Foundation in focus 

Literacy 

Writing 

Our genre focus this term is recount writing.  

Students in Foundation will be learning all about how to write a recount. Recount writing is when we can include the who, what, when, where, why and how something occurred in our writing. We recount something that has happened and we write about it. 

• Handwriting - We will continue our focus on correct letter formation and we are learning to write on the correct lines so that when we go to Grade 1 we will have neat writing and well formed letters.
• Writers ideas books - We will be introducing these books as a way to extend out thinking of what we can write about. Students can collect items of interest and paste them in their writers ideas books to use as a writing stimulus later on.

When learning to write in Foundation this term we focus on a few key areas these include...

• Holding our pencil correctly
• Writing our letters neatly and on the lines
• We stretch out our words and use the sounds we know to write new words
• We focus on including capital letters and full stops

Students in Foundation will begin to plan their writing usually by drawing a picture, write a draft and we will even begin to edit our work and check for errors. We will introduce the concept of a published copy later in the term. 

We have fun when we write and we practise, practise and practise as this helps us to grow.

Reading 

This term in Reading, the Foundation students are focusing on using different reading strategies to decode words independently. We are targeting long vowel sounds as we encourage students to cross check their reading to make sure it makes sense. We are encouraging students to practise their decoding skills when reading words and revise the Jolly Phonic letter and digraph sounds. Sight words play an important role in reading and it is beneficial to practise these daily if possible. It is extremely important for students to understand what they are reading and we recommend that parents ask their students questions before, during and after reading. We are incorporating comprehension strategies into our reading lessons. These focus on predicting, retelling and developing questions about a text. Reading should be shared, independent and joyful. Please try to model a love of reading and share a range of different and exciting texts with your child. Happy reading!!!!

Spelling 

In Term 3 Foundation students will continue to learn the most common words found in text (magic/ sight words), first learning to read them by sight and then spell them. It is important to make sure these words are locked into the students long term memory and they recognise them every time they see them.

We will also be learning to read and spell CVC words or consonant vowel consonant words, use beginning sounds along with end chunks and also rhyming words. 

The students have learned all 42 sounds and are beginning to use these to help them to read and spell a variety of words.

Maths 

In Term 3 our numeracy focus is on addition and then moving to subtraction. Students learn to identify the key words and symbols used when reading a worded problem or writing an equation. 

We develop our maths strategies including:

• using hands-on materials
• making and drawing a model
• counting backwards
• using number lines
• doubles and near doubles
• our ‘friends of 10/20’ knowledge.

Inquiry

In term 3 we are learning about forces. The students are building their understanding of different forces such as push and pull, gravity and wind force. We will be investigating this with the help of various fairy tales.

• How can we get the gingerbread man across the river?
• Which of the 3 pigs houses is stronger and why?
• How can we get Rapunzel down safely from the castle?
• Can you design and build a bridge to get the Billy goats across the river?
• Can you build some safe transport for Cinderella with wheels that move?

The students will design and build a variety of structures to assist them to answer questions such as ‘do materials affect force?’ and ‘Is the force changed by speed, weight or height?’

Upcoming events 

100 days celebrations - We hope to celebrate this when we return and dress up as 100 year olds. 

How to help at home

Cooking, setting the table, craft activities, play, Lego, fine motor fun activities, playing outside with balls, toys and in the sand pit. 

Read books together and talk about the positives of the day. 

As always please contact your child's teacher for questions. 

Important dates 

18th September - Last day of Term 3

 5th October - First day of Term 4