The Golden Sun Newsletter

Xenica Community Report

 Term 3 Overview

Welcome to Term 3! We hope everyone had a wonderful and relaxing break. We have lots of exciting things planned this term in the Xenica Community and we can't wait to share it with you all!

Our Learning 

READING

This term in Reading, we will be focussing on comprehension and monitoring where students will be taught a range of strategies that will assist them in making meaning of their texts and answering and generating questions based on the evidence in the text. 

 

Students have been placed in reading groups, where they will read a shared text with the teacher and a small group of peers. In these reading groups, students will be taught a range of skills and strategies that will help them with their reading progress.  

 

Teachers have begun reading conferences where they will work alongside your child individually to set personal reading goals and monitor the progress of your child. This conference consists of your child reading a text to the teacher, your child then receives feedback on their reading and a goal is set based on your Child's needs. Each student will have a conference every 3-4 weeks.  

 

WRITING

In Writing we will be focussing on word choice which consists of the students using interesting vocabulary in their writing pieces. Students have been learning about similes the last few weeks. They have really enjoyed experimenting with similes they have learnt in their writing pieces.

Students will also be exposed to a range of text types this term, such as information reports  and will be given the opportunity to write their own information reports.

 

 

Each week we complete spelling investigations where your child will learn new words based on the topic or spelling pattern of the week. These spelling words are then sent home for homework for your child to practice. 

 

Students will be given more opportunities this term to utilise their writer's notebooks. The writer's notebook gives children an opportunity to write freely and allows them to complete writing pieces that are personalised to their own interests.    

 

MATHEMATICS

This term in Maths we will have a big focus on 'Multiplicative Thinking'.  Students will be learning different strategies to solve problems about equal groups and equal sharing. Students will be immersed in a range of hands on activities and will investigate the concepts of repeated addition, arrays and groups of. They will be taught how to share equally using pictures and materials which will relate to real life scenarios so they can make connections to their every day life. 

 

Towards the end of the term, students will be focussing on measurement which will include concepts such as length, capacity, mass and time. 

 

 

INQUIRY

This term in Inquiry our focus in the Xenica Community is 'What impact do we have on living things?'.

Students will be investigating what it means to be a living thing and will identify any familiar living things in the environment. Students will also look closely at the elements that can affect the environment. We will also be exploring why animals live in different environments and how they depend on the environment to survive.

 

We are also very excited to be heading to the Melbourne Zoo for an excursion on Wednesday 28th August. As part of our zoo excursion, the Xenica students have joined the Melbourne Zoo’s campaign to collect old mobile phones, tablets and chargers to do their part in protecting the habitats of wild gorillas being destroyed. We are all very excited to be supporting this amazing cause. Our collections tub can be found in the front office if you are able to assist us.

 

 

We encourage students to bring their iPads to school each day this term as we will be using them to research about different living things and their habitats. Students will be taught how to research appropriately and will use the information they find to assist them in writing their information reports. 

 

SEL

In SEL this term we are learning about what it means to have a Growth Mindset. Having a growth mindset means we have a positive attitude towards our learning and with this we can achieve almost anything. You can try practising some of these thinking stems at home with your child.

  

Important notes to remember 

  • Community doors open at 8.45am, as learning begins at 8.50am.
  • Students will change their take home books each day and fill out their book titles in their diary each evening.
  • Students will complete their spelling words each night.
  • Homework books and diaries are checked every Friday. Students are expected to place these items in the tubs every Friday morning.

Ways to support your child's learning at home

  • Read with your child each night. Discuss important events and information from the books they read.
  • Ask your child questions based on their book, make use of the question sheet in your child's book bag.
  • Have your child write their spelling words in sentences. They could also make their words out of play dough, cut out the letters of their words from magazines/newspapers and make a word.
  • Write down 2,3 or 4 digit numbers on sticky notes. Have your child order them from smallest to largest.
  • Practise letter and number formation with your child in their homework book.
  • Practise skip counting by 2's, 3's, 5's and 10's with your child.

We look forward to sharing more learning experiences with you soon.

 

Kind Regards,

Carla, Maddy, Fanny and Lucy.