In Term 3 we had our first learning about narrative writing. Narrative stories are made up stories, and we used Fairy Tales as an example. We began by looking at Goldilocks and the Three Bears . We broke down the story into parts to understand all the elements of a narrative: title, orientation, characters, setting, problem and solution. Then we worked together to create our own narrative as a class. We practiced coming up with ideas and drawing or writing them into our planning template, and then using our plan to write the story in sentences. Next everyone had a chance to come up with their own narrative story. After making a plan for their writing, some children wrote their stories and some are transcribed from oral storytelling. Enjoy!
We were outside for the middle block on Friday to take part in Outdoor Play Day. What a fantastic time. The children were so engaged! I supplied magnifying glasses and clipboards in case anyone might find them useful. We set up the premise that it was a time to be totally self-directed; an opportunity to adventure, explore, play. The only rule was to stay in sight of a grown up. Thanks heaps to the mums who joined us as it meant we could spread further through the school grounds. Play-based learning is often praised for enabling children to develop and use their Key Competencies. I felt so proud of our Room 3 and 4 children as I could see and hear them doing exactly that. Click here to read more about the Key Competencies . Check out the happy smiles in the photos below. .
This group has been learning how to count on to solve addition problems. We have been trying to move from using materials (physically counting our fingers, the numbers, etc) to using imaging, where we count and keep track inside our head. While we were practicing today, two other great strategies were used: "tidy numbers" and using basic facts. "Tidy numbers" is where the smaller number is split to take the biggest number to the nearest 10. For example, 9+5 could be worked out as 9+1+4. A child might use basic facts in a problem like 12+5 because they know 2+5=7, so 12+5=17. When children know the answer to a question, we will always ask "how did you know?", "why do you think that?" or "how did you figure it out?" This builds metacognition (thinking about our own thinking) and benefits others in the group because they can learn from each other. . . .
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