What's happening in our learning spaces? 

Students of the Week

Year F - Year 1/2

We started off our week by focussing on being mindful and engaged in the Resilience Project. In Foundation, we focused on the importance of manners, especially saying "Please" and "Thank you"  and a focus on being grateful for things that other people do for us. As a class we made a list of manners that we use each day. We reflected on kindness that someone has done for us and thought about ways to show gratitude. We individually  drew a picture and wrote a letter to say thank you in our journals. 

In Year One and Two, we took on the identity of Helpful Superheroes! First we shared our favourite superheroes with each other. We noticed that while they were all different, they shared something in common… They were all helpful! We had time and opportunity to create our own Helpful Superhero, give it a name and choose a superpower that would support our community in some way. Here are some of our special superpowers:

• My superhero has telekinesis. I can move things with my mind. I can move rubbish out of the way so it doesn’t end up as litter in our oceans. - Nefeli.T
• My superpower is making people happy when they feel sad. - Ruby. M
• My helpful superpower is happiness, kindness and being brave. - Jacob. P
• My superpower is being lovely to others. - Clara. P

As curious learners, we are finding out about living things and what they need to grow, change and survive. As collaborators, we have been working together during Discovery Time to find out more about the needs of living things. As thinkers, we have been formulating theories and recording our wonderings. As researchers, we have been using our merge cubes to virtually get up and close with our favourite living things to confirm or adjust our theories and answer the questions to our wonderings. We accessed information texts, responsibly used the internet and recorded our findings to share our new knowledge with our friends. 

In Year One and Two, we used our research from Discovery Time to begin writing Information Reports about our selected living thing. As writers, we used our new learnings and ideas to help us create a text that would offer information about our chosen creature. We recorded important information such as appearance, diet and habitat to structure our information. As thinkers, we reflected on how our Discovery Time lends us opportunities to research further to find out everything we need to know about the living things we are interested in. 

Those of us in Foundation were introduced to adjectives and how they add more detail to our writing. Using a picture of an elephant, we thought of words that described the elephant's size, colour and features.  As a follow up, we used a template with adjectives to formulate our own sentences. Each sentence needed to have two adjectives to describe the elephant.

We can't wait for many more learning opportunities this week!

Foundation to Year Two TeamLeanne Wenckowski, Alycia Marsico, Stefanie Carriera and Alexandra Phillips. 

Year  3/4

As readers, we are learning to visualise when we read a text. We use our prior knowledge and key words from the text to help us draw the mental image in our heads. Over the week, we have been reading a variety of descriptions and drawing what we visualise. 

On Wednesday 25 May, we celebrated National Simultaneous Storytime Day. We gathered together as a year level to listen to Mr Troy read us the selected picture story book ‘Family Tree’ written by Josh Pyke. 

As mathematicians, we are learning to read and create maps. We have been investigating birds eye view maps, which help us to see a view from a high angle. When we draw a birds eye view map we need to include a title, clear drawings, colour and a key. Take a look at our bedroom birds eye view maps!

Year 3/4 Teachers 

Belinda Panzarino, Katarina Davidson & Graham Troy

Year 5/6

We had an exciting beginning of our week with our excursion to the Melbourne Zoo last Monday. As part of our Inquiry this term the students are developing their researching skills to explore how “Living Things Adapt to Changing Environments”. Whilst at the zoo the 5/6 students were tasked with observing and collecting data and information on two different animals. With the questions they came up with as a class, they used their learning assets of researcher, collaborator and communicator to find out more about their chosen animals. Back at school the students have been doing some further investigation that they will then present in a creative way to their peers. We look forward to seeing what the students create!

Whilst also on our excursion the 5/6 ‘s engaged in a talk with one of the zoo keepers about animal adaptation. In this interactive lesson, the students were able to hold some animal bones, and see in depth the structural features of different animals. We were also given the opportunity to then go to the meerkat enclosure and observe their behavioural features with the help of the zookeeper. The 5/6 teachers and students would like to thank all the parent helpers who came along to our excursion last monday and to all 5/6 parents for your ongoing support.  

In Literacy, the students have been exploring a range of different information texts to further support the writing of their own text. Throughout this unit, the students have been exposed to the structural features of an information text as well as the language features needed to create a detailed report. In Reading, the students are continuing to read “The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe” by C.S Lewis. This fantasy novel has engaged our students with its fantastical storyline, and we look forward to delving further into the world of Narnia! 

In Numeracy, the students are continuing to develop their understanding of addition by using a variety of strategies to solve challenging problems.  The students are continuing to develop their understanding of adding large numbers, decimals and fractions throughout this unit. 

The 5/6 teachers would like to congratulate our students on the manner in which they have conducted themselves during interschool sports this Term. We are also so impressed with not only how talented our students are, but also how gracious, mature and respectful they are as sports people. 

This week, we will welcome the Moonee Ponds Protective Police to our learning space to hear from them about cyberbullying. We look forward to another wonderful week of learning in the SLA!

Kind Regards, 

Olivia Sargent, Michelle Casamento, Viviana Clarke and Annette Gasbarro. 

5/6 Teaching Team.