Essential Learning & Application

Clear Expectations

Throughout the curriculum, students will be introduced to the lessons via LEARNING INTENTIONS. These provide the students with a clear focus of the intended learning. The learning intentions can fall into three categories: a skill, knowledge or understanding. Students are expected to meet SUCCESS CRITERIA in order to maximise their learning outcomes.

English

The explicit teaching of English incorporates Writing, Vocabulary Development, Reading and Viewing as well as Listening and Speaking with the focus on learning how to use the English language to effectively communicate for a variety of purposes. Skills taught in English are also embedded across all other curriculum areas.

Reading

Reading comprehension strategies are developed to empower students to be successful across the curriculum. Students engage in many different reading activities in order to strengthen their abilities to comprehend and make connections to texts involving  ‘HERE’, ‘HIDDEN’ and ‘HEAD’ information.  As comprehension strategies improve, emphasis is placed on key skills of summarising and drawing conclusions. Opportunities to respond to literature are also provided through class novels, guided texts and personal texts. 

Listening and Speaking

Listening and speaking skills are developed through class participation, assembly presentations, Year 7 Graduate speeches and scheduled planned oral presentations. Students are supported to contribute their ideas and elaborate upon their thinking in order to justify their points.  Students participate as active audience members by providing effective feedback to their peers.

Writing

Writing skills are addressed in multiple ways. As a text type is explored (e.g. persuasive), students develop knowledge and understanding of the structure, grammar and specific vocabulary required of that particular text type. The essential skills of writing (punctuation, sentence structure, vocabulary use and text control) will continue to be a focus during English blocks / workshops, with students then given the opportunity to apply their knowledge and communicate, through writing, in practical contexts. Students will also be reviewing various forms of texts and media throughout the year. 

Proofreading and editing of written work is explicitly taught with a focus on punctuation and grammar. It is an expectation that students take greater ownership and responsibility for this as they near the end of their primary schooling. Frequent Ten Minute Writing sessions provide students the opportunity to improve their skills by responding to a variety of prompts with foci on accurate sentence and text structure, and the selection of precise vocabulary. 

Vocabulary Development

Students work on developing strategies which writers need when working out how to spell words to enable them to become proficient spellers. These strategies include knowing what words mean, how they sound, how they change form and where words come from. These strategies are referred to as the Four Spelling Knowledges: Phonological, Visual, Morphemic and Etymological.  

Students participate in targeted workshops, meeting their particular spelling needs, in which they inquire into words to find patterns and generalisations allowing them to develop strategies to spell and understand large numbers of words.

Through all subject areas, students focus on developing a broad vocabulary in order to be able to express themselves in a precise and, where appropriate, technical manner.  Vocabulary development is vital to academic success.

All of the various skills and outcomes covered in the English programme have application across all curriculum areas.

PREMIER'S READING CHALLENGE

Students are expected through the Homework Grid to read and participate in the Premier's Reading Challenge. The Challenge requires students to read 12 books between the beginning of the school year and early September. Information is available at the Reading Challenge website: 

http://www.premiersreadingchallenge.sa.edu.au/prc/

Mathematics

Learning Mathematics is an active process where students build their own mathematical understanding through interaction with the ideas they hold and alternative ideas held by others.  Students will be encouraged and supported to take risks and will learn to persevere with new or different and more efficient ways of thinking and solving problems, and will understand that mistake making is an important part of their learning. 

Students will continue to develop understanding of the algorithms for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division and will explore, and apply, a range of written and mental strategies for computation to solve multi-step problems with a focus on real-life applications for measuring lengths, heights and distances travelled as well as capacity and volume.

Opportunities are provided to solidify and develop understanding of concepts related to place value, fractions, decimals and the representation and analysis of data.  The way we programme learning ensures students have repeated opportunities to revisit concepts which supports those who need multiple exposure and repetition. Those who have mastered a concept have opportunities to apply and stretch their learning in a variety ways.

Understanding, fluency, problem-solving and reasoning are an integral part of mathematics across the three content strands: number and algebra, measurement and geometry, and statistics and probability.

Understanding - the skills involved include making connections, comparing and ordering, describing and identifying.

Fluency - the skills involved include choice, selection and estimation.

Problem-solving - the skills involved include formulating questions and finding authentic problems.

Reasoning - the skills involved include investigation, interpretation, justifications and building onto own learning.

Multi-disciplinary Projects / STEM

In order to provide rich opportunities for our students to apply their learning in meaningful ways, Fisher students will be involved in many projects this semester which will see multiple subjects combined during inquiries. This will enable students to make links between their learning experiences and ensure their efforts have an impactful purpose.

We will begin the semester with two main foci; one investigating water-related issues and the other on “how can we operate as a successful community?’

Our water inquiry will incorporate many areas of the curriculum with an emphasis on Biological Sciences and Geography. Students will be looking at both local and global issues and may engage in projects involving oceans, rivers or human access to clean water. We are excited about our upcoming opportunities with excursions and camp planned to support this learning.  If you are or know of someone with expertise in water-related fields, we would love to hear from you in the event you may be able to enrich our learning.

Our community-related inquiry will have an emphasis on Civics and Citizenship skills and concepts with connections to the Health curriculum.  We will be linking our learning to the upcoming election as well as the establishment of our new Fisher learning community.  Once again, if you have experience in this area, we’d be thrilled if you made contact with one of us.

All of our multidisciplinary/STEM inquiries will see students applying many literacy and numeracy skills and understandings in practical ways and will be designed to ensure all essential aspects of the curriculum are addressed.  Many concepts will recur over the course of the year to ensure students have multiple exposures in order to embed new learning and apply it in new contexts.  We will keep you up-to-date with new projects as they arise.

The Arts & Technologies

This year, Fisher students will be participating in Thursday Arts and Technologies (or Th’Arts).  Each student will be able to choose from Drama, Music, Design and Technology, Media, Visual Arts and Digital Technologies. Students will be able to choose their desired topic at the beginning terms. They will be working with a different Fisher teacher each time. As well as offering students a range of experiences and expertise, this programme also helps prepare students for high school by providing the opportunity to work with specialist teachers.

Ms Brook will be teaching Dance - Tinikling, Ms J Martin will be teaching Music - Cups, Mr Tarleton and Ms K Martin will be teaching Visual Arts, Mr Clayton will be teaching Media - Movie Making, Ms Sonja and Mr Starr will be taking Drama. This is a great chance for students to try things they may have never done before, have some fun and laughs as well as develop new skills and abilities.

Languages - German and Greek

Language lessons are held in Morphett 22.  Fisher German lessons are on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings and a group of Fisher students attend the Greek Language program each Thursday afternoon.  A Google Classroom has been set up for both German and Greek to share announcements, pose questions and give feedback. Students are encouraged to check Google Classroom regularly to access language materials outside of the lesson time and extend their learning beyond the classroom.  It is a valuable means of communication where additional information and resources can be shared. 

Please ask about your child’s German and Greek lessons and encourage them to tell you about what they have been learning.

German

Each class has one 50 minute German lesson per week with Frau Edwards.  Students are learning to use complete sentences in familiar contexts to ask questions, respond to requests and share learning experiences. Modelled language provides texts for manipulation to describe, request and respond to actions. Students use written and spoken German for classroom interactions, to share ideas and opinions, relate experiences and express feelings.  Students work individually and collaboratively as well as online to read and create written texts, participate in oral interactions and complete listening tasks. Repetition, revision and reflection are all important aspects of understanding and being able to recall vocabulary.  Practice builds confidence with learning a language and being able to have a go amongst your peers is important. Students are encouraged to support each other and learn together.

Libby Edwards

Greek

COMMUNICATING

Students will participate in structured, collaborative tasks that both revisit and extend language. They will be encouraged to use Modern Greek as the primary language of communication, while English may be used for reflective tasks and explanations.

Students will exchange information, express ideas and opinions, perform role-plays, dialogues, and respond to experiences. Students will obtain, organise and compare information about aspects of daily life and significant events from written, spoken, or digital texts. For example they will find out what Τσικνοπέμπτη means and will use an inquiry approach to find out  why eggs are dyed red at Easter.

In Term 2 students will be challenged with tongue twisters which will be presented at an assembly later in the year.

Students will be encouraged to read for meaning and apply their language knowledge and skills to decode unknown words and predict meaning. They will write more accurately and fluently for a wider range of purposes and audiences e.g. create cards, advertisements, posters.

Students will work more independently, but will also work collaboratively and in groups. Ongoing support and feedback will be incorporated into task activities including the use of scaffolds, stimulus materials, and resources such as word charts, vocabulary lists and dictionaries.

Furthermore, students will explore cultural elements of communication, and use information and communication technologies (ICT) to support and enhance their learning. They will be given the opportunity to convey and present information about aspects of their personal world through prepared texts such as digital presentations, dialogues or written texts. For example interacting with a partner about self (Πώς λένε την μαμά σου; Έχεις αδέλφια;) and giving a simple presentation about family celebrations such as Name days.

In Term 2 students will also be able to support their learning by working online with Duolingo. This can be accessed both at school and at home. Accounts will be set up for the students to enable me to monitor their progress.

UNDERSTANDING

Throughout the Semester, students will complete revision tasks on articles (ο, η, το), nouns, verbs and adjectives in order to construct and expand sentences. They will identify and reproduce letter clusters and read simple texts identifying the digraphs/diphthongs e.g.  αι, ει, οι, ου, μπ, ντ, γκ, αυ, ευ

They will apply and use accent marks on all words which have more than one syllable and on a few monosyllable words, such as πού;  ή, and recognise that the position of the accent mark can change the meaning, for example, γέρος, γερός

Furthermore, they will use numbers such as telling the time, stating dates or in simple descriptions e.g. Είναι τρεις η ώρα, Τα γενέθλιά μου είναι στις 10 του Οκτώβρη

Students will explore the relationship between language and culture and how they are reflected in communication styles. They will discuss and begin to explore the significance of certain traditions, practices and values and the language associated with these, such as 25η Mαρτίου, Πάσχα, Name days

Furthermore, the visible elements of culture such as symbols, food, national costume dancing and language and the invisible elements such as values and beliefs will be explored and discussed throughout the year.

Due to its popularity last year, OPA Thursday will return and take place at lunch time once a month in the gym. All students are encouraged to join in the experience of Greek music and dance.

Voula Pagonis

Health & Physical Education

Students will receive one 50 minute Physical Education lesson each week.  They will participate in Health lessons and projects throughout the year. Our programme aims to develop students' knowledge, understanding and skills to create opportunities and take action to enhance their own and others' health, wellbeing, safety and physical activity participation.

The main areas of focus during Health programmes are:

BEING HEALTHY, SAFE AND ACTIVE

COMMUNICATING AND INTERACTING FOR HEALTH AND WELLBEING

CONTRIBUTING TO HEALTHY AND ACTIVE COMMUNITIES

The main areas of focus during Physical Education lessons will be:

LEARNING THROUGH MOVEMENT

UNDERSTANDING MOVEMENT

MOVING OUR BODY

Students will be engaged in a broad range of physical education activities. They will learn about the importance of good sportsmanship, teamwork and develop skills to play individual and team sports.

In the second half of Term One, lessons will have an athletics focus, in preparation for our School Sports Day.

From time to time additional sporting clinics will be conducted by visiting specialist sports development officers.

Students will be notified of any upcoming SAPSASA events or trials by Miss J Martin and be provided with relevant documentation if interested in participating.

Important dates:

LNPS Sports Day: Thursday 29th March (Week 9)

Growing with Gratitude programme with the Adelaide Crows: Whole School Assembly (Week 10)