Almost That Time

 The End is Near

It is almost that time of the year...time to say goodbye, time to relax and prepare for the New Year ahead. The time of year when Mrs Campbell is constantly in tears at having to say goodbye to children I feel are my own. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with your babies this year. It has been amazing to watch them grow and mature. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all so much for your support this year, but most of all for entrusting me with your most valuable possession...your children.

Term 4 is always a big term and this one is no exception!
We have had:
Family Fun Night - Thank you very much for all your generous donations. We were by far, the most well stocked stall. It was a wonderful night. The children were so well behaved and it was fun watching them so full of joy!

Wattle Grove Primary School - Family Fun Night 2016 from Stuart Meachem

Year 6 Graduation Ceremony and Dance - Another wonderful night. It was lovely to see some of the first students I met at Wattle Grove graduate.

Wattle Grove Primary School - Year 6 Graduation 2016 from Stuart Meachem

 

Wattle Grove Primary School - Graduation Dance 2016 from Stuart Meachem
 

Humphrey's Dance Lessons
Swimming
and all the usual teaching and learning.

Friday of Week 8 saw the end of Room 22 and 24's swimming lessons for 2016. The children represented themselves and Wattle Grove magnificently over the two weeks. A lady that was swimming at the pool on Friday stopped Mr Gartrell to tell him how impressed she was by them. On a number of occasions the swimming instructors also mentioned how impeccable their behaviour was. Such a lovely thing to hear, of course, I already knew this, but it is so nice to hear!

Coming Up 

We have our Presentation Morning which is set to be a wonderful event for all concerned. We hope you can all make it. I can't wait to fill this space below with a collection of photos of our big event!

The last two weeks of school has seen the return of my little helpers...elves to be precise. Each day we use our 'Random Selector' to choose two new elves to help for the day. Stay turned for an elf that may look familiar to you.

Here are our elves for Monday and Tuesday this week. Aren't I the luckiest to have the cutest elves in the world.

Alysha and Shreya

Holly and Chelsea

 Chloe and Deep

Stay tuned for many more!

Santa Claus is Coming To Town

Over the next two weeks we will be partaking in lots of craft and decorating for Christmas. We have lots of fun activities planned and hope you love your presents as a result.

Party Time

In addition to this and to celebrate the end of the school year, we will also be having a class party next Wednesday the 14th of December. This is the day before we break up for the year.
A list will be going up of what to bring...be on the lookout.

Once again, I thank you for your amazing support this year. I have enjoyed getting to know each and everyone of you! I wish you and your babies all the best for Year Two and the future.

Much love,
Mrs C ~xx <3 xx~

Term 4 Weeks 1 - 5

Well here we are, Term 4, 2016!
How fast has this year flown?! It is so hard to think that Year One is almost over. 

The beginning of Term 4 has been a busy one. As you know I have recently returned from America where I attended a fantastic Professional Learning opportunity. I look forward to implementing many new ideas and strategies in my classroom over the coming weeks.

Whilst in America I was fortunate enough to visit Sequoia National Park (http://www.visitsequoia.com/Sequoia-National-Park.aspx). It was just amazing! I have begun to share some of my photos with the children. I have also placed a link for the Park above for you to have a look at.

Reminders

Swimming notes have now been sent home. Please fill out the necessary details and return to school with money attached.

Family Fun Night will be a great night hosted by the school's P&C. We encourage students to bring in some donations for our Bowling stall. These can include small things such as, stationary (pencils, erasers), chocolate, lollies etc. If unsure, please come and see me. Thank you in advance for donating!

Science

As you know, this term we had another round of Super Scientist Presentations. I must say, the standard of these presentations were outstanding once again! I was so impressed by the confidence students displayed during their presentation. Clearly, they were well prepared in order to deliver such engaging presentations. Thank you to all parents and families who have provided such wonderful support for your children. It was very difficult to choose just 2 Room 22 Super Scientist Finalists, congratulations goes to Madelyn and Naomi, who then presented at the year level assembly on Tuesday afternoon. Congratulations to Jessica from Room 9 for taking out the title this term.

Here are a few experiments

  

Literacy

This term we continue to focus of reading and comprehension. It is important to ask you children questions before, during and after reading to ensure they have understood what they have read. In order to develop full comprehension, fluency is imperative. Fluency enables children to concentrate on what they are reading rather than individual words. This skill is developed by re-reading familiar texts. 

We are also focusing on writing. The children have been given prompts for writing such as: If I were the Principal for a day, If I were a superhero, If I were invisible etc. The open structure of these prompts enables children to write freely and concentrate on their spelling, vocabulary and sentence structure. Come in and read some of your child's amazing work, some are quite clever and funny.

Maths

This term, we have been focusing on column equations, both addition and subtraction. We have recently been learning the strategies associated with borrowing and regrouping. We have learned a chant to help us remember the steps. Ask your child for a demonstration. If this is an area you would like to know more about, please feel free to come in and as for a demo. 

This term will also see a big focus on money. Please support your child by allowing them to count coins, discuss the cost of items when you are shopping and how much money would be required to pay for them.

 

Term 3 Weeks 5 - 10

 From Mrs C

Firstly, let me start by saying...

  GO PURPLE!!!!!

How exciting that PURPLE won the faction carnival. Unfortunately, we only have two people from PURPLE faction in Room 22, myself and Alysha. Rest assured, we celebrated well!

There are some wonderful photos of the event on the Wattle Grove Primary School blog (click on the photo below for a link).

http://wattlegroveps1.blogspot.com.au/


 Well here we are at the end of Term 3!!! I am so sad to think I will soon be saying goodbye to my little Year Ones who are so ready for Year Two.

This term has been packed with so many exciting events and Term 4 promises to be much of the same.

Term 4 is a busy term with swimming and dancing, however, teaching and learning continues to remain our main focus. Your support with home tasks will continue to benefit your child in the completion of Year One and in readiness for Year Two.

This week your child received a list of sight words, as stated, these sight words were not to be practiced all at once, but rather, over the holidays. Children are encouraged to use the list to tick off any words they know and practice the ones they are unsure of. Encourage your child to be responsible for their own learning as this is an important life skill.

Let me take this opportunity to once again thank you for your continued support this term.
I am off to Dubai for some more Professional Learning. I leave Wednesday of week 10. Please have a safe and relaxing break with your child. Enjoy some free time for play, social skills and FUN!

I will see you all back soon for Term 4.

Literacy and Numeracy Week

Week 9 was Literacy and Numeracy Week. This is a week when we focus on raising awareness of the importance of Literacy and Numeracy in everyday life. This year we focused all our learning around a great book entitled, The Terrible Plop (if you click on the picture below, you will redirected to YouTube where you will be able to listen to a reading of the story. 
 

We can't give any more away...you will have to wait until your child's Learning Journey on Tuesday, 20th September, 2016. Learning Journeys begin at 2pm. Your children have been working very hard on their plans for you. Make sure you bring your energy, I think many of you are in for a busy afternoon of learning :)

ENGLISH 

In English we continue to work on our:
Language - vocabulary and WOW words
Sentence Building - verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, simile, openers and connectives
Tracking and Blending
Segmenting  
Spelling - ask your child about our new spelling warm up...so fun!
Comprehension
Phonics 
and much, much more

I have attached a link to one of our Sentence Building Warm ups for you to practice with your child
https://www.dropbox.com/s/wa85j0y44qtu25n/The%20Princess%20for%20blog.pptx?dl=0
 

MATHS 

In Maths we continue to work on our:
Counting by 1s
Skip counting  by 10s, 5s and 2s
Measurement
Shapes (2D and 3D)
Addition and Subtraction
Number Bonds to 10 and 20 

I have attached a link below to one of our Maths warm ups for you to practice at home
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4ilm7sbtp88ttk2/math.pptx?dl=0

Our unit on shape led us to search for and find shapes in everyday items. It was so exciting seeing the children come back in from recess and lunch with so much excitement about a shape they noticed outside and around the school. We searched for cubes, cuboids, cones, spheres and cylinders. Below are some photos we took of shapes around our classroom. Ask your children to label them for you.

Integrated Studies

As we come to the end of our unit on My Place in Space. We look forward to exciting new learning in Science and History next term.

Be sure to pop in often, to view new learning hanging around our classroom.