Term 1, 2021

The Year One students have settled in beautifully to their new learning environment and have made a great start to the year. The teachers and students have enjoyed getting to know each other and reflecting on how the decisions we make can affect our relationships with one another, focusing on creating a harmonious and inclusive classroom environment.

 

In line with our Unit of Inquiry, 'How the World Works',  the Year One students were immersed in exploring, experimenting and understanding how weather affects our lives and environments.

 

This term we are working on building respect and tolerance for our peers and will continue learning about Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness throughout the year.

Literacy

Reading

The children are encouraged to read every night and record their reading in their ‘Take Home Reading Journal’. They are required to bring their green reading folders to school, daily, to ensure books are changed.

 

This term the children will be building their reading stamina through ‘Read to Self’. We will be introducing the CAFÉ Strategies and encouraging children to become independent readers. The CAFÉ approach focuses on: Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency and Expanding vocabulary.

 

The students will participate in Big Book activities, Guided Reading session and individual reading with their teacher on a weekly basis.

 

Writing

Students will be exposed to the qualities which make for good writing through the Writing Traits. These are:

  • Ideas - the main message.
  • Organisation - the internal structure of the piece.
  • Voice - the personal tone and flavour of the author's message.
  • Word Choice - the vocabulary a writer chooses to convey meaning.
  • Sentence Fluency - the rhythm and flow of the language.
  • Conventions - the mechanical correctness of writing which includes basic punctuation skills such as capital letters, full stops, exclamation marks and question marks.

They will be using their Writer’s Notebook which they fill with their thoughts, memories, favourite words, phrases, lists, ideas for stories as well as practising aspects of spelling and grammar.

 

Grammar

This term the children will be focusing on punctuation and applying it appropriately to their reading and writing. We will be exploring Adjectives and Nouns through our Literacy and Inquiry work.

 

Spelling

This year the children will continue the SMART Spelling approach and will now be choosing 6 words to focus on each week. Every Monday they will learn a new spelling focus and we encourage the children to learn their new words and their meanings. They will bring home their ‘Home Spelling’ book each Monday and are encouraged to practice their spelling words during the week. Every Friday we ask that the book is returned to school for the weekly spelling test and dictation.

 

Speaking & Listening

This year the students will participate in Show and Tell based around their Unit of Inquiry. 

Each week, on a Friday, the children will have the opportunity to share something related to the current Unit. We look forward to many interesting and exciting items and information being shared!

 

This term the children will deliver an oral presentation to their classmates as a part of our Unit of Inquiry 'How the World Works', using information they have learnt and researched during our Unit. It will be our final Learning Task for the term.

Numeracy

We are looking forward to an exciting year in Numeracy as we continue to develop the student’s skills in Number knowledge. We will be focusing on the introduction of ‘The Math Daily 3’ of Math by myself, Math with someone and Math writing. We will also continue to focus on using concrete materials to reinforce learning and clarify the students understanding of concepts through practical, real life experiences.

 

Number and Algebra

This term the students will be introduced to the notion of a number line, hundreds chart and bead frame as numeracy tools. They will continue to work on basic number recognition and correct number formation with numbers from 0-100. We will explore Place Value using tens frames and recognising the positional value of 2 digit numbers, odd and even numbers, simple addition with counting on and “Friends of Ten”.

 

Measurement and Geometry

This term the students will be explore, compare and investigate the different seasons and months in a year.

 

Statistics and Probability

This term we will be collecting data in real life experiences and using the information for organising and creating pictographs.  The students will learn to identify outcomes of familiar events involving chance and describe them using everyday language such as ‘will happen’, ‘won’t happen’ or ‘might happen’.

Units of Inquiry

WHO WE ARE

The decisions people make influence their relationships with each other

 

Concepts: responsibility, perspective

 

Lines of inquiry:

  • The attributes that can help us learn together
  • The way our interactions contribute to a harmonious classroom

 

HOW THE WORLD WORKS

The weather affects our lives and environment​

 

Concepts: change, causation, form

 

Lines of inquiry:

  • The meaning of weather
  • The way  the weather affects the way we live (global impact)
  • Changes in weather patterns

Resilience Project

Year 1 students will be participating in the Resilience Project and will be focussing on

  • empathy and friendship
  • mindfulness
  • gratitude