The Newlands Times

Foundation/1

Wow! What a term. The year has certainly flown by. Congratulations to all F1 students on a fantastic year! We have all learned so much and come so far. It's been so wonderful to see so many students confidence and friendships flourish. It's nearly time for our year 1s to move up into year 2, and for our Foundation students to become grade 1 leaders! We are very much looking forward to our transition sessions next Tuesday and Thursday morning when we meet our new classes. 

 

Literacy

In Reading and the Code, students have been revising some of the consonant and vowel digraphs we learned over the year, including /sh/, /wh/, /oa/ and /ar/. We even learnt about "The Great Australian Schwa" - such as /er/ as in teacher! We looked at decoding consonant blends, and using our friend Syllable Sam to chop words in to syllables to help us read.  When reading texts, we used our predicting skills to make predictions before during and after texts. Finally, we explored the concepts of expression and fluency through Reader's Theatre. In small groups, students read a play, rehearsed their lines and performed their plays for their peers. What a spectacle it was!

 

In English Writing, students have been working ALL term to plan, draft, revise, edit and publish a narrative. Students developed stories with an orientation, complication and a solution. Some students applied their learning from Spanish about character and setting  description to add detail to their writing in English. Their hard work has certainly paid off, with the product of a beautifully published narrative to take home. 

 

 

 

 

Mathematics

This term in Mathematics, F1 students explored pattern, sharing equally, fractions and ordinal numbers. We investigated a variety of object, shape, colour and number patterns using a range of hands-on materials. Pollitos explored the concept of sharing equally into groups and Caballos began to look at sharing equally with a remainder. We explored fractions by cutting shapes into halves, quarters and other fractions. Finally we learned about ordinal numbers using the language of first, second, tenth, etc. Throughout the term, we also revised addition and subtraction and place value.

 

 

Inquiry

This term, students have been exploring Design and Technology, by working towards designing a classroom that meets the needs of a learning community. We explored the difference between wants and needs. We investigated personal, family and community needs, including a walk around our local community where we identified important features. We began to explore sustainability, and how we could apply that to our own classrooms - such as, waste collection, rain water collection, automatic window louvres and solar panels. Students put their heads together to apply all this learning to finally design and construct their own classroom. Their creations were a fabulous success that showed all their knowledge around needs, wants, design and sustainability.

 

 

 

Literatura

We have been learning how to read independently and building on our understanding short stories. Working in groups we have been furthering our practical knowledge of vocabulary through fairy tales, Raz-kids and short stories. Collaborating to read, ask and answer questions such as ¿Cómo vas al colegio? or ¿Qué tiempo hace hoy? has helped us show our learning.

 

In writing, our creative students have been working on publishing their 'cuentos narratives'. Having fun and exploring, using our imaginations to create characters descriptions and and 

 

 

 

 

 

Matemáticas

We have been enjoying learning about time and duration. Los Caballos have been actively participating and showing their understanding of digital and analogue clocks. Los Pollitos have been working out what activities can be done in seconds, minutes and hours.

Home Reading and Learning

It's time to wrap up the Newlands home reading for the year. Friendly reminder to bring back all reader bags and readers next week for them to be re-used next year! We encourage all students to keep reading on their own and with family members. 

 

In the meantime, students can keep all their learning fresh for next year by using Nessy, practicing their heart word lists, reviewing letter sounds, as well as playing sound, word and letter games. Some free decodable reading resources can be found at:

For writing, it's a great time to practice writing shopping lists, letters to family and friends, or even keeping a journal, where students can draw and write about their experiences.