Tuesday 21 June 2016

Term 2 Weeks 5-10


From Mrs C 

 WE'RE FAMOUS

As a result of winning my award last year, my class this year also get to be in the limelight. To promote the nomination process this year, the Department chose us to do their advertising. Two gorgeous ladies from the Department came out in Week 8 to film us and interview myself and some of the children in order to write and article and create a video. We have watched it in class and I now have a class of famous stars. I have attached the link below for you to have a look at.

http://www.education.wa.edu.au/home/detcms/public-education/content/about-us/news/past-stories/events-and-initiatives/2016/june/search-is-on-for-was-next-top-teachers-and-school-staff.en?cat-id=17339766

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL8WRWD1_e4&list=PLii_cr4ClSc3UCqxrad1hTmgWux5r4tGW&index=2


Well, here we are at the end of Semester One! Half way through the year already. It is about this time I begin to feel upset at the fact I only have another semester to go. I am so proud of how far all the children in Room 22 have come, not only academically, but socially.

As you will be aware, I have been relieving in the Administration as a Deputy Principal, this will be an ongoing role for the year. In order to ensure minimal disruption, I leave detailed notes for the relief teacher and always make sure the children are well prepared before I leave. At this stage, I will be filling in every second Friday. As a result, spelling test for these weeks will be held the day before on Thursday.

The end of the term sees the us ending our Science unit. What fun it has been to watch our bean stalks reach the castle, just as they did in Jack and the Beanstalk. In addition to this, I want to thank you all for your support with the Science Superstar Challenge. I was absolutely blown away by the quality of the experiments, but more so by the confidence and understanding the children displayed during each and every presentation. Congratulations to our winners, Naomi and Neve. A special congratulations to our Year One final overall winner, Neve!  More on this later in the Science section.

With the mornings being so cold and the grass being very wet. We have continued to do our morning fitness inside. This always brings so many giggles and lots of smiling faces...great way to start our day. We have been doing Just Dance Kids on YouTube. The sing requests always make me giggle and I just can't resist listening to them sing and dance so confidently. Our current favourite is Power by Justin Bieber and Will.I.Am.



As of next term, now that children have settled into our routines, I will put up a Parent Helper Roster. Please feel free to write your name on a day/date that suits you. At this stage, I will ask that you only put your name down once in order to give everyone a chance.





I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you for all our special mums who come in and help out with reading. It not only supports me, but enables the children the opportunity to further develop their fluency and expression, a vital skill required for comprehension.

REMINDER: Please ensure your child return their home reader on their reading day (schedules in folders and on the door) and their spelling homework folders on Fridays. Failure to do this results in confusion and anxiety for the children.

I wish you all a relaxing holiday. Please allow your children time to have fun and be kids, they have well and truly earned it!

Thank you for your support,

Kirsty Campbell-Court

English

 These last two weeks we will be looking at how to write a persuasive text. During our recent discussions I think it is safe to say your children are well versed in art of persuasive language. We had a great laugh listening to each child talk about something they have tried to persuade their parent to buy/let them do. I look forward to seeing them grow in this area. I am proud to say I was very impressed with the improvements in Procedure Writing and the Science Superstar Challenge provided excellent subject matter!

Recently, I attended a Professional Learning (PL) day on Explicit Teaching. This follows our schools focus on this style of teaching. It involves three phases of lesson instruction, 'I Do',  'We Do', 'You Do'. I am sure you have heard your children talk about doing a 'warm up' and quite possibly thought 'What on Earth?' As a result of this PL day, I have altered our Literacy Block and I am very happy with the results thus far! If you would ever like to come in and observe a Literacy Block please let me know.

Term 3 will see some changes with our home reading program. Your child will now have a reading log in place if the comprehension booklet. As a year level we decided to simplify the process. If we feel your child needs extra comprehension support this will be sent home in addition to the log.

Please take note of the focus areas/goals for Literacy on your child's report.

Mathematics

We will be continuing along with our PR1ME Maths books for the remainder of the year and have almost completed book 1. This books won't be sent home until the end of the year, as they used in support of book 2. Term 3 will see us extend our skills into column addition and subtraction with and without regrouping, be ready for some fun chants and songs! .
In addition to these focus areas, we will be consolidating our knowledge about time - days of the week, months of the year, how many days in a week/fortnight/month. Please help your child recite these maths concepts to develop a deep understanding.

Please take note of the focus areas/goals for Mathematics on your child's report.

Science

As not all of our beans grew, we thought it best to plant the ones that did in the school vegetable garden. That way, we can all be involved with the planting regardless of our seed's success.
I  have been very impressed with the knowledge and enthusiasm each child has shown to our topic this term.


Science Superstar Challenge



WOW! What can I say? We have a room full of scientists! I was completely blown away by the quality of each experiment, each presentation and the depth of knowledge each child displayed. Choosing just two for Room 22 was extremely difficult to say the least! However, it was decided Neve and Naomi would proceed to the next round which saw two children from each class present to all of the Year Ones (over 100 children!). Our two girls are to be commended on their professional experiment and expert explanations. I am very proud to announce the overall winner for Year One came from...Room 22!! Congratulations to NEVE!




There will a Science Superstar assembly Thursday afternoon (week 9) where Neve will once again present, but this time to the WHOLE school! We are so proud of you Neve.




Thank you as always for your continued support.