Prep - Year 2

Assistant Principal's Report

Hello all and welcome to the learning that has been happening in week 7 and 8.  It's hard to believe that the term is coming towards the end, but the students in junior school have been working so hard here at Pakenham Springs, I'm sure that they can believe the term is almost over. 

In Prep, as part of The Resilience Project, our students have been learning to identify, recognise and explain different feelings.  

In Reading, students have moved to focus on the name and sounds of the letters b, h, n, o, as well as finding them in words. 

In Writing, they have been spelling by using learnt sounds by writing the sounds they hear in words.  

In Mathematics, students have been touch counting, counting to 20 forwards and backwards and they have continued to identify corners, sides and faces of two-dimensional shapes.  Students have also begun to compare the capacity of objects by saying which holds more/holds less.  In Inquiry, students have been learning about parts of our community and are very much looking forward to our Community Helper's Day next Tuesday.

In Year 1, students have been learning to read words with the 'ch' and 'th' diagraphs.  If you would like to learn more, check out this video that has been used as part of tune-ins: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlX5jSEN5sQ

Students have also been learning to retell the important parts of a story and use critical thinking to share their opinions.  Our writing focus has shifted to persuasive text types, and students have been learning the difference between fact and opinion.  They have analysed persuasive pieces of writing together to see which words really convinced us to agree and have begun to brainstorm arguments to convince their readers of their opinion on given topics.  In Mathematics, they have been learning how to identify 10 more or less than a given number, sequence the days of the week and order numbers to 100. 

In Year 2, students have begun to learn how to write a persuasive text which includes their opinion, emotive language and rhetorical questions.  Students have enjoyed debating topics of interest and strengthening their arguments with persuasive devices.  In Reading, Year 2's have been learning to make connections by comparing and contrasting texts on a similar topic, including fiction and non-fiction texts.  They have used Venn Diagrams to support their thinking and have also learnt to ask questions about a text before reading.  In Mathematics, students have been strengthening their understanding of place value, interpreting data and using a calendar to identify the date and determine the number of days in each month. 

This coming week we are looking forward to our Community Helpers day on Tuesday for Prep students, and our footy clinics on Wednesday for Prep and Year 1.  The letter that went home for the Community Helpers day is below. 

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Regards

Scott McKinnon

Assistant Principal (Junior School)