Growing Together
Term Three was a busy time of growth at Ms Calleja’s Classroom. Our Theme this Term was Sustainability and this laid the foundation for the sort of activities we investigated, created, discussed and experimented with.
Growing Together
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Sustainability
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Growing Together 〰️ Sustainability 〰️
Small Group Tuition - Little Ones
Our little ones in the Saturday group were busy learning reading skills. We focused on short and long vowel sounds, as well as the following spelling variations (and many more): ir(bird)/ear(earth)/or(worm), oo/OO, ou/ow, x/cks, oa/ow,o-e/oh/ough/o. As you can imagine, there was lots of fun to be had which involved treasure hunts, checking on the chickens, making craft and singing songs.
Small Group Tuition - Older Children…
Mid Primary Students explored two main books: Song of the Earth and The Lorax. Song of the Earth was an exploration of the four elements - Earth, Wind, Fire and Water and how each of these elements interacts with life on earth, culturally, practically and scientifically. The Lorax is a favourite Dr Seuss book about the need to “speak for the trees” and protect our natural environment. Through activities such as candle making, speech creation and research, students learned about the world around us and how to present the information they discovered - through songs like sea shanties, or procedural texts or power point presentations. Lower High School followed a similar program, with some more challenging activities and texts, and also incorporated research and development of a Sustainable House.
Teen News…
Upper High School Students have formed a tailored study club, where they work under my guidance to develop and strengthen their understandings of skills and texts they are studying in class. At the beginning and end of each session we participate in activities that follow a concept or skill and often analyse an unseen text. Well done for all your hard work and the support you give each other in these weekly sessions.
One on one students are all progressing beautifully and giving their all each week. Welcome to three new one on one students this term!
Other News…
Thank you to those groups who allowed us time to go to Adelaide. Dave and I saw some wonderful art exhibitions while we were there and I have many new ideas to brighten up our lessons! Also - soon we will have a working bathroom. Thank you all for putting up with the dust and mess as we continue to build and grow.
Coming Up…
Term 4 will see a new topic - Countries, Customs and Cultures. This term we will bring HASS outcomes into our Literacy and English work. For the Upper High School, this will mean a focus on Context, Culture, History and Perspective.
Parents, thank you for being so good at providing feedback. Please continue to let me know which areas you would like to concentrate on, or any areas of concern. My door is always open.
See you in class, soon!