Wow, where did that term go! We had a great last week..

Science- Thanks to Linda (Ben’s mum) for coming in to talk to our class this week about ‘Plants and their cells’. This was a great end to our unit on plants this term. She showed us a couple of experiments to demonstrate the process of Transpiration and we were able to look at a few parts of plants under a microscope.

Enterprise Day-Was a great success! The students worked hard in the weeks leading up to Enterprise day to plan and make their Upcycled crafts. Then on Wednesday morning they were busy making healthy wraps and managed shifts at 3 different stalls selling our products in the afternoon. The crafts were a hit and sold very quickly!! All the students should be very proud of their efforts.

Passion Projects– It has been great listening to the Passion Projects this week and seeing all the hard work and creativity that students have put into their projects. We have had some amazing visuals such as a programmed robot, models of the solar system & butterfly garden, canvas painting, videos and some fantastic posters. Unfortunately we were unable to present all the projects this term for various reasons, so there will still be a few students who need to present week 1 next term. I have already marked and returned some grades to the students and will mark all the rest of the projects (from this week) in the holidays.

Narratives- Well done to the students who completed their published copy of their Narratives this week. Students need to keep working on these during the holidays ready for week 1 next term if they haven’t completed them and have an extension.

Thank you– I’d like to thank all of the students in Room 12 for a fantastic first term. I have really enjoyed working with them all and will miss seeing their smiling faces everyday.

Thanks also to all of the parents for your support this term with the students learning and for the many lovely gifts that baby Wright has been given this week. We really appreciate it.

I hope everyone has a relaxing Easter break and fantastic school holidays. I wish all the students the very best for the rest of the year and look forward to bringing baby in to meet them all soon.

I will still be contactable via email and Class Dojo throughout the school holidays if anyone needs.

Thanks, Meg

Week 10

Another busy week, as students worked towards completing their Enterprise Day crafts, Passion Projects and Narrative writing pieces.

On Friday we had the Science Incursion, which was a lot of fun! Thanks to everyone in Rm 12 for their flexibility in moving around the school while our classroom was being used all day. Students had to investigate a crime scene in order to find a missing person and they used Forensic Science to help solve the case. This was a great addition to the inquiry unit that Simone has been working on with the students, to find out how Science impacts on our lives today.

Last week of term 1!

Important information and reminders for this week…

Due Dates- A reminder that students are presenting their Passion Projects this Tuesday. Their Narrative writing pieces are also due on Tuesday. I am happy to extend the deadline to next term for either of these, for students who have been working hard in class and at home and are still needing more time. If parents could please just write a note or email me if you think your child would benefit from more time.

Enterprise Day- Don’t forget Enterprise Day is this Wednesday 12:30pm-2:00pm. Room 12 have three stalls that we are running; Sushi with Oka Sensei, Healthy wraps with Simone and Upcycled crafts with Mrs Wright. Please see the ‘Enterprise Day’ blog post for more details.

I have heard from a couple of parents who have offered help out on Enterprise Day. If there is anyone else who would like to help Room 12 with their stalls, please let me know. Students have been rostered for shifts to help at our stalls. They will have one food stall shift (either wraps or sushi) and one Upcycled craft stall shift. The rest of the time they have as free time to look around at other stalls. If you do want to help out, you can stay with your child for the day and help with whatever stall they are at.

**We will be making wraps in the morning from 11am-12pm,if any parents would like to come in and help us with this also. We can store the wraps in the fridge inside the staff room as well as in eskies. I will bring an esky on the day and if anyone else has another large ish esky they could bring, that’d be fantastic.

Last day of term– A reminder that school finishes at 2:10pm on Thursday the 13th of April.

It is also a casual day on Thursday for a gold coin donation. If students come in casual clothes, they must have a gold coin. Of course they can still choose to wear school uniform if they would prefer.

Don’t forget that Rooms 11 and 12 are having a class party in the park from from 12:10pm. Students have been asked to please bring a plate of food (either sweet or savoury) to share for lunch. Families are most welcome!

Next Thursday the 13^th of April is the last day of term 1. To celebrate all the students’ hard work and effort throughout the term, Rooms 11 and 12 are going to have a party lunch and play at Mortlock Park.

We would like each student to please bring a plate of food to share for lunch, either sweet or savoury (nothing that needs to be heated up though please). We will be heading to the park at 12:10pm until just before 1:10pm.

If any families would like to join us then please come along.

We hope to see you there!

Please see below some information about CLGPS Enterprise Day, Wednesday the 12th of April, 2017.

**Room 12 will be involved with the Upcycled craft stall, the Healthy wrap stall and the Sushi stall. All of these stalls will be located around the Mortlock building**

Sales: take place from 12:30pm to 2:00pm only. No ‘early bird’ sales.Students may bring between $5 and $15, depending upon their age. Students will need a shopping bag to carry their purchases – and so may you! Please remember to bring gold and silver coins. Prices will range from 10c to $5. Notes can be changed at the Finance Window between 12:30pm and 1:00pm ONLY.

Canteen: There will be no canteen for either recess or lunch on Enterprise Day.

Parking: In the laneway and on West Parkway (be gone before 3pm); at the Baseball Club car park and walk across the oval; and in the streets surrounding the school. Please be considerate of our neighbours and do not park across or very close to driveways.

Help and questions: See a member of the school staff, all wearing pink high-visibility vests.

First Aid: Available at the School Office.

Toilets for adults: Please use the toilets at the Doolette building. Children’s toilets are for children only.

Catering: There is a coffee van available for adults and the food for the day will include a Sausage sizzle. Sushi, Canadian Poutine, Healthy Wraps, Indian Food and Toasties.

Students will be dismissed at 3.10pm: Please do not take students early, as the class reviews our Enterprise Day from 2.30 to 3:10pm is an important part of their learning.

We are looking forward to seeing you all there!

Wow, what a busy week…and it looks as though it’s going to stay busy until the until of term!

Thanks to all the parents for coming to parent/teacher interviews. It was great to have the opportunity to chat with you about your child and the progress they have made so far this term.

Enterprise Day– Our Up cycled crafts are really coming along! Students have been putting in lots of effort with their group crafts. Thanks again to the parents who have come in to help with this. Next weeks craft sessions will be on Tuesday and Wednesday at 2pm. Hopefully we will then have them all finished! If you are able to help at either of these sessions, please let me know.

Some students in our class are also going to work with Simone (librarian) on Enterprise Day to sell ‘Healthy wraps’. On the morning of Enterprise Day, Room 12 will be helping to make the wraps in preparation to sell that afternoon. If anyone has any contacts for vegetables, cold meat or wraps, please let me know.

I’ve had a couple of parents volunteers already who would like to help on Enterprise day at our class stall. If anyone is wanting to help out with the wraps in the morning or with the stalls during Enterprise Day, please just let me know. Thanks

Notes– This week we have an Easter presentation on Thursday at 2pm. If students could please return their permission slips for this by Wednesday, that’d be great. Attendance for this is not compulsory and there will be a teacher in one of the 3/4 or 4 classrooms with any students who don’t bring back notes or have permission to attend.

Some students have not returned their Learnlink notes yet, if these could please be returned ASAP that would be greatly appreciated. If students have lost their note, they can ask for another at the front office.

On Friday afternoon we have our Science Incursion. A note went home about this last week and there is a small cost of $8.50. Could students please return this note with their money by Thursday this week.

Spelling– This week students will have no new words to learn. On Friday I will be testing them on all the words they have had this term. This will give me insight into who is memorising their words just for the tests each week and who is actually doing their spelling homework properly, focusing on the tricky parts of their words and creating connections between other words they know with similar visual patterns or sounds.

Passion Projects– Students demonstrated excellent progress with their projects in our latest computer room research lesson this week. We are working towards a week 11 Tuesday due date at this stage, to be confirmed by Friday this week. Your child needs to keep working on these at home when possible. Please encourage them with their time management.

Week 8…

Enterprise Day crafts– We had our first Enterprise Day upcycling session and are now well underway with the crafts. Thank you to the parent volunteers who came in to help on Thursday afternoon. The students and I really appreciated the extra set of hands…and eyes! Next week’s craft sessions will be on both Wednesday and Friday afternoons after lunch. We might get started a bit earlier than on Thursday, say at 2pm so we can start to pack up a bit earlier at the end of the day. If parents/volunteers could please let me know if you are coming in to help and on which day/s, that would be great. Some craft items that we still need some more of for this weeks sessions are; alfoil, wooden pegs, string, and magnets. Thank you to all the families who have donated craft materials for our craft sessions.

Inquiry– Room’s 11 and 12 have started Inquiry lessons with Simone once a week until the end of the term. This is a great chance for the two 3/4 classes to work together in small groups. The inquiry has a Science theme to it and encourages students to use their prior knowledge as well as the skills of hypothesising and observation to explore certain concepts. Students have explored various materials/substances that have been used in Science to help with diseases and illnesses as well as bush medicines that were used in the past and looked at how they are similar to some medicinal remedies we use regularly today.

Parent Teacher Interviews– A reminder that next week (week 9) is Parent teacher interview week. I will put a copy of my timetable on the classroom door on Monday morning if anyone needs to check any details. The interviews are scheduled for 15 minutes blocks and I will need to stick strictly to these times as to not get behind for other parents later in the afternoons/evenings. I’m looking forward to meeting with you to discuss your child’s learning this term.

In week 7…

English-We started the planners to map out the structure for our free choice Narrative piece of writing. We are moving into the drafting stage this coming week. The students have come up with some great topics and I am looking forward to watching their great ideas develop into great stories.

Maths– We have started looking at our 2x and 5x multiplication facts. Please see attached below an explanation on Multiplication Facts from Ann Baker- Mathematician in Residence for SA. This is method I like to use as a guide when teaching multiplication facts.

Multiplication Facts

Enterprise Day– On Friday, we got into small groups to plan an Upcycled craft to make and sell for Enterprise Day. The ideas could change slightly this week, however below are the ideas so far and some of the resources that we need to start collecting. If families have any of these things at home that they wouldn’t mind donating, that would be greatly appreciated.

Craft title and Equipment needed

Monster Magnets– goggle eyes, bottle caps, magnets

CD Artwork- Old CD’s, toothpicks, old cloths, black acrylic paint

Bookmarks and Bracelets– straws, string, glitter

Peg creatures– Wooden pegs, google eyes

Easter Pom Poms– felt, google eyes, pom poms

Toy planes– popsticks, pom poms

Coasters– popsticks

Also if any volunteers could let me know some times that suit you to come in and help craft with the students, that’d be great. It doesn’t have to be just parent volunteers either, if their are any grandparents or other relatives they are more than welcome! I will plan our sessions to suit your availability, the more notice you give me the better. Thanks

At this stage I have an Enterprise Day session planned for this coming Thursday after lunch.

Passion Projects– If your child hasn’t brought their Passion Project booklet home to discuss with you yet, can you please remind them to do this. Any feedback you have on their choice of topic and possible ideas for sources will be greatly appreciated by the students. We are well underway with the projects now. Students are welcome to take their Project booklets home at any stage, as long as they have them at school on a Wednesday and Thursday please.

Parent/Teacher interviews– Thanks to the families who have already made a booking time online to see me in Wk 9. Just a reminder for those still to book, that the bookings close this Friday.

I hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend!

In week 6….

Passion Projects– Students finalised their ‘fat’ question to focus on and are now hitting the books and internet to begin their research. This Tuesday, students will bring home their planning so far to discuss with you. This is so you can see what the project is about and the direction your child has chosen to take. Could families  please make sure that the project sheets are back at school by Thursday morning as we will need to use them then. Thanks

Enterprise Day– Enterprise Day will be here before we know it! If you haven’t already put the date in your diary, then please do so; Week 11, Wed 12th April. More information will be sent out soon. Rooms 11 and 12 are going to run an Upcycling stall on the day. This will link in well with the Science strand of  ‘Sustainability’. At this stage, students have been asked to think about some things they would like to make in small groups. Then we can start to collect some resources that families may have lying around at home e.g. bottle caps, bottles etc. For these craft sessions if there are any parents that would be willing and available to help, I know that I would really appreciate some extra hands!

Science- A note went home on Thursday, asking students to please;
Look for seeds in and around the home. These may be in fruits or vegetables that are eaten or seeds found in the garden. Collect a number of each seed if possible and place in a small plastic bag. Write the name of the flower or fruit on the bag.  Take a photo of or draw the fruit or flower that the seed came from and attach to the plastic bag
with the date of collection. Students will be asked to share their collected seeds with the class on Thursday afternoon this week.

Camp- A note went home this week with a bit more information regarding camp. In order to gauge how many students will be attending, we are asking all families to please fill out and return the slip by Monday the 20th of March. I will attach the note in a link below in case anyone has misplaced their form.

Camp Letter Narnu Farm-2

*Reminder- Family Picnic coming up this Friday March 17th from 4:30-7:30pm

If you would like to know more about the Maths strategies your child been learning in class (for addition and subtraction) so far this term, please click the link below.

Guide for parents

Class information

Health- We have started our unit on ‘Keeping Healthy’. We have been discussing what it means to be healthy and in particular focusing on the foods we eat. Students have been asked to please bring in any food labels from packaging at home for Tuesday’s lesson next week. Thanks to the students who have already brought some food labels in.

Passion Projects- Our preparation for our Passion Projects has well and truly begun. We have been working with Simone to discuss ‘fat’ and ‘skinny’ questions. Students are in the process of constructing their ‘fat’ question to research which will give them great scope for their project. We are all really excited about getting started with the research, particularly as students have selected a topic that they are really interested in.

Camp– We have booked our Yr 3/4 camp for 2017! We will be going with Rooms 11 and 16 to Narnu Farm in week 6 of Term 2, 7-9th of June. This is the week before the long weekend, which will give students a good amount of time to recover after the camp!

Studyladder- This week our class started using Studyladder. Studyladder is a web based educational program designed by teachers. The program is curriculum based and covers Mathematics, Literacy as well as other subjects. Your child has been given a username and password which can be used to access Studyladder at school or at home. It is not compulsory for your child to use Studyladder at home, however regular access will help them reinforce what they have been taught in school. It will also help to build their confidence through practice.