Week Ten

It is hard to believe that it is already week 10 of Term 3! It has been an extremely busy term and all our children have worked really hard. We are enjoying seeing all the progress they are making in all areas of learning.

Literacy

In our last week of term, we will be reviewing the sounds taught. We are also beginning to identify the sound at the end of the word. Sight words covered this year include, I, am, a, can, Mum, look, at, it, Dad, is, in, the, see, we, like and here. 

Numeracy

We will be reviewing the numbers 1-15. Counting forwards and backwards 1-10 continue to be a focus. During our numeracy block, we also cover many measurement concepts (such as tall/short) and we have been reviewing ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, 3rd).

Learning Journey Afternoon - How Tall am I?

Thank you for attending your child's learning journey. The children have shown so much growth in their mathematical language skills and problem solving. We have been so proud of what they have achieved in our projects this term. 

Dancing Lessons

Thank you to those that have returned dance permission slips and money. Dance lessons begin first day back next term. We return to school on Monday 11 October (Blue Group) and Tuesday 12 October (Red Group).

Connect

Finally, this will be our last post on Blogger. Wattle Grove Primary School will be moving to Connect for school correspondence. Please check your login details so that you can stay up to date with what is happening in your child's classroom (from Term Four).

Week Eight

We hope you had a wonderful Father’s Day and enjoyed the sunshine! 

Literacy 

Phonics: The sounds we have been learning this term are Ll, Gg, Bb, Ff, Ww. This week the students are learning the phonic short vowel sound Oo… for octopus, octagon and otter. Next week we will learn the short vowel sound Uu… for umbrella, up and under.  

Our home corner has transformed into an optometrist and the children are using the language and social skills required for customer service! Dramatic play is very important for children’s development and learning. They can try out roles from familiar family scenes and local community experiences. It enables children to develop their imagination and engage in experiences to make sense of the world they live in. 

Sight words 

Through the year, Kindy children have a list of 20 high frequency words, which are found in written texts and readers. Children are encouraged to recognise these words without having to ‘figure them out’. The 20 Kindy words are: I, am, a, look, mum, dad, is, it, at, in, can, the, we, like, here, see, go, will, to, this. 

This week’s sight word is ‘like’ e.g. I like school.  

The children have enjoyed learning and reviewing these words while reading them in sentences. They have also been observing how to track words in a sentence, from left to right, when reading. 

Show and Tell 

Our news-telling has been going very well and we have learnt some very interesting facts about various sea creatures. 

Numeracy 

Children are focusing on the numbers in the ‘teens’ and will be reviewing numbers 1 to 15 over the next few weeks. We are practising how to accurately count objects and identify that the last number counted answers the question “How many?”  

Thank you to all parents for supporting your child at home with their learning. A few minutes each day can make a big difference in your child retaining the concepts taught at school. It is amazing to see the children’s growth.

Week Five

We have already hit the middle of Term 3, and would like to congratulate children and families for a wonderful four weeks at school. Time flies when we are having so much fun!

Literacy

Phonics: This week the children are learning the phonic sound Ff and will be busy working on some Ff- Ff-Ff  Father’s Day surprises……ssssh!! Please don’t mention this to Dad!

Our home corner has transformed into a florist’s shop and the children are using their creativity to make flower arrangements and use the language and social skills required for customer service! Dramatic play is very important for children’s development and learning. They can try out roles from familiar family scenes and local community experiences. It enables children to develop their imagination and engage in experiences to make sense of the world they live in.

Sight words

Through the year, Kindy children have a list of 20 high frequency words, which are found in written texts and readers. Children are encouraged to recognise these words without having to ‘figure them out’. They are also referred to as sight words or look and say words. They are : I, am, a, look, mum, dad, is, it, at, in, can, the, we, like, here, see, go, will, to, this…..so far the children have learnt eleven.

This week’s sight word is ‘The’ e.g. Mum is at the school. The sun is hot.

The children have enjoyed learning and reviewing these words while reading them in sentences. They have also been observing how to track words in a sentence, from left to right, when reading.  

Story retelling – We have recently been focusing on oral storytelling. This is a great skill to teach children. It gives them the opportunity to build on their oral language skills including speech, vocabulary and grammar. Storytelling encourages a love of reading and stirs a child’s imagination. Exposure to stories provides children with ideas to use when telling their own stories. 

Show and Tell – Our news telling has been going very well and we have learnt some very interesting facts about various sea creatures.

Top Facts of the week: Dolphins have two ‘tummies’ !!

                                          A blue whale is longer than three buses in a line!

                                          The blue whale’s tongue can be as heavy as an elephant!

Songs

In Kindy we often teach concepts through music and movement to make learning fun and enjoyable for the children. Learning is optimised when the curriculum is taught through a multi-sensory medium and keeps children motivated and engaged. All Kindy classes have learnt songs for letter sounds, letter formation and number formation. They would love to teach you these songs – just ask them! Keep in mind that we have covered the following sounds Ss,Aa,Tt,Pp,Ii,Nn,Mm,Rr,Cc,Kk,Hh,Ee,Dd,Ll,Bb,Gg,Ff and numbers 1-15.

Numeracy

Children are focusing on the numbers in the ‘teens’ and will be reviewing numbers 1 to 15 over the next few weeks. We are practising how to accurately count objects and identify that the last number counted answers the question “How many?” We have learnt the maths strategy of counting on, doubling and now we are learning partitioning i.e. splitting a number into smaller units. e.g. 5 can be broken into 3 and 2 or 1 and 4.

The children have continued to amaze us with their progress.  Thank you to all parents for supporting your child at home with their learning. A few minutes each day can make a big difference in your child retaining the concepts taught at school. It is amazing to see all that the children have achieved in such a short space of time!

There are many events taking place at school and we are excitedly looking forward to the next five fantastic weeks in Term 3!

Book Week Parade

This year, the Book Week parade is on Friday 20 August at 9 – 9.20am. 

Blue Group children are invited to attend, dressed as their favourite Book Week character. 

Please add your child’s name to the list (classroom whiteboard) if you intend on bringing them to school. Your child will be brought back to the classroom and need to be collected at 9.30am.

Week Three

We have had a wonderful start to Term 3. The children have been excited to return to school to see their friends and teachers. It has been lovely to see all their smiling faces. Each child has settled quickly into classroom routines and applying what they have learnt in Terms 1 and 2. 

Literacy 

In Literacy, we have been reviewing all sounds covered last semester (S,A,T,P,I,N,M,R,C,K,H,E,D). Our new sounds this term are L, B, G, F, W, O and U. We will continue to practise identifying rhyming words and counting syllables in words using our bodies (head=1, shoulders=2, stomach=3, knees=4).

News Telling

The Kindy theme for Term 3 is “Commotion in the Ocean” and all learning areas will be integrated to link with this theme. We will be starting our news telling program, using the above topic. Children will bring in an object or picture about something connected to the ocean. We will be learning from each other, hence each child will share some information about their chosen item. 

Reading

We have started Guided Reading in Kindy. The children have been learning about the concept of print, now they will start learning to hold their own book and follow the text with their finger as we read together. Children will also begin to have these books sent home. Please spend some time with your child reading the book. There are questions on the right side of each page that can be used to support your child’s reading and comprehension skills. Please remember that children are not expected to read the book themselves yet, but encourage them to track the words with their pointer finger, as you read aloud and encourage them to join in as they are able. Talking about what is happening in the pictures and what might happen next are great ways of building your child’s understanding of what is being read. It is important that books are returned promptly on the due date to ensure they can be sent home to other students. If you have any questions, please speak to your class teacher. 

Numeracy

We will continue to build on number sense and will continue to work on understanding number lines. Children will find the missing number on a 1 to 10 number line. They have also been learning to identify the number that comes before and after. Children have been introduced to the concept of counting on. This week we will be counting objects into a bucket, e.g. 5 shells, and then count on 6, 7, as we add two more items. Our focus numbers are 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15.

Week Eleven

As Term Two comes to an end, we would like to congratulate children and their families on a wonderful and very busy term. Please continue to support your child through home practise in the holidays. A few minutes each day can really make a big difference in supporting your child to retain the concepts taught at school this term.

Literacy

Sounds learnt in Term 1 and Term 2

Ss, Aa, Tt, Pp, Ii, Nn, Mm, Rr, Cc, Kk, Hh, Ee and Dd. 

Holiday Revision Ideas

·      Finding things that start with these initial sounds when at home or out and about. Eye Spy is a fun family game that’s great during a car trip. E.g. “I spy with my little eye something that starts with Ss”

·      Practising writing letters, with correct formation, using crayons, textas or paint

·      Reading books together – spotting letters they recognise in the text

Reading

The children have loved reading and discussing a range of books at school this term.  We have been learning about some of the parts of a book, such as the cover, title and author, and how to track the words left to right when reading.  We have used clues from the pictures to predict what might happen in the story.

We would like to encourage you to read to your child each day.  Local libraries are a great place to visit and borrow books from. Reading aloud has many benefits for your child’s overall learning and development.  Talk to your child about the story and ask them questions to develop their ability to understand the text.

When reading a book, you can:

·   Ask your child to predict what the story is going to be about by looking only at the cover.

·   Ask your child how a character is feeling and why.

·  Make connections between the book and your child’s experiences. For example, if the story is about a holiday, talk about a holiday that your child may have had and any similarities/differences compared to the text.

·  Expand your child’s vocabulary by talking about any unfamiliar words you read and what they mean.

·   Ask your child to tell you the story of their favourite book. Encourage them to turn the pages as they tell you what’s happening by looking at the pictures.

Numeracy

In Week 11 we are revising the numbers 1 - 10. We will be practising how to accurately count objects and identify that the last number counted tells us how many. We are also learning to line the numbers up, in the right order, to make a number line.

Fundamental Movement Skills

In Kindy, we teach and practise a variety of gross motor skills. These skills provide a foundation for movement and support children’s ability to participate in a range of physical activities with skill and confidence. Young children love to move and these skills are easily practised through games and active outdoor play.

Have a happy and safe holiday break. We look forward to seeing everyone again in Term 3.

Week Eight and Nine

A big thank you to those parents who have already returned their West Oz Wildlife permission slips and payments. If you have not returned them yet, you have until 18 June.

Literacy

Rhyme - Over the past few weeks the students have been exposed to rhyming. When two words sound the same at the end e.g. cat and hat end with ‘at’, they rhyme. Children may find rhyming difficult to grasp, so please explain it to them in their home language, if necessary. When students can hear the rhyming sounds in words, they demonstrate phonemic awareness, which is essential for early reading. To teach this skill, books, pictures and games can be used to demonstrate and reinforce rhyming techniques. Children also learn rhyming by listening to stories, poems and songs that are easy and fun to remember. Nonsense rhyming words are acceptable too!

Syllables - Counting syllables is a pre-reading skill and helps the process of decoding. The Kindy children have been working on counting syllables and would enjoy showing off their skills. We are counting syllables in words using our bodies (head=1, shoulders=2, stomach=3, knees=4). Try asking how many syllables are in a word of your choice and discover how clever they are! Below are some examples of syllables:

One syllable words: tree, fun, kite.

Two syllable words: hel/lo, run/ning, par/ty.

Three syllable words: el/e/phant, fan/tas/tic.

Four syllable words: al/li/ga/tor, hel/i/cop/ter.

Sounds- Over the next two weeks we will be focusing on initial letter sounds:

Ee as in Elephant starts with Ee, Ee, Ee

Dd as in dinosaur starts with Dd, Dd, Dd  

Sight Words - We learn to recognise sight words as quickly as we see them. We then can put these words into sentences. The sight words we are revising are:

look, at, Mum, I, can, am, a, Dad.  

Numeracy

The children are learning to identify and write numbers 1-10. Say a number between 1-10, then ask your child to count on from this number. We are also learning to count and order numbers to 10 in the correct order and use one to one correspondence. We are starting to recognise dots on the dice without counting. 

Hand Washing

To assist the children in implementing healthy habits and in line with NQS all children must wash their hands before eating, as well as after toileting, coughing, sneezing or blowing noses. In addition to this, we encourage you and your child to wash hands upon arrival to school.

Cooler Weather

With the weather getting cooler please remember to label your children's jackets and jumpers. A reminder all jackets, jumpers, leggings, stockings and long sleeved undershirts all must be in school colours. Only school coloured hair garments to be worn and a quick reminder that excessive jewellery and nail polish are not permitted.

As always, please contact me if you have any questions or concerns. We look forward to the final few weeks of Term 2!