Foundation News
Reading
This fortnight in Reading, Foundation students learned about word family endings such as -at and -ap. They reflected on words ending with either -at like cat, or -ap like tap. The Foundation cohort also searched for these word family endings during class read alouds and independent reading. With their continued learning in writing, the Foundation students also began practising how to read their own writing to a partner and the teachers. From reading high frequency words to ccvc (consonant-consonant-vowel-consonant) words, students continued to use their knowledge of letter sounds to demonstrate resilience in reading both new and familiar words.
“Cat, hat, mat” - Nami FA
“Sap and map have ap” - Musa FB
“Rap, cap and tap are in “ap” family - Daniella FC
Writing
In writing, the Foundation cohort learned about explanation writing and how this is used to explain how or why something works. Students have been exploring various topics to explain in short sentences, including how to take care of a pet and how to be a good friend. They have also revisited their learning on building and writing sentences. While students focused on short sentences in term three, they are now focusing on building and writing descriptive sentences from non-fiction texts. Students used class readings such as Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rethink, as well as Why do I Feel? to write about what they learned and to describe what they noticed.
“I know I can be a good friend when I share my teddy” - Brooklyn FA
“You need to be kind to be a good friend.” - Aiza FB
“ We need to take the pets to the vet if they are sick” - Elliot FC
Maths
The Foundation students began learning about skip counting in Maths. They explored how to skip count by 10s by engaging in “Workout and Count” activities and using MABs (tens) to support their counting. The Foundation cohort worked on many different math tasks including filling in the missing numbers on a map as they counted in 10s up to 100. Students have been using the songs learned during “Workout and Count” to independently count by 10s outloud.
“10, 20, 30! Then 40, 50, 60! Workout and count!” - Syed FA
“I can skip count by 10s past 100.” - Zade FB
“I can count backward skip counting by 10s” - Ryan FC
Inquiry
In Inquiry, the Foundation cohort continued their unit on healthy choices. Students discussed how they grow and change while describing what they looked like when they were infants, in kinder, and now in Foundation. They also explored safe and unsafe choices such as going up the slide while someone is trying to slide down, and crossing the road without an adult. Students categorised images of different scenarios into a safe vs unsafe chart.
“When I cross the road, I always walk with my sister and brother” - Annabelle
“Be safe so you don’t get hurt.” - Jenan FB
“ We cannot go on the roof in new playground” - Selim FC
Social and Emotional Learning
The Foundation cohort resumed their learning about positive gender relations. Students discussed that there are many things people can choose to do and that it does not matter whether they are a boy or a girl. The Foundation students also identified how to be strong and gentle when playing with their peers. Students explained why using strong and gentle movements are important when interacting with others to support them when they are feeling angry.
“When I’m angry, sometimes I want to hit something but I also stop” - Archie FA
“You need to play gently so no one gets hurt.” - Maria FB
“ I need to give space when my friends are sad” - Julia FC
Auslan
This fortnight in Auslan, the Foundation students have been learning to sign fruits. Students shared their favourite fruits with the class after learning the signs for some of the most common fruits including apple, orange, banana, watermelon, and avocado. Students also learned how to sign zoo animals. The Foundation cohort were particularly excited about learning these signs as they have just visited the Bundoora Farm in week 1!
“Me like watermelon” - Alan FA
“I like bananas and this is how to sign it.” - Minha FB
“ My favourite fruit is strawberry - Kayra FC
Special Event - Children’s Week
In celebration of children’s week, the Foundation students participated in a variety of hands-on activities in literacy and maths. During reading, students worked with their partners and used digital spin the wheel resources to randomly select a symbol which they then used to build a word using different word family endings. In maths, the Foundation cohort went to the Foundation play area where the hundreds chart is located. Students used chalk to practise counting by 10s and writing the numbers correctly on the ground.
“Thirty has the zero and thirteen is one and three” - Archie FA
“The activity was fun.” - Musa FB
“ I can spin the wheel and find a word ends with ‘at’ - Jem FC
