Year 1 Update – Wk 23
What a wonderful assembly, 1H! What a great job telling us what you have learned about stories and how you use your imaginations. And what a great crayon story!
We also had our last day of immunisations this week, and started on our new Unit of Inquiry about plants sustaining life on Earth.
Just a reminder that snacks should be healthy. Fruit and vegetables are best; chocolate and candy are not recommended. We also ask that you try to minimize the packaging. Homemade items and fruit and vegetables are a good way to do this. Fruit and vegetables are also a great way to connect to our Unit of Inquiry!
Sharing the Planet
Central Idea: Plants sustain life on Earth
We got off to a great start on our unit, assessing what children already know about plants and asking questions about plants to guide our inquiry. Many students already understand that plants need sunlight and water, but there was a great gap when discussing plants of the natural world. Many students seem to think that all plants in the forests and plains of the world are watered by someone! And that items made from cotton are plastic. We will be looking into these areas further, but these conversations are often more powerful in the real world. It might be a good time to take advantage of the last few days of cool weather and go for a hike! Talk about the plants you see and how they survive. What other living things can you find?
Central Idea: Addition and subtraction are connected to each other and used to solve problems
Part of our extended inquiry into addition and subtraction is looking at doubles. Becoming familiar with double addition, like 4 + 4 and 6 + 6 helps students quickly add and subtract similar problems, thinking of 4 + 5 is like 4 + 4 plus one more. It also forms the foundation for multiplication. 4 + 4 is really 2 x 4. In year one we don’t focus on the written equation, rather we practice building familiarity with what two rows of four would look like. A strong ability to visualise in mathematics has been shown to improve understanding later on.
Part of being able to write to describe is knowing how to answer questions. Year 1 students still need some help distinguishing between who, what, when, where, why, and how questions, with why and how being the most difficult. In the next few weeks while students focus on writing to describe plants, they will be asked these questions to focus their attention. You can practise these words at home by picking an object and playing a question game. Where is the teddy bear? Who owns this teddy bear? Where do you keep this teddy bear? How was this teddy bear made? Why do you have a teddy bear?
We will continue on with these phonemes and camera words:
1G – Yuna Konishi & Alice Tam
1H – Cassie Razon
1F – Queenie Klama & Cactus Chan
Remember that student led conferences are on Friday! Your child will guide you around the classroom to several activities in reading, maths, UOI, and portfolios. The Mandarin teacher will be in your child’s classroom as well to discuss his or her progress. This is a day for children to be in charge! So be ready to let them teach you! Also, the PMP room will be open for parents and children to drop in and show you more about their time in this fun room!
