Monthly Archives: January 2020
Term 2 Update
Posted by admin
Welcome to Term 2! It is great to see the students settled and ready for learning.
3 Way Conferences
We are looking forward to seeing you and your child at 3 way conferences today. The purpose of these conferences is to encourage the students to verbalise their learning goals and share some of the activities they do to help them grow as learners.
It can sometimes be a little overwhelming for the students during these conferences and so together we will ensure that the students are excited to share and celebrate their learning. We encourage the use of positive language, like: “I can”, “I am learning ..”, “I am growing by…”, “I am having a go at” to help develop the growth mindset.
After the teacher – parent – student session you will spend some time outside the classroom looking at your child’s books, play a game that is connected to their learning goal and look at their Seesaw post. Then you will be asked to record a message to your child on Seesaw talking about what you have noticed about your child’s learning and what you are most proud of.
Solving Problems
During the conference we will share with you how we have been solving problems. We will give you a copy of our classroom poster which shows you the strategies that we use in class to solve a variety of problems. We hope that your child will be able to also use some of these strategies at home to develop their confidence and independence. This website gives further insight into how we can support children to make safe and positive choices when faced with peer conflict.
Keeping Ourselves Safe
After the Chinese New Year Holiday we will be continuing our work on solving problems. We will be asking the students to identify “adults that you trust” so that they know who to go to if they have a “big problem”.
We will be reminding the students that if ever they get hurt or are touched in a way that they are not happy about or feel worried about, then they need to say “Stop”. Then they need to “Walk Away” and “Find an adult they trust and tell that adult what has happened.”
This will be an ongoing focus for the students to ensure they know what to do and who to talk to when they are not feeling safe. If you have any questions please email your class teacher.
Students will be able to:
- Identify the 3 safety steps – say no, get away, tell an adult.
- Identify adults they can talk to if someone breaks the touching rule.
- Learn that it is never the child’s fault if someone breaks the touching rule.
Unit of Inquiry:
Transdisciplinary theme: How the World Works.
Central idea: “Structures are designed for a variety of purposes.”
Inquiry into:
- Types of structures.
- Structure making and design.
- Various Influences on the design of structures.
In this unit the students will be exploring the world around them and noticing the many structures in their environment. They will be identifying the purpose of these structures and how they are made. The students will be challenged to design and make their own structures for different purposes. Through tinkering with many different objects the students will be encouraged to ask questions about design, how things are made and the materials used. They will be using different thinking dispositions and will be encouraged to be open-minded as they reflect and consider different designs.
This unit will have a strong science link as the students learn about different materials and how things are made. They will also find out how we use the natural resources that are around us. Students will learn how different climates require different needs and will explore how designers meet these needs.
As a continued focus on well-being this term we will further explore the character strength of gratitude.
Mathematics:
In math we will continue to consolidate our knowledge of numbers to 100 and beyond. The students will explore addition and subtraction with concrete materials and how to record numbers in different ways. Through this unit we will be developing the concept of shape and measurement as we design and make different structures.
How to Help At Home:
Continue to play games with the 100 board we gave you before the Christmas holidays. Look for different shapes around you – compare the shapes and describe them. Draw the different buildings around you and talk about the shapes they see. Use the language of measurement to describe and compare different objects at home:
- big / small / bigger / smaller / biggest / smallest
- long / short / longer / shorter / longest / shortest
- tall / short / taller /shorter / tallest / shortest
- heavy / light / heavier / lighter / heaviest / lightest
- more / less / most / least
Language:
This term we will be exploring writing non-fiction texts connected to structures. Students have identified that good writers plan, write, read, re-read, use different ideas, sound out words, use finger spaces, capital letters at the beginning of an idea (sentence) and full stops at the end. Each student has their own writing goal and will continue to develop these through non-fiction writing as well as their own ‘free writing’. The children will continue with regular reading of different texts, reading with the teachers, buddies, parents and to themselves. Each child has specific reading goals to help them read new words and ensure that they are “reading for meaning”
How to Help At Home:
Many children are learning to read the 100 magic words. These words are the most common words in the English language. The students need to recall these “sight words” easily to help with fluency in reading. A daily 5 minutes game or activity with these sight words will greatly improve your child’s reading. Daily reading of your child’s home readers will also help develop fluency.
Parent Help
Thank you to the parents who are currently helping in the Year 1 classes. Your support is truly appreciated and the children really enjoy the parents being in the classroom. If you think that you would like to help in your child’s classroom (even if it is once a month or occasionally) please email your class teacher. We are hoping to run another workshop that will inform parents of the things that they can help with in the classroom as well as the protocols that are expected of all parent help. The school policy is that If you would like to help in the classroom you need to attend a Parent Help workshop.
Celebration of Learning:
All parents are invited into the Year 1 area to find out what the children have been learning though this unit of inquiry, Please save the date: Wednesday 11th March 1:25 – 2:45
