Grade 2/3

Hola 2/3 Families!

We have had a terrific week of Remote Learning and have seen such incredible effort and high quality work being submitted through Seesaw and shared over Teams calls. Thank you to all parents who attended our Parent Teacher Interviews last week. It was great to see parents and students again over video calls. Also a big thank you to our pre-service teacher Martina for joining us over the last 3 weeks and we wish her all the best for the remainder of her studies.  

Inquiry

This week Inquiry has had some focus on Australia's Neighbouring Countries. Students learnt about Australia's Neighbours and where to locate them on a map. They also explored Papa New Guinea and New Zealand in more detail, learning about Maori culture. It was so great to see this incorporated into art lessons this week. We saw some beautiful pieces using the Koru as inspiration. 

The students also learnt about 'The Haka'. A traditional dance performed by the Maori culture. You might like to watch this video of the New Zealand All Blacks performing 'The Huka' before a Rugy match as a family. 

We also were lucky enough to receive a video and a letter made especially for us from a remote Aboriginal School in the Northern Territory. The students from Papunya Primary School did a tour of their school and sent a letter responding to some of our questions. The video has a song made by the local Warumpi Band "My Island Home". Here is the video:

Next Week...

We take a trip to Italy! Each day will focus on a different aspect of Italy. We will be learning about facts, famous landmarks, cultural celebrations and food. 

Monday - Facts about Italy 

Tuesday - Create a paper model of the Leaning Power of Pisa

Thursday - Design a costume for Carnevale

Friday - Pizza making

We have incorporated a cooking aspect into Fridays lesson and would love to see the students off their screen and having a go at making pizzas with family. This activity will require some basic ingredients. The recipe provided for the lesson is below however any recipe is fine:

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipe/summer-holiday-pizzas

We have included an alternative activity if this is not possible. 

We hope you are looking forward to our visit to italy!

Arrivederci!

Mathematics

We have been learning about a range of different Addition strategies this term including: the jump strategy, adding 9, vertical addition, friends of 20, doubles and number lines. Students have also been learning about 3D shapes, their features, where to find them and how to make them. Next Friday (14/08) there will be a 3D objects assessment task for students to complete independently as an activity on Seesaw. We ask that being an assessment, parent assistance is unnecessary for this task and students are to complete fully independently. There will be more information and detailed task instructions next week.  Our next upcoming Maths topics include Subtraction and Mass. 

Writing

This Term the 2/3 students have been writing Explanation Texts. We have seen some incredible effort put into these and have loved learning about how or why something happens: the purpose of writing an Explanation. So far, students have explained in their writing the following three questions: How does a caterpillar turn into a butterfly? How can we care for different pets? Where does our food come from and what is its  journey from paddock to plate? Read more to find out more from our Expert Explainers: Nate, Noah, Rafi and Yoshi below!

Daily Check-ins

Just a reminder that all Grade 2/3 students have daily check-ins with their classroom teacher at 9:15-9:30 everyday (Wednesdays with their specialist teachers). Students also have afternoon calls between 1:00-2:00pm as well: 1x Literacy, 1x Mathematics, 1x Spanish and 1x Fun Friday activity each week. There are no afternoon calls on Wednesdays. Students can view on their meeting times on their Teams Calendar. We understand many students are certainly missing the social and important collaborative aspect of learning. While we can't be collaborating in person, some 2/3 students are using technology such as Zoom to connect with each other throughout the day and complete Seesaw activities together. This helps students to stay connected, work collaboratively and parents to share task supervision duties. This is just a suggestion and something we ask for parents to facilitate with one another using online video platforms. Well done to all our students on their adaptability and perseverance with Remote Learning this week!