Grade 1/2 with mrs sundqvist

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Dear Parents and Guardians,
Welcome to Term 1, 2021! I am very pleased to be continuing my teaching in the Year 1/2 classroom for this year. I look forward to building on the wonderful achievements with my continuing students, and building positive and trusting relationships with my new Year 1 students.
Assembly
Assembly will be held each Friday at 3:10pm. I welcome all family members and friends to attend.
Literacy
My approach to literacy is explicit, structured teaching, based on the latest scientific research about how children learn to read. We focus on the “Big Six” aspects of reading:

1. Oral language – expressing our thoughts and feelings clearly through speech
2. Phonological awareness – identifying the sounds in words
3. Phonics – learning the links between letters and sounds
4. Vocabulary – knowing the meaning of words
5. Fluency – speed, accuracy and expression in reading
6. Comprehension – extracting and creating meaning from text

Students will learn the ‘code’ between letters and sounds, and use this knowledge to read and spell words. I will be reading a wide variety of texts to the class, and students will respond in a range of creative ways. Each term we will have a focus author; for Term 1 it is Bob Graham.
To develop a solid foundation in writing, I will be teaching students how to write in complete sentences, and then to expand their sentences to add detail. Later in the year we will learn to write a paragraph, and different text genres.
On Tuesdays – Thursdays students will participate in Spelling Mastery lessons. These sessions teach students in small steps, allowing practice, so that they learn the rules of spelling.

How can you help?
When your child is reading to you, ensure they ‘sound it out’ if they get stuck on a word. Do not encourage them to guess by looking at the pictures. If they need more help, sound out the letters with them, then ask them to blend the sounds together to read the word. Ask your child if they understand the words they are reading, and provide any definitions as necessary. I would also appreciate it if you could note this in your child’s diary.

Numeracy
Our main aim this term is to develop students’ number sense. We will use hands-on materials and games to learn about place value, addition and subtraction, measurement, and time-telling.
How can you help?
Talk about maths explicitly in your day-to-day lives: ask your child to count objects around them, ask how many would there be if you took away 2 or added 3? Ask them to tell you what the time is (if it’s an o’clock or half past). Look at numbers in the environment (e.g. house numbers) and ask what the number is. Baking with your child is a wonderful way to talk about maths (and yummy)!

Inquiry
Our inquiry focus for Term 1 is Farms. Students will learn about where the food they eat and the clothes they wear come from, and how farmers look after the animals and plants. We will consider farming methods of Aboriginal peoples, and the farms that are currently in the local area.

Specialist Subjects
This year, I will be taking all classes for Art. The Year 1/2 class will have Art on Tuesday, and the rest of the school will have Art on Friday. Any creative parents/carers are very welcome as Art helpers.
The 1/2 class will have Library with Mrs O’Gorman on Mondays, so remember to return books after the weekend. On Mondays the 1/2 class will also have Chinese. Fridays will include Music, Science, P.E. and Resilience.


Munch and Crunch
Each day, students will have a snack in the morning. Please pack a healthy snack that is not messy to eat in the classroom (no yoghurt pots or fruit cups). If your child has a wobbly tooth, please cut apples into slices! I strongly encourage all parents to pack a ‘nude’ lunchbox to reduce the amount of packaging waste in our environment. Students will be allowed access to their drink bottles at all times during the day.
Homework
It is expected that students read every night at home, to practice what they have been learning in class. Readers will start going home in week 3.

Communication
If you need to contact me, you can write a note in your child’s diary, send a message via Class Dojo, or pop in for a quick visit. If you wish to meet for longer, please contact me to arrange a time after school. I welcome family members in the classroom at any time, for observation or as a parent helper (Covid restrictions permitting).
 
All the best for a wonderful 2021!
 
Laura Sundqvist