Wednesday 28 March 2018

2018 Term 1 Volume 4



Term 1 2018, Volume 4, Weeks 8 & 9
 
"Holiday road...whoah uh oh!"

Well, can you believe that it's the end of the term already?

From the start of the year, establishing ourselves as a learning community through to the last couple of busy weeks, we have sure achieved a lot!

The Middle School students need to be congratulated for their positive attitudes and strong work ethics as they have approached each new topic and activity with enthusiasm.

This week the students took part in an invisit presented by the Green Hat Workshop called 'Planks'. Small wooden blocks, or 'planks', were used as a tool to facilitate team work as the students were given free reign to construct a range of different structures. The session was engaging, educational and enjoyed by all! Please see http://greenhatworkshop.com/ for more information.

The Middle School team wishes you all a safe and happy Easter break and we look forward to seeing you for a productive Term 2.

 

April
Monday 16th - First Day Term 2
Monday 23rd - Friday 4th May Swimming Program
Wednesday 25th Anzac Day PUBLIC HOLIDAY- NO SCHOOL
 
May
Wednesday 15-17th May NAPAN (Year 3 and 5 students)
Tuesday 22nd May - Italian Day
Monday 11th June - Queen's Birthday PUBLIC HOLIDAY- NO SCHOOL
 
August
22nd-24th Log Cabin Camp, Creswick. More information will be available soon.

In READING during weeks 7 & 8 we learnt how to use the descriptive language found in novels and picture books to visualise and create detailed images, in our minds and then on paper.
 
During WRITING in weeks 7 and 8, we have been continuing to learn about the structure and language used when writing narratives. We have been learning to write interesting introductions and hooks by using experimenting with language.

The Middle School have spent the last couple of weeks in MATHS working in ability-based groupings to solve addition problems and develop mental and written addition strategies. They have also had the chance to apply their knowledge to solve a range of real life and open ended problems. 

Students continue to be engaged in our INQUIRY topic and have been enthusiastically working in pairs to create a poster or brochure using the information they researched on a service from the City of Kingston website. Students also recorded themselves presenting their brochures using an iPad.

Our focus in SPELLING is:

Grade 3 & 4: The graph /y/ making the sound "i" as in pyramid.
 
The PITW key concept we have been focusing on this week is treating others the way we would like to be treated.


  • Wear suitable shoes for 3/4 sport each Thursday.
  • Please encourage your child to record their nightly reading in their diaries and bring both their book and diary to school daily.
  • The School Swimming Program will run during weeks 2 & 3 of Term 2. Please ensure the blue permission slip is returned regardless of whether your child is participating or not.




Jump Rope For Heart 'Jumpoff'




 
 

Planks Invisit








 

Harmony Day

 




Thursday 15 March 2018

2018 Term 1 Volume 3



Term 1 2018, Volume 3, Weeks 6 & 7 
"Ebony and Ivory live together in perfect harmony."
I do love my songs and what a great one to fit in with our activities next week.....even if I am showing my age.

...A week filled with fun and challenging activities for the whole school community to enjoy together.
Tuesday 20th, the Middle School teachers will have their Professional Practice day. The Specialist teachers will take the students for normal classroom activities whilst the Middle School teachers go offsite to see how other schools utilise their open learning spaces and bring back some great ideas.
Wednesday 21st, we will be celebrating Harmony Day. The students can come to school dressed in orange or a touch of orange and participate in some activities in multi-age groups to celebrate being a diverse nation and sending the message that everyone belongs.
Friday 23rd, we have the Jump Rope 4 Heart jump off where all students will participate in skipping activities and raise money for The Heart Foundation so be sure to 'jump' online to register for this.


 

March:
Wednesday 21st - Harmony Day
Friday 23rd - Jump Rope 4 Heart- HAVE YOU REGISTERED ONLINE???
Monday 26th - School Photo Day
Tuesday 27th- PLANKS incursion
Thursday 29th - Easter Raffle drawn
Thursday 29th - Last Day Term 1

April
Monday 16th - First Day Term 2
Monday 23rd - Friday 4th May Swimming
Wednesday 25th Anzac Day PUBLIC HOLIDAY- NO SCHOOL

August
22nd-24th Log Cabin Camp, Creswick. More information will be available soon.

In READING during week 6 we learnt how to make predictions using the information from what we read and our schema (what is in our head) to predict what might happen next. This week we have been learning how to visualise to help us imagine the characters and settings in the books we read. We have a brilliant display in our room showing our visualising skills...come and have a look.

During WRITING in week 6 and 7, we have been learning about the structure and language used when writing narratives. We have focussed on descriptive language and connectives to enhance our characters and setting. 

We continued the topic of data and graphing in MATHS in week 6 where students used the data they collected to create a graph using the Microsoft Office program, Excel. This week we started Addition. We worked in our groups to discover a variety of strategies to solve addition problems. Ask your child to show you some card or dice games they learnt. 

Students continue to be engaged in our INQUIRY topic and have been enthusiastically working in pairs to create a poster or brochure using the information they researched on a service from the City of Kingston website.

Our focus in SPELLING is:

Week 6: 
  • Grade 3: The digraph ‘or’ making the sound ‘er’.
  • Grade 4: The digraph ‘tt’ making the sound ‘t’ as in letter.
Week 7: 
  • Grade 3: The graph ‘l’ making the sound e and the graph ’e’ making the l sound.
  • Grade 4: The digraph /gg/ as in egg.
    The PITW key concept we have been focusing on this week is treating others the way we would like to be treated.


    • Don't forget to return your Easter Raffle tickets by March 26th
    • Thank you for your support with the Easter Raffle. Please ensure your Easter donations for the hampers are brought in by March 23rd.
    • Wear suitable shoes for 3/4 sport each Thursday.
    • Please encourage your child to record their nightly reading in their diaries and bring both their book and diary to school daily
    • Please return swimming and school photo forms.




    Reading






    Mathletics -Addition






    Have a fantastic weekend,
    Nikki, Jayne, Jess and Nick