News Category: Pre-primary

Last term, the Pre-primaries in Room 20 were busy getting ready for the day when they found a little Beebot named Benji in the classroom. He had somehow made his way into our small world tray and was spotted hiding under some leaves! We later read a narrative about a fun yet risky playground adventure Benji and his brother, Bertie, had been on at North Perth Primary. The students learnt to orally retell the narrative, The Playground Adventure, and enjoyed coming up with some actions to help them retell the story. They have since innovated the original story with their own ideas and did a marvellous job!

As the students explored the text, they also participated in a variety of other learning experiences to extend their learning. They developed their coding skills by learning how to control the Beebots. They listened and responded to numerous poems about minibeasts. They also engaged with the design process by designing a minibeast to create with salt dough.

Term 3 has proved to be fun and exciting. Some other highlights have been attending swimming lessons, participating in our Drama Stars and protective behaviours incursions and joining in the Early Childhood sports day! We hope you enjoy taking a look through the pictures below to see some snapshots of Term 3 in Room 20.

room-21

exploring-3d-objects

thumbnail_minibeasts

In the first few weeks of Term 2 we had fun exploring the new areas in our classroom and creating a special gift for Mother’s Day. We were also busy exploring our Talk for Writing text and learning about compliments.

The Three Little Pigs
We went out to the playground like any other day and noticed a small construction site had appeared. Someone had been busy building with straw, sticks and bricks… but who? The children began eagerly looking for clues to solve the mystery before coming to the conclusion that it was The Three Little Pigs! Later that day, we revisited the construction site and began learning the story of The Three Little Pigs. We retold the story daily and created a class story map and big book to help us identify all the different parts that make up a story. Now we’re going to have a go at innovating the text by changing parts of the story to make our own. We look forward to seeing what the children create!

Words and our Heart
In Semester 1, we discussed how words can affect our heart. We read the story “Words and our Heart” by Kate Jane Neal, and reflected upon how powerful words are. Twiggle the Turtle from our social and emotional program supported our discussions by teaching us all about compliments. We talked about what a compliment is and how it feels to receive a compliment – really good! We then began to develop our ability to give and receive compliments by creating a class compliment wall, which the children added to by writing a compliment to a friend. Parents and family were also provided with the opportunity to get involved and were invited to add to our compliment wall daily. The children have continued to develop their skills in giving and receiving compliments, by offering compliments to our daily PATHs Kid of the Day. It’s been wonderful to see our classroom filled with kindness, positivity and encouragement 

Take a look at some of the other enjoyable learning experiences we got up to in the photos below.

the-three-little-pigs

beach-investigation-area

recounts

Welcome to Term 4! We cannot believe that we are only seven weeks away from the end of the school year! Take a look at some of the exciting learning experiences that have been happening in Room 20.

Tower Inquiry

During activity time in the classroom, staff had noticed the children building towers and tall structures. To support their interest, we planned a variety of learning experiences to allow the children to explore and create towers with different materials. One activity the children engaged in was designing a tower of their own, using the available 3D objects. They attached a description to their tower before identifying the 3D objects they used.
Other opportunities were made available for the children to explore towers in both the indoor and outdoor environments. These experiences allowed the children to extend their knowledge of 3D objects, as well as their ability to collaborate with peers to achieve a common goal. The children also developed their problem solving abilities, perseverance and reflective thinking, as they encountered challenges through the learning process.

Fairies visit Room 20

The day started out like any other, but then the children began to notice a few differences in the classroom. There were small patches of glitter on the floor? Where did it come from? We discussed the types of things that come to mind when we think of glitter… fairies and magic! The teachers then shared a procedure with the children titled “How to Find a Fairy”. Once the children had listened to the procedure, we set out to find fairies in the classroom, and we did!
This experience introduced the children to procedural writing. Once we knew all the parts that make up a procedure, we had a go at writing our own to describe how to catch a mythical creature. If you ever need to know how to catch a giant, a unicorn, a mummy, a vampire, a pirate, a mermaid, a witch, a troll, a zombie, or a dragon, Room 20 can definitely help you out!

Take a look at some of the other fun activities we’ve been getting up to in the classroom through the photos below. It’s been a wonderful year and we look forward to the final weeks ahead.

Miss Smith, Mrs White, Mrs Robertson and Mrs Smith

gems-crystals-and-rocks-

how-things-move-

number-mazes-

ordering-numbers-to-20-

painting-

procedural-writing

tower-inquiry

Budding Builders in Room 21

This term in our talk for writing program we have been exploring the text ‘The Three Billy Goat’s Gruff.’ For our design and technology learning area we built our own bridges for the three billy goats. We first looked at bridges around the world and this elicited some very interesting conversations about famous bridges some of our class members have visited and facts they knew about bridges around the world. We then explored the features of bridges and investigated the structure of bridges and how to make them strong enough so they don’t collapse. The students then were told what materials were available to them to use such as cardboard boxes, straws, masking tape and plastic cups amongst other materials. The children then drew their bridge design labelling the materials they would use in their product. They used this design to build their bridges and if necessary made changes, so their bridge could stand by itself and the billy goats could walk across it. We opened our doors up to Room 20 and it was such a fun and exciting lesson with everyone constructing their amazing amazing creations. After their bridges were built, the children reflected on their design and end product and identified what stayed the same and what changed. We then showcased the wonderful bridges by inviting parents and carers into the classroom for a ‘gallery walk’ for two mornings where the bridges were on display and parents and carers could come in and walk around the classroom viewing everyone’s bridges and design plans. Well done to Room 21 you really are all amazing and talented bridge builders!

Ms Miffling and Mrs Scott

img_0104

img_0108

img_0110

img_0116

img_0123

img_0122