BBPS Life

Introduction

“Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are.”

― Mason Cooley

Book week gives us all a chance to celebrate the wonderful world of books and reading. The above quote perfectly sums up the potential of a good book to transport us to other places, to see the world through other eyes, and to escape our confinement.   

Research shows that regular reading:

• Strengthens brain connectivity
• Increases ability to empathise
• Expands emotional intelligence
• Boosts vocabulary and comprehension
• Improves concentration and memory
• Alleviates stress and depression
• Stimulates curiosity and imagination

"My favourite book is How (Not) to Annoy Dad by Dave Hughes. It is about a family of Koalas who are annoying their Dad. I love it because when my Dad reads it with me he makes it really funny by doing all kinds of voices" Ed (2V)

Prep

The word of the week is "duck" (last week was "shark"). Preps are becoming experts in sounding out each word of the week and remembering the combination of letters that make up each sound.  Our preps are now also able to identify vowels. Can you spot the vowels in this sentence?

Book week has also given our preps something to write about. In their small group writing sessions they have been describing the characters that they decided to dress up as!

In maths we have been exploring shapes and place value. You may have noticed students creating bundles of things (pens, sticks) to see how ones become tens.

Our Preps have also been sharing their skills - check out the padlet here: https://padlet.com/brightonbeachps/prepskills . There are videos on how to make cards, how to ride a bike, how to kick a footy and more! 

Grades 1 and 2

Maths over the last two weeks has been an exploration of multiplication, fractions and shapes (both 2D and 3D). 

In reading and writing the focus has been on adjectives and the use of similes. We think some of our students are as clever as foxes!

Daily tasks continue to be a core part of the learning for our younger students, including:

• Completing their spelling grids
• Mathletics
• Reading books on Wushka and storybox

Grades 3 and 4

Grade 3 and 4 students have been busy with:

• Creating their own emojis and creating peace stones (Social and Emotional Learning)
• Practising their times tables
• Calculating the area of composite shapes
• Reading about climate change and extinct and endangered species
• Identifying the features of a procedural text and writing their own

Students in grades 3 and 4 have also been sharing their passions and interests with other. Their padlet can be viewed here:  https://padlet.com/brightonbeachps/2hyidg1klh7mvuli

Grades 5 and 6

Maths groups have been a fun way to look at concepts such as:

• factors and multiples
• fractions

For social and emotional learning our senior students have been looking at who they can turn to if they need to ask for help. 

Grade 5 students have been completing independent reading tasks, including:

• Producing diagrams comparing and contrasting Bengal and Siberian Tigers based on culture/geography, conflicts, threats and conservation
• Creating profiles of world heritage sites
• Having their say on climate change

Slam Poetry! Before they started to write their poems our grade 5 and 6 students were asked to brainstorm passions/interests and social justice issues. 

Below is a padlet of some of the grade 5/6 students' mind maps. We think they're pretty amazing! We will share some of the final slam poems in a future issue of BBPS Life. 

https://padlet.com/kywhite1/tp1g8j880mc7h7t6