Prep

Using the Sound Waves Spelling program In Weeks 1 and 2 , we focused on the letters m, a, t, s. In Weeks 1 and 2. Our focus words were am , at, mat, Tam, sat, and Sam. We made ants, snakes and turtles.

In Maths, we learnt to identify patterns and see patterns as something that repeats. We found patterns around the school and made up our own patterns using objects in the classroom.

The writing genre that we focused on in Prep in Term 3 was Procedure. Students began to learn how to write step by step instructions to accomplish a goal. We did this through writing recipes and instructions to complete a variety of tasks.

We started with decorating biscuits. We focused on the setting out of a recipe.

We had a visit from Little Chompers where they talked about caring for our teeth.

In Week 3, we looked at words with a middle i, eg sit, fin and pig. We also focused on words that began with d, so we painted magnificent donuts and sprinkled them with real 100s and 1000s. Come and look at them in our window.

We also finished our Mother’s Day gifts. It was so much fun. We hope you enjoyed all the effort your children went to. I would particularly like to thank Tristan’s grandmother who made your individual crocheted flower which we put into pots. They were absolutely amazing!  

In Maths, we continued practising our numbers to 100. 

In Inquiry, we talked about how things change, the seasons and our senses. We planted lima beans and now we are waiting and watching for when they will start to grow.

In Week 4, We made Ninjas and flowers and presented  the Gospel story of the Ascension Assembly.

We made Fairy bread to demonstrate an example of a Procedural Text. The children did very well spreading the butter which can be quite tricky.

In Maths, we started learning about subtraction. We discussed the words we use, such as, take away, minus and subtract.

In Inquiry, we continued focusing on our topic of Change, by painting chameleons and seeing how they camouflage themselves. 

In Week 5, we made popcorn and made our own origami cup to put it in.

https://www.origamiway.com/origami-cup.shtml

We also made pita pizzas. We spread pizza sauce on a small pita bread and then chose what toppings we would like to put on it- ham and pineapple was the most popular.

On Wednesday May 24, we took part in the National Simultaneous Storytime. This is held annually by the Australian Library and Information Association. Every year a picture book, written and illustrated by an Australian author and illustrator, is read simultaneously in libraries, schools, pre-schools, childcare centres, family homes, bookshops and many other places around the country. This year the book was the Speedy Sloth. We then did some different activities around this story.

In week 6, we made very cute rats to consolidate the letter Rr.

In Maths, we learnt about graphs. We each got a bag of M & M's and had to fill in a bar graph about the colour of our M & M's -a delicious activity!

In Religion, the Gospel was about the Trinity. A very difficult concept for anyone- Gods existing in three equally divine persons - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. It's a bit like an apple. There are 3 parts of the one apple; the skin, the seeds and the flesh. 

We did a Buddy activity with the Year 5/6s.

We also helped them in their representation of Pentecost by wearing the flames we had made on a headband at Assembly.

For our procedure writing genre, we followed a recipe to make Chocolate Crackles.

As part of our Inquiry unit on Change, we made the lifecycle of the butterfly using pasta. It looks very effective.

In Week 7, Mrs Di Lorenzo brought in items that were very ‘old’ as part of our Inquiry topic Change. We discussed how these items have changed and developed over the years.

 Item1:

‘Old’ -large, heavy mobile phone that you could only use to make and receive phone calls.

‘New’- slim, smaller mobile phone that can be used as a phone, GPS, video camera etc.

 Item 2:

‘Old’ -encyclopaedia used for looking up information

‘New’ -laptop where you use Google or Safari to find out information.

 Item 3:

‘Old’ -camera that needs a camera roll.

‘New’ –mobile phone used for taking photos.

We made helicopters in Art and Craft.

In Maths, we learnt about tallying marks and how to interpret these to make a graph.

We all enjoyed the St Bridget’s Family Fun Day. Some Preps had their faces painted. 

In Week 8, we made a cat with moveable eyes for the sound c.

For Show and Share we brought something old that has now changed. The children brought in fantastic old cameras, phones, pencil sharpeners and books. It's hard to believe that DVDs are now classified as ‘old’, but as they said we now have ‘Netflix’. It was great to even see an old LP record and cassettes.

Kind regards,

Mrs Margaret Maher & Mrs Anna Di Lorenzo

Prep Classroom Teachers