of things- dinosaurs, reindeer, bunny rabbits!

Literacy:

During the first week we have been reading  book called 'Fly' by Jess McGeachin. It is a lovely story about a little girl named Lucy who finds a bird with a broken wing. We will continue with this book next week. We have had a reading focus on connections and predictions. Our writing focus is on adding connectives like because into our writing. We will also be looking at expanding sentences using 3 w's (when, where, why).

Some student responses:

"Lucy is kind because she makes a plane to help Flap." "Dad is helpful because he helps Lucy to make a bed for Flap."- By Jude 1A

"Dad was supportive because he helped Lucy when she wanted to help Flap." "Flap was grateful because Lucy helped him."- By Charlie T 1A

"Flap was grateful because Lucy helped him to fly again." "Lucy is creative because she fixed the letter box and made a plane." By Claudia 1A

"Lucy is caring because she helped Flap." "Lucy is kind because she is building a shoe box for Flap." - By Owen 1C

"Lucy is kind because she is making a home for Flap." "Lucy is caring for Flap because she is building a plane to help Flap fly."- By Olivia 1C

"Lucy is smart because she built a plane for flap!"- By Heather 1B

"Flap is grateful because Lucy gave him a happy life before he died. Also Dad is proud because he likes what Lucy does."- By Charlie P. 1B

Heart words: This coming fortnight we will be focusing on the words other, some and too and writing these words into sentences. 

Phonemes: Next week will be learning about the 'ow' phoneme- as in slow and cow.

Morphology: We will be learning all about syllables. We have been looking at open and closed syllables and next week we will begin learning all about vowel-consonant-vowel syllables as in beehive and sunshine. These syllables are also known as 

Maths:

Over the past two weeks in Maths, our Grade 1 students have been busy exploring two key concepts. They've been learning about the properties of 2D shapes—identifying shapes, counting sides and corners, and noticing how shapes can look different but still belong to the same category (like different types of triangles).

We've also introduced the idea that the equals sign (=) means both sides are the same. Students have been using this understanding to balance simple number sentences, like 3 + 2 = 4 + 1, and learning that it's not just about getting the "answer," but about making both sides equal.

These early explorations are key steps in building a solid understanding of mathematical concepts.

Inquiry:

This Terms focus is on the 7 different continents. This week we have been learning about mapping and the different maps we can use. We have even spoken about the old Melways that had to be used before technology arrived! Over the coming fortnight, the first continent that we will visit is Australia. We are very much looking forward to learning some new information about the country that we live in. 

Visual Art- please see 'Specialist Happenings' for an exciting whole school art project. 

Level 1 Term 3 Specialist Timetable 

All the best,

Suzanne, Robyn, Leon and Kylie

Level 1 Teachers