Monday 6 August 2018

Welcome to Term 3!

Term 3 is always a busy term. There are many things happening around the school this term so please make a note of these events and keep an eye out for notes sent home to remind you of the things coming up. Term 3 is also another busy term for learning. Please ensure that students continue to arrive at school on time and notify us if your child is unwell or absent from school.

What's going on in class?

LITERACY

We are continuing to build on students phonics knowledge and phonemic awareness. This refers to their ability to recognise sounds and know how to use them when building words. We have now taught all 26 letters of the alphabet and their sounds, we have introduced the vowel sounds both long and short (e.g. 'a' like apple and 'a' like acorn) We have taught the initial blend sounds. Blends are 2 consonants that blend together e.g. st, sw, sp, tw, gr, etc. You may have seen these posters up in the classroom. We are now introducing and teaching final blends sounds. These include the blends that are found at the end of words e.g. mp, ld, lt, nd, ng, nk, etc. Students orally identify these sounds in spoken words and can sort them based on their sounds. We will soon be introducing them to writing 4 letter words containing these blends like, lamp, twig, skip, tent etc.


This term we have continued with our new reading program. All students now read to an adult every day at school. We then send this book home for them to re-read to you at home. please ensure you are returning these books to school daily as they are necessary for the next day’s learning. Books are to be kept in their BLUE folder and placed back in the blue box each morning. We are losing valuable teaching and learning time searching for student’s books and folders when they are not in the correct place .We focus on the strategies and decoding within class. The purpose for home reading is for fluency. All students have been given a text which is at their independent reading level. This means that they should be able to read all or most of the book on their own. Reading aloud to an adult is still very important. They also need to continue to hear others read to them as they will learn fluency and expression by listening to you.


We have also started daily writing this term. Students are given the opportunity to write a small amount each day. They all have their writing goals depending on their writing skill level. It would be great to see parents not only modelling reading at home but also writing and the need for this skill. Students need to see others using these skills to reinforce the importance of learning them. Handwriting 4 times per week is also a focus this term to support students to improve their handwriting skills. We are writing on 24mm dotted thirds paper, ensuring students form letters correctly and attempt to position them in the correct place. This skill is tricky and extra practise at home  will be beneficial to their success. An example of this writing was sent home in your take home packs at the beginning of the year. We write using Victorian Cursive font so some letters are formed differently to the ones you may know and recognise.


MATHS

In Maths this term we have looked at ordinal numbers which are the positional numbers e.g. 1st, 2nd, 3rd. We have taught up to 10th. We are also looking at teen numbers to 20 and using them in different ways. Mrs Cilfone is teaching 2D shapes. Students must recognise and name the shape and also identify the number of sides and corners.
 




SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Our focus for science and Technology this term is materials and their properties. We are looking at everyday objects, what they are made of and reasons why this material is used. We are learning particular topic words such as translucent (see through), absorbent, waterproof, bendy, rigid, hard, wood, metal, fabric, paper, plastic etc.


This term students will be given a project to design and make a sail boat that will float. They will use their knowledge of materials and their properties to help them design. We would love for parents to support us by collecting waterproof containers such as meat trays, plastic bottles, straws, etc. for students to use when making their boats. Please wash any containers before bringing them to school.
 
ART

We will be running an art program this semester. Students will be taught about shape, line, texture and colour and how to use these to create a piece of art. Stay tuned to see our progress in this.

MUSIC

We are also running a music program this term. Students will be looking at early fundamental music skills such as rhythm, volume, and pitch.

 




GEOGRAPHY

Mrs Cilfone is running the Geography program this semester. Students are looking at places in their world. They have started with the place they live; their home and suburb. This will then branch out to discover special places around them and how to care for this places.

HEALTH

The main focus this term is on resilience which is the ability to bounce back. This is an extremely important skill to have as it supports students mental health. Students are learning about strategies to use to bounce back when things don't go to plan.


Events this term...



NAIDOC Week

In week 2 we celebrated NAIDOC week. Students attended an incursion to discuss Bush Tucker. We were shown lots of different plants that are traditionally eaten by Aboriginal people in certain seasons. We even got to taste salt bush! We have also completed activities integrated through learning areas in class such as dot painting and tapping sticks to play music.

Faction Fridays

In Term 3, students are permitted to wear their faction shirts on Fridays only. Please ensure all other uniform remains compliant with our uniform policy. This includes shoes (black, white or grey), hair accessories (yellow or green) and school jumpers in the colder weather. Any undershirts must be black or white please.

Book Week

There will be a dress up day and parade to celebrate book week. Start thinking about your favourite book character and organising a costume. This is not a free dress day. Costumes must represent a book character. More information will be provided about the date and time in the coming weeks.

Faction Carnival

Our faction carnival is coming up in Week 7. Weather permitting, the Pre Primary tabloids will be on Wednesday afternoon at 1:15. The flat races are done in the morning of the whole school carnival. Students will need to wear their faction shirts, have a hat and water bottle and sunscreen on this day.

Learning Journeys

All classrooms will be open for this afternoon. It is held on the Tuesday afternoon in Week 10. This experience is designed for students to consolidate and review their progress and learning with their parents. It would be fantastic to see you all there. This afternoon is not designed as a parent/teacher conference. If you need to or would like to discuss individual students progress then please organise a suitable meeting time to discuss.





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