Foundation

What’s happening in Term 4

Dear Parents,
Welcome to Term 4. We hope the students are looking forward to learning back on site. Please find below some helpful information about the upcoming term. If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher.

Important dates:

Pupil free day – No School                            1st November

Melbourne Cup – No school                         2nd November

Last day of Term 4 (finish at 1:30pm)        17th December

Prep Learning in Term 4

In Reading students will be:

• focusing on non-fiction texts and recapping the features (headings, sub-headings, real photos, captions, diagrams, new and known facts, contents, glossary and vocabulary).
• learning how to use the iPad app ‘Epic!’ to read non-fiction books and record their new learning.
• studying narratives through an ‘Author Study.’
• focusing on comprehension strategies: predicting, visualising, making connections, retelling, questioning and main idea during our mini lessons.
• consolidating their reading decoding strategies e.g. does it sound right? Does it look right and make sense?
• investigating common spelling patterns within the books that we read.

In Writing students will be:

• continuing our work on writing their own information reports.
• writing weekly weekend recounts.
• using picture prompts for descriptive writing.
• beginning to write their own narrative stories.
• using their knowledge of sound letter relationships to hear and record sounds in unknown words.
• adding descriptive detail to their writing and widening their vocabulary through word work on synonyms.
• continuing to write on dotted third lines, getting ready for Grade 1.
• recognising and experimenting with new types of punctuation such as commas, question marks, explanation marks and talking marks.

In Mathematics students will be:

• learning about time through calendars and daily timetables.
• practising counting on from the largest number to find the total number of a set.
• exploring simple division using groups.
• making numbers using tens and ones.
• using play money to represent simple, everyday financial situations.
• learning about capacity through investigations of what holds more or less.
• learning about familiar events involving chance and describing them using everyday language such as ‘will happen’, ‘won’t happen’ or ‘might happen.’

Our Inquiry topic this term is ‘Our Changing World.’ Students will be investigating the changes in the world around us by asking questions such as ‘How do the seasons impact our lives?’ and ‘How do changing weather patterns impact living things?’

Our whole school SEL topic is ‘Respectful Relationships.’ We will be focusing on respecting others, developing an appreciation of difference and practising assertion and help seeking behaviour.

Foundation Team

Laura Mirigliano, Amanda Larizza, Melanie Palacios, Vivian Denke