Argus Community Report
December Update
The year is coming to an end! The Prep students have completed an amazing first year of school, together we have shared many fun times and the students have developed many foundations that will set them up for their future learning success. Congratulations to our students and thank you to the Prep families for your support this year.
Here are some photos from a whole community picnic we had recently, on a nice sunny day.
Merry Christmas and have a very happy and safe holiday period. We will see you again in 2020.
Take-home books
This year we have had a significant number of take-home books either ruined or not returned to school. This is quite disappointing as all of our school resources are very valued and contribute to your child's learning journey. Please have a look at home and see if you have any of the school books at home and return them ASAP. Could we please ask that these books are taken care of and returned to school in the condition they are borrowed. If you do notice any books that are in poor condition, please notify the Community teachers.
Reading
In Reading, the Prep students participate in Independent Reading for 15 minutes each day. During this time, they sit quietly and read their take-home books and books of interest from our Community Library. Whilst reading the students are encouraged to practise their individual learning goals. The students participate in a reading conference with their teacher at least once a month where they are given feedback on their reading, discuss their progress against their reading goal and set new reading goals. Here are some photos of Independent Reading.
This semester, we have been learning different strategies that we can use to help us read unknown words. Here are the strategies we have been learning:
In our Reading sessions, depending on our needs we have been completing activities related to these strategies. Here are some photos of our Reading sessions.
Writing
In Writing, the students have been listening to popular children's stories and then writing about them. For example, writing about their favourite part or favourite characters. During these sessions, the students have been encouraged to use the Word Wall to assist them spelling words they don't know.
We have also been learning about the elements of a story. These elements include characters, setting, beginning, middle and end. This week we have retold the story of Goldilocks and the 3 Bears, writing about each of these elements. Next week we will begin writing our own stories. Please see below for some examples of our Goldilocks and the 3 Bears retell.
Handwriting has also been a focus for us as next year the students will be writing on dotted thirds lines. Please remember to practise letter formation over the holidays.
Maths
In Maths, we have been learning about Subtraction. We discovered subtraction can also be called 'take away' or 'minus'. When we subtract we start from the larger number and take away the smaller number. As part of our learning, we used concrete materials to solve subtraction equations, listened to and solved story problems such as 'There were 8 ducks in the pond and 3 waddled away, how many were still in the pond?', used number lines and known addition facts to solve a range of subtraction equations.
This week, we are learnt about 3D shapes. We learnt their names and how to find 3D shapes in the environment. We even made 3D shapes with straws and nets.
SEL- Social Emotional Learning
In SEL, we have continued to learn about people in our community who help us. Community helpers we have learnt about include: firefighters, police officers, chefs and builders. Here are some photos of our SEL lessons:
Inquiry
Our Inquiry Unit is, 'Who am I? Who are we?' In this unit we have learnt about:
* What is a ‘family’ and who are the members in our families?
* How are our families similar and different?
* Where do our families come from and how do families celebrate special events?
As part of this unit, we have been on an imaginary holiday. This started with us making our suitcases and passports.
After making our suitcases and passports, we set off on the plane for our first destination. Our first surprise destination was Turkey. Alara shared some photos from Turkey and Ela showed us the Turkish flag and money. In Turkey, we learnt about the Turkish culture, made a Turkish flag and learnt a song in Turkish. The song we learnt was Ali Baba ciftligi. It was about all of Ali Baba's animals. After this the students designed their own animal.
After Turkey, we visited India and then Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka, we learnt about Vesak and made Vesak Lanterns. Sehasha also came dressed in her cultural dress.
The students have enjoyed learning about some of the cultures represented in our Learning Community.
Thank you to the families who supported us with teaching the students about the different cultures. We appreciate your support.
Notes to Remember
* Please remember doors to the Argus community open at 8.45 and class begins at 8.50
* If you arrive after this time a late pass is required
* Please return all take home books as soon as possible
* We encourage students to enter the community independently
* Our class party will be held on the 19th of December.
* Last day of term is the 20th of December and will be a short day with a 1:30pm finish.
Tips to support learning at home
If you would like to support your child's learning at home, here is a list of ideas:
* Read on a nightly basis with your child, talk about the books read (retell the story, identify characters/setting, favourite part, make connections with the text and their own experiences)
* Practise your child's reading goal
* Encourage your child to use the reading strategies above to read unknown words
* Practise reading and spelling the Oxford Words
* Write shopping lists or letters to a friend
* Play games like I Spy and board games
* Describe location using words such as left, right, up, down, in front of, under on, behind. Maybe direct mum and dad to a familiar location at the shops.
* Practise subtraction at home using concrete materials
* Talk about days of the week and activities we do each day
* Look for 3D objects in the environment eg. an ice cream cone, a cube shaped box etc
* Count up to 20 and beyond and then back again
* Practise number and letter formation.
Here some You Tube videos the students enjoy
https://youtu.be/HtQcnZ2JWsY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieCxOOY0RTs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkRkzn74Q9U
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_qs3c0ehDvZkbiEbOj6Drg
Most of all have fun with learning at home, ensure it is enjoyable.