Prep | Year 1 News
In Year 1, we have had a busy few weeks of learning. The boys have become accustomed to school routines and have enjoyed spending time developing new friendships.
Over the past two weeks Year 1 has begun their next Unit of Inquiry “How We Express Ourselves”. The boys embarked on a presentation of their culture. Students successfully explained and reflected on cultural items. These presentations lead to successful wonderings and interest into unknown cultures. We thank you for encouraging your child to bring in a significant item of cultural importance.
The boys will continue the unit by inquiring into cultures of the world, the similarities and differences between cultures and how being open-minded and showing appreciation for different cultures creates global citizens. We have started by unpacking the central idea and began wonderings around the question ‘what is culture?’. Over the next few weeks, the boys will continue to explore different cultures through inquiring into cultural music, traditions, religions, celebrations, food and more. This week, Year 1 will focus on instruments from around the world. They will look into what their significance is within a specific culture and where the instrument derives from. Upon this, new wonderings and interests will spark.
We are hoping to be able to go on an excursion towards the end of term to develop our appreciation of different cultures and religions. If you have a connection to a place of worship, please let us know so we can explore these options.
Maths
During our Maths engagements, students have been exploring data. Year 1 has been exploring tally marks and how to create simple bar and column graphs. Students collected information, created tally marks and simple bar and column graphs. They had then interpreted data and reflected on what they discovered. The next focus area the students are now exploring is Whole Number. Within this unit, students are revising different combinations to 10, they practice sequencing numbers in ascending and descending order as well as representing numbers through place value.
Mandarin
We have started the transdisciplinary unit How We Express Ourselves by exploring and sharing the cultural understanding and experiences in food. In provocation, boys matched the school lunch images and the countries where the lunch is from. They also learned and practised 6 popular canteen food and a few useful food ordering phrases in a variety of learning activities, including mini whiteboard writing and drawing, a matching game, Quizlet, listening, speaking, and role play. I was delighted to see Chinese character writing from both non-heritage and heritage learners, and to hear the short conversations of ordering food in Chinese. The Approaches to Learning applied in boys’ learning are Thinking Skills, Social Skills, Communication Skills and Self-Management Skills.
Christian Studies
The boys began the year thinking about the UOI “Who We Are”. In conjunction with this, we began our UOI on Jesus said, “I am …” The boys have been exploring the various sayings of Jesus such as “I am the good shepherd” and “I am the bread of life.” Over the next few weeks, we will be reflecting on how people responded to Jesus after each saying. The boys will be using their communication skills at the end of term and sharing their own perspectives and reflections. We have also been conducting Chapel outside on the new basketball court where we have begun our journey looking at covenants / agreements between God and us. We will be examining how important it is for us to understand the relationship between covenants and God’s amazing plan of salvation.
