Term Two is now underway with lots of exciting and
interesting learning occurring in all four classrooms.
Last term we followed the lead of the Year 1-2’s and
turned our vegetable garden into a “Butterfly Garden”, with lots of nectar
flowers and swan plants. A big thankyou to Mrs Ryan in Year 1 for helping us
with this project.
Term Two is a very busy time. Student portfolios will come home on at the end of term, and will be discussed at Parent-Teacher interviews. The children put a lot of time and effort making each ‘artefact of learning’ that make up each portfolio, to provide a snapshot of what they have been learning so far this year. We hope that you will take advantage of the opportunity to meet with us and discuss your child’s progress and celebrate their achievements.
Term Two is a very busy time. Student portfolios will come home on at the end of term, and will be discussed at Parent-Teacher interviews. The children put a lot of time and effort making each ‘artefact of learning’ that make up each portfolio, to provide a snapshot of what they have been learning so far this year. We hope that you will take advantage of the opportunity to meet with us and discuss your child’s progress and celebrate their achievements.
Dates for your Diary:
- Tuesday May 8th (Week 3) Year 3-8 Cross Country at Williams Park, 9.45 onwards.
- May 15th (Week 4) Year 3 Field Trip to Island Bay Marine Education Centre. 9.00-12.30, traveling by BUS.
- Friday May 18th (Week 4) Year 4 Field Trip to Island Bay Marine Education Centre. 9.00-12.30, traveling by BUS.
- Friday 25th May is the 40 Hour Famine weekend
- Monday 4th June is Queens Birthday, no school on this day.
Reminders:
• Slippers: Term Two and Three are indoor terms. If your child does not yet have slippers at school, please help encourage them to do so. Slippers are worn inside to keep the carpets dry and mud-free.
• Drink Bottles: Children are still to bring drink bottles to class. Encourage you child to regularly take their drink bottle home for a clean.
• Equipment: Some children are starting to run low on essential supplies such as rubbers, rulers, pencil sharpeners, colour pencils. Please check with your child to see if they require a top up of supplies.
• Lost Property: It is crucial to have all clothing named so that it may be reunited with its owner quickly. Encourage your children to look for their missing clothing as soon as it is lost.
• Beginning of the school day: When the bell rings at 8.40, it is time to get ready for fitness. The focus changes as the year progresses, but at the moment on fine days we are going out for cross country training. Students who are late miss out on this, so it is important that children are at school by 8.40am.
The major focus for the term, after the ANZAC DAY study concludes, is “The Wonder of Whales” This is a major science focus for Term 2. Students will explore the anatomy of whales, develop an understanding of why whales migrate and explore the historical and cultural contexts of whaling (and other examples of the exploitation of whales) It should be a very exciting and stimulating investigation! Throughout the study, student will be engaging in small science demonstrations and experiments, where we will be teaching the scientific principles prediction, observation and questioning skills.
In Literacy, news-telling is the focus for oral language development. The children will be learning how to ask open and closed questions, and know the different purpose of each. In Writing, the focus is on children understanding of, and their increasingly independent use of, the language features of Narrative and Report writing. As always, the children also work hard at learning how to improve their writing by editing and revision. Your child’s teacher will provide your child with honest feedback on what they are doing well, and what skills they need to develop next. In Reading, the key skills of self-monitoring, questioning and summarising are a focus this term. These skills are taught within the context of Reciprocal Reading, a reading strategy that encourages and scaffolds deeper reading of text.
In Mathematics, from weeks 2-8, we are teaching using a cross-grouping structure on Monday to Thursday, During this time the major focus is on developing knowledge and strategy in Addition and Subtraction. Later in the term the focus will turn to Measurement and Statistics.
In Art, the main focus is Painting, with an emphasis on experimenting with colour mixing, using different brush strokes.
Our PE focus this term is firstly preparing for the school cross country, followed by ball skills. Training for the cross country has already started, leading to our school cross country competition in Week 3 (see ‘Dates for your Diary’)
Around the middle of term two, the second major round of data collection occurs in Reading, Writing, Maths and other key areas. This information will be used by teachers to give you accurate and up-to-date information on your child’s progress in the end of term report, and the mid-year interview.
As always, feel free to pop in and see your child’s teacher if you wish to discuss any aspect of your child's progress at school. Email is a very handy way of communicating if you are unable to get to school- each teachers email address is surname@muritai.school.nz. Over the last few years, classroom blogs have become an important way that teachers can communicate with parents about what is happening in their classroom. Please visit your child’s classroom blog to see what has been happening, and leave a comment. To get regular email alerts when a classroom blog is updated, become a ‘follower’ of the blog by simply clicking the 'become a follower of this blog' link on the right hand side toolbar.
As you can see, we are planning to have a very busy term with a very solid academic focus. Thank-you for your support so far this year, especially is you have volunteered your time to help in different ways. We really appreciate this!
• Slippers: Term Two and Three are indoor terms. If your child does not yet have slippers at school, please help encourage them to do so. Slippers are worn inside to keep the carpets dry and mud-free.
• Drink Bottles: Children are still to bring drink bottles to class. Encourage you child to regularly take their drink bottle home for a clean.
• Equipment: Some children are starting to run low on essential supplies such as rubbers, rulers, pencil sharpeners, colour pencils. Please check with your child to see if they require a top up of supplies.
• Lost Property: It is crucial to have all clothing named so that it may be reunited with its owner quickly. Encourage your children to look for their missing clothing as soon as it is lost.
• Beginning of the school day: When the bell rings at 8.40, it is time to get ready for fitness. The focus changes as the year progresses, but at the moment on fine days we are going out for cross country training. Students who are late miss out on this, so it is important that children are at school by 8.40am.
The major focus for the term, after the ANZAC DAY study concludes, is “The Wonder of Whales” This is a major science focus for Term 2. Students will explore the anatomy of whales, develop an understanding of why whales migrate and explore the historical and cultural contexts of whaling (and other examples of the exploitation of whales) It should be a very exciting and stimulating investigation! Throughout the study, student will be engaging in small science demonstrations and experiments, where we will be teaching the scientific principles prediction, observation and questioning skills.
In Literacy, news-telling is the focus for oral language development. The children will be learning how to ask open and closed questions, and know the different purpose of each. In Writing, the focus is on children understanding of, and their increasingly independent use of, the language features of Narrative and Report writing. As always, the children also work hard at learning how to improve their writing by editing and revision. Your child’s teacher will provide your child with honest feedback on what they are doing well, and what skills they need to develop next. In Reading, the key skills of self-monitoring, questioning and summarising are a focus this term. These skills are taught within the context of Reciprocal Reading, a reading strategy that encourages and scaffolds deeper reading of text.
In Mathematics, from weeks 2-8, we are teaching using a cross-grouping structure on Monday to Thursday, During this time the major focus is on developing knowledge and strategy in Addition and Subtraction. Later in the term the focus will turn to Measurement and Statistics.
In Art, the main focus is Painting, with an emphasis on experimenting with colour mixing, using different brush strokes.
Our PE focus this term is firstly preparing for the school cross country, followed by ball skills. Training for the cross country has already started, leading to our school cross country competition in Week 3 (see ‘Dates for your Diary’)
Around the middle of term two, the second major round of data collection occurs in Reading, Writing, Maths and other key areas. This information will be used by teachers to give you accurate and up-to-date information on your child’s progress in the end of term report, and the mid-year interview.
As always, feel free to pop in and see your child’s teacher if you wish to discuss any aspect of your child's progress at school. Email is a very handy way of communicating if you are unable to get to school- each teachers email address is surname@muritai.school.nz. Over the last few years, classroom blogs have become an important way that teachers can communicate with parents about what is happening in their classroom. Please visit your child’s classroom blog to see what has been happening, and leave a comment. To get regular email alerts when a classroom blog is updated, become a ‘follower’ of the blog by simply clicking the 'become a follower of this blog' link on the right hand side toolbar.
As you can see, we are planning to have a very busy term with a very solid academic focus. Thank-you for your support so far this year, especially is you have volunteered your time to help in different ways. We really appreciate this!
