Science, Shopping, HASS, Gold and Even Some Bells

So much has been happening in Room 22!
We are loving having Miss Zaffino in our class and really enjoying all the fun things she has planned.
Room 22 has been full of laughs and joy.
We love the fact Miss Zaffino is organised and works so hard.

We have met our Canadian pen pals, been engaged in some awesome Science learning and even been on an excursion! Below are all the details.

Science

This term we have been learning about Living and Non-Living Things. Miss Zaffino taught us a cool acronym to remember all the aspects of Living things. Ask you r children to explain MRS GREN. It has been a great device for remembering what defines a living thing.

To ensure we understand the needs of living things we even have a class plant, kind of like our pet. Meet Lucinda Greenleaf. She has a watering schedule and her own care plan. We love hearing the children coming in saying good morning to her.

We even got to plant our own beans to observe and monitor their growth.

Miss Zaffino also has a shop that is open each Friday afternoon for children to purchase items with the 'money' they have earned during the week. We even have a bank manager to check over the column equations used to add funds and work out change. So fun!

As part of our HASS unit this term, we are learning all about significant landmarks. In order to get the excitement going and brains firing with questions we visited both The Bell Tower and The Perth Mint. It was a wonderful day and learnt so much!

The Bell Tower

 The Perth Mint

Since returning from our excursion we have been designing and making our own coins. These will be ready to showcase sometime this week. Keep an eye out for our display.

Please feel free to come in anytime to look at our displays. Please see me if you'd like to make an appointment to discuss anything.

Thank you for your support
Mrs C and Miss Zaffino xx

Term 2

Firstly, welcome back to Term 2, 2017. I hope you all had a relaxing holiday and found some time for fun and family. I certainly enjoyed spending time with my own children and of course the sleeping in wasn't too bad either ;)

The end of Term 1 saw us recognise the amazing sacrifices the ANZACS of the past and servicemen and women of the present. It was a beautiful ceremony.

Wattle Grove Primary School - Anzac Service 2017 from Stuart Meachem

 English

Our writing focus for the first 5 weeks of this term will see us continuing with narratives. We have been learning about all the different aspects of this text structure along with topic specific vocabulary, grammar and punctuation. I have enjoyed getting a glimpse into each of the children's imaginations and I am so impressed with their skills so far. Please feel free to come in anytime and read over your child's writing.
This term we will also continue with the reading and spelling of phonic sounds, reading and comprehension strategies and grammar and punctuation. Later in the term we will be conducting another Science Superstar Challenge, this is a wonderful opportunity to assess each child's speaking and listening skills. Keep an eye on the blog for updates in relation to this.


This year we have been reading The Magic Tree House series. We read a little of these small chapter books everyday. Once we finish each book we complete an online comprehension task on The Magic Tree House website. There are many games and activities for children to interact with. The link is below.


https://www.magictreehouse.com/


The books we have completed so far...

Maths

 We will continue to work through our PR1ME books this term. We will be focusing on a range of skills including number, graphing, column equations with regrouping, measurement and shape. You will see aspects of these in the homework practice sheets.

HASS

 This term we are learning all about landmarks in and around Perth. We are also very lucky to have been given permission for an excursion to BOTH the Perth Mint and The Bell Tower. Notices have been sent home regarding this wonderful event, please ensure permission slips and money is brought in by the due date.

Science

 This term we will be focusing on life cycles. We began this new topic by giving each table a set of pictures for sorting and grouping. There were many creative groupings and labels happening. We then advised them that all the pictures could be grouped into just two groups. The discussions around the tables were so intelligent and collaborative and once they realised what the labels were: Living and Non Living the sorting happened in a matter of minutes. Congratulations once again to Table 2 for sorting their pictures this way the very first time. Well done!

As you know, we had Miss Zaffino in our class for one day a week in Term 1. Well we are now lucky enough to have this wonderful lady in our class for the entire term. This is Olivia's final practicum placement before graduating and beginning her teaching career. I hope you will extend the warm welcome I received.
I will now hand you over to Miss Zaffino...






Hello, my name is Olivia Zaffino and I am a 4th year Primary Education student at Edith Cowan University in Mount Lawley. I will be completing my final 10 week placement in Room 22 during Term 2 and as Term 4, 2017, I will have completed my degree and will be a qualified teacher. I have already started teaching some lessons and am really looking forward to getting to know all the students throughout the term :)