Positive Climate for Learning
Year 3 Learning Community
The Grade 3’s have hit the ground running this term!
Our new focus in Maths this term is around division. The students are practicing sharing into equal groups by drawing pictures and using counters. An example of some of the questions they are answering are ‘If there were 6 chocolates, and they need to be shared equally between 3 people. How many chocolates would each person get?’ Each person would get 2 chocolates each. The teachers are so impressed that some students are making the connection between multiplication (which we focused on last term) and division.
‘Division is sharing things, when we divide by 2 we halve it’- Violette
‘Dividing is putting things into equal groups’- Reese
‘Having a number and then you divide it equally’- Lacey
If you would like to continue these skills at home, some suggestions include;
sharing or grouping toys, food, money or counters – whenever we help our children to share things or group things equally, we’re building their ability to divide. Children learn very early on about sharing objects ‘fairly’ amongst themselves. So look for everyday opportunities to share and group items. Real life often provides the best opportunities to try this out, and it shows children that we use maths everyday in many different ways.
We have 6 strawberries to share between 2 of us. How many will each of us get?
We have 12 chocolate buttons. Each cake needs 3 buttons. Let’s put the buttons into groups of 3 to see how many cakes we can decorate.
We are excited to spend the last term of Grade 3 learning new concepts and skills!
AUSLAN
It has been fantastic to see the number of students increasing their Auslan vocabulary and being able to communicate at a basic level in Auslan as another language. I witnessed yesterday students using Auslan to communicate through a window! It’s also great having more students wanting to participate in Auslan Extra to show the three school values of Care, Commitment and Collaboration.
Prep
So far in Prep classes students have had the opportunity to learn signs for colours, family, animals and the alphabet. Prep classes have demonstrated commitment to this challenge by recognising letters, colours and expression of basic signs with transport vocabulary without any difficultly. At the moment we are going through all the animals and it has been terrific to watch students expressing animals in Auslan.
Year 1 and 2
Students in Year 1 and 2 have been continuing to learn about what is appropriate in Deaf culture along with developing their vocabulary. They are currently focussing on transport describing size, colours and how it operates, for example a forklift moving by using two fingers laid down horizontally and moving them in an upwards direction. This describes the forklift lifting. You will find in the in photos below that students are exchanging information in Auslan demonstrating their commitment andcollaboration.
Year 3 and 4
Students with their peers are developing skills in Auslan conversation. Students have participated in activities including practicing social courtesies such as turn taking and asking questions. You will see Year 3 students describing everyday phrases such as good morning, sorry, thank you and help.
It’s great to see them carrying on their focus on learning to comprehend and produce Auslan signs and signing familiar items. We will continue developing student’s understanding of the importance of facial expressions and correct handshapes and location of signs. This aligns well with the ACS values of collaboration and care.
Year 5 and 6
In Year 5 and 6, we have had classes broken up into small groups to create videos describing what they did or plan to do this weekend in Auslan. Students have demonstrated commitment and collaboration by working together as a team. Storing their work on Keynote on their iPad. Be sure you check it out.
Secondary
Students have demonstrated commitment to their learning by describing transport translating these into Auslan by using correct handshapes, movement, facial expression and use of space. Students have also been demonstrating care and collaboration by working together as a team, providing feedback and polishing up their Auslan skills. Also using Auslan Sign Bank www.auslan.org.au to assist them like a dictionary.
AuslanExtra:
Please do not forget to explore the fortnightly editions of ‘Auslan Extra’. In each newsletter issue you will see that one of the menu items is ‘Auslan Extra’. Perhaps your family would like to collaborate in some of the activities? Enjoy.
