Prep | Year 2 News
Unit of Inquiry
Transdisciplinary Theme: How we organise ourselves
Central Idea: Systems are used to organise communities
Related Concepts: Systems, Interdependence, Maps, Place, Efficiency, Community
Last week, the boys explored the form and function of maps as a whole grade in the Library.
We used our Key Concepts of this unit to drive our thinking:
Form: What are the important parts of a Map?
Function: How does a MAP work?
Connection: Why do we have different types of MAPS?
The boys engaged in a thinking routine, to share what they already know about maps, what questions they have about maps and what they discovered through their exploration.
The boys then reported back to their peers about the different knowledge they had gained through this learning experience:
Leo.Z: I found out that you can turn it so you can work out how to get there if you’re walking or if you’re driving
Alex: I found out if you press binoculars, you can use your fingers to scroll and look around
Quintus: Maps can show you different areas and different types of views in different modes
Adam: If you search up a place, there might be more than one of that place, like Trinity. There’s one in Summer Hill, here and Melbourne
Maths
In Mathematics, the boys have been consolidating a variety of strategies to use when solving addition and subtraction problems. The boys have been gaining confidence in using split strategy and jump strategy using number lines, concrete materials and number sentences to demonstrate their understanding. The boys have even been writing their own number problems for friends to solve, demonstrating their ownership over their thinking and learning. Ask your son which strategy is his favourite to use when solving addition and subtraction problems and why.
English
In our English learning, we have spent the last four weeks inquiring into informative texts and how to organise our work in paragraphs, so that we can effectively communicate our facts and information to our audience. The boys planned, edited and published informative texts to their families to talk about their learning at Trinity. Through our English writing sessions, the boys gained an understanding of writing as a cyclical process, which begins with planning, moving on to creating and finally, editing and publishing. The boys engaged in self assessment and peer feedback throughout the writing process to improve and edit their work. Peer feedback is a powerful tool to improve our boys’ reflective and communication skills. Our learners completed their letters and published them for their families to read.
In our Literacy Group learning, the boys are enjoying using their growing understanding of the features of informative texts to analyse informative texts, including how they are structured and their function. We will continue to build the boys’ skills in reading informative texts to gather information and analyse their purpose and audience in the coming week.
Music
During the Classroom Music lesson through the Unit of Inquiry of Music and Stories students are inquiring into the Concepts of Form, Perspective and Connection. They are developing an understanding concerning the connection between music and stories and how they complement, extend and can express emotion, time and place, characters and mood. They are continuing to develop Communication Skills through music literacy activities, notating and performing more complex rhythmic patterns and identifying the structure of the repertoire. The creation of actions has assisted memorisation and fine motor skills. They are continuing to thrive in the compulsory strings program where Social Skills are continuing to develop.
Mandarin
As our inquiry into days of the week and time ends, the boys have shown great passion and engagement in their listening comprehension to the Chinese story of “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”. They also learn about how to convert Chinese numbers to time after gaining the conceptual idea of “dian-o’clock” through a Chinese Reader “Xian Zai Ji Dian Le?” and specially designed craft work on clock. Heritage learners are given opportunities to explore additional time concepts.
We will now apply our Chinese knowledge and extend our understanding of current UOI on how systems help to connect people to places more efficiently by decoding some road signs which contain these vocabularies.
Christian Studies
Over the last few weeks in Chapel, the boys have been exploring the Biblical concept of “covenant” or in other words, “agreement or promise”. They have been reminded that there are many examples where God has made a gracious covenant with his people, and yet they broke the covenant. With Easter approaching, we have a wonderful example of God’s plan of salvation through His son Jesus. In week 10, we are privileged to have the visit of “Quiz Worx” – a biblical puppet / interactive show explaining the importance of Jesus’ death and resurrection. This week, the boys are experiencing a visit from the Years 10 to 12 Summer Hill group “Berea”. Berea is a Christian leadership group that helps the students equip and share the good news of Jesus. These older students will be teaching every Christian Studies class this week, visiting CIA (Christians in Action) groups and running Chapel. There are very few opportunities for our boys to share in high school events and this mission will serve as a wonderful opportunity to build relationships and share in the wonders of Easter.
