Junior School Learning

News from Foundation 

Literacy

This term in reading and writing students will be learning how to read and write information reports.  Our first task was to complete some activities about fact and fiction.  Students were given a list of fact and fiction statements and had to sort them into the correct category.  Students then had a chance to write their own fact statements and their own fiction statements to show the difference between the two.

Numeracy

During the first few weeks of Term 3 we are focusing on addition.  Students have been learning about the addition and equals symbols as well as learning how to write and read a simple addition sum.  Students have been using dominoes to construct addition sums and counters to solve the addition problems.

Junior School Inquiry

The first half of the term will be focused around the Olympic Games.  Given the fact that the Summer Olympics were last held 5 years ago, many of our Junior School students were very young when these last occurred and have little or no knowledge about them.  Our first lesson was about the Olympic rings and what the colours represent.  We also had a look at the official Australian Olympic website and searched up some of the sport that Olympians will be participating in.  Students were fascinated about the Paralympics and the determination that these athletes have.

Year 1 and 2

Reading

In reading, students have been participating in a range of decoding activities to help them read new and familiar words. Using phoneme investigations and decodable texts, students are identifying different graphs, digraphs and even trigraphs within a word to help them blend sounds together.

Tips for home:

● If students are unsure of a word, encourage them by asking ‘What sounds can you see?’.

● Model how you would read a sound in a word.

● Sounds are all around us. Have fun with reading and encourage students to read words and sounds anywhere they go. Even at the /sh/-/o/- /p/- /s/ shops!

Writing 

In writing, students have been learning about procedural writing. Here are some activities you can do at home to help your child with this topic.

Tips for home:

● Encourage your child to write instructions for activities that she or he can complete by her/himself.

● Identify examples of procedural writing pieces as you come across them throughout the day eg. recipes or instructions.

● Compare how procedural writing pieces are similar and different.

Maths

In maths, students have been learning about time. Here are some activities you can do at home to help your child with this topic.

Tips for home:

● Say the days of the week in order.

● Say the months of the year in order (when days have been mastered).

● Talk about the seasons, the months in each season and what happens in each season.

● Look at calendars around the home and mark in special days eg. birthdays.

● Draw attention to clocks around the house and link time to regular events in your child’s life.

Junior Physical Education

Over the last few PE classes Junior Students have been learning the skills of Basketball. In pairs they have practiced chest, shoulder and bounce passes as well as dribbling and shooting. Well done to all students especially those who found dribbling a challenge.