TRANSITION WE ALL EXPERIENCE IT!

The whole school community including children, parents and staff are experiencing the transition of children from one year level to another.
The children will partake in 4 transition sessions. Three will take place on 5th, 6th, 7th December from 10am to 11:15. The children will spend time in their 2012 neighbourhoods with their team of teachers and groups. They will familiarise themselves with the new learning spaces, discuss learning possibilities and partake in learning agreement activities with all of their 2012 teachers. Older children will be mentoring and offering advice to the younger ones. The children will have lunch in their new spaces as part of each session.
On Tuesday 20th December there will be a fourth transition session where the children will be introduced to their 2012 home teacher as well as working in their new neighbourhoods for 1 hour. This will take place from 2.30 to 3.30. The children will be dismissed from their new neighbourhoods on this day.

This period of change is both challenging and exciting in which children and families adjust to expectations, interactions and relationships.

ASSEMBLY TUESDAY 22nd NOVEMBER

The Year 2 Neighbourhood are presenting the animation, the story panels and the drama group costumes at the whole school assembly in the gym at 9am.
Could the children in the drama group please be at school in room 14 at 8.30 to get dressed.
Thank you Ethan, Kevin and Rita

A reflection by Bassi on behalf of the Drama Group

My name is Sebastian and I’m going to tell you about the learning and the process of our play.
It all started when we had to write a persuasive letter to the teachers to persuade them to let us into a group of our choice. My choice was the play group.
When we were in our groups we had to get into smaller groups and create a character. We all had to think about what our character would be like and then we had to use each other’s ideas.
Once we had our characters we drew what we thought they would look like.
Then we all came together and thought up a story that included all of our characters and everyone’s ideas. We weren’t allowed to have too much violence and our story had to have a problem.
It was hard to negotiate what we would have in and what we would leave out but we all learnt that you don’t have to always get your own way and that other people’s ideas can change things and make them better.
Then we thought about what things we could do on stage to tell the story. We were inspired when we saw Emily Eye Finger and that gave us ideas for how we could make the car and use the audience space.
It was hard to think up the dialogue. Everyone kept thinking up new ideas and we had to choose which words to say.
We had lots of experts come in and help us.
Gabi the teacher helped us think about the staging. I learnt that you have to use our space a lot more than we usually do. She also helped us to make a storyboard and set the scenes in order.
Our story changed a lot from how it was in the beginning.
Gabi, my Mum talked to us about costume design. We had to think about what we could wear to tell the audience who the characters were and what they were like. We drew our costume designs then Gabi, Sule, Michelle, Sue and Laurel helped us to create our costumes. I learnt that wearing a costume can make you feel more like a character and it can make you feel more confident.
Clare, Ivy’s Mum is a director so she helped us with our expression and showed us some movements to help us be like our characters. Clare taught us to always have our feet, hips and shoulders pointing at the audience.
Linas, Rita’s son talked to us about sound. I learnt lots of new words from him. Linas talked to us about all the different parts in the story where we could use sound effects to help explain what was happening and we chose some sounds.
Then Will, Isabella’s Dad helped us with the lights. He told us that different coloured lights can help the audience know what is important and can set the scene.
Sheryal helped us with our singing and Tim also helped us with our acting and expression.
Justine, Jasmine’s Mum told us about stage make-up. I learnt that stage make-up has to be really heavy so the audience can see it. We all drew face charts with our make-up designs.
I was surprised how much time and effort it takes to tell a story through drama and how many different things like sound and lights and costumes are involved.
I learnt lots of new things like how to write a movie script and a play script and how to say things with expression. I also learnt that working in a big team is difficult because there are so many ideas but that is good because exciting things can happen.

The Story Writing Group

Our students were invited to apply to join one of three groups that would investigate narrative and how it could be expressed in different ways.
The Story Writing group had a rich background to bring to this project. A major focus in their prior learning was developing a lively interest in books through book clubs, conversations about books and discussions about authors. To initiate the inquiry we discussed the things we needed to know about or learn in order to create a story from beginning to end.
Characters needed to be created and given personalities, possible story lines needed to be developed and settings decided upon. We looked at the many different ways a story can be presented and it was decided we would use panels to depict the visual images our story provoked.
Team work, collaboration, negotiation, making choices and reflecting on the process as it grew and became more refined was a continuous part of our project work.
Thanks to our hard working, creative and very talented team, we are proud of our achievements.

Family and Friends

“Family and Friends” Written and Performed by Year 2 Neighbourhood Drama Project Group.

The story of “Family and Friends” is set in Melbourne, Carlton in 2006. Roxy Blythstown, a popular rock singer on You Tube is reunited with her sister Lucy by the magical birds. The sisters decide to play together but they accidently fall down a drain pipe. The Ninga tourists arrive as they are touring Carlton and help the sisters. Meanwhile a wicked witch orders her robot to magnetize the sisters and the tourists to her house. The witch has evil plans. Roxy’s fans follow her through Twitter and discover where Roxy is. The wicked witch’s spells don’t go to plan but good finally comes through all of this misadventure. The family is reunited and everyone becomes friends.

Scene 1-Baby Roxy is given up for adoption.
Scene 2-The two sisters Roxy and Lucy are reunited by the magical birds.
Scene 3-The Ninga tourists arrive.
Scene 4-The witch plots a plan with her robot.
Scene 5-The robot magnetizes everyone to the witch’s house.
Scene 6-Roxy’s fans find their star.
Scene 7-The witch has a revelation.
Finale

Cast

Adaption agency worker
Ivy Miller

Birds
Sebastian Durham, Matilda Verdon Black, Ella Gunn, Sam Jones, Ivy Miller

Fans
Maddie Tenace, Jane-Rose Harrison-Kern, Vivienne McCracken, Rochelle DeNardis, Jasmine Poniris

Narrator
Asha Ketchell

Ninga tourists and guide
Lachlan Phillips, Wil Debrodt Sutherland, Joel Bennett, Samson Romfos, James Baikie and Isabella Richards

Rabbit
Nora Rodin

Robot
Miray Kaplan

Roxy’s Father
Sebastian Durham

Sisters Roxy and Lucy
Ciara Hardy and Lucia

Witch
Irene Mohamed

The Drama Group thanks the experts who worked with the group.

With Very Special Thanks To:

1. Clare Watson (Stage Direction)
2. Delia and David Spicer (Props)
3. Gabrielle Mina (Costume Design Co-ordination, Scripting and Stage Direction)
4. Gabi McDonald (Stage Movement)
5. Jessica Birchell (Year 2 teacher term 2)
6. Josephine Byrt (Props)
7. Justine Poniris (Make-up)
8. Laurel Gorman (Costume Screen Printing)
9. Linas Jokubaitis (Sound)
10. Michelle Tenace (Costumes)
11. Shana Upiter (Inquiry Planning)
12. Sheryal Musumeci (Singing and Music)
13. Sue Bennett (Costumes)
14. Sule Kaplan (Costume Design and Coaching)
15. Tim Aris (Acting)
16. William Richards (Lights)
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TEACHING US.

The Silver Key by Nicole Cameron

http://www.silverkeytheseries.com/author.php

Dear Nicole,
hello Nicole my name is Nina and I had an extroardinary time while reading your adventurous and exciting book so my school REALLY WANTS you to come. So would you kindly possibly come to our school in Carlton North. Please!
Nina.

TABLOID SPORTS

The children in Prep, Years 1 and 2 will be involved in Tabloid Sports every Thursday in November from 9 to 10am. This coincides with the Prep Transition Program for our prospective 2012 Preps. It is also part of the current Year 1 and Prep transition program. We will all be promptly meeting in the neighbourhoods for the roll and messages and then going outside for the sports. Could all children please be prepared; wear sports shoes, have hats and drink bottles and wear sun screen to school and be provided with any medical requirements.
Thank you Kevin, Ethan and Rita.

Book Talk

Many children across the Year 2 neighbourhood have enjoyed listening to "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" every Wednesday as part of Book Talk. The story has been passionately read by Gabi a parent. The children will discuss the story and their wanderings on comments on Wednesday.

Thank you very much Gabi your enjoyment of this book is infectious.

Parents are invited to join us on any Wednesday at 9am for Book Talk.

Year 2 has talent!

Parents are cordially invited to join the Year 2 Neighbourhood in the drama space where the children sign up to share their talents. This neighbourly event takes place on Friday at 2.45 to 3.20. Parents are most welcome to share their talents including reading a story, telling a joke, playing an instrument etc. or just come along and be part of the audience.

16 November 6.30pm

Throughout term 3 and this term the children have been investigating an inquiry “What is a story?”“How are stories told?”Each child is working in a project group. Each of the groups has composed a narrative and is working through the process of creating an animation, a book and a dramatic piece of work to tell their story.

A major focus of the process has been working in teams in assigned roles, staying on task and completing structured activities within set timeframes. The children are required to describe their contributions to the team. Opportunities have been created for the children to work with adult experts as much as possible. This process of participating in a wide range of learning experiences which involve a variety of learning styles and approaches to learning is the important part of the inquiry. Questions and wonderings are encouraged, recorded and shared and become the basis for further learning.

On Wednesday 16 November at 6.30pm the children are looking forward to presenting their group projects and learning to their families on stage in the gym. They are very excited to be sharing their learning.

The children have received a parent letter. Could you please return the RSVP slip to the year 2 neighbourhood teachers by Friday 28 October?
Thank you Kevin, Ethan and Rita.

Welcome to Term 4

Learning Agreement Must Do Weeks 1 and 2
Spelling: Conference with a teacher to find your new 3 spelling words. Look, say, cover, write and check your spelling words each day.

Word Study: Word endings es, ies, ed.

Writing: Complete and publish your holiday experiences on the story board sheet. Illustrate and describe 6 of your most memorable events.

Learning Goals: Conference with a teacher and identity a numeracy and literacy learning goal.

Ultranet: Put your learning goal on your Ultranet homepage.

Maths: Complete measurement activity.

Maths: Finish of maths space project city map.

Life Education Thursday October 13th 2011

As part of our drug and health education this term we are having the Life Education mobile van.
The Year 2 homegroups will have one hour lessons on Thursday October 13.

Life Education has been visiting our school biannually for many years and helps to facilitate the development of life skills in students to prevent and minimise the harm of drug misuse.

Lessons are age appropriate and the children will be covering a wide range of drug and health related topics, ranging from the human body and how it works, healthy eating and nutrition, medicines and drugs, bullying, resilience and social skills.

Healthy Harold, the Life Education giraffe mascot is always a much anticipated element of the Life Education visit. The sessions are always fun, interactive and really extend and develop the children’s understanding of the topics covered. We intend to further broaden these topics in class both prior to and after the Life Education visit with the student workbook and discussions.

Projects Invitation

The children and teachers cordially invite families to the presentation of their three projects; composing and presenting stories through animation, book making and drama.

This very special event will take place in the school gym on November 16th 2011 at 6.30pm. Many experts are assisting the neighbourhood in the various aspects of their projects. Meetings, shopping including online shopping, sewing, gluing, measuring, creating, laughing and problem solving.

Thank you so much to Gabi, Sule, Josie, Michelle, Laurel, Claire, Samantha, Sheryal and Year 1 neighbourhood, Shana, Gabi (teacher), and 3/4 neighbourhood 1.

The atmosphere is very exciting as we continue to develop ideas. Parents are invited and encouraged to write a comment about the children's work in the documentation books where we are recording the learning.

Ultranet

The Ultranet has spaces for my work. This term I have learnt:
how to change backgrounds
how to insert my learning agreements
to use glitter text
to insert a calendar
how to put a border around blogs and other displays
insert Iframes with websites
how to upload posts on my blog
to insert a Voki
upload pictures and insert pictures and photos
how to use emails to communicate with people if I have permission
to insert my learning goals
how to put notes on my express wall
how to create a learner profile.
The children will be reflecting on their achievements with the Ultranet.
We encourage parents to share the children's spaces with them and to discuss the current learning agreement and to add a comment by clicking the edit button.

Mathematics

The children in the neighbourhood have been invited to estimate how many jelly beans there are in a kilogram packet and then how many jelly beans would there be in 3 kilogram packets? The jelly beans were given to Rita who is painting; for every purchase of 2 cans of paint you receive a can of jelly beans.
We have discussed grams and kilogram weights.
To share these jelly beans the children will be required to mathematically work out how to share the jelly beans equally amongst the children in the neighbourhood.
Another question is which colour has the most or are there equal amounts of each colour? How can we work this out?
We have discussed rounding off numbers as one strategy when solving problems. In their work with money this week the children will be rounding off given amounts.
The children are encouraged to work with the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives mathematical activities. The link to this website should be on each children's Ultranet.

Drama Parent Group Meeting

A meeting will be held on Friday August 26th in room 14 at 2.45.
Please come along to discuss costumes, sets and other ways of assisting.
Please note the time which is before school ends.
Thank you very much to the parents who came along on our excursion to The Arts Centre on Wednesday 24th.

http://www.monkeybaa.com.au/Emily-Eyefinger.html

National Immunology Day

A session is being run by one of the parents at PHPS - Charles Hardy for National Immunology Day Tuesday 23rd August. Students will learn about the immune system and how the body fights infections and following the presentation, they will have the opportunity to create posters for the competition that closes on the last day of term 3.

Excursion Wednesday 24 August

9.30 The bus to the Victorian Arts Centre will leave school.
10.30 Performance of "Emily Eyefinger".
11.30 Lunch and a play in the park including a reflection of the performance.
1.30 Guided tour behind the scenes at the Arts Centre.
2.40 Bus departs from The Arts Centre to school. Expected temperature a sunny 20.

The children are asked to bring lunch and drink in a disposable bag. Please write your child's name on their lunch bag and drink bottle.

Drama Group Assistance

The children in the drama group project have composed a story. This week they have worked out the scenes, characters and have discussed stage setting to dramatise their story.
Parents who could assist in this project with documentation of the process, costumes and simple sets are invited to a meeting on Friday August 26 at 3.45 in room 14 (writing space). Please come along and join us if you can assist in our production in any way.

Childrens Book Week-Which Books Will Win?

Younger Readers Short List 2011
Bauer, Michael Gerard Just a Dog
Bongers, Christine Henry Hoey Hobson
Branford, AnnaIll. Sarah Davis Violet Mackerel’s Brilliant Plot
Carmody, Isobelle The Red Wind
McKinlay, MegIll. Leila Rudge Duck for a Day
Murphy, SallyIll. Rhian Nest James Toppling

Early Childhood Short List 2011
Champion, Tom Niland & Niland, KilmenyIll. Deborah Niland The Tall Man and the Twelve Babies
Dubosarsky, UrsulaIll. Mitch Vane The Deep End
Lester, Alison Noni the Pony
Niland, Deborah It's Bedtime, William!
Norrington, LeonieIll. Dee Huxley Look See, Look at Me!
Ormerod, JanIll. Freya Blackwood Maudie and Bear


Picture Book Short List 2011
Baker, Jeannie Mirror
Bancroft, Bronwyn Why I Love Australia
Greenberg, Nicki Hamlet
McKimmie, Chris Two Peas in a Pod
Masciullo, Lucia Written by Kim Kane Family Forest
Riddle, Tohby My Uncle's Donkey


Information Book Short List 2011
Brasch, Nicolas Theme Parks, Playgrounds and Toys
Brooks, Ron Drawn from the Heart: A Memoir
Davidson, Leon Zero Hour: The Anzacs on the Western Front
Dubosarsky, UrsulaIllustrated by Tohby Riddle The Return of the Word Spy
Lloyd, AlisonIllustrated by Terry Denton Wicked Warriors & Evil Emperors: The True Story of the Fight for Ancient China
One Arm Point Remote Community School Our World: Bardi Jaawi: Life at Ardiyooloon

http://ozbookweek2011.wikispaces.com/

http://cbca.org.au/userfiles/file/Downloads/Nat%20Site/2011/Shortlist%20Announcement%20(1).pdf

Talent Quest

Dear children,
We just wanted to remind you that Trudy and Alison will be in the school gym Friday August 18th at 11.10am for the children to come and put their names down for this year’s Talent Show. We’re hoping to meet lots of children and hear their ideas for their act. The children are not going to be judged this year and we want to give as many children as possible the chance to get on stage and perform (including inexperienced ones who have not performed previously). We’re hoping for a variety of acts such as circus skills, gymnastics, instruments, poetry, as well as the usual singing.

Readers and Writers Notebook Graph

Many new things happen in our Year 2 neighbourhood to make our learning visible. Ethan's homegroup have developed a reading and writing graph. In the first week of term 3 Ethan's home group developed this graph. The first day only 6 people wrote in their readers and writers notebooks. On Thursday in the 3rd week we broke our record and 18 people wrote in their readers and writers notebooks.
It is very important for each child to use this book as part of home/school learning and to bring this book home and to school each day.Daily home use of Mathletics is also very highly recommended.
A reminder that the Premier's Reading Challenge is due to finish at the end of August. Parents need to print out the book list and sign this sheet. Please return sheets to homegroup teachers so they can be passed onto Annette for validation. http://www.education.vic.gov.au/prc/
Ethan's homegroup.

Drama Project Weeks 5 and 6 Term 3

The children in the drama group project worked together as a team and have drafted a group story featuring all their characters. As part of their learning agreement in weeks 5 and 6 the children will write a detailed description of their character, visualise and design a costume that their character could wear that would suit the setting and story. They will act out different parts of the story and they can create models showing showing different scenes of the story. They will write a letter to Sheryal asking for assistance with the music that have chosen. As a group we will continue to develop the story using the outline we have created. We are all very excited with the progress of our team project.

Dear parents please see Rita if you could help the children with costumes, props, singing, acting!

Learning Agreement Weeks 5 and 6 Term 3

I must do:
Spelling: Conference with a teacher to select 3 spelling words. Look, say, cover, write and check these words every day.
Complete 3 different spelling investigations with your words.
Ultranet: Upload assembly photos. Use a heading to describle what the photos are showing.
Writing: Complete and publish your pyramid poem on coloured pyramid shaped paper.
Maths: Roll a 6 sided and 10 sided dice and record as many different maths problems related to these numbers as you can.
Maths: Create a name for your character using only capital letters with symmetry.

Pyramid Poems

A pyramid poem is a poem about a person, place or thing that is written in a pyramid or triangular shape. It starts with a single word on the first line and builds. The children in the Year 2 neighbourhood have been stuying and writing pyramid poems. They help the children with spelling, grammar and word choices which are part of their writing. These poems develop awareness in children of author's choice of words.

Cat
furry cat
funny, furry,cat
soft, funny, furry cat
smelly, soft, funny, furry cat
naughty, smelly, soft, funny, furry cat
Written by Sophia

Rotations

During the last sessions on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays the neighbourhood are involved in learning rotations. The rotations consist of guided reading and independent reading as well as borrowing in the library, ICT workshops in the library and maths projects in the neighbourhood.

The ICT workshops are currently involving the exploration of the Ultranet and personalising the children's pages. During the library sessions, the students are using shared text to focus on strategies that efficient readers use. During the maths projects sessions the students are exploring the concepts and understandings of space including symmetry, shape characteristics and transformation.

Year 2 Neighbourhood Class Reps

Thank you to Laurel Gorman, Tina Winn and Josie Byrt for being our class reps. Laurel, Tina and Josie will keep our learning community informed about social, community and other events. Please speak to them about contact details.
Welcome to Spohia and Rochel our new students and to their families. Both girls have settled very well into our neighbourhood.

Ethan, Kevin, Rita.

What is drama? What is animation?

Drama is about acting and using talking voices. Using music and using singing and drama is about dancing too. Performances is about putting on a show and using punctuation and singing. Jasmine

I know that drama is when you show a play or get into character. I know that performance is when you perform a play in front of an audience. Maddie

Drama is something where you make a story made out of music or as a play. A performance is when a few people either show the story or read it. Lachlan

Drama is when you move your body. Drama is also when you create a character and show a story through dancing. When you perform you can have dancing, singing and a story that is shown through dancing and singing. In a play you might have a large audience or a small one. Isabella

Drama is someone pretending to be someone else. Drama is team work. Drama is like a problem and resolution mountain. Wil

Drama is where a play is put on or a performance is put on. People pretend to be other people. People cannot put on a perfect performance. James

In animation, you can make things up. Rhianna

Animation is a type of illusion. It involves the appearance of motion caused by displaying still images one after another. Lucy

Animation is lots of pictures moving. Animation is an illusion of movement created by quickly showing a series of images each slightly different from the last. I want to learn why animations are made and how do you make them. Grace

My character is pretty, lovely, helpful, caring, shares things, listens, and thinks before she does things. She lives in the sky in the castle. She lives with her mum, dad and her sister. She hangs out with her best friend Grayson. She wears sparkly clothes and she likes wearing her hair up. Eliza

My character is named Coconut but she is called Coco. She is friendly, cute, fuzzy and spotty. She lives in a big forest. She lives with her family. She lives deep inside the forest in a burrow. Her favourite place is the old tree where her grandma and grandpa live. Selma

Problem Solving Mathematics

This week children have been invited to investigate Bob's buttons.
Bob arranged buttons in groups of 4 and had 2 left over, and in groups of 5 and had 1 left over. The smallest number of buttons he could have had was 6.
Investigate what other numbers of buttons would also fit the pattern.
Can you find a way of describing all the possibilities?
Ethan, Kevin, Rita

Character Development Sketches

Whole School Assembly

The Year 2 Neighbourhood is looking forward to presenting the beginning of their Term 3 Inquiry Learning on Tuesday 9 August.

This term the children are developing team work skills which they will need to use in their group projects. Throughout the coming weeks group stories will be composed, scripted, published and presented.
Ethan, Kevin, Rita

Parent Comment

This week the children have learnt how to copy and paste their learning agreement into their portfolio page in their express space. They have been encouraged to share the current agreement with their parents. Parents can add a comment about their child's learning by clicking on edit text. Please save your comments at the end. The children will add their new learning agreements every fortnight. The children are very excited about all the applications that they are learning in Ultranet.
Hi Rita
Just wanted to mention the fabulous application for the Iphone Ipod and Ipad
The application is called Kindergarden words made by Brain design and Writing Pty Ltd
as i mentioned it is very helpful with the sight words and just getting in some practice...
Check out this application:

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/australian-uk-complete-kindergarten/id415200279?mt=8


Sulz ©™

Dear Rita
I love writing and ultranet
From Miray

Ultranet and Learning Agreement

In Ultranet training this week the children will be required to add the learning agreement for weeks 3 and 4 of term 3. To do this the children must
Go to their Express Space
Learning Goals
Click on add new page
Label LA weeks 3 and 4
Open the Learning Agreement
Select and select all
Back to Ultranet - learning goals
Paste
Save
The children can discuss their Learning Agreement with you and as a parent you can edit and add a parent comment.
They must also add a calendar and blog to their home page.
Ethan, Kevin, Rita

Polly Borland

Kate, Bell's mum inspired the neighbourhood with her talk about her sister the renowned photographer Polly Borland. We learnt about her team work with Lauren Child to produce two beautiful books. Lauren made all of the props for the books whilst Polly Borland beautifully photographed the scenes to produce the stunning books. Kate's message to all the children was to be passionate about their interests and if you put your mind to it you can achieve anything. We all thank Kate for her motivating and informative talk. It was inspirational.
The children will continue this discussion in book talk this week where we will share the works of Lauren Child including her books with Polly Borland.
Parents are invited to join us for these discussion sessions on Wednesdays 9.10 to 9.55.
Thank you Kate and Belle.
The grade 2 children, Ethan, Kevin, Rita.

Learning Agreement part 2

I may choose from

• Readers Theatre - acting through my voice and expression



• Art space-choose a written story and illustrate this story using pastels



• Music-choose a rap, learn it and add percussion or sound effects



• Dance-choose a story and represent it through dance



• Computers-Ultranet and word documents

The children show their learning to the teachers on Friday and throughout the week.
An overriding theme throughout the first two weeks has been teamwork; what does teamwork look like, sound like and feel like?

This weeks learning agreement

I must

• Investigate 'a' sound in words


• Look, say, cover, write and check my 3 spelling words and spell these words to a partner


• Complete 3 word activities with my 3 words


• Complete my holiday recount


• Write, publish and submit a persuasive letter


• Put a word document into my express space onto the Ultranet


• Read at home every night and write a reflection in my readers and writers notebook


• Interview a parent about learning


• Complete the term calendar and paste it in my maths journal


• Create a number and clues about that number


• Read to a teacher

Mystery Numbers

The children have been working with mystery numbers. This involves working out the mystery number from the given clues e.g.
I am a 3 digit number.
In the ones column is an odd number higher than 5.
The tens column is the sum of 3 groups of 2.
The hundreds column is the answer to 9-6+4.
What is the number?
The challenge for the children is to create a number and the clues for their parents to solve.

Ethan, Kevin, Rita

Excursion

The children wrote a persuasive letter to the teachers explaining why they want to work in the publishing, drama or technology team this term. Today they were allocated their project teams where they will create a group story to perform. Team work will be part of this inquiry.

To deepen our inquiry about stories an excursion has been organised to the Arts Centre on Wednesday August 24th to view a performance on "Emily Eyefinger". Following the performance the children will be given a guided tour of the Arts Centre.

http://www.theartscentre.com.au/discover/education/drama-plus-dance.aspx

Spelling

The children engage in daily spelling activities such as learning selected words and sound investigations.
This week we are investigating the sound "a" in words and letters in the word which represent this sound such as day, rain, baby, eight, came.
ay, ai, ei are digraphs that means 2 letters making 1 sound.
A trigraph is when 3 letters make 1 sound in a word eg learning l ear n ing. 3 letters make the ear sound in learning.
Ethan, Kevin, Rita

Thank you to the parents who have been interviewed by their children about learning and teamwork. Please keep the interviews coming into school.

There are two calendars on the Grade 2 Parent Notice Board outside Room 14 in the hall.
Parents are invited to join us for Book Talk every Wednesday at 9-10am and/or to assist with book returns and borrowing in the library on Monday, Tuesday or Thursday from 2.45-3.15.

Parents are always welcome to be part of our learning.
Kevin, Ethan, Rita

Reader's and Writer's Notebook

Each child has a Reader's and Writer's Notebook.

• This book gives gives children a place to develop ideas as readers and writers and for teachers to track the development of these ideas.




• A place where the children can observe, think about and notice the world around them.




• A consistent structure to respond to literature with creativity and expression.




• A place for children to recognize their development as fluent, creative, thoughtful and imaginative readers and writers.




• It is also a book that we frequently use at school.

It is very important for each child to use this book as part of home/school learning and to bring this book home and to school each day.
Daily home use of Mathletics is also very highly recommended.

Kevin, Ethan and Rita.

Parent Interview

1. What is learning?


2. What did you learn this week?


3. How did you learn it?


4. How do you know when you have learnt?
   


5. What is teamwork?

Parents are kindly asked to answer these questions which the children posed as part of our discussion about a community of life long learners. Please refer to Community of Learners blog entry.

Could your answers please be presented in your child's Readers and Writers Notebook by Friday 22 July?

Ultranet

The children are learning to insert Learning Agreements into their Express Space. The steps for this are

1. Create a very simple word document and click select and select all and copy.


2. Log on to Ultranet and the Express Space.


3. Click Learning Goals.


4. Click add publication.


5. Left click paste.


6. Save and approve.

Classroom Helpers

Calendars are on the Parent Display Board outside room 14 inviting parents to sign up for book talk which will resume in week 2 and assistance at library times with book returns and borrowing.
Please speak to us if you can help with dance, drama or writing a group story and book making.
We value the partnership with parents in learning.

Thankyou to Jessica for her excellent work in the neighbourhood throughout term 2.

Welcome back to Kevin and Ethan!
Interviews for Ethan's homegroup will be held by Ethan and Kevin shortly.

Learning Agreement Weeks 1 and 2

Throughout the first two weeks of term 3 the children will investigate the way the sound "i" is represented in words and the will carry out word investigations. They will compose a persuasive text and a holiday recount. Team building activities will be the focus of Inquiry Learning.
In Mathematics they will work on calendars, time, place value and mental artithmetic strategies.

Community of Learners

Life Long Learning
Our learning focuses and strategies in Mathematics, English and Inquiry will continue to be visible on the learning wall in room 14.
Part of this process is promoting home school links and exploring life long learning.
This week the children will be asked to interview an adult (mum and/or dad) about one thing they learnt throughout the week. The children will be asked to return the answers to school by Friday 22 July. They will also be asked to bring along a photo of the parent they interviewed showing the learning if possible.
The children will share these interviews and parents will be highlighted on our learning wall. Two parents from each home group will be featured each week.
Thankyou to all our community of learners and to Olivia Kelly.

Welcome to Term 3

Inquiry Learning
The children will be invited to write a persuasive submission outlining how they would like to tell a group composed story. The choices are telling a story through drama, dance or publishing books.
We will be focusing on team work activities including accepting other's ideas.
Parents who have expertise in developing team building activities, drama, dance or publishing are invited to work with the children in their workshops throughout the coming weeks.

Ultranet

Wendy our Regional Ultranet Coach and Meredith 5/6 teacher have been working with the teachers and groups of children on the Ultranet.
Our ICT technican Willie worked hard at the beginning of this term to make sure all children could log on.
Wendy and Meredith train groups of children in using the applications featured on the Ultranet. These children then train other children.
Currently the children are learning to insert a word document into their Ultranet space, to customise the background, to use wikis, vokis and the blog.
In term 3 we aim to have the children to insert their learning agreements into their Ultranet space and to use their individual blogs to write goals and to reflect on their learning.
Thank you to Wendy, Meredith and Willie and to our talented children.

Spelling

The children have commenced sound investigations.
They are enjoying learning that letters have names and only make sounds when they are part of a word. We have looked at words and have studied the sound 'e' eg 'ee' as in bee, 'ey' as in key, 'ea' as in each.
The children's names were used as a starting point for these investigations.
This week we are investigating the sound 'a' in words and will collect words that show graphs, digraphs, trigraphs representing the 'a' sound eg 'ay' as in day, 'ai' as in snail, 'a-e' as in came.
Each child has a spelling book to record their discoveries.
We encourage you to discuss these sounds and how they are represented in words. The children could collect different examples of words with the 'a' sound and bring them to school.
The children also choose two or three words to study through spelling activities every week.

Parent Teachers Interviews

We are looking foward to celebrating the children's achievements and discussing their future learning directions with parents. The children are welcome if they wish to attend. The duration of these interviews are 10 minutes.
Tuesday 28 June interviews for Rita's homegroup will be held in the conference room opposite Julie's office.
Thursday 30 June Interviews for Jessica's homegroup will be held in room 14. Jessica and Rita will conduct these interviews.
Ethan's homegroup interviews are to be held early in term 3 with Ethan and Kevin.

Learning Wall

A learning wall has been created in the writing space in room 14.
This learning wall will feature the strategies and concepts that are continually being developed in literacy, mathematics and inquiry learning across the whole neighbourhood. Congratulations to Maddie and Bassi our first two students who are currently featured making their learning visible.
This learning wall will be a place for children and parents to constantly review learning. It also connects to our school values which state that we are a community of life long learners and it makes learning visible.
As we are all learners, throughout the second half of the year parents will be interviewed by their children about what the parents learnt during the week. The children are also asked to take a digital photo of the parent they interviewed and prepare a short report to feature on the wall.
All parents are invited to come and view our learning wall.
Thank you very much to Olivia Kelly for her work in establishing this important home school link.

Alison Lester and University High Authors visit the Grade 2 Neighbourhood

As part of the Grade 2 Neighbourhood’s inquiry investigation about ‘What is a story?’ the children read ‘Are we there yet?’ by Alison Lester. The children related to many of the events that took place in the holiday recount and were inspired to present their own school holiday recounts in a similar style.

Beth Jackson wrote an email to Alison Lester explaining what the neighbourhood had been doing and how much we would appreciate and enjoy a visit. Beth captured Alison Lester’s imagination and she agreed to speak to the grade 2 neighbourhood. In preparation for Alison’s visit the neighbourhood has been reading her books in Book Talk with parent helpers. The children have been conducting word investigations while reading her books and have been making text to text and text to life connections.

Alison Lester and the students from University High visited the Grade 2 Neighbourhood on Thursday the 23rd of June. The Year 7 students from University High School were first to visit arriving a little after the 9 O’clock bell. The Year 7 students had published their own picture books and shared their books and experiences as writers to small groups.

The children were buzzing with excitement and were ready and waiting when Alison arrived a little after 12. The hour visit flew by as the children asked questions about her inspiration, the process she goes through when writing a book and her illustrations. Alison brought in her new book ‘One Small Island’, which is not in stores yet and read it to the class. To finish the session Alison kindly signed children’s books and donated 3 of her books (Noni the Pony, My Farm and Magic Beach) to our school library. Alison Lester is a wonderful story teller.

Rita, Jessica, Ethan and Emma would like to thank all the parents who have participated in Book Talk this term, our Year 7 authors from University High School, Clare Watson for organising the year 7 visit, Alison Lester and our very own Vicky and Beth Jackson.

Book Talk

Book Talk has been one of the many highlights of term 2. Students, teachers and parents have all thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Ethan, Rita, Jessica and Emma would like to thank Jo Horsburgh, Gabi Mira, Meredith Gunn, Clare Watson, Michelle Tenace, Laurel Gormn, Julie Markovic, Tina Winn and Leah Ramfos for leading book talk reflections.


We look forward Book Talk in Term 3.

Learning Agreement

The Children have been working with the learning agreements for the past 2 terms. The learning agreement encourages children to take control of their own learning. The learning tasks on the agreements have been workshopped and further covered in target teaching sessions as required. The children are eager to share their learning with you. Please feel free to look over this terms learning agreements and discuss the learning with your children.

The children are also selecting, reflecting and publishing their pieces of conferenced work at the moment. These pieces will be available to be shared in your child's portfolio.

The children are recording their personal narratives onto an ipod. These stories will be uploaded onto our blog and eventually the children's individual ultranet profiles. This ongoing process with continue into early next term.

A Story from Grade 2.

Our class was asked 'what is a story?'. A note was sent home asking if you knew an author or an illustrator who would come and work with our class. I didn't know anyone, but I had a look at Alison Lester's website, and I decided to email her. Alison Lester writes really good books, like 'Are we there yet?' and the 'Bonnie and Sam' series. I sent an email asking if she could come to visit our school. I was nervous doing this, but also excited. On Wednesday Alison Lester contacted Rita, to arrange to visit out school. I told my learning neighbourhood about how I had sent the email to Alison Lester. Everyone is excited, and I can't wait to meet her.

Bethany Jackson

Grade 2

Alison Lester will be visiting the neighbourhood on Thursday 23rd June.