We have introduced vowels, double consonants, and initial blend sounds this term. Students are expected to recognise the sound, identify and generate words orally that contain them, and read decodable words containing them. As a form of extension, when ready, students will begin spelling words containing blends.
Here are our new phonics rules;
Short Vowels: Say the letter sound.
Long Vowels: Say the letter name.
Double consonants: Can be found in the middle or at the end of a word. They are found after a short vowel sound.
Blends: Two consonant letters blended together, you hear both sounds.
We have now started our guided reading program. You may have noticed that your child is bringing home a reader on a Thursday afternoon. Please take the time over the weekend to share the book with your child. They have been practising their reading skills during the week using the book. Reading to you is reinforcing these skills whilst sharing their new skills with you. Please return these readers on Mondays. Each week we will swap between a decodable reader and a non-decodable reader. The skills we are practising are different each week. Decodables are teaching your child blending and segmenting skills (sounding out) and fluency. The non-decodable readers focus on their comprehension skills (understanding what they read).
Students are continually developing confidence in their ability to write. Most students are now attempting independent writing and using their sounds to represent words. Our whole class goals in writing are;
1. Capital letters to begin a sentence
2. Spaces between words
3. A full stop at the end of a sentence
Students also have individual writing goals to develop their own writing.
Mathematics
We have now covered numbers to 20. Students are expected to recognise the number, write the numbers, and make collections to represent the amount in different ways.
We have also covered breaking numbers into parts and using this understanding to complete simple addition and subtraction within 10.
In measurement, students have been learning the mathematical language of longer, shorter, taller, heavier and lighter and comparing objects by size and weight. They have started to measure an objects length using informal units (blocks, paperclips etc).
Science
This term we are covering Physical Science. We have been investigating how the properties of objects affect the way they move. We have looked at;
1. Bouncing
2. Rolling
3. Sliding
4. Spinning
We have introduced the term friction. Students know that this is a force that acts upon all objects while they move, trying to stop or slow down the object. We have learnt that smooth surfaces create less friction than rough surfaces and therefore smooth objects can travel further.
DID YOU KNOW?
When your hands are feeling cold you rub them together. When you rub them together, you create friction between your hands. This force produces heat that helps to warm your hands.
...We learnt this!
Technology
Now we know all about objects, we have demonstrated our understanding by designing and building a ramp in teams that will allow a car to travel the furthest possible. We have just finished designing and making a car. Our goal: to have the car that travels the furthest.
