A Spotlight on Learning
A Spotlight on Learning in the MLC on Heights Campus
Such an action packed beginning of Term 3 for the wonderful students in the MLC on the Heights Campus! The students have been busy engaging in many exciting learning opportunities with a focus on the 2024 Paris Olympics Games that are currently being held.
Students have actively taken part in their own MLC mini Olympics for numeracy, participated in the whole school Olympics run by the amazing SLC students, were creative in the kitchen by cooking Olympic ring-coloured pancakes as well as investigating the origins of the ancient Olympics games which were first held approximately 3000 years ago.
The MLC were also entertained by Sean Choolburra, an indigenous stand-up comedian and storyteller, who shared with us many interesting dreamtime stories as well as traditional Aboriginal dances and songs.
In reading, the MLC students have been delving into making inferences based on the clues and information they have located within the text in addition to using their background knowledge and experiences to draw a conclusion. The students have also become masters at the Word Chat tuning-in activity that focuses on a particular word each day and encourages students to identify the phonological and phonemic awareness of that word. (e.g. Is it a compound word? How many syllables does the word have? Can you add a prefix or a suffix to this word?)
In numeracy, the MLC students have been exploring and extending their knowledge of solving subtraction problems using the most efficient strategies. They have been taking part in a number of modified Olympic events such as the equestrian event using a hobby horse and gymnastics performing on the balance beam.
Students have been measuring their specific time, length or height within the different events, and calcualting the difference between their results; using their skills to subtract decimals with renaming. The students in each homegroup that performed the best in each event were presented either a bronze, silver or gold medal at our closing ceremony on Friday.
In writing so far this term, the MLC students focused on grammar by identifying and using different parts of speech in their writing. This included using possessive apostrophes correctly as well as using commas in the appropriate places within a sentence.
The students have also been learning how to write a procedural text by using the correct structure which includes an aim or goal, the materials or ingredients required and a sequence of steps that include a variety of verbs using present tense. Students drafted and published a procedural text on how to grow a grass head cup then carefully followed the sequence of steps to carry out their experiment.
All of the students had an absolute blast writing their procedure and creating their own grass head cup which they will nurture and watch grow over the next few weeks.
Mrs Jane McMahon
MLC Learning Centre Leader
(Heights Campus)