Ulysses Community Report
Term 2, 2020
Welcome back! We would like to send a big thank you out to our families and carers for all of their support with Ulysses student’s remote learning. The students have returned with a willingness to learn and amazing smiles. We are so happy to be back and experiencing face-to-face teaching again. We have immersed in many engaging activities and it has been a fun Term 2. One of our favourite activities was icing biscuits in our house colour.
Our Learning
Reading
In Ulysses Learning Community we have focussed on decoding new and unfamiliar words. We have been learning to identify rhyming words and segment (stretch) and blend (put back together) words, such as r-ai-n. We have been learning to recognise the different sounds that letters can make. Students have been learning to retell a story, including details such as information about characters, describing locations and commenting on the problems and solutions experienced by the characters.
Writing
This Semester in Writing we have worked on the text type Procedural Texts (step-by-step instructions).This has tied in nicely with our Inquiry topic. Students have read many procedural texts and used the instructions to perform a task successfully. When writing Recounts, students have worked hard on using time connectives, such as first, then, next and finally. We have been focusing on using the appropriate punctuation, action verbs, descriptive language and using simple and compound sentences in their writing.
Maths
This Semester in Ulysses we have been focusing on Base ten, Place Value and Measurement.
In Measurement, students have explored length and capacity and demonstrated this through using informal units to measure. Our community has used interconnecting blocks, glue sticks and pencils as informal units to measure length. Students have used cubes to fill containers as an informal unit to measure capacity.
During House Colours Day, we created a graph highlighting the House Colours the students were in. We wrote sentences using the vocabulary 'most popular' and 'least popular'.
SEL
During SEL this term in Ulysses have learnt about understanding our emotions and describing what those emotions look like and feel like. Students have used the self regulation chart and have identified how you may present in each stage such as fast, increased heart rate, hot, muscle tension, distracted, happy, calm, tired and slouched.
Students are also learning how to work collaboratively with one another. Students have identified that listening, sharing information and being considerate of other opinions are the key skills needed to ensure they are being collaborative.
Inquiry
Ulysses has been working on procedural texts through the lens of experiments. Students have participated in various experiments to explore the changing states of matter. Our community has asked questions and made predictions about how materials change when they are heated or cooled, bent, stretched or twisted. Students described objects and events that they encountered in their everyday lives, and the effects of interacting with materials and objects.
Students have participated in:
The Butter Experiment- This experiment focussed on turning a liquid into a solid, separating the cream into butter and buttermilk. With force and fat molecules this is how they created butter.
The Spaghetti Experiment - This experiment exposed the students to the change of state when exposed to heat and water. Spaghetti absorbs the water and expands, changing the state of the pasta.
The Lava Lamp Experiment- This experiment exposes students to reactions. The Alka Seltzer reacts with the water to make bubbles of carbon dioxide which rise to the surface through the oil.
The Jelly Experiment- This experiment exposed students to liquids turning into a solid. Jelly explained: fibers cause jelly to mix and then set.
Important Notes to Remember
- Please remember to return school photo forms.
- Please label all belongings.
- Until further notice the grade Ulysses Community start at 8.45am and finish at 2.45pm.
- Home readers will not be able to go home until further notice, please continue to use GET EPIC!
- Please ensure all students bring a water bottle to school as the school taps are not available during this time.
Kind regards,
Narelle, Emma and Deanna