Newsletters


Term 3 2013 Room 5 Newsletter

Dear Parents,
Welcome back to Term 3. We are now half way into the year and on our way into another busy term.

Drink bottles-The children are encouraged to have a bottle of water in the classroom each day to drink from during the course of the day. Please ensure bottles are taken home to be cleaned regularly.  

Brain Break- As part of the timetable, the children will continue to have a “brain break” during the morning. This includes a toilet stop, a drink and some brain food. Fruit/vegetables muesli bar, part of a sandwich etc..maybe brought into the classroom during this time. As a suggestion please have fruit chopped into bite-sized pieces for children to manage more easily.
Milk will also be available on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Shoelaces - It is great that some children in Room 5 are able to tie their own shoelaces.  This is a valuable life skill that gives the children independence and self-confidence.  It would benefit your child if someone at home could spend time assisting them to develop this skill.

Pencils- Students have been allocated two new pencils from the pencils bought at the beginning of the year. If these become lost, broken or sharpened too small, students are asked to replace them during the term. Students will be again be given another two pencils at the beginning of next term.
Please replace glue sticks as many children have used their first one.

Room 5 Programme for Term 3:
Religious Education: This week we will spend time exploring imaginative prayer.
We will then be studying the Church Strand and the Sacrament Strand. We will also celebrate the Liturgical Event of the Assumption of Our Lady on August 15.
Literacy:
Reading:. Each day the children will bring reading home.  The text that your child brings home may be the book they have read that day in an instructional reading session, or a book of their own choosing from their browsing basket. Your child may also choose to read a book from home or the public library.
This term I will be encouraging children to write in titles of each reading book brought home with comments in the yellow reading diary. They may require your assistance with this in the beginning.  Please sign to show indication that reading is being done at home.

Your child will continue to bring home a poem/song on Friday, which may sometimes be based around phonics. You can read this together and talk about the sounds/blends you see and hear.
 It is important that your child works on their reading skills as this develops self-confidence and ensures success in many curriculum areas.
Writing – We will be focusing on writing narratives and writing descriptions.
Oral Language/ Current Events: The children may continue to bring an item/newspaper clipping/book and present on Fridays when we have some time.   
Room 5 will also investigate skills required in being able to read aloud effectively in a class setting. A note with details will be brought home soon.
Mathematics:
For numeracy we will be focusing on number knowledge, addition and subtraction strategies and introducing multiplication and division . We will also explore aspects of geometry (position) and measurement (weight and time).
Basic Fact cards will continue to be taken home each night. These need to come back daily, as they are a part of our numeracy rotation. Once your child is able to quickly recall these they can then put them into the “to be tested” basket ready for me to test. Please encourage your child to take care of these as if they are lost or damaged $2 will be charged to replace them.
Please practice counting forwards and backwards in 1’s and 2’s up to 50.  As your child becomes more confident and accurate, then extend this counting to include 5’s and 10’s up to 100; basic facts to include all the addition and subtraction sums for 5, 10 and 20.

Inquiry:
Our topic this term focuses upon health and is centred on Keeping Ourselves Safe. Details of an upcoming parent meeting will ne made available in a school newsletter soon. We will also explore a science topic on Chemical Change later in the term.

Physical Education / Health:
PE will then continue on Tuesdays and Thursdays . Please ensure children continue to wear their sport uniforms on these days. This term we will be exploring ways of moving together and learning to use equipment safely while moving in a variety of ways.

The Arts:
We will be exploring techniques used in construction.

 Homework
10-20mins reading. Please encourage children to write book titles into the Reading Diaries each week.
Spelling: Words are tested on Friday. Room 5 have been successful in learning their words each week to date. We will begin the term using the SMART words programme. Spelling words will be in family groups so the learning may be easier once your child has learnt the rule. This programme incorporates spelling words in context with spelling foundation skills including phonemic awareness.


Basic facts- The children will continue to practice each set of cards until they can instantly recall the correct answers.  When this is achieved, a new set will then be sent home. It has been appreciated that children have taken responsibility ensuring their cards remain in their home folder.

Library- Our library day is on Friday.

Lastly, Room 5 has a BlogSpot where children’s activities, events, class newsletters, linkls that support classroom learning can be accessed http://rm5sacredheart.blogspot.co.nz


Communication: Before school is always busy, especially between 8.30 and 8.55 as this time is often used to work with individual students. Please email me and let me know when you would like to come in and let me know if there is something in particular you would like to discuss.  This way I can be prepared with the information you may require.
Thank you for your support
Regards

Nicola Winders              




Room 5 Term 2 2013 Newsletter.  

Dear Parents,
The children have enjoyed a good break and are refreshed and ready for another exciting term.
Maryanne Christie, our Third Year College student will continue to teach in Room 5 for most Mondays of the term. During her 3 week posting (May 27-June 14), Maryanne will take control in running the classroom programme.
                
Brain Break- As part of the timetable, the children will continue to have a “brain break” during the morning. This includes a toilet stop, a drink and some brain food. Fruit/vegetables muesli bar, part of a sandwich… maybe brought into the classroom during this time. As a suggestion please have fruit chopped into bite-sized pieces for children to manage more easily.

Drink bottles-The children are encouraged to have a bottle of water in the classroom each day to drink from during the course of the day. Please ensure the bottles are taken home to be cleaned regularly.

Shoelaces - It is great that some children in Room 5 are able to tie their own shoelaces.  This is a valuable life skill that gives the children independence and self-confidence.  It would benefit your child if someone at home could spend time assisting them to develop this skill.

Slippers may be worn inside the classroom, as the weather gets colder.

Pencils- Students have been allocated two new pencils from the pencils bought at the beginning of the year. If these become lost, broken or sharpened too small, students are asked to replace them during the term. Students will be again be given another two pencils at the beginning of each term.

Term 2 Programme
Maths: For numeracy we will be focusing on number knowledge and strategies for addition and subtraction. We will also explore aspects of Statistics (Probability) and measurement (length).
Basic Fact cards will continue to be taken home each night. These need to come back daily, as they are a part of our numeracy rotation. Once your child is able to quickly recall these they can then put them into the “to be tested” basket ready for me to test. Please encourage your child to take care of these as if they are lost or damaged $2 will be charged to replace them.
Please practice counting forwards and backwards in 1’s and 2’s up to 50.  As your child becomes more confident and accurate, then extend this counting to include 5’s and 10’s up to 100; basic facts to include all the addition and subtraction sums for 5, 10 and 20.

Religious Education: We begin the term we will be continuing with the Holy Spirit Strand and then exploring the God Strand towards the end of Term. We will also celebrate the Liturgical Events of the Ascension and Pentecost.
The children have an exercise book which will have pages glued into it. The children will continue to be asked to complete home activities weekly and return their book to school ready to be used for the next day please.

                                                                                                                                                                              
Literacy:
Writing: We will continue to focus on writing personal recounts and expressive writing. We will also be writing instructions. Near the end of the term the children will bring a story home and practice reading out loud.

Reading: Instructional reading lessons are Monday through to Thursday. Each day the children will bring reading home.  The text that your child brings home may be the book they have read that day in an instructional reading session, or a book of their own choosing from their browsing basket. Your child may also choose to read a book from home or the public library. Generally it is desired that the book be reasonably easy in order to encourage “smooth reading” but your child may need assistance with new vocabulary.  Smooth reading is when the reading is fluent, an i.e. sound like normal talking and has some expression.  Your child will bring home a poem on Friday, which may sometimes be based around phonics. You can read this together and talk about the sounds/blends you see and hear.  It is important that your child works on their reading skills as this develops self-confidence and ensures success in many curriculum areas.  They will bring a yellow reading log home each night too.  Please sign this to provide me with an indication that reading is being done at home.

Spelling: We will continue using words form the Essential Word Lists for children to learn each week. Later in the term we will begin the SMART words programme. Spelling words will be in family groups so the learning may be easier once your child has learnt the rule. This programme incorporates spelling words in context with spelling foundation skills including phonemic awareness.

Our Library time is on Friday afternoons. Books maybe returned in the library slot during the week.

Physical Education/Health: – Please ensure that your child wears their sports uniform each Tuesday, Thursday and Friday for each PE session.
On Friday we will be participating in a Sport Southland initiative ‘Move2mprove’ that focuses on gymnastic skills. We will also be learning how to play different games that can be adapted to play at home.

Inquiry: Our Unit for the term will be centred around our School Production based on stories from the Old Testament. Room 5 will be preforming ‘Daniel and the Lions.’  Our big questions are: Why do people tell stories? What makes a great production? Notices will be brought home regarding this later in the term.

The Arts: We will continue exploring shape and colour using different mediums including paint and pastel.

A reminder that Room 5 has a BlogSpot where children’s home activities, events and class newsletters, can be accessed at http://rm5sacredheart.blogspot.co.nz

Communication: Before school is always busy, especially between 8.30 and 8.55 as this time is often used to work with individual students. Please email me and let me know when you would like to come in and let me know if there is something in particular you would like to discuss.  This way I can be prepared with the information you may require.
Thank you for your support
Regards

Nicola Winders              




Room 5 Term 1 2013 Newsletter.  

I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful and rewarding holiday together with your family. I look forward to meeting and working with you this year. This year Room 5 consists of Years 2 and 3, and is made up of 24 marvellous males. With this in mind, the programme will be adapted in continuing to engage the boys in their learning.
We welcome a final year student, Maryanne Christie from the College of Education who will be working with the boys during the first three weeks of this term and at times throughout the year.
I will be encouraging children to be more independent in their routines.  I hope that the information on this handout will help so that you can encourage them whenever possible.
Brain Break- As part of the new timetable, the children will have a “brain break” during the morning. This will include a toilet stop, a drink and some brain food. Fruit/vegetables and/or part of a sandwich maybe brought into the classroom during this time. As a suggestion please have fruit chopped into bite-sized pieces for children to manage more easily.
Drink bottles-The children are encouraged to have a plastic bottle of water in the classroom to drink from during the course of the day.
Shoelaces - It is great that some children in Room 5 are able to tie their own shoelaces.  This is a valuable life skill that gives the children independence and self-confidence.  It would benefit your child if someone at home could spend time assisting them to develop this skill.

I would appreciate please, if you would email your address to nwinders@shsinv.school.nz as I would like to be able to communicate as needed with parents via e-mail.

This term we will be concentrating on establishing classroom routines, literacy and numeracy, and setting our personal goals. 

Maths: For numeracy we will be focusing on number knowledge and strategies for addition and subtraction. We will also explore aspects of statistics, (graphing and interpreting results), geometry (shapes) and measurement (capacity).
Basic Facts cards will be taken home each night. These need to come back daily, as they are a part of our numeracy rotation. Once your child is able to quickly recall these they can then put them into the “to be tested” basket ready for me to test. Please encourage your child to take care of these as if they are lost or damaged $2 will be charged to replace them.
Please practice counting forwards and backwards in 1’s and 2’s up to 20.  As your child becomes more confident and accurate, then extend this counting to include 5’s and 10’s up to 100; basic facts to include all the addition and subtraction sums for 5, 10 and 20.

Religious Education: We begin the year exploring the Charism (special character) of Sacred Heart School. We will then focus on the Jesus Strand and later the Holy Spirit. We will also celebrate the Liturgical Events of Lent and Holy Week.
The children have an exercise book which will have pages glued into it. The children will be asked to complete home activities weekly and return their book to school ready to be used for the next day please. 
                                                                                                                                                                              
Literacy:
Writing: We will be writing personal recounts and writing that is connected with our Inquiry Unit.
Reading: Instructional reading lessons are Monday through to Thursday. Each day the children will bring reading home.  The text that your child brings home may be the book they have read that day in an instructional reading session, or a book of their own choosing from their browsing basket. Your child may also choose to read a book from home or the public library. Generally it is desired that the book be reasonably easy in order to encourage “smooth reading” but your child may need assistance with new vocabulary.  Smooth reading is when the reading is fluent,i.e sounds like normal talking and has some expression.  Your child will bring home a poem on Friday, which may sometimes be based around phonics. You can read this together and talk about the sounds/blends you see and hear.  It is important that your child works on their reading skills as this develops self-confidence and ensures success in many curriculum areas.  They will bring a yellow reading log home each night too.  Please sign this to provide me with an indication that reading is being done at home.
Spelling
Children in Room 5 will be given spelling words to learn from a list of Essential words that they need to know.  These words are frequently used words that the children will use in their own writing and will see when they are reading.  A new spelling list is given to the children each Monday and tested on Friday. A guide to the teaching of spelling will be glued into the back of your child’s spelling notebook. Later in the year we will begin using the SMART words spelling programme.   Words from the SMART words programme will be in family groups so the learning may be easier once your child has learnt the rule.

Our Library time is on Fridays. Books maybe returned in the library slot during the week.

Physical Education/Health:– Please ensure that your child wears their sports uniform each Tuesday and Thursday for each PE session. (These are the only two days they are to wear sports uniform unless they have a note or there is a special event.)
We will be swimming at Splash Palace during weeks 6-8. Details will be put into the school newsletter. It is appreciated that children wear sports uniform during the two weeks of swimming.

Inquiry : Science- Our first Unit for the year explores the life cycle of a frog. Any help in providing a tank and tadpoles would be appreciated.

The Arts:
We will be working on sketching techniques that will be connected to our Inquiry unit.

Before school is always busy, especially between 8.30 and 8.55 as this time is often used to work with individual students. Please email me and let me know when you would like to come in and let me know if there is something in particular you would like to discuss.  This way I can be well prepared with the information you may require.
Thank you for your support


Nicola Winders              




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