Round the classes
Reception class: Katie
Over the past 2 weeks the Reception class has been very busy learning more sounds. We have started learning how to read, blend and write words. We have also started learning how to write a basic sentence.
In maths we have been learning about counting and subitising. We have also been learning how to form the numbers correctly when writing.
As part of our work with the Kimochis we have been learning about Lovey Dove and Cloud. On Monday we had a look at the Zones of Regulation and created a road that demonstrated how our mood changes throughout the day depending on what happens.
In Science we have been learning about worms and how important they are for the garden. As part of HASS we have been looking at families. We have learnt that all families are different and have started to look at how families can change over time.
We have also been practising our high jump for Sports Day.
Year 1class: Kelly and Troy
This fortnight we have been busily learning th, wh, ng and ch sounds. The children have been practising writing the sounds, learning and writing words that have the sounds in them and writing simple sentences. They have been learning to use capital letters and full stops when writing sentences.
We completed our first Big Write story for a narrative piece. The children were very excited writing a story about the fuzzle. It was great to see the children use WOW words (descriptive language) to describe their character and setting.
In maths we have been skip counting using two, five and ten as a focus. We have been working on strategies to effectively count objects faster.
In HASS the students completed a personal timeline. It was great discussing what they would like to be when they are older and what they would look like.
In Design and Technology we used the fuzzle to create a new creature. The students had to design a creature where they merge two animals together to make one new creature. They enjoyed designing their animal as well as using the Sketches app. (see the pictures below.)
Year 2 class: Sam and Suzie
Our class enjoyed celebrating Harmony Day on Tuesday 21st of March and loved creating masks from different cultures in our Sports Day houses. We also had the wonderful opportunity to work with Stephen's class to create some 'shoe' artwork to describe ourselves.
'On Harmony Day we learnt about how to 'walk in someone else's shoes'. We all come from different backgrounds and like different things and that is what makes us all special' - Year 2 Class
In Mathematics our learning focus has been on developing our understanding, reasoning, problem solving and fluency skills within the topic of Place Value. We have been practising our understanding and have been making connections that the same quantity can be named differently. Students have adapted the known and unknown by partitioning numbers in unfamiliar ways. As a class and in small groups students have investigated different quantities and explored equivalence. As we move towards the end of the term, we will begin our new topic of Algebra (Patterns).
Sam would like to mention a special thanks to Henri for bringing in a beautiful picture book to share with our class this week, 'Teddy and the Blue Butterfly' by Gerry Lane. Themes of kindness, hope and gratitude were discussed as a whole class after reading this book. Students then created their own artwork of the special blue butterfly from the book. Thank you Henri!
Thanks also to Ned who kindly shared his amazing tromboncino (zucchini/pumpkin) from his home garden. The class were amazed at the size of this incredible vegetable! Ned informs us that the outside skin is like a zucchini and the inside is like pumpkin.
The tromboncino reaches from the ground, all the way up to Ned's nose! Can you estimate how many centimetres tall it is?
Come and tell Ned your guess 🙂
Have a wonderful weekend everyone.
Year 2/3 class: Stephen and Henry
As part of our learning about Australian pioneer aviators Hudson Fysh and Paul McGinness, we made electric cars that we used to replicate their journey from Longreach to Katherine in 1919. The cars were a challenge to make but worth it in the end. We also had to design the road they travelled on, based on images we searched off the internet. Our challenge was to make the cars travel on the roads. The pictures below and the attached clips demonstrate our success with this task.
Watch the clips to see how they work 😊
We are continuing to learn new songs as part of our music lessons and our goal is to perform again for the Uraidla Kindy kids.
We also enjoyed our Harmony Day task which was to design a shoe with information about ourselves – other students in the school can read our shoes (take a walk in our shoes) to really find out about us.
Year 4/5 class: Alex
In mathematics students have been developing their ability to clearly articulate their mathematical strategies to their peers. They have been practising this skill during their mental maths sessions, unpacking problems when sharing the answers and recording any new learning, definitions or strategies in their personal Maths Dictionaries. Students have continued to work toward their place value goals, monitoring their own level of challenge by selecting the level of difficulty that will keep them in the ‘growth zone.’
In writing students have been focused on providing more detailed descriptions in their tightening tension scenes. They have been using the ‘show don’t tell’ technique to paint a picture in the reader’s mind and engage them in the action. Students have been word processing and printing their tightening tension scenes to display in the classroom and inspire other writers in the class.
In Geography students have been exploring different map types and the features they must include to make them organised, readable and accurate. They have been using the BOLTSS acronym to look at which maps have a border, orientation, legend, title, scale and source.
In Week 8 students enjoyed celebrating Harmony Day. They created a ‘take a walk in my shoes’ poster and supported their Year 1 buddies in Kelly’s class to do the same. The poster showed their personal interests, preferences and skills and is a conversation piece for connecting with other students across the school and promoting empathy. Students also created a traditional African, Indonesian or Japanese mask and spent time exploring the ancient mask traditions of the relevant culture they were focusing on.
Year 5/6 class: Sallie
We have been focusing on writing in the past fortnight (as well as a whole week of NAPLAN). On Friday we had our first "Big Write" - with LED candles to set the mood. Our theme was music or a performance. I was intrigued to see how the students would weave this into a narrative.
In maths we are focusing on fractions and doing different activities around this. On Friday we did some problem-solving and different challenges where the students chose what level of challenge they wanted. Interesting!
In HASS we have nearly finished our own Acknowledgement of Country. Getting different perspectives on this has been really interesting and promoting good discussion.
PE: Henry
This week will be the last week of our whole school cricket clinic run by SACA. We have progressed from smaller skill-oriented games, to now running larger small-sided cricket matches. The students have enjoyed the experience and have shown a great development across the past four weeks. It's been great to see an increase of students playing cricket in the yard during lunch and recess. We will now turn our attention to practising Sports Day events in preparation for Week 10! This week we have practised the egg and spoon race, high jump and javelin.
Indonesian : Ibu Susan
In Indonesian the students are beginning to build more complicated sentences within our topic of Keluarga (Family). They are describing what people in their family like to do. This revises knowledge from last year and requires the students to integrate known words and structures into new ones. They are doing a fantastic job!
Gardening : Jo
The year 4/5 students made “Stuffed Potatoes”, “Honey Carrots” and “Salad Surprise” to finish off the gardening sessions.
Fun was had digging for potatoes and we had a bucket full in no time. Salad greens and herbs were also harvested and then the creating began!
In pairs the students made a recipe and then they shared what they had made so all three dishes were tasted.
Science : Troy
In Science students have been learning about physical and biological sciences. The Reception students have been learning about the five senses and identifying what senses they use for everyday activities and trying out the playgroun.
Our Year 1 class has been learning about the similarities of needs and wants for humans and animals.
Our Year 2 class is learning about sounds and creating musical instruments to discover how sounds vibrate.
Stephen's class has been measuring heat using thermometers to predict water temperatures.
Our two older classes are investigating the history of light and justifying what discoveries have been important in society.
