Welcome to Room 14!

Welcome to our first blog for 2017. Now that the blog is established, I'm hoping to post shorter items more often and also have opportunities for the students to contribute.

Room 14 Student Councillors

Riley and Tylah

Congratulations to Tylah and Riley who were elected by their peers to represent our class on the Wattle Grove Student Council. We wish them both the very best of luck in their new role and we look forward to them sharing their reports with us. 

Aussie Day

‘Aussie Day’ was an opportunity for the Wattle Grove School community to celebrate the uniqueness of this wonderful country we call, Australia. Australia Day is usually celebrated on the 26 January each year while we are still on holidays, so Wattle Grove families donned their Aussie outfits on the 10 February in a belated celebration. A great day was had by all and the money raised on the day was donated to the Cancer Council.

What's happening in Maths...

Room 14 have been investigating numbers to 1000 by breaking the numbers into hundreds, tens and ones. Students have used concrete materials, drawings and their new Prime Maths books to practise these skills. We then put all our learning together and demonstrated our understanding by creating Place Value Monsters. These are on display in our classroom and hanging in the Block 2 Wet Area. 

 

           Monster Maths!

What's happening in the Literacy Blocks...

 

Our VCOP (Vocabulary, Connectives, Openers and Punctuation) focus has been on writing effective persuasive texts. The students have been learning to hook their reader with a catchy title, a rhetorical question and a strong opening statement of their opinion. Much of this work has been oral, with teacher demonstrations followed by heavily supported student writing opportunities. 'Talk Homework' is currently being completed at school as part of the lesson. When the students are more confident, it will come home with students each Wednesday before our Big Write session.

Our reading strategies this term have included predicting and asking questions before, during and after reading. During guided reading students are challenged to demonstrate their use of the focus strategy to more deeply understand what they have read. I encourage parents to take their time when reading books with their children to ensure they get the most out of them.

What's happening in Science...

This term’s focus is Earth and Space Sciences and the topic is water.  So far we have investigated sources of water around the school and how water arrives to our doorsteps. This week we will continue to look at the water cycle. Students will then investigate uses of water at home and how they can become active water guardians, protecting this precious resource in their daily lives. 

What else is happening... 

 

In Health, we have met Bounce Back Bear who teaches students how to become more resilient. Keep checking the blog, as I will be posting information about how parents can help their children grow into resilient adults.

These photos show the students participating in a cooperative Kagan strategy called Quiz, Quiz, Trade. It is very engaging and an excellent way to promote Speaking and Listening skills as well as a way to check how well students are learning the curriculum content.

 

The students have been borrowing books from the library each week and I’m thrilled that most are remembering to return these each Wednesday. Students are also welcome to exchange their books on other days if they wish to exchange their book earlier.

The focus for morning fitness changes each week as one week we are running laps on the oval and on the alternate week we have the opportunity to play fitness games. Students will need to remember to have a hat each day to participate.