Term 3

Term 3 Weeks 4-5

literacy

Reading

In Reading, we explored traditional rhymes including Hey Diddle Diddle and Jack and Jill. Students identified rhyming words and explored onset and rime, such as sl-ug and p-ug. We also practised identifying syllables in words and had fun clapping out words with up to three syllables.

In week 5 began exploring the world of fairy tales. Students learnt about the features of narratives and fairy tales, including characters, settings, problems and solutions. Using Cinderella as a mentor text, students explored good and evil characters, magical elements and different fairy-tale settings. They also sorted fiction and non-fiction books and fairy-tale and non-fairy-tale texts.

Writing

In Writing, students used their knowledge of rhyming words and word families to create their own poems. They brainstormed words from different word families, planned their ideas, drew pictures and used their rhyming words to write their poems. Students then published and shared their poems with the class. We also began our new fairy-tale writing unit. Students shared what they already knew about fairy tales, drew their favourite fairy tale and explored important fairy-tale elements, characters and settings.

Phonics

In Phonics, students continued building their sound knowledge by reviewing Level 3 sounds and learning the new sounds /y/ and /z/. We also introduced the spelling pattern of using a double consonant after a short vowel. Students continued practising blending and reading words using their developing phonics knowledge. Our new Heart Words were go and he, and students practised recognising and reading these words in different contexts.

It has been wonderful to see students becoming more confident in using their phonics knowledge when reading and writing!

numeracy

Last week, students continued exploring subtraction by creating their own subtraction stories using their write-and-wipe templates. They rolled a six-sided dice, crossed out the matching number of objects, completed the number bond and wrote the matching subtraction number sentence. This provided lots of opportunities to practise taking away, finding how many are left and representing subtraction.

Students were also introduced to length and learned to compare objects using the words longer than and shorter than. They used informal units such as icy pole sticks, playdough and Unifix cubes to measure and compare. Students enjoyed making playdough snakes that were longer and shorter than an icy pole stick while using language such as longer, shorter, longest and shortest.

This week we explored height, learning that height is the distance from the top to the bottom of something. Students practised using the words short, tall, shorter, taller, shortest and tallest. They had fun lining themselves up from shortest to tallest and finding a classmate who was taller and shorter than themselves.

In pairs, students are creating their own subtraction stories using their write-and-wipe subtraction template.

personal & social

This week, students have been learning about inclusion and how we can help everyone feel welcome, valued and included. We discussed how our words and actions can make others feel included or left out. Students explored different playground situations and shared their ideas about what was right or wrong, as well as how each person involved might feel.

Students also learned that problems are a part of life and that there are different ways we can work through them. They explored a range of everyday problems and matched them with possible solutions.

directed discovery

This week, our students took the next exciting steps in their projects! After completing their design plans, they used their plans to identify and collect materials they would need to bring their ideas to life.

Students visited the Prep Learning Neighbourhood and selected a range of materials including: pipe cleaners, pom poms, paper, cardboard, popsicle sticks, tissue paper and Styrofoam balls.

With their materials collected, students have now begun designing and constructing their projects. We look forward to seeing how their projects develop over the term!

Term 3 Week 4

life saving victoria incursion

This week, our students enjoyed a visit from Life Saving Victoria. They learned water safety skills such as how to stay safe in and around water, who can help in an emergency and why it is important to have an adult near when swimming.

Students participated in role-play scenarios and discussions. They had a lot of fun and built an understanding of how to make safe choices around water.

Term 3 Weeks 2-3

100 days of school

This Friday, our Foundation students celebrated 100 Days of School! Students came to school dressed in bright colours or wearing shirts decorated with the number 100 to mark this exciting milestone.

We began the day by taking part in the 100 Days of School Parade, where students proudly showed off their creative outfits. Back in the classroom, students enjoyed a special class party filled with fun activities as we celebrated reaching 100 days of learning, growing and making wonderful memories together.

It was a fantastic day, and we are so proud of everything our students have achieved in their first 100 days of school!

literacy

Over the past two weeks, students explored a variety of nursery rhymes and poems to identify rhyming words and learn new vocabulary. They practised recognising rhyming patterns, matching rhyming words, and exploring onset and rime by changing the beginning sound of words to create new rhyming words.

Students used familiar nursery rhymes to substitute rhyming words and create their own sentences. They explored word families including -ay, -og, -it and -an, helping them build confidence in writing and apply their phonics knowledge to simple words and sentences.

In Phonics students learnt the Level 3 sounds /f/, /l/, /j/ and /v/. They practised blending and reading CVCC words using blending boards, clapped syllables to identify the parts in words, and continued strengthening their letter-sound knowledge. These activities supported students to become more confident readers, writers and spellers.

directed discovery

In Directed Discovery, students chose a topic that interested them and began their inquiry journey. They first completed the 'K' (Know) section of their KWL chart by recording what they already knew about their chosen topic through drawings.

The following day, students learnt how to ask meaningful questions about their topic. They completed the 'W' (Want to Know) section of their KWL chart by drawing and recording what they wanted to learn.

Students then became researchers! They explored a variety of resources, including books and photos, to investigate their questions and discover new information. They recorded their findings in the 'L' (Learnt) section of their KWL chart, sharing the new knowledge they had gained.

Next week, students will use the information they have researched to begin designing and creating their Directed Discovery projects.

personal and social

This week in Personal and Social Learning, our class explored different negative emotions and learnt how to recognise them in ourselves and others. Using our puppets, students guessed the emotions each puppet was showing, such as feeling sad, angry or afraid. Together, we discussed the clues that help us identify these feelings and talked about times when we might experience them.

Students enjoyed creating their own emotion puppets and sharing the different feelings their puppets represented. This hands-on activity sparked conversations about emotions.

To extend their learning, students drew pictures of strategies that can help someone cope when they are feeling sad, angry or afraid. They shared thoughtful ideas including talking to a trusted adult, taking deep breaths, playing with a friend, reading a book and spending some quiet time to help calm their bodies and minds.

It was wonderful to see students confidently sharing their ideas and learning positive strategies to recognise and manage their emotions.

Numeracy

Last week, students continued developing their addition skills by exploring different combinations that make 10. Using bond blocks, they modelled two parts that combine to make a whole of 10. Working collaboratively with a partner, students recorded a variety of number bond combinations to 10 and wrote the matching number sentences (e.g. 3 + 7 = 10 and 7 + 3 = 10). Through this, they learnt that the order of the addends can change, but the total stays the same. Students also discussed how adding parts together makes the number bigger.

In Week 3, students were introduced to subtraction. They learnt the key vocabulary associated with subtraction, including subtract, minus, take away and count back, and practised using these words while solving subtraction problems. Students explored the idea that subtraction means taking away from a whole to find out how many are left, and discovered that the number becomes smaller when we subtract.

To make their learning engaging, students used hands-on materials such as leaves and sticks to act out and solve subtraction stories.

Term 3 Week 1

Literacy

This week, students have been exploring the wonderful world of nursery rhymes, in Reading, students built their background knowledge by exploring a range of familiar nursery rhymes using QR codes and iPads. They listened to different poems, shared their favourites and discussed what they noticed. Throughout the week, we focused on the poem Twinkle Twinkle Southern Stars, where students learnt to identify rhyming words, explored new vocabulary and listened carefully for words that have the same ending sounds. They also investigated onset and rime by building words such as star, car and jar, helping them recognise common spelling patterns.

Students participated in a variety of hands-on rhyming games, sorting pictures into rhyming and non-rhyming groups, highlighting rhyming words in poems and working with partners to explain why words rhyme.

In Writing, students drew their favourite nursery rhyme and recorded key vocabulary from the poems they explored. As the week progressed, they matched rhyming pictures and words, completed sentence starters inspired by Twinkle Twinkle Southern Stars, and created lists of words that rhyme with -at. Together, we also co-constructed vocabulary anchor charts to support students' oral language and writing.

In Phonics, our focus sounds were /b/ and /h/. Students practised identifying the sounds, matching them to letters, and reading and writing words containing these phonemes through a range of explicit and hands-on learning experiences.

numeracy

This week, students have started learning a new maths skill—addition. They have been learning to represent addition problems using concrete materials and organise their collections into a part-part-whole model.

To practise this new skill, students worked with a partner. One student chose a number card (1–8), then selected another number card to add to the first number. They used concrete materials to represent both parts, joined the two parts together to find the total and recorded their thinking on their First, Then, Now sheet.

Through these hands-on experiences, students are developing their understanding that addition means joining two parts together to make a whole (the total). They are also learning that when we add two parts together, the total becomes bigger than each of the individual parts.

personal & social

In Personal and Social learning, students have been exploring different emotions and developing their understanding of how people may feel in different situations. They learned about facial expressions and body language associated with emotions such as happy, angry, sad and excited. Through discussions and interactive activities, students explored ways they can recognise emotions in themselves and others. Also, they learned how they can support people when they are experiencing different feelings.

Students enjoyed participating in an emotion game. They used their facial expressions and body language to represent different emotions.

Students have also been learning about resilience and how we can respond positively when we face challenges. They were encouraged to reflect on a time when they showed resilience and represented their experiences through drawings. We discussed the importance of having a positive mindset and continuing to try even when things feel difficult.

To further develop our understanding of resilience, students explored the concept of the Learning Pit. We discussed how practising new skills, making mistakes and trying again can help us achieve our goals. It has been wonderful to see students actively engaged in their learning and confidently sharing their ideas and experiences with their classmates.

Directed discovery

This week, students enjoyed sharing their holiday experiences with the class. They talked about what they did during the holidays and created a drawing to illustrate their favourite memories. It was lovely to hear about everyone's adventures.

Additionally, we explored different places in our community. After reading a story together, students identified and drew places that are important to them, such as our school, the hospital, the library, parks and their local sports clubs. We discussed how these places help people in their everyday lives.

We also learned about the different jobs people do in our community. After reading a story about community helpers, students discussed the important roles these people play in keeping our community safe. They thought about what job they would like to do when they grow up and shared their ideas with their peers.

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