Wednesday 18 November 2015

Term 4 Week 7

CONNECT WITH YEAR 1/2

Term 4 2015

Learning and Teaching


In year 1/2 WAre Learning To (WALT)....


READING
Predicting and Inferring - analyse structure, rhyming patterns and words, punctuation, and story within the poem to enhance comprehension. 

SPELLING 
Grade 1 - week 8: ch as in chair
               week 9: a as in ball
Grade 2 - week 8: ey as in key
               week 9: ea as in beach

WRITING
Poetry
WALT: provide details about events using the structure of poetry.
Create poems that show how images support the meaning of the text

MATHS
2D and 3D Shapes
1 - Recognise and classify familiar two-dimensional shapes and three-dimensional objects using obvious features
2 - Describe and draw two-dimensional shapes, with and without digital technologies
   - Describe the features of three-dimensional objects   
                       


UNIT OF STUDY
This Term our Unit of Study aims to develop children's critical thinking skills using 'Wonderland' as an exploratory base. We are analysing Dr. Seuss' poems using De Bono's Thinking Hats to change an outcome.



REMINDERS

Footsteps
Friday 6th November - 4th December
Continues this Friday

Excursion to Fairy Park
Tuesday 8th December
This term the Grade 1's and 2's will be celebrating our Wonderland Unit of Study by going on an excursion to Fairy Park. Fairy Park is a place dedicated to story telling of fairy tales and ancient myths and legends which links in perfectly to what we have been learning at school. Look out for your permission form coming home soon.

Incursion - Craft Power 
Tuesday 15th December
This is a hands on woodwork experience using the creativity thinking skills we have been learning about in our unit of work.


A Photo Display of What's Been Happening in Level 2

Colour-A-Thon!
What a fun day had by all! Thank goodness the rain held off and we all got to run/walk/skip some laps around the duck park with our friends.
Thanks to all who have brought in their money already to go towards our school fundraising for the Junior Playground. If you haven't returned your money yet, please do so by Friday. Thankyou!










RSL
Grade 2 walked to Mentone RSL to celebrate Remembrance Day






Footsteps
We learnt our second dance last Friday called Arabian Nights. Take a look at a few snaps and a short video of learning the partner dance.







Money Maths
Money, Money, Money! We have all had a fantastic time learning all about Australian money. From learning how much each coin and note is worth, counting money, finding our ideal Kid's Cafe lunch and finding out how much it costs and even doing some pretend shopping with some catalogues.









Poetry writing
This week we have begun poetry writing. We read Oh the Places You'll Go to all the students which inspired some fantastic poems. Here are a few examples.

I wonder where I will go.
I hope I will know.
I might go to Spain
And play a good game.
I might go to France
And learn how to dance.
I might go to Fiji
With my family and me.
I might go to queensland
And play in the sand.
It may be NSW
Where it sometimes hails.
By Kirby A

The places I will go?
I wonder if you know.
Will I go to Spain?
Where I might see a plane.
Will I go to Fiji?
Where I might watch TV.
Will I go to Queensland?
Where I might hear a band.
Will it be Wales?
Where I might see monkey tails.
I wonder where I will go?
I wonder if you know?
By Sienna G

Will it be France?
Where I can dance.
Will it be Wales?
Where I can sit and it hails.
Will it be Spain?
Where I can sit and watch the drain.
Will it be America?
Where it will be Spectacular!
By Tyson C

I want to go to Candyland,
‘Cause there’ll be a kind band.
There might be a tiny mouse,
To buy a little, little house.
I might eat a lollypop,
In the land of Bubble-op.
I went to bed in Candyland,
To wake up in the evening band.
I want to go to Mexico,
‘Cause I might find somewhere else to go.
I might choose to go to Bali,
To eat some yummy, yummy Gelati.
I think I might change my mind,
Only to be very kind.
I want to climb the Eiffel Tower,
Only to see a lovely flower.
I want to find a little bee,
Only so it can sting me.
I want to find a pig,
To dance a jig with me.
By Keira F.


Unit of Study
This week we used our creativity and the Thinking Hats to create houses that the wolf (from the 3 Little Pigs) couldn't blow down! We worked in small groups to plan our design, give reason why it would be better than the original and finally create the houses using a variety of materials.












Responsible Pet Ownership
We were very fortunate to have 2 special guests at our school on Monday, Simon and his dog Rory. We learnt all about how to be safe around pets.











Advice for Parents - World Events
There were some tragic events which occurred last week in Paris and other parts of the world that your children may have seen or heard about through the media or through others’ conversations.  Children often worry and know more than we realise. Adults may assume that children are doing okay if they don’t talk or ask questions about what has happened.  Sometimes they have questions they may not ask unless we provide the opportunity.  The Department of Education and Training offer the following advice for parents:


       It is wise for you to monitor your child’s exposure to television coverage, print media and social media.

        Some children and young people will want to talk about the tragic events and try to make sense of what they have both seen and heard.

        Other children will avoid any discussion around the events and will be reassured by routine and normality.

        Remember the importance of routine, sleep, exercise and healthy eating.

There is a range of things you can do to assist your child during events such as this, including:

        Acknowledge that the event was distressing
        Reassure children that they are safe
        Look for signs of distress (e.g. some children/young people might be scared)
        Normalise  responses - typical response will range from anger to general upset or sadness
        Maintain a normal routine - keeping the structure at home or at school in place
        Allow children to express feelings as they arise
        Telling stories about how people manage during difficult times can be helpful.
        Separate fact from fiction e.g. children may express fears about unrelated events.
        Plan relaxing activities before bed – talk your child through a gentle relaxation, this might include using soothing music and talking them through relaxing tension in their body or simply reading something to them that induces relaxation (i.e. a favourite book).
        Speak in hopeful terms – children and young people will often take their cues from their parents' reactions; if you are honest, calm, compassionate and open they will be much more able to trust that they will be okay.

        Always remember the value of doing something with children that they like to do such as playing, exercising, being outdoors - have a time during your day to share time with your child.  

Have a great week!

If you require a meeting with your child's teacher please don't hesitate to make an appointment with us.

Wednesday 4 November 2015

Term 4 Week 5

CONNECT WITH YEAR 1/2

Term 4 2015

Learning and Teaching

In year 1/2 WAre Learning To (WALT)....

READING
Connections - WALT: relate and link the text to ourselves, other texts and the world. 

SPELLING 
Grade 1 - week 6: 'th' as in feather
               week 7: 'oa' as in boat   
Grade 2 - week 6: 'a' as in banana
               week 7 'ea' as in bread

WRITING
Letter writing/Response writing 
WALT: write a letter including date, senders address, recipients address, greeting, information, farewell statement and correct tense.
Poetry
WALT: understand and create different types of poems using the correct structures. Poetry styles include: traditional 4 lines, cinquain and limerick. 

MATHS
Money WALT:
G1 - Recognise, describe and order Australian coins according to their value
G2 - Count and order small collections of Australian coins and notes according to their value

UNIT OF STUDY
This Term our Unit of Study aims to develop children's critical thinking skills using 'Wonderland' as an exploratory base. For the next few weeks we are thinking creatively. Students will read a fairy tale and change something to make a fairy tale better. Eg redesign the pigs houses.


REMINDERS
House Colour-A-thon
Tuesday 10th Novemeber 9am - 11am
Theme: dress up in your house colours
Hinkler - Red  Flynn - White   Hawker - Green   Kingsford Smith - Blue
Where: Duck Park, Glenelg Drive, Mentone
Sponsors: Ask people to sponsor you per lap of the park. You will be jogging/walking/running for 1 hour.
Please remember to bring your sponsor sheet to school on the Colour-A-thon day.

Remembrance Day
Wednesday 11th November
Each year Grade 2 represent the school at the Mentone RSL for their Remembrance Day ceremony. The ceremony will commence at 10:40am sharp and the students are invited in for refreshments afterwards. We will be walking down, leaving school at 9:20am with all grade 2 parents welcome to walk with us. Please see your teacher if you wish to attend. Look out for your permission form coming home soon.

Footsteps
Friday 6th November - 4th December
Footsteps is coming back to MMPS! Footsteps is a dance program which will be coming to school every Friday starting this week running until the 4th of December. The dances learned will be presented at the Carols Night on 4th December, so get your dancing shoes ready! 

Excursion to Fairy Park
Tuesday 8th December
This term the Grade 1's and 2's will be celebrating our Wonderland Unit of Study by going on an excursion to Fairy Park. Fairy Park is a place dedicated to story telling of fairy tales and ancient myths and legends which links in perfectly to what we have been learning at school. Look out for your permission form coming home soon.

Photo's of What's Been Happening in Level 2

Learning about calendars and days of the week



Netbooks! Reading eggs, Mathletics and choice writing



Have a fabulous week!


If you require a meeting with your child's teacher please don't hesitate to make an appointment with us.