Classroom News 2/3/4

The weeks are going by so quickly, students have been busy beginning new topics and reviewing skills and understandings of concepts learned last term.
In English, we have been learning about strategies that poets use. This is in preparation for our entries into the Henry Lawson Festival Children’s Art competition that has the theme of ‘Ode to Winter’. Year Three and Four need to add an ode to their artwork that encompasses this theme. It has been great fun listening to different types of poems and also to explore the interesting ways in which poets use words and rhythms to convey their message.

We listened to an interesting poem titled ‘An Ode to Blueberries’. We then annotated the different strategies the poet used.

In Religion students are beginning to use the Three Worlds of the Text to explore well-known stories and Parables. The first story we looked at was the Three Little Pigs, using a well-known story helps students understand the concept and the questions.

The students were able to record a number of stories from the Bible; this will become our resource for choosing a story to investigate later in the term.

In Mathematics, revision and review of the four operations has been the focus for the first two weeks. This will continue for some time as all students need to consolidate efficient strategies and the flexibility needed to solve number problems quickly. I encourage all students to continue with their maths pack I sent home last term. Quick recall of tables, addition to 10 and 20 as well as being able to use a range of strategies are vital skills and form the basis for many mathematical concepts. Below is our four operations grid we use each day.

In PDH we are learning about being healthy and that health means different things to different people. Students will develop understandings of the four areas of health, spiritual, mental, physical and social in the next few weeks. In sport we had time with year 5/6 and looked at some athletics training videos in preparation for the athletics carnival, it was great to have the senior students help us with our field events training. We look forward to brushing up on some NRL skills now that we have finished with athletics.

In Science this term we are investigating the Living World. Students investigate how plants and animals are used to satisfy our needs for food and fibre. Students will make observations about living things and investigate the features of the habitats in which these livings things survive.

NUMERACY

Kindergarten and year 1 students have been using story boards to communicate a variety of ways to represent numbers. The story board allows students to draw, write, make the collection and write number sentences.

They have also been using ten and twenty frames to solve addition and subtraction. The different coloured counters make it easier for students to see the two numbers.

Year 2/3/4 students have been developing efficient strategies for the four operations. We have looked at adding numbers by partitioning the tens and ones, using a number line and recognising the other strategies of doubles plus one and two, make a ten and doubles.

We have also look at reflective symmetry and symmetry in patterns using pattern blocks. The students created a pattern and made it again using the Pattern Block IPad app and identifying lines of symmetry.

Year 5/6 have reviewed multiplication and division of whole and decimal numbers. We used an activity called Calculator Slido where we x and ÷ by 10, 100 and 1000. Students are beginning to recognise the pattern found when we use these numbers for these operations. Formal setting out and solving of multiplication is a concept that needs to be practised, so I suggest students attempt to solve at least two of these for homework this week.