Spring has arrived

And so too has the pollen.  I am away today sadly, I hope to be back tomorrow. 

The children did a great job on Friday at the assembly, it is hard to believe that they have only had one term at school, they were cool, calm and confident in front of the whole school.  

In class this week, we will continue to focus on our writing and how we can find words around the room or on our word walls to help us.  We will be trying to do a little explaining in our writing, using words like "because" and "so that" as we attempt to say how and why things happen.

In maths we have been concentrating on the concept of more or less and what these words mean.  We made towers and discussed which tower had more blocks/less blocks, this concept will help us when we move in to solving word problems in our groups.

The children do love maths, and there are a lot of maths websites available for them to practice on at home.  Here are a couple of links...

http://jmathpage.com/ 

http://www.topmarks.co.uk/

https://www.khanacademy.org/math/early-math

Khan academy is a fantastic program in which you can create an account and work towards specific goals.  I use it myself and think it is worth a look.  It has video tutorials that are useful to explain maths concepts.  Have a look if you have the time, it could be something you and your child can do together.

Thanks.
Don't forget to read the notices page:)

Assembly tomorrow

Hi everyone,
Just a reminder that it is Room 6's turn to do the assembly this week, you are more than welcome to come along and watch. 

I have included some pictures to show what the children get up to when left to their own devices.

 

 Play is an important part of our day, and it is great to see how creatively the children play.

Week 6

Gosh, we are chomping through the weeks!!
Spring is on our doorstep.
I am really impressed with the way that everyone is reading, keep up the great work, it signals that we are ready to begin a new leg on our journey.

This week our focus will turn to writing, we are all learning how to take risks when we write.  Writing does not have to be perfect, words don't need to be spelled correctly at this stage, approximations and single letters that represent the beginning sound of a word are to be praised. Reading and Writing go hand in hand, it is our job to show how the two are linked and to be the source of enthusiasm and  praise for any attempt at writing.



I once taught a child who was struggling to find the confidence to write. One day, completely out of the blue, he decided he was going to make his mum a card for her birthday.  He worked so hard on the card, found the word "mum" on his word wall and sheepishly gave it to her when the bell went at 3 o'clock. This was the first time he had ever put pencil to paper independently, yes the card opened the wrong way, most of the words were illegible and not written in straight lines, in fact the only things you could make out was the word "mum" and a big heart.  He looked at his mum expectantly as she turned the piece of paper over in her hands and said "What's this say?"  "I can't read this."
It broke my heart to see the look on his face and it took a long time to help get his confidence back to try that hard again.
  

Here are some tips for helping your child with writing, please take the time to have a read and maybe give one a go, if you are not already

1. Read from a variety of sources. Reading and writing are linked – success in one supports success in the other. Read stories, newspapers, advertisements, instructions, etc. to your child every day and then discuss what you have read.
2. Encourage your child to write. Children love to make their own birthday cards, write thank you notes, make place cards for the table, or send an email to a friend. Save old cards from birthdays and holidays to recycle for homemade cards. Whenever possible, let your child see you writing – grocery lists, instructions on the family whiteboard, emails, etc. – and get them to help.
3. Writing can be done anywhere. Have lots of magnetic letters or words on the fridge. Get a box of chalk and write your names on the driveway or sidewalk. Get a white board – it can be used again and again.
4. Play writing games. Make a game of letter finding. Show them how to form a letter and then go letter hunting in your house or in a book – count the number of "Ds" on a page. Find a picture they like and have them write words or a sentence about it.
5. Help children build their vocabulary. Try rhyming games starting with one word such as "mat". Say and write down all the words that rhyme, like "cat", "hat", "fat" and "splat". You'll be surprised how fast their word list grows.
6. Explore the meaning of words. Create a word book at home and have your child add words as they're learned. Have them note the words they use the most and talk about why.
7. Write to each other. Write notes to your child and leave them in interesting places, like the lunch box. Ask them to write a reply or come up with something new. If they have their own email, email each other. Have kids email jokes to family and friends.
8. Don't limit what you write with or what you write on. The sky's the limit – pudding, sticks or fingers in mud, earth, snow and sand, sparklers, steamed up windows and mirrors, and bubble soap markers for some sudsy learning.
9. Writing comes in all shapes and sizes. Point out different ways writing is used – letters, signs, advertisements, instructions – and explain why they are different. Also point out different ways letters are created – printed, cursive (written) and fancy variations. Let them be inspired to create their own letter art.
10. Start writing at an early age. Children often learn to write before they can read. Encourage this by showing them how to print their name or the names of friends and other family members. Buy them notebooks with lines so they can learn to make their letters correctly or a practice book with letters they can trace.

Thanks for reading.  Have a great week.

Please check the Classroom Notices Page:)

Week 5

First of all...there is no school tomorrow, it is a teacher only day.  I will see you all back at school on Tuesday.

Well, as we march into Week 5 a big congratulations to everyone in the class for moving up a level in your reading...well done to you all.

This is going to be a mucky week, a teacher only day on Monday, then I am out on a course on Wednesday, hopefully the weather stays fine so we can all get outside for a run around.

On a happy note, Roman celebrated his first birthday this weekend...1 year old, it seems like just yesterday he was a chubby little pup intent on eating everything he saw as quickly as he could.

What a handsome chap!!!

Friday was our first time as a class contributing to the life of the school.  We combined with Room 15 to present the Liturgy in the hall, the theme being the Assumption, we celebrated the time when God took Mary up into heaven.

I was very proud of the way Room 6 behaved and delivered their part of the Liturgy, well done to Shubh, Alice and Josephine for being a part of the prayers of the faithful.  It is a very scary thing to speak in front of the entire school. You did a great job.

Reading Eggs
In your child's reading bag, there is a laminated card with details on how to access the Reading Eggs website, this is a reading program provided by St.Mary's and has international success.  Please take the time to help your child log on and have a look at what the website offers, we use it in class and I do believe it is of value.
Parents often ask for useful websites, this is one of the best.  If you have any questions or are having trouble locating your child's card, come and see me, I am always happy to help.
Another good website to help with reading is...
http://www.starfall.com/   do take the time to have a look at the site before you allow your child access, these educational sites are a much better use of their time than useless games that requires no thinking whatsoever. 

On the Friday of Week 6, we will be presenting the school assembly in the hall (no idea what we will be doing yet, but it will be amazing!!!). This is an early notice, in case you would like to come and watch.  It starts around 2pm

A big thank you to Rachel, Georgina, Juanita and Meredith for their help in the classroom over the last few weeks.  It is always wonderful to have parent help and you are welcome any time.

Our Feast Day

Friday was a wonderful celebration of the life and contribution that Saint Mary Mackillop made to our school and community.

The children began the day with a Mass in her honor, a big thank-you to those parents who came with us to the church.  A extra big thank-you to Alice's mum, Georgina who sat with our class.

The children were very well behaved once again, it is quite a big ask to sit and listen to a Mass.

Following the Mass, we had a class rotation with a different activity in each class, learning about the value of service which is associated with Mary Mackillop.

"Never see a need without doing something about it", is her motto and  a value we try to instill in the children.

This was followed by a shared lunch in our class and once again it is important to note the wonderful behavior and manners of all the children, we will most certainly be having another shared lunch before the end of the term. Thank you for all the wonderful food and the sensible choices that were made.

In Week 4 we will be learning about rainbows and volcanoes.  We will doing some explanation writing to record our ideas and continue working in out "Thinking Groups" to help develop our understanding.

Please remember to read each night with your child and to continue working on letters and sounds, for the children to be successful at writing, they need to have all the letters and sounds at their fingertips. Practice makes perfect and gives them confidence to try writing unknown words.

Check out the Classroom Notices page to catch up on upcoming events.

Week 3

Our topic for this term is Cycles.

The children are learning about things around us that repeat.  We will be looking at life cycles in the plant and animal kingdom further on in the term.

We have started working in Thinking Groups, to help us extend our ideas, the children are learning to work collaboratively and to question in order to further develop their understanding.

It is a great way for the children to share their ideas and learn new things from their peers, we record what they know, what they think might be true and what they want to know on the whiteboard, colour coded for each group.  Our question in this session was "How do frogs grow?" 

In maths, most of us are still working on the forward number sequence to 20.  We try lots of different ways to help us, however it is really tricky and the sequence from 11-20 needs lots of attention.  If you would like to help at home, simply take the time to ask your child to get 20 of anything.  Peas, eggs, slices of bread, buttons or anything that you have 20 of and help them count....as often as you can.  If they see you doing it, they will value it more.

Lastly, we had the amazing Illustrator Donovan Bixley visit us today, check out the school library for a look at what he has done.  Amazing!!  He spoke of the importance of doodles, letting your children run free with pencil and paper, and how those doodles can become something if you just keep looking.

Congratulations Elizabeth!!

Well done Elizabeth for receiving the Principal's Award at our school assembly on Friday.
Elizabeth was chosen for her ability to persevere when things get tricky and for always being kind to others.  Well done.

Also at assembly on Friday was the draw for the holiday reading logs, well done Cooper and Isaac for completing your reading log and winning a prize.

 

There will be more reading logs to complete in the next set of holidays, hopefully everyone will be motivated enough to complete them and return them when school starts in Term 4. 

In our class this week, we will be learning about the months of the year and how they correspond to the Seasons, here is our Winter art in case you didn't get a chance to see it...

It is going to be exciting to watch the change in the seasons which will soon be upon us, hopefully inspiring some Spring art for our walls.

In RE we are learning about Belonging, how we belong to a family and how people in a family have roles and responsibilities. If you have a photo of your family that your child could share with the class, could you please send it along to school in their book bags.

Remember to read the Classroom Notices page, go to the link at the top.

Have a great week.