St James Learning and Teaching
Curriculum / Classroom News
Years 2: Adjectives & Mystery Readers
Over the past week children have been learning about the power of adjectives.
Adjectives have the power to completely change the feeling in our writing.
Here are our amazing adjectives at work.
We hope you enjoy them!
You are in a colossal garden. There are gigantic flowers everywhere. Their strong smell fills the air. You can hear the loud chattering of birds. You lie on the soft grass and watch the marshmallow clouds overhead. By Ethan
You are in a beautiful garden. There are colourful flowers everywhere. The smell of fresh fruit fills the air. You hear the bees buzz. You lie on the soft grass and see the animal clouds above you. By William | You are in a magnificent garden. There are colourful flowers everywhere. Their sweet smell fills the air. You can hear the melody of the birds chattering. You lie on fluffy grass and watch the candy floss clouds overhead. By Chloe
You are in a burnt garden. There are poisonous flowers everywhere. Their rotten smell fills the air. You can hear the crackling sound of chattering birds. You lie on the earthy grass and watch the stormy clouds overhead. By Erik |
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What wonderful mystery readers we have had over the past few weeks.
The class tried hard to guess our weekly mystery reader from the clues they divulged.
The children have loved listening to great stories read by amazing readers.
Thank you to our fantastic mystery readers:
Bindushree V- How To Hide A Lion
Mel H- The Cow Tripped Over the Moon
Katherine W- Ada Twist, Scientist
Thank you for sharing a story with our class, giving up your time and making our Friday mornings so special.
100 Days of Prep!
On Monday, we celebrated 100 days of Prep! This is a big achievement for Prep students and their families, as they mark their first 100 days of primary school and recognise all that they have learnt so far. We had a fantastic day hunting for 100 stars, making collections of 100, doing crafts, dancing and sharing a delicious lunch. Thank you to all parents who provided food, helped set up and pack up our lunch, attended our celebration in the afternoon and helped in organising the brilliant costumes that the students wore.
Literacy
Shared Stories is an annual anthology of creative works by primary and secondary students from Catholic schools across Victoria. The theme for this year’s Shared Stories Anthology is Inspire.
Our participation in Shared Stories is a wonderful opportunity for our students to see their own writing and artwork in print and for us to celebrate the high quality pieces that are produced each year by our students.
We look forward to their contribution, as always.
Inspiration is…….
By Bobby (Yr 3)
Inspiration is shining light into another soul’s shadow
It’s an image that boosts your inner creativity.
It’s authentic, unique and precious.
So be inspirational
Poetry has been the main focus in Writing for many classes this term.
Here are some examples of the poems covered in Year 3:
Cinquain Poem
Matildas Winners, champions Playing, running, scoring Greatest of all time
| Haiku Poem
Train Whoosh, ding, the train stopped Doors open, children step in Laughter fills the air |
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Rhyming Couplets
Snow The snow slowly falls to the ground Snowflakes sway down all around
Splash! There was a snowball fight The children all scream with delight
People tobogganing everywhere Nobody is in despair by Tai
The Boiled Egg I cooked an egg and I made it boil When it was finished I wrapped it in foil
I got my plate ready, it was good to go But when I turned round it was gone, oh no
I searched my house but it was nowhere Then finally I found it, I should say a prayer (by Hope)
| My Bath My bath is like a nice warm river It is coated with shiny silver by Charlie F
Sour Candy Sour candy, it is yummy Some are chewy, others are gummy by Annie
Hog There once was a dog called Delly Who had an enormous belly
The belly was so very fat Because he ate a very big cat
And that was the end of the dog That’s what happens when you’re a hog by Jade |
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Sport
Beachside Soccer
Congratulations to the 14 girls who took part in the Beachside Soccer tournament last week. The team progressed through from the Holt District at the start of Term 2. Well done on finishing 4th overall, meaning our girls Senior Soccer Team are the 4th best in the Beachside District. Something to be very proud of. A huge thank-you to Brett R who coached the girls every Tuesday lunchtime during term 2 and on both competition days.
Senior Hoop Time
On Monday 31st July St James all Year 5 and 6 students competed at Hoop Time, a basketball competition for the Holt District schools. All teams played very competitively whether they be students who play regular basketball or have never played. Well done to everyone for participating and showing great sportsmanship, courage and determination. Thank-you also to the parents who came to support our students in particular Michelle T and David H for coaching the All Star Girls, Susan C, Adrian Q and Paul B for scoring and assisting the coaches.
Junior Hoop Time
We look forward to taking our Year 3 and 4 students on Tuesday 8th August to Hoop Time. Students were allocated their final teams on Tuesday. Thank-you in advance to the parents who will be coaching and assisting on the day. All students must be at school by 8.45am. Jerseys will be handed out once students arrive at school. Please ensure your child is wearing appropriate footwear for court use and all food and drinks are bought with them.
Georgia McNamara
Sport Co-Ordinator/Senior Physical Education Teacher
At St James we are Wild about Reading
Library News
Thank you to the lovely Mel F for sourcing a couch for our library. It has been lovely to see the children come in and enjoy the new space. All your contributions to our library space are greatly appreciated and significantly contribute to the the running of our library program. significantly contribute to the the running of our library program
Premiers' Reading Challenge
Our St James Students have been working really hard reading away. We are just over half way through the challenge and so far we have amazing leaders in each year level. The Leader can collect their mini prizes from Mrs Joplin.
Overall we have some great readers. Dont forget, it ‘s not too late to get started!! Well done St James. Keep reading!
Remember if you are still struggling to login please see details below or email
Mrs Joplin ajoplin@stjamesbrighton.catholic.edu.au
The Victorian Government has carefully curated a long list of rich texts for young readers. If you need some inspiration, checkout the attached booklist.
Logging in with a Challenge passcode
Your teacher will give you a Challenge username and passcode. You should find this in your child’s diary or magic words book where other passwords are located.
If you lose or forget your Challenge passcode,please ask or email Mrs joplin at ajoplin@stjamesbrighton.catholic.edu.au to generate a new one for you.
- Go to the Challenge application.
- Select the School/Student button.
- Select the VPRC login option.
- Enter your username and password.
- Select Login.
Viewing your dashboard
The dashboard is your main workspace as you progress through the Challenge.
At the top of the dashboard are gemstone badges. These are grey when you start your Challenge. They change to green as you progress through the Challenge.
Below the badges is a green bar. This shows you how many days are left until the end of the Challenge.
There are also two progress wheels that show:
- what your Challenge target is
- how many Challenge or Choice books you have finished or had verified.
Your reading list shows the books you have added and finished reading.
As you add more books to your reading list, the application will learn the kinds of books you like to read. It will recommend other books by:
- genre
- author
- series
- subject.
Books other students at your school and across Victoria are reading appear on the Trending books list.
The side menu lets you:
- see your Profile Details and add an avatar
- see all the book reviews you have written
- search for books you would like to add to your reading list.
Challenge Rules
The challenge runs all the way to September and is very attainable for all children.
Children need to read:
Prep to Year 2
- Number of books: 30
- Number of books from the Challenge book list: 20 or more
Year 3 to Year 6
- Number of books: 15
- Number of books from the Challenge book list: 10 or more
What you can read
Most of the books you read should be from the Challenge book lists. The rest can be any book you choose.
You can read books on the book list for your year level or a level above and they'll count towards your Challenge total. You should check with your teachers or parents if you're not in years 9 or 10 and want to read a book from that list. This list includes titles for mature readers.
You can read a book from a level below your year level if your teacher agrees. You still need to read the number of books for your year level to meet the Challenge.
Let’s get reading!!
Mandi Joplin & Ange
Teacher Librarian