Year 1/2 Curriculum News
Events/Reminders
Monday 19th October- Friday 23rd October- Book Week Celebrations and Activities
Thursday 22nd October- Dress Up Day- Favourite Book Character
Friday 23rd October- Grand Final Public Holiday
Monday 2nd November- Curriculum Day
Tuesday 3rd November- Melbourne Cup Public Holiday
Friday 18th December- Last day of Term 4
English
Reading:
Grade 1/2 students will be partaking in an author study for reading this term. We will focus closely on the author Mem Fox and make connections between her books. Students will start off learning about Mem Fox and who she is as a person and what kind of author she is. They will then be introduced to a new book each week where students will apply a range of comprehension strategies, including analysing and critiquing. Our lessons will focus on aspects such as the characters, the settings, the problems, the solutions, the language features, the illustrations and the message she is trying to send. At the end of the unit, students will have the opportunity to showcase their learning about Mem Fox by completing a project.
Writing:
In Term 4, 1/2 students will be writing realistic narratives, creating well structured stories with a clear beginning, middle, and end. During this unit we will focus on character and setting development, as well as correctly formed problems that link with a realistic solution. We will then move on to creating Explanation texts. During this unit we will focus on creating non-fiction texts that describe how and/or why things happen, describing a process and giving reasons and evidence. Throughout the term we will continue to add entries to our Writer’s Notebook, a space to collect ideas and writing seeds.
Towards the end of the term, students will then explore explanation texts, explaining how or why something works.
Mathematics
At the beginning of Term 4, students in 1/2 looked at probability and the chance of events occurring. Students used everyday language to describe the outcome of familiar events.
As we move back to face-to-face learning students will use different materials to estimate and measure the capacity that something can hold. The grade 1/2s will then experiment with 3D shapes looking at features of various 3D shapes and using the correct vocabulary to describe these features i.e. face, edge, corner. Students will then move on to estimating, measuring and comparing the volume of objects in their environment. Students will then spend some time revising and extending their knowledge of place value.
Social and Emotional Learning and Inquiry
In Term 4, the grade 1/2 students will participate in a range of lessons that focus on different aspects of their wellbeing, such as social skills and emotional awareness. Students will learn to understand their emotions, as well as the emotions of others around them and what strategies they can use to self-regulate. They will learn about stress, fear and ways to cope, as well as how to work with others cooperatively and how to problem solve.
In Inquiry, the topic for Term 4 is ‘Back When’. Students will be given the opportunity to learn about aspects of the past and how they are preserved in their local community. They will learn about why the past is important, and what differences there are between the past and present. Students will also explore some aspects of technology and how it has changed over time. They will showcase their newfound knowledge in the form of a small project.
Art
Welcome to Term 4 Art! It is an exciting time for our students as we return back to face-to face-teaching. During this term we will be revising our colour theory, lines and patterns. Grade Preps will move onto learning about a new principle and element which is Form. This will entail exploring two dimensional and three dimensional art forms. Students will learn about the difference of how dimensions can influence how art can be presented and use different mediums to create height, length and depth. The main medium students will use will be magic modelling clay where they will explore working with these dimensions to create three dimensional art. Grade Prep students will also learn about positive and negative space where the image being the focus and the positive space and the area around it being the negative space. Looking forward to working with our artistic students this term and finishing the year with great experiences in Art!
Chinese
Welcome back to a new term onsite at school! In term 4, the grade ones and twos will be reviewing and extending on their fundamental knowledge about the Chinese Mandarin language, including the tonal nature of the language, the use of Pinyin and stroke order in Chinese characters. They will learn about some new Chinese greetings as well as review some previously learned greetings. They will also learn about how paper was invented by the Chinese people and about Chinese holidays such as the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Physical Education
Welcome back my mini athletes! I am so proud of everything you have achieved so far! Let’s keep going! This final term, we will start with refreshing our memories on how to play with others. From there, we will take a look at kicking a ball and catching! Students will share their knowledge on the different ways we can kick the ball and how this skill is used in various sports. Then we will finish off the term with Bike Ed. We will learn how to get on and off the bike safely and learn about the parts of a bike.
Science
Welcome to term 4 Science where I can’t wait to see you all in Science in the classroom! Grade 1/2 students will be focus on the Chemical Science strand where they will be learning that everyday materials can be physically changed, or combined with other materials, in a variety of ways and for many purposes.
Students will observe, investigate and experiment how various foods can be combined to form different products, and that different mixtures can change the physical properties of everyday materials by becoming thick, sticky, runny and hard. Students will explore how objects made from different materials can be physically changed by different actions, such as bending, stretching, twisting and mixing, and will demonstrate and explain the actions required to change various objects. Students will use a variety of objects to make prediction on whether they will twist, bend and stretch and explore the properties that allow them to change.