WEEK 7-8

14TH NOVEMBER - 25TH NOVEMBER 2022

25th November we will be having a gold coin fundraiser for the Epilepsy Foundation - one of our lovely students will be visiting classrooms to explain the reasoning behind the fundraiser. It is NOT a free dress day but a day to add a splash of purple to the uniform e.g. ribbons, purple hair spray, hair ties etc etc! Be creative!

FOUNDATION NEWS

In Literacy, students have been summarising different texts through role play, drawing and writing. We have read texts including 'Bright Stanley', 'The Very Sleepy Bear' and 'Willie the Champ and we've watched two short films titled 'For the Birds' and 'Snack Attack'. Students have spent time writing the beginning of a story and learning how to create a problem for their character/s in the middle. They have finished writing their story this week and will spend time editing and publishing over the coming weeks. Students have continued with neat and legible handwriting as a focus and our weekly weekend recounts are becoming much more thoughtful and detailed.

In Maths, we have been consolidating our knowledge of number through hands on addition and subtraction games, counting on and back and using concrete materials to explain our thinking. We have continued to create our own questions and survey the class to obtain 'data'. Students have spent the last two weeks presenting their data in pictograph form and will be learning how to construct a simple column graph this week.

For Inquiry, we have begun our construction project. Students were given a problem and asked to come up with a solution. The end result will see students working in pairs to build a bridge over a 30cm gap. The bridge needs to be long enough to span the gap and strong enough to hold a weight. The initial building phase is underway and students will test and redesign their bridge if necessary next week.

Friendly Reminders:

• Next Friday (2nd Dec) is a Curriculum Day

• Please read with your child each night and complete the reading log located in the green bag

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to get in contact with either of us.

Kind Regards,

Nat & Andrew

GRADE 1/2 NEWS

What a busy few weeks it has been in the 1/2 area!!

Last week saw the 1/2 level visit Rayner's Orchard in Woori Yallock. Upon arrival we were greeted by Len and Helen, the owners of the orchard who were very hospitable and friendly. Whilst visiting, the students walked around the orchard and had the opportunity to sample many fruits, some of them new, including kumquats, lemons, mandarins and oranges. The 1/2's were a part of the bottling process first hand, helping to peel and cut pears, before bottling them in a sugar syrup. Perhaps one of the most memorable parts of the day was the tractor ride around the orchard. The day was a huge success with everyone going home with smiles on their faces and full bellies. For more photos from the day please see the display in the 1/2 area.

LITERACY

This fortnight in Writing, students have been focusing on letter writing and the associated features, such as date, greeting, body of letter, closing and signature. Students have drafted and published a letter to a Pen Pal from the 1/2 level. Letters were exchanged and reply letters were written. This activity proved to be a lot of fun, with the students learning lots about their peers.

The 1/2 students will be starting to write procedural texts in the coming weeks, in particular recipes, in preparation for our upcoming 1/2 Dinner.

We have continued our study of prefixes, suffixes, synonyms and antonyms as well as revising our knowledge of Tricky Words.

NUMERACY

In Maths we have been revising addition and subtraction problems. We have been focusing on some of the strategies we have learned to solve such problems, including counting on, using concrete materials, near doubles, number lines and vertical addition and subtraction. The 1/2 students have used the above strategies, plus a few more, to solve some simple and worded addition and subtraction problems. We are very proud of their progress in this area.

We have also been revisiting the area of mapping, such as giving and following simple instructions, interpreting maps and creating grid maps to show position and pathways.

INQUIRY

Our Inquiry unit has proved to be lots of fun. Following on from the excursion to Rayner's Orchard, the students have each planted a seed and are excitedly watering them each day in the hope they flourish. Students planted a range of seeds including flowers such as Phlox and Marigolds and vegetables such as beans, spring onions, peas and cos lettuce. The students have also been tasked with designing and making an information card to sit alongside their plant.

REMINDERS

• Canteen is open this Thursday 24th November instead of Friday 25th November.

• Coach Approach program is running this Friday 25th November from 9-11am.

• Curriculum Day is Friday 2nd December. This is a student free day.

• 1/2 Dinner is 6th December from 5:30-7:00pm

GRADE 3/4 NEWS

GRADE 5/6 NEWS

School Captain

Homework:

This week for homework we have been doing the regular spelling, reading bingo task and sentences. For spelling we have to write down 6 words from a list with levels 4, 5, 6 then we get to pick 4 words of our own. For reading we have to read 4 nights a week and we have to write what we read during that time. We also have to complete a bingo task off a sheet to put in your homework book. For the sentences you have to make long sentences out of them. If everyone finishes their homework this week we won't get any next week.

Numeracy:

This past fortnight in numeracy we had our final week of Geometric Reasoning and we had our post test for Geometric Reasoning. We also had our PAT maths test. We started on our chance concept. One of the activities we had to do was roll the dice to complete the bug then find the probability of how many rolls it is to complete the bug.

Inquiry:

This fortnight in inquiry we have been studying the unit Civics and Citizenship. In this unit we learn about the government and how it works. We learn about how Australia works and how laws are passed. We learn about elections, the difference between the House of Representatives and the Senate. We learn about the different levels of government and what they are in charge of. We even listened to the speeches that our local politicians gave, and compared their policies. That is just to name a few of the highly interesting topics found in this amazing unit.

Literacy:

This week in literacy we did our PAT reading test. We had 40 minutes to complete 35 questions based on the text given. For each text you had to read through it and then answer some multiple-choice questions to test your understanding. To find the answer to the question you would’ve had to read through the text thoroughly. This week we also have done an activity on human rights. There were about 40 conventions that would apply to children and if they have the right to access those rights or needs.

Promotions

For the next few weeks we will be bringing one of the next year's canteen team into the canteen to see what it's like to be in the role. They got to serve people in the line they got to sort the money at the end they also got to sort lunch orders and help us make them.

AV Report

In the last couple of weeks we have been learning about computer parts but last week all of the 5/6s had to do the meaning of the computer parts. If you didn't know what that part was for you could have asked a friend or a classmate or even a teacher. The following week we pulled apart a PC. We looked at all of the different parts of the PC that helps it function. Then in the 3rd week we had a document with pictures of all the parts. Underneath those photos we had a little bit of room to identify the parts and say what they did.

House Captains

These past 2 weeks we have been doing athletics. Last Thursday, we did high jump with Tony, our athletics trainer. Tony is an athletics trainer from Athletics Australia.

Specialist Captains

Auslan:

The prep to 2 are the pros at colours in AUSLAN. If you need any help ask your younger siblings because most likely they will know the signs.

Music:

The production photos are now up in the office you can buy for 5 dollars each in cash. There’s a variety of different photos so you can choose which ones you want and which ones you don’t want.

SPECIALIST NEWS