Ulysses Community Report

Term 3, 2020

Thank you

On behalf of the Ulysses Teachers we would like to send a big thank you to all of our Parents, Guardians and Carers for all of their support during remote learning. We are proud of the motivation our students displayed,  and as a result they have demonstrated and continued to learn lots of new skills in particular independence during this unprecedented time.

Our Learning

Reading

In Reading, the students were learning lots of different sounds, and the letters that represent those sounds. Sounds such as ‘ai’, ‘ay’ and ‘a-e’, were explored as different graphemes (letters) are used to represent different sounds (phonemes). 

The students continued to read a variety of texts. Initially Reading Lessons were conducted in a small group format, however that changed to 1:1 sessions after we established it was getting harder to hear each student read in a group situation. These proved to be extremely valuable. 

We have explored making words with similar middle vowel sounds, comparing a movie with a story book and identifying rhyming words. The students should be very proud of their achievements. 

Writing

During Term 3 for Writing, we have explored narrative writing. We have practised writing legends and traditional fairy tales, with a focus on creating descriptive texts. While writing our narratives, we have followed the writing process from planning our stories and each step through to creating our final copies. Students should be very proud of the work that they have created in this unit, the thought and effort put into their stories was incredible. 

When learning about information texts, students practised writing facts about different animals. They explored the structure and features of an information report. Students have also explored turning simple sentences into compound sentences, using connectives. Once again we have been blown away by the work we have received, thank you to all families for providing the support that allowed the students to produce such amazing work.

Maths

In Maths Term 3, we have learnt about Additive Thinking. Students have explored the meaning of + and - symbols and used this knowledge to identify the friends of 10 and 100. Students practiced part-part-whole and identified two numbers that make up 10 or 100. They used various strategies to support them counting on and counting back by using open number lines, the split strategy and double facts knowledge to problem solve. Lastly, we explored the connection between addition and subtraction and completed inverse operation problems which are also known as fact families.

In our Multiplicative Thinking activities students were able to apply and act out fair shares strategies with and without remainders. Students demonstrated problem solving skills when working out remainders in fair sharing. Arrays and vocabulary associated with arrays such as ‘shared’, ‘rows’ and ‘columns’ was used to demonstrate their understanding of division. They then applied their knowledge of multiplication and demonstrated inverse operation equations. 

With a short unit on Shapes, students explored 2D and 3D shapes. They have classified simple shapes according to their dimensions whilst identifying the types of lines, such as ‘straight’ or ‘curved’. Students have practised describing the attributes of shapes by using everyday words such as ‘faces’, ‘corners’ and ‘edges’ of shapes. Students were exposed to more complex 3D shapes such as cones, rhombus, cube and spheres. 

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)

In SEL this term, the students have been focusing on the characteristics of relationships, problem solving, self regulating their emotions and strategies to cope with these emotions. Students have explored different scenarios and have applied their knowledge to find the best solution to everyday problems. Students have shown an awareness of the feelings and needs of others. They have successfully identified and described personal interests, skills and achievements and reflect on how these might contribute to school or family life. Students demonstrated ways to interact with and care for others.

Inquiry

In Inquiry, students have explored the importance of water. Students examined water as a resource and the factors influencing water flows and availability of water resources in different places. They investigated the nature of water scarcity and assess ways of overcoming it.  Students discussed variations in people’s perceptions about the value of water and the need for sustainable water management. Students also investigated processes that continued to shape the environment, including an atmospheric or hydrologic hazard.

The guiding questions for learning were: 

• Where does clean water come from?
• Will we run out of clean water? 
• How can we save water?

Throughout this unit students participated in making and creating, to further develop their knowledge on this topic. Some activities were:

• Creating a model of a creek, stream, dam.
• Creating a poster to inform an audience about rivers.
• Drawing a diagram of the water cycle.
• Water cycle experiments.

Congratulations!!!! 

Thank you for making good choices.

Important Notes to Remember

• Please ensure all iPads are charged the night before and brought to school everyday.
• Don’t forget to be Sun SMART please bring your hat.
• Please label all belongings including hats.
• Students are encouraged to bring sunscreen and own water bottle.

Kind regards,

Holly, Emma, Narelle & Deanna