PLT Updates...

Foundation

It has been a wonderful start to the term in Foundation.  Our students settled back into school routines well after the holidays and excitement is beginning to build within our classrooms for the fantastic events that Term 4 brings. 

In Writing, we have just finished our unit on Information Reports. To improve their sense of agency and voice within the classroom, students had the opportunity to choose which animal they would like to study and write a report on.  It seemed that Koalas, Dolphins, Tigers and Elephants were among some of the more popular choices.  To begin our unit, students learned the difference between fact and opinion, and once we settled the argument that “the best flavour ice cream is rainbow” is not actually a fact, students explored the important elements of reports such as classification, appearance, habitat, diet, and interesting facts.  Together, students and teachers used non-fiction sources such as videos and books to collect factual information for students to collect and sort.  Once students were content with their information, they practised writing their facts into full sentences on mini whiteboards.  Teachers then guided students to perfect their sentences before they could publish it into their own information report booklets.  Our students are looking forward to taking their booklets home to teach their families about their chosen animal in the coming weeks.  

We are now moving onto a new genre in Writing- Poetry.  Students have enjoyed sharing their favourite poems such as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Baa Baa Black sheep with their peers and teachers.  We analysed these favourites and encouraged students to discover the most reoccurring theme amongst poems- rhyming words!  To help us revise our knowledge of rhyming words, we read the book “Rhyme Crime” by Jon Burgerman.  In this entertaining story, a thief commits a crime and everything he takes, is replaced with a rhyme.  Once we finished the story, students noticed a strange looking note lurking on the whiteboard.  Students hustled over, to find that to their disbelief, our classroom had been “rhyme crimed!”  Items in our classroom had been stolen and replaced with a rhyme.  To receive the next clue on where our items went, students needed to put their writing skills to use and complete some rhymes.  They needed to predict what the thief actually stole based off the rhyme he left.  In Foundation C alone, students completed 75 pages of rhyming sentences in record time in a bid to find where our missing pen, plant, chair, glue, book, mug, toy and hat went!  Students were extremely engaged and discovered that despite rhyming words having the same end sound, they didn’t always have the same end spelling.  A new note appeared once students completed the sheets with a clue on where to retrieve their items- the Foundation office!  Students were very excited to not only have a chance to visit the office but to retrieve their items.  With their items, lay a final note, telling the students that there was no real thief, just the Foundation teachers playing a sneaky trick!

In Reading, students have been learning about “magic e.”  Magic e is that cheeky e at the end of words that is silent and changes the vowel sound from a short vowel sound to a long vowel sound.  For example, in the word ‘pin,’ the vowel ‘i’ makes a short vowel sound but in the word ‘pine’ the magic e changes the vowel ‘i’ to a long vowel sound.  This is quite a difficult concept for our students to understand but they are doing an exceptional job at identifying words with a magic e and pronouncing the vowel sound accordingly. Students made magic e wands and practised transforming words with short vowel sounds to ones with long vowel sounds. 

In Maths, we have been learning about sharing (division).  In Foundation, we grasp every opportunity to incorporate picture story books into our learning and this was a perfect time to read Pat Hutchins book “When the doorbell rang” with our students.  In this story, two children were given 12 cookies to share, but as they were about to take a bite, the doorbell rang, and it rang and rang and rang again.  This book helped students understand the concept of “the more people to share with, the less you get!”  After the story, students were given some pretend cookies or counters and were asked to share that amount with a partner.  During this lesson and unit as a whole, students were encouraged to use specific vocabulary such as ‘fair share’ ‘equal’ and ‘same.’  Sharing is a fantastic concept that can be incorporated into everyday learning at home, especially when dividing treats between siblings.  In our classrooms we are often asking our students “would that be a fair share?” to consolidate their learning. 

In our Inquiry unit, students have been learning about Digital Technology. So far, we have talked about cyber safety and the importance of not talking to strangers online or clicking onto any pop-ups on our screens.  We have practised logging onto school approved apps such as Reading Eggs by ourselves and have discussed the importance of keeping our passwords private. In coming weeks, families can look forward to students learning about how we can use computers to communicate, where they will practise uploading their favourite piece of work onto their Seesaw profiles.

We are so proud of our Foundation students and how much they have achieved as they near the end of their first year of school.  It really is hard to comprehend that 9 months ago we started learning the letters of the alphabet and now we are transforming vowel sounds!  We are looking forward to such a fun and jam-packed rest of the term ahead.

Year 3

We have enjoyed a very settled return to learning in term 4.  Students have enjoyed delving into new math topics and have enjoyed getting creative with indigenous inspired symmetry art and creating patterns by flipping, sliding and turning blocks of colour.  We have also begun our new inquiry topic on civics and citizenship which has generated lots of discussion around laws, rules and government in Australia.

All Grade 3 students have had the opportunity to participate in drama sessions with Lucinda.  During these sessions, the students have been able to explore ways to express themselves through games, using voice and movement. 

Zara 3C:  I like drama because we get do fun activities and play games. 

Jayde 3C:  I like drama because it’s fun and it makes me feel happy and excited.

Charlotte 3C:  I like doing drama because it’s funny when we do the tongue twisters.

Kathy 3A:  I really like how you get to make different expressions and sometimes it makes me laugh.

Aangad 3A:  I enjoyed learning the agility poem to help me speak more clearly.

Harrison 3B:  Drama was really fun because we did lots of poses and made things up on the spot.  It was really fun!

Larah 3B:  Drama was super fun since I got to practise what it would be like to be an actor. I could imagine myself doing lots of cool things.