What’s been happening in Prep

This term the Preps have been looking at persuasive texts as part of literacy. Students started by identifying advertisements and how they persuade others to buy different products. Students then created their own advertisements around an imaginary toy story persuading people to buy their toys.

They have also explored writing a persuasive piece about why fish would make good friends.

Within Inquiry we explored the states and territories of Australia. Students chose a state or territory they were interested in to research and then had to identify the capital city, what people could do when they visited the place and how long it would take to get there. Students could present their research in any way they wanted, google slides, poster or oral presentation. They had great fun finding the information and learning new skills like researching and presenting.

Term 3, 1/2 Learning Reflection

Writing

This term in writing we learnt about procedural texts. We discovered that procedural texts are found in our everyday lives. When we buy a new TV, there are instructions on how to set it up. When learning a new board game, we follow the directions. When we want to cook something, we follow a recipe. We wrote our own procedural text on how to make a sandwich, which included title, ingredients/materials and steps. We also explored persuasive writing and learnt a variety of ways the reader can be persuaded through our language choices. We learnt how to state our opinion, give reasons for our choice and were challenged to include evidence and examples to make our writing even stronger.

Inquiry

In Inquiry this term, our focus was geography. We investigated our local area, locating our house and school on a map from the Melway.

Most students had never heard of Melway and thought it was funny when we told them there is also a Sydway and Brisway. We looked at the seven continents of the world and discovered facts about each. We then began a research project on Australia. We chose a state and investigated the capital city, landmarks, how to get there and why people would want to visit. We made a slideshow about our chosen state, and will hopefully present them to the class when we return to school.

1/2 Religious Education

In Religious Education, we learnt about the symbols of the church. These include the crucifix, bible, candle, dove, holy water, bread and wine. We discovered that we are part of many different communities and through baptism we are welcomed into God's community. We investigated healing stories such as the Good Samaritan, The Woman at the Well and the 10 Lepers. Jesus healed these people and loved them when others turned them away. We discussed how we can be more like Jesus in our everyday lives.

Term 3 Year 3/4 Reflection

Looking back on Term Three it is great to think about the fantastic learning experiences our students had whilst learning remotely during these challenging times. Some highlights included Literacy and Numeracy Week, the parent/teacher/student conferences and the opportunity for students to improve in their digital technology skills.

Key aspects of this term included:

Learning about the Olympics including aspects of its history and the notion of unity of countries
Students writing interesting and engaging narratives
Self reflecting and using the success criteria to provide feedback on each other's writing
Learning about different countries in South America and Asia and comparing similarities and differences between countries
Using a variety of digital platforms including padlet, kahoot, google forms, book creator and jamboard, as a way of presenting and sharing information
Learning about BOLTS, creating and using maps such as a Melway
Creating your own country (Passion Project)

Chase - My favourite part of home learning was dressing up and making people smile.

My best costume was a clown!

Evie - This term it was fun learning about other countries in Inquiry. I did my project on South Africa. It is a very different place to Australia because it is a lot warmer, has a different currency and lots of languages are spoken.

Madison - I enjoyed writing my own story this term when we were learning about narrative writing. I improved my narrative writing by making sure it was descriptive and had an engaging introduction.

5/6 Term 3 Reflection

This term in 5/6 we were lucky enough to attend camp at Sovereign Hill before transitioning to remote learning. This was a wonderful learning experience, giving students the opportunity to experience what life was like on the Goldfields in the 1850s. Some of our key learning this term included:

Public speaking skills
Poetry
World religions
South America investigations
Multiplication
Shape and Angles
Data
Location

We are grateful for the effort our students have made in regards to their learning. We understand this is a challenging time for everyone and it has been wonderful to see students continue to produce work of a high standard.

Student STEM Designs

Evaluate - How successful was your design?

My bridge design was successful until my supports fell. I believe that if I found a way to improve the strength of the supports, the structure would have stayed up longer, once the simulated earthquake happened.

How could you improve or modify your design?

I can improve my design by doing more test runs along the way to improve my design and to find weak spots in the build. - Oliver S

I really, really enjoyed poetry because I learnt about new styles of poems. Meters and rhyming patterns. My favourite types of poetry are ballads and odes. - Bethany

I have enjoyed Visual Arts this term as I liked the activities, especially drawing. I enjoyed completing my learning at home, away from distractions and I could take my time to include lots of detail. - Zarah

I enjoyed Performing Arts because we get to act and be different characters. I can't wait to be the ticket seller in our school production. - Oliver T

This term we have hardly been at school. One of the weeks that we had at school we were on camp. All the 5/6s went to Sovereign Hill. On the first day of camp when we put our bags down, we went out and around and had a look at everything. Later that day we went on a gold mine tour. The next two days we attended old time school in the diggings. Something I enjoyed on camp was getting to experience how children were educated nearly 200 years ago. I realise now, how lucky we were to actually go on camp. - Hayden

St John's School Newsletter

"St John's Primary School Mitcham is committed to the - Victorian Child Safe Standards"

A Welcoming Community Leading the Future of Learning ‘With Faith and Love.’ · 13 Sep 2021

In this issue