Week 2 Term 4

Wow! It was fantastic to see so many smiling faces at the end of the performance on Thursday evening. Being able to present the musical in the theatre lifted it to a whole new level with sound, lights and all the children were very excited as they stepped up to perform "like pop stars on a stage". This was what one person in Room 3 described the experience as.
Thank you all so much for the effort you all went to, in providing fabulous costumes.

This week we are back to lots of reading, spelling, writing and maths learning, so you can expect to see the spelling lists in books and reading books home each night.  No excuses!!

To start the term we are looking at measurement in maths - this time "capacity". Unfortunately my introduction to this unit was rained on, as we were to use the sandpit filling containers and making comparisons about how much fits inside each one. Better luck tomorrow, I hope.  Any spare containers would be useful for these activities. At home you could experiment with water (a perfect bath experiment) or if you prefer a drier activity - rice or pasta.  How much fits into this cup/egg cup/mug?  Will it hold more or less than that cup? or bowl or any other type of container. How many of these will be needed to fill that?  The language to develop is "less than, more than, (when comparing 2), least, most (when comparing 3 or more)".

WALTs: 

• compare the volume of 2 containers by packing or pouring
• order the volume of 3 or more containers 
• use non-standard volume units (cups, spoons, bottles) to fill a container and count the number used.

Scooters: great to see that so many people have theirs at school to play on.  Please remember the rules: always wear shoes, only ride on the courts, place scooters behind the seats outside Room 3 before school in the morning and put them away in the corridor after school.  Last week I spent lots of time putting scooters away.

Books: some people have no pages left in their R.E., homework or poetry books.  Thank you to those people who have replaced these. We have arranged to have these available for sale from the office at the "Back to School" February prices.  These books will be used again at the beginning of 2015.

Athletic Sports: Thursday starting at 9:30am. The times of rotations are on the library window.  Thank you to those people who have offered to help - please meet Miss Passmore outside the staffroom at 9:15am. Tuesday = athletic training so wear your sports gear to school.

Mass: We will be attending the 12:00 mass on Friday.  Room 6 will lead this.  We invite you to join us.

Assembly: in the hall at 2:30

Sunhats: are now compulsory - please make sure that your child has one at school.  In line with the "slip, slop, slap, wrap" message, it is also a great idea to look after young eyes with sunglasses.

Homework

1. Reading - please complete your reading log. I want to hear as many people as possible 1 page of their book in the morning before school.
2. Spelling - the spelling pattern we are working on for the next 2 weeks is the "er" sound. Remember to say, sound, cover, tool and write your words each night.  It is not a copying exercise. As I am still learning about the process of Spelling Alive, I found out that to progress from one level to another I need to test 100 words, so I am sorry that I was so excited and told people that they were going up a level.  There is still plenty of spelling pattern learning for everyone at the level that they are on in the meantime.  You can also set a challenge for your child with extra "er" words that they can conduct, tool and write.  Remember that there are several different spelling patterns for this sound. ( ur, ir, or -word, our)
3. R.E - this week we are looking at traditional prayers. Many people do not know the Hail Mary, so this is in the homework books to learn.  This is also the month of Mary - a time when the Rosary is a focus - we will be looking at some of the stories of the mysteries. Some people still need to work on knowing the Our Father which was in books to be learned last term.
4. Maths - keep working on playing games that consolidate basic facts.