Foundation Newsletter - Term 4 - Week 1
Connecting with the Preps
Welcome back! It is so hard to believe that the children are now in their last term of prep. How the time has flown! Seems like only yesterday when they came through the doors for the first time!
Term 4 is going to be another busy time with fun, games and lots of learning. And if we thought the first 3 terms flew by, term 4 has a habit of appearing to go even quicker...
Language
In Reading, there has been a further emphasis on retelling the main events in a story in a logical sequence and 'fleshing out' the beginning, middle and ending of a story. Depending on each individual child, the children have been doing this orally, through drawings and writing, or a combination of all three. Apart from the strategies that help children to decode and obtain/maintain meaning when reading, we have also been focussing on the visualisation strategy. This strategy enriches the reading experience as not only do good readers create mental images and sensory images as they read, good readers become emotionally involved with what they read.
(Cassandra Donoian 2016).
This week in Writing, the children have been revisiting the requirements of a recount through writing about their holidays - who, what, when, where, why. The children have also been revisiting and involved in discussions about Ollie Opener (making an opening to a story interesting and inviting), Vinnie Vocab (using interesting words, Penny Punctuation (checking to ensure they have remembered full stops, capital letters and spaces) and Connie Connective (joining two ideas together). Tomorrow the children will be involved in the first of our fortnightly Big Writes with tomorrow's topic being 'If I Could Fly'.
Thank you for the wonderful conversations that were obviously held prior to last term's Big Writes. The children love bringing those ideas, held in and mulled over in their heads, to their writing on the Big Write day. As we did last term, we will let you know a day or so before the Big Write so the children are 'freshly primed' to write their creative stories.
We continue to practise our handwriting skills on a regular basis. The children are constantly encouraged to begin their letters at the correct starting point and to form them in the correct direction i.e. clockwise or anticlockwise., as well as positioning them on the line appropriately. Pesky letter 'p' causes the most challenges - some children forget it has a 'muddy bottom'! If you would like further information about Victorian cursive writing, which we are mandated to teach, please come and see us.
This week we are revisiting our counting skills. The children have been involved in counting forwards and backwards, completing numbers patterns, placing numbers along a number line and rolling a two digit number and recording the next ten numbers. Some students continue to work on recording the digits 0-9 by starting from the correct place and not reversing digits. Some students would really benefit from practising this at home. Next week we will focus on place value and in particular 'ones' and 'tens'. The students will be recording two digit numbers, making them with bundling sticks, unifix or MAB and drawing them.
Inquiry
Our Inquiry topic for the term is primarily 'geography based'. We will be looking at seasons, weather and develop skills to use and understand maps, primarily of Australia. We will further consolidate the children's knowledge of locations and our connections to a range of different places in Australia. The children will also explore the importance of Country from the perspective of Indigenous Australians, including story telling traditions.
Buddies
The children had a wonderful time with their Buddies on Wednesday morning whilst the preschool transition program was underway. The Buddies played 3 different games, including Zigzag Ball, which were challenging and lots of fun. The Buddies also helped the preppies select a picture book from the library, predicting using the front cover and then discussing as they read together.
Dates to Remember!
Friday 26th October - Halloween Disco
Maths
This week we are revisiting our counting skills. The children have been involved in counting forwards and backwards, completing numbers patterns, placing numbers along a number line and rolling a two digit number and recording the next ten numbers. Some students continue to work on recording the digits 0-9 by starting from the correct place and not reversing digits. Some students would really benefit from practising this at home. Next week we will focus on place value and in particular 'ones' and 'tens'. The students will be recording two digit numbers, making them with bundling sticks, unifix or MAB and drawing them.
Inquiry
Our Inquiry topic for the term is primarily 'geography based'. We will be looking at seasons, weather and develop skills to use and understand maps, primarily of Australia. We will further consolidate the children's knowledge of locations and our connections to a range of different places in Australia. The children will also explore the importance of Country from the perspective of Indigenous Australians, including story telling traditions.
Buddies
The children had a wonderful time with their Buddies on Wednesday morning whilst the preschool transition program was underway. The Buddies played 3 different games, including Zigzag Ball, which were challenging and lots of fun. The Buddies also helped the preppies select a picture book from the library, predicting using the front cover and then discussing as they read together.
Reminders
The time has come....this term the children will be encouraged to walk into the classroom and organise their belongings independently.
The time has come....this term the children will be encouraged to walk into the classroom and organise their belongings independently.
Dates to Remember!
Friday 26th October - Halloween Disco
Sunday 18th November - Kingston Community Colour Run
Stay tuned for more dates for exciting happenings in the Junior School
Having Fun In Art
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