Dear Parents, Carers and Community Members,
It has been another wonderful fortnight at Macarthur Street, and we have officially passed the midpoint of Term 1. Where has that time gone? Our Foundation students have completed their first full week of school. There may be a few tired bodies, but they continue to work incredibly hard and should be very proud of themselves.
This week in Foundation we have completed our first full week of school! We have begun ‘Sounds-Write’ in our Literacy block and have begun using various sounds and letters to make, say and write words. We have also moved our seating arrangement around in the room, including our floor dots in preparation for our Sounds-Write lessons, this has been nice, as everyone is displaying confidence to make new friends in the room. This week we also begun a new knowledge unit on ‘Safety’ where we are learning about people in the community that help us/keep us safe.
In Knowledge, we have been exploring the amazing human body and its different systems, with a special focus on the digestive system. Students have loved learning about what happens to food after we eat it and how our bodies break it down to give us energy. We have also been identifying the five food groups and discussing why healthy foods are important for growing strong bodies and healthy brains. The children are beginning to understand how the nutrients from food help us think, move and learn each day.
In Sounds-Write, we have now completed our Initial Code review. On Monday, we will begin Extended Code instruction, starting with the different spellings of the /ae/ sound (as in train, play, great, cake). This is an exciting step as students deepen their understanding of how one sound can be represented in different ways in print.
In Writing, we are continuing to strengthen our sentence construction skills. Students are focusing on writing complete sentences and using question words such as what, when, and who to help expand their ideas. We are encouraging careful rereading to check that each sentence makes sense and includes all the important parts.
We are all looking forward to the Athletics Day on Friday!!! GO BLUE!!
In Grade 2 this week we have been celebrating the small but important achievements. Each day students participate in a Literacy review where they practise their High Frequency Words, read a passage aloud, practise handwriting and punctuation and practise writing with speed and accuracy. Students are starting to recognise the daily routine and have been taking on the challenge of copying a passage from the board onto their whiteboard. Each day they are getting better. Well done on all the small efforts, Grade 2!
Over the past two weeks, we’ve continued our learning into all things democracy. This has included learning about parliament and its two houses – The House of Representatives and The Senate. We’ve also learned that our monarch (King Charles III) is a part of the parliamentary system in Australia. Because the monarch of the day is not usually in Australia, they are represented by the Governor-General – a role given to a person who is selected by the Prime Minister and whose responsibility it is to represent the monarch. We have also spent time learning about electorates, voting processes and the role of ministers within parliament.
Lightning
By Vin
His eyes opened and once again he had no idea where his powers had taken him this time! His name is Jake and his powers are lightning. In his universe lightning powers are the best powers you can have but these powers take you to random places. All of a sudden Jake is in The Darkness Realm where the dark mythical creatures are. He woke up on a building and saw the mythical creatures, Jake battled the creatures to the death. I wonder where Jake’s lightning powers will take him next!
Happy Birthday to the students who have celebrated their birthday in the last week or will celebrate their birthday in coming days.
