This week has been our first full week back at school after the long winter holiday. We have been very busy with school photos, working with our teams on designing homes for our unit of inquiry plus a writing assessment.
In literacy this week, we have continued practising our handwriting and trying to remember that English letters generally begin at the top or middle of a letter rather than the bottom like Arabic. We are trying to form our letters consistently so lower case letters line up along a middle line of a handwriting sheet. We have practised the ‘ch’ sound in phonics and reviewed the short vowel letters/sounds. Identifying nouns is important for our reading and writing skills; we are working on recognising common nouns as persons, places, things or animals. You can support this learning at home by asking your child to name a noun in one of these categories.
In guided reading we are practising the reading strategy of backing up and rereading to check for understanding. During this time with an adult we talk about the books we are reading, identify whether they are fiction or non-fiction and then discuss a variety of skills or strategies.
We had a writing assessment earlier in the week where the students first chose an activity they did during the holiday, then brainstormed ideas to write about using a sequence organiser. Afterwards, the students were give 30 minutes to write about their holiday. This assessment will give me an overview of their English writing knowledge and skills which can then be used to further support their learning in Grade 2.
In maths, we have continued tracking the temperature and also with measuring length. We are also reviewing number bonds to 20, as well as practising solving problems mentally.
For our UOI, the students have been working very hard in their teams and are have risen to the task of writing ideas in their research packet. Today, the teams were so excited to finally begin building their model homes. This entailed lots of discussions about their design and how they could make it happen using cardboard, tubes and boxes.
Next week, we will continue working on our model home during our UOI time and begin documenting our process of building.
In maths, we will finish up measuring length and move onto numbers greater than 100.
Our literacy will continue with phonics, guided reading, practising identifying nouns and building our writing skills.
Please see photos here.