Learning and Teaching

Spotlight on Grade 1 Literacy

Literacy Units

This term our Grade 1 students have engaged in two different Literacy units.  The first one focused on Informative texts, and now, grade 1 students are focusing on an open-cycle literacy unit. 

This open-cycle unit of study is designed to increase engagement and enjoyment of Reading and Writing where students explore different texts such as letters, procedures, descriptions and comics. The emphasis of this unit is placed on understanding that authors write with purpose to a specific audience. 

The first text that grade 1s explored was procedures. To support this learning, grade 1 students were required to give Mr Wight instructions on how to brush his teeth.  The purpose of this activity was to demonstrate the importance of precise instructions with specific details at the expense of Mr Wight! The grade 1s laughed at Mr Wight’s interpretation of their instructions but were also panged with frustration when their instructions were not as clear as they thought and as such led Mr Wight to do some pretty silly things when brushing his teeth. Eventually, the grade 1 students gave Mr Wight specific instructions so he could successfully brush his teeth. 

Mr Wight being instructed to put toothpaste on his toothbrush…unfortunately there was no mention of where exactly.

Grade 1 Library and Triad program (Written by Mrs Peta Alexander)

Starting last term the teaching staff at LPS have been meeting after school every fortnight, in 'triads', which is essentially, groups of 3. Our groups include teachers from different year levels and specialist areas as we can often get caught up in our own year level bubbles. These triads across year levels enable us to share our explicit experiences, observe teaching and learning at different stages of the primary years, reinforce, improve and broaden our knowledge of the learning journey, support each other and ultimately enhance our teaching.  The triad experience within the staff has proven to be valuable for so many reasons, including building and fostering relationships between staff.

As a result, we were very excited to incorporate the same concept of triads into the grade 1 learning in the Library. This grouping structure is an ideal way to support our Learning Intention in library this term, which is 'We are learning to actively listen, share ideas and work cooperatively in a group'. The grade 1 students attend library with another class. The triads have been strategically formulated to include a mix of students across the two classes.  In their groups, through the use of a variety of literature, the groups are divided in two, with some triads listening to one story, while the other triads listen to a different story. Following the story, each triad supports other group members to reflect on the story, share their ideas and record their thinking. Because the triads are the same each session, we are observing the students build on their relationships through trust and respect within their group. Before the end of each session, opposing triads are paired up, to retell each other the story that each listened to. During this time, students are developing their confidence at speaking in a small group and demonstrating active listening by asking questions to clarify or gain more understanding. 

We are super excited to see our little learners continue to develop and flourish, not only with teacher support but with the support of their classmates. 

Kristine Roose,  Assistant Principal | Learning and Teaching