Welcome to Prep, 2013
Term Letter Print Version | How to communicate with your child's teacher
Chatting Children
Term Letter, Term 2, 2013
Dear Families
A warm welcome back to all Prep families! The Prep children have come back to school well rested and have settled back into the school routine again this term. They seem very eager to learn! Term 2 is set to be an exciting one, and I would like to share some information about it with you.
Religion
This term the whole school focus for Religion is Scripture. The children will listen to, explore and reflect on Scripture stories from both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. At the end of the unit the children will choose their favourite scripture story, give a simple oral retell, and explain the message or teachings behind it. Prayer and meditation will also be continued in the classroom.
English
In English this term, the Prep students will be listening and responding to a variety of popular children’s literature, including books by Pamela Allen and Pat Hutchins. The students will focus on the events in these stories and will give oral retells by sequencing events. Comprehension strategies and activities will be explored, to help students make meaning from what they read. The Preps will also look at how both the written texts and illustrations work together to make meaning.
Sounds Program: Sound Waves
In Term 1 the Prep students were exposed to the sounds in language using the Sound Waves Program. This sounds program begins in Prep and continues throughout the early years of schooling. A sounds program is vital in order for all children to achieve reading and writing success.
The program is highly engaging, with hand actions, pictures and songs associated with each sound. So far, we have had a very positive response from the children, and they are enjoying the program. This term, we will be focusing on one sound per week in depth. Once the students begin to pick up the sounds more quickly, they will move to two sounds per week. As the program progresses, the Prep students will begin to develop a bank of known sounds. They will then start to blend sounds together to read simple words, and also identify sounds in words to write.
Learning to read and write fluently and confidently are vital skills for children. The Sound Waves program is the first step in being able to master these skills. The children are very excited at the idea that learning these sounds will help them work towards reading and writing!
See the table below to see which sounds are covered each week this term.
Phonological Awareness Skills
This term the Prep students will engage in literacy rotations. These literacy rotations offer the opportunity for children to work in small groups to learn and consolidate vital literacy concepts through fun and engaging hands-on games and activities. These rotations will focus on the development of phonological awareness skills, which are necessary skills for future reading and writing success. The students highly enjoys these sessions, and they also provide opportunities for them to work on many important skills such as listening, turn taking, learning to cooperate, sharing ideas and listening to others.
Mathematics
This term in Mathematics, the children will be participating in the iMaths investigation ‘The Wheels on the Bus.’ In this investigation, students will practise early numeracy concepts relating to counting, sorting, collecting data and problem solving.
Mathematical concepts covered in this term include:
- Numbers to 10- including recognising the numerals, correctly sequencing the numerals, counting quantities, recognising quantities, creating quantities and writing numerals
- Numbers 11-20 – focusing on recognising these numbers, creating quantities and writing numerals
- Counting to 20
- Counting backwards from 10
- Identifying and naming the attributes of simple 2D shapes and recognising in our everyday environment - triangle, square, circle, rectangle
- Patterning – comparing shapes and objects, and using colours, shapes and objects to continue and create patterns
- More and Less and representing these terms
- Simple probability
Science
In Term 2, our Science unit will focus on weather. The children will explore different types of weather including windy, sunny, cloudy, rainy and stormy, and how it affects them. They will observe the weather over a week, and record what they see. The children will explore the four seasons, including what plants and animals do in the different seasons. To conclude the unit, the Preps will create a ‘favourite weather report’ where they will name their favourite weather, what activities they can do and what clothes they would wear.
History
In History, students will be exploring how they, their family and friends commemorate past events that are important to them. The Preps will explore why they celebrate certain days of the year. They will also look at the ways in which they celebrate these special days. Some events will include Easter, ANZAC Day and Birthdays.
Physical Education Overview
During the term to we continue to develop our ball skills, through basketball. Students participate in a variety of drill-based activities to learn the basic skills of basketball. These include dribbling, throwing and of course shooting. We then move into our athletics preparation and begin to develop the techniques required to participate in the school’s athletics carnival held during term three. This includes a variety of ball games, shot put and long jump to name a few.
The Arts
Music
In music, through songs and games, Prep students are discerning between their speaking voices and singing voices. They will continue to develop their memory and musicianship skills through echoing rhythmic patterns and creating their own rhythmic and melodic phrases.
Dance
This term, the students will begin to learn dance with Miss Nicole Gaunt. This is sure to be a fun and exciting experience for children, and in previous years both girls and boys have enjoyed themselves greatly. Dance with Miss Nicole will be on Thursday at school.
ICLT’s
This term, the Preps will be using the computers in the iCentre to engage in the Reading Eggs Program. The students are highly enjoying Reading Eggs, and look forward to their time in the iCentre each week. The program also helps students develop basic computer skills, such as moving, selecting and dragging objects with a mouse. This helps with hand-eye coordination on the computer.
Chatting Children Program
Thank you to all of you for participating in the Chatting Children Program. The phonological concepts covered in the Chatting Children Program are fundamental to further literacy success. Consistency between home and school in the teaching and learning of these concepts gives your child the best opportunity to master these concepts. I therefore encourage you to continue completing the activities with your child. Your child will always benefit from the continued practise of these skills. A reminder that packs are restocked and sent home every Monday, and that returns are required at the end of the week on Friday or Monday. We cannot send another pack home with your child until the previous pack has been returned.
Other relevant information
Library
The Preps visit to the Library continues to be on a Friday morning. Please make sure your child has their book ready for Friday, and that it is in their library bag.
Naming Property
As the cooler mornings begin, students will need to start wearing their jumpers. Can I please ask that all jumpers have clear labels on them. This makes life so much easier for everyone!
I look forward to what is set to be a busy yet very exciting term of fun and learning with the Prep students!
Warm regards,
Rochelle Plain Patrick Davis
Classroom Teacher Principal