Prep | Year 1 News

It has been a busy few week in Year 1!

Unit of Inquiry

The boys have now finished the Sharing the Planet Unit of Inquiry and have now begun the How We Organise Ourselves Unit of Inquiry. The students have started this unit by beginning to inquire about primary resources and discover where food and fibre comes from. We have also begun inquiring into the concepts of change, function and connection. The boys have engaged in learning experiences which have allowed them to investigate and make observations about change and how it occurs during different cooking experiences. This cooking experience involved making popcorn, juicing an orange to make orange juice and forming butter using thickened cream. The students reflected on their observations and were able to explain what change occurred, how it occurred and why change is important in relation to the production of food. Students will continue to explore the concept of connection through looking into the production of food. They will look into the different processes used to create products that we use in our everyday lives and think about the importance of creating an end product. Students will create and use flow charts to explain the different processes food and fibre goes through to become the products we consume each day. Another key concept we will be learning about is function. Students will get the chance to experience two lessons around this concept; the first being an experiment where students inquire into the importance of packaging fruit and vegetables and the second being the factory process and how food needs to be washed, dried, cut, peeled, sorted, packaged and refrigerated before being distributed to the shops. The function of the factory is explored more by the students taking on the role of being a factory worker and re-creating the process of creating a potato chip.

The boys have communicated their new understanding and enjoyed the practical experiences of making butter and popcorn. We are going to continue to guide the boys through practical experiences inquiring into how primary resources can be changed through a process to create new products.

Holiday fun

The holidays present an excellent opportunity for the boys to engage in more practical experiences that are connected to the Unit of Inquiry. We are requesting that you please take this opportunity to use primary resources to make new products. You and your son could make dinner together, bake a cake, make jelly, make fresh pasta or even bake bread! Whatever the experience is, we would love for the boys to be continuing to develop their knowledge of the production process.

Maths

In Maths the boys finished their inquiry into the Maths focus of Volume and Capacity. They developed their estimation skills and used units like cups or teaspoons to measure the capacity of containers. Students created a criteria to ensure they assessed the capacity of items fairly and accurately. It was enjoyable to learn about this Mathematical experience and students made real life connections to cooking  at home.

Next term, we will begin a unit focussing on money. The holidays present an opportunity to explore money. You could take your son to a shop and pay in cash, buy some play money, make a cardboard shop, play markets with play money and more. If you already have some coins and notes at home, your son could inquire into what is printed on the notes and coins and why. If you do any of these experiences, please document them and then bring them into school for the start of Term 3. We would love for your son to share his learning with his class.

Writing

In writing, we have inquired into a unit on persuasive writing. Students explored the structure and features of a persuasive writing report. They wrote persuasive writing pieces on the protection of animals and why we should / shouldn’t allow students to have a classroom pet. Students used their thinking skills to brainstorm, plan and write a persuasive text conveying their opinions in order to convince the reader. They became clear communicators by using high modality language, examples and facts to help persuade their audience.

Thank you for your continued support in enriching the learning opportunities for our students.

Angie Stitcher, Deanna Iannella and Nicholas Kartsiotis | Year 1 Team

Music

In Classroom music, Year 1 have looked into the Collaborative unit of Sharing the Planet focussing on how human behaviour can influence the survival of a species. The repertoire we have studied is “Cackle Cackle Mother Goose” with the lyrics discovering how goose feathers are used for human consumption such as pillows, quills, beds. We have analysed the score, looking at rhythmic patterns and incorporating movement to differentiate the 3 musical phrases. Singing through note names and solfa, with the accompanying hand signs as well as learning to play the melody on the xylophones as a class. Boys are working on their social and thinking skills by collaborating with others, communicating and performing musical ideas, listening to each other and creatively expressing themselves. They have also continued their involvement in the Strings Program and prepared for and delivered the termly strings concert in Week 8.