What's happening in our learning spaces? 

Students of the Week

Foundation Year

It has been another busy week in Foundation, with lots of opportunities to collaborate with our peers and make many new discoveries. 

As inquirers, we have been finding out about Bullying. We tuned in to Bullying by watching a video about Lupi the dog, who was bullied by Billy the Bulldog. We noticed that Billy was a bully because he was mean to Lupi ‘over and over again’.  

As researchers, we engaged in an incursion with experts from Bully Zero, where we found out the difference between being a bully and being mean by listening carefully, watching videos, looking at pictures and asking questions. 

As collaborators, we came up with our own definition for Bullying...Bullying is when someone is mean to another person or hurts them over and over again. This week, as thinkers, we will continue to sort out our thinking about Bullying by unpacking different scenarios involving Bullying and identifying what we would do in those situations. We will then reflect on all of our new discoveries by making a picture book to share with others. As part of our Discovery Time Workshopsthis week, we continued to collaborate with our peers as we engaged in designing, building, making and problem solving. As collaborators, we shared our ideas with eachother and came up with a plan before building something using blocks, pegs and icy pole sticks. We worked together to build more houses, a barn, a city and some very tall towers. 

As writers and thinkers, we made our own books, letters and cards. We had to be collaborators by sharing the glue, scissors, crayons and ribbon. We had to be creative thinkers this week, when using only one colour to create something out of Lego. We made spaceships, houses and gardens, and as communicators, shared our creations with our peers and teachers. 

As builders and carpenters, we continued to use different tools, such as hammers, measuring tapes and screwdrivers, as we explored and pulled apart light switches, attached door handles and screwed nails into pieces of wood. 

As mathematicians, we used rulers to draw lines with a partner and discovered that we could create different shapes by crossing lines over one another and joining the lines. We made lots of squares and triangles. 

As scientists and researchers, we continued to find out about animals. We used magnifying glasses to look closely at them, and made new discoveries by looking at books and pictures. 

As communicators, we shared our thinking, discoveries and wonderings. We are super excited for Discovery Time this week and can’t wait to see what we will be exploring! 

As writers, we have had time and opportunity to write about different experiences that we have engaged in, including our weekends, STEM, Specialist Learning and Discovery Time. We are drawing detailed pictures and talking about these experiences using the thinking routine ‘Think-Pair-Share’ to help us construct our sentences. As thinkers, some of us are beginning to apply our letter-sound knowledge by recording the initial sounds of words or other dominant sounds, and recording known sight words, and some of us are assigning a range of symbols and letters to our drawings to show meaning. We are also continuing to practise the formation of different upper and lowercase letters. If you are engaging in writing with your child at home, encourage them to say words slowly and write the sound they can hear at the beginning of the word, followed by any other sounds they can hear. You might also focus on getting them to write sight words such as I, the, went etc. 

As readers, we are continuing to explore a range of different texts, including alliteration poems, nursery rhymes, fiction texts and non-fiction texts. As thinkers, we are identifying rhyming words within the texts, and some of us are beginning to generate our own rhyming words. We are also taking the time to engage in independent reading, where we are looking for known sight words and letter sounds and looking at the pictures. In addition to some of the sight words we have explored previously (see, the, this, and), this week the students in Foundation AM are reading and making the words a, they, me, he and was, and the students in Foundation LW are reading and making the words in, it, me, my and went.  We are continuing to explore the /m/, /s/, /b/ sounds, and will begin to find out about the /l/ sound this week. When engaging in reading with your child at home, ask them to look for these words in the text and listen for these sounds. 

As mathematicians, we are continuing to explore number and patterns. We have been given the time and opportunity to copy, continue and create different patterns using shapes, colours and various materials, such as counters, unifix blocks, teddies and lego pieces. As thinkers, we are making connections to number by counting how many of each shape, colour or object, and identifying what comes 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th in our patterns. We are also continuing to identify before and after numbers by using the language 1 less and 1 more. 

We look forward to more wonderful learning this week!Alycia Marsico & Leanne Wenckowski

Foundation Team

DONATIONS NEEDED!

The Foundation staff and students are looking for donations to assist us with our Discovery Time Workshops. If you have any of the following things at home that you are looking to get rid of, or any other resources and materials that you think may be useful, please email us to let us know what you have.amarsico@sfmoreland.catholic.edu.aulwenckowski@sfmoreland.catholic.edu.au

• Wooden baskets and containers (various shapes and sizes)
• Cane and wicker baskets (various shapes and sizes)
• Dress up costumes for role play (eg. doctor, nurse, pirate) and a wooden rack to store them on
• Wood offcuts, wooden boards and wooden blocks
• Old locks and keys, door handles, light switches, remote controls etc.
• Homemade play dough
• Pieces of synthetic grass
• Cardboard boxes
• Old blueprints, house plans and xrays
• Rolling pins, muffin tins and trays
• PVC pipes
• Old photo frames (glass does not need to be intact)
• Pieces of fabric (calico, burlap, poplin or plain coloured pieces)
• Historical ‘artefacts’ or objects from the past, such as technology and toys from many years ago (these historical objects can be safely returned to you after use)

Thank you, Alycia Marsico and Leanne Wenckowski. 

Alycia Marsico & Leanne Wenckowski

Foundation Team

Year 1/2

In Year 1/2, we embrace opportunities to be thinkers, collaborators, researchers, e-learners, communicators and self-managers! 

As readers, we have been engaging in both fiction and non fiction texts. As thinkers, we were curious about the difference between fiction and nonfiction. We demonstrated that we could identify similarities and differences between the two and use this information to compare and contrast our text. We really enjoy reading nonfiction texts because they help us to learn new things about the world we live in!

As mathematicians, we have been investigating Place Value. We have been engaging in lots of hands-on learning to show our thinking and help us to further our understanding. 

As collaborators, we have been helping one another and taking opportunities to share what we know! We have been confidently continuing to identify numbers that are 10 more/10 less and practicing our arrow cards. Have a look at us engaging in our learning below:

As inquirers, we have the opportunity to be explorers as we learn more about the world we live in. Our Discovery Workshops invite us to engage in experiential and hands-on learning to encourage us to fuel our curiosity. As self-managers, we inquire into our own understanding and experiences and see how we can make new connections to our learning. We have the opportunity to take our learning further by using the resources around us to help us research the many questions we have! We have been fantastic e-learners in the way that we have been safely and responsibly using technology such as iPads and computers to research questions that arise following our Discovery Workshops.

We engaged in the wonderful BullyZero incursion on Thursday and we learnt about what bullying is and what it is not. We were excellent communicators in the way that we shared our ideas and were able to gain understanding of the behaviours that constitute bullying. We also learnt about some strategies to stop bullying and how to avoid bystander behaviour. 

Thank you for reading the news from our learning spaces!

We look forward to a wonderful week ahead.

Year 1/2 Team, 

Stefanie Carriera, Belinda Filippone & Maria Delaney 

Year 3/4

Last week students in 3/4 participated in the Bully Zero incursion where they learned about the realities of social network sites which on the surface seem innocuous and child friendly but which can present challenges to children and parents alike.  

This week we are practicing reading strategies for gaining deeper understandings from a text. Strategies include using the text and background knowledge to make valid predictions from a text; sharing wonderings on a text and asking relevant questions; making text to self connections to gain stronger understanding of events,characters and meanings from a text.  The books students will use are “Fly Away Home” and ‘Rodney Loses It’. Writing continues with the 7 steps to effective writing for narrative.  Students are looking at using sizzling starts to engage the reader from the beginning of their story. 

In Mathematics, we are investigating units of measure for length.  Students are measuring accurately from different starting points and converting between centimetres and millimetres.  

Our Inquiry unit moves to investigating the geography around the Merri Creek area looking at natural and man-made features showing how the land is used.

Graham Troy, Mark Mac Gregor & Katarina Davidson 

3/4 Team

Year 5/6

The 5/6 classes have been very busy this week. They have attended the Bully Zero incursion; met their buddies for activities; participated in Inter school sports; and reflected on Friendship sessions  - just to name a few!

In Religion, we have been learning about the extraordinary work Caritas Australia does for many countries around the world.  As Easter is approaching, we are reflecting on our own actions to make a difference.  We looked at the slogan - “Aspire Not to Have More, but to Be More’.  

The slogan means to not only have money but to do important things with it. - Lachlan 5/6VC

It means not to buy and have more but to be more and do kind things. - Cara 5/6VC

I think it means it's not how much you have, it’s about how much you give and car. Max M 5/6VC

The slogan means to do good things with your life instead of being rich and not donating or helping the poor.  To be more means to be compassionate and kind. Nicholas 5/6VC

I think the  slogan means not to be greedy, but to have a positive effect on the community. Jacob 5/6VC

This means to be considerate of others and not just think about yourself. Sanjay 5/6VC

The Bully Zero incursion was very informative.  The students learnt about the different types of bullying.  Bully Zero particularly focussed on cyberbullying and its impact on young people.  Students learnt about social media apps (such as Facebook, Tik Tok and Snapchat) and what age they need to be to use such apps.

I learnt that we should never share our private information with strangers. If there is a person that is talking to you on social media and they say that they are 13, they could actually be a cyberbully or hacker that is 25. If there is bullying going on you should always be an upstander not a bystander. You should also always ask your parents for permission if you can play an online game that is PG or M. - Frank Gallagher 5/6OS

Bullying matters to the world because it still happens all over the world and everyone in the world needs to work together to help stop bullying. I learnt during our incursion that you shouldn't keep technology in your bedroom because it can prevent your sleep.  - Chloe Portelli 5/6OS

How to defend yourself against bullying: don’t give your personal information out , don’t speak to strangers online /offline and last of all tell someone trustworthy if you're getting bullied. BULLYING is a repetitive action done more than once. - Eva Arounsavat 5/6OS

Bullying matters to me because it affects how others react and feel. This week we were looking at a song called “Caught in the Crowd” by Kate Miller-Heidke, the message of the song is to help others if they need it and if someone is getting bullied to stick up for them and be an upstander not a bystander. - Kiara Zaita 5/6OS

This week we were looking at bullying and why it isn't good. We looked at a song called “Caught in the Crowd” by Kate Miller-Heidke. The song is about how she was a bystander when her friend in high-school was bullied and how she regrets what happened and wants to change it. We also had an incursion on bullying by BULLY ZERO.They talked about cyberbullying and how people aren't who they seem online. Bullying matters to me because I hate it when people are upset. - Leah Sortino 5/6OS

We have been discussing how friendships play an important role in our lives in and out of school. The students identified different types of friendships and how to treat and respect each other. They worked in groups and came up with their own definition of friendship.

We have continued exploring our Big Question “ How is Australia connected to the world?” Our inquiry began this week with an investigation into the time when Australia and all the countries of the world were connected in a Supercontinent called ‘Pangea’. It was interesting to predict the effects this would have had on Australia, had we remained so closely connected. We then moved to the present day, and began exploring the connections Australia has with the world. The students began investigating how Australia is connected to other countries in times of crisis, with particular focus on the assistance given to Australia during the bushfire season in 2019/2020. We then researched into the ways Australia has provided aid/support to other countries in times of crisis.

Kind Regards,

5/6 Teachers, Michelle Casamento, Viv Clarke, Olivia Sargent and Tania Fragopoulos