Wednesday 30 November 2016

Middle School Newsletter Week 9 Term 4

Middle School Newsletter: Term 4 Week 9



CONNECT WITH GRADE 3 and 4

Learning and Teaching

We Are Learning To....

READING:
 make inferences about the books that we are reading, using clues and the information from the different texts to come to a conclusion.


WRITING/V.C.O.P.: reflect upon our semester's learning. We are thinking about our achievements and what we can improve on next year. We are also looking at using a variety of openers to improve our writing.

SPELLING: use SMART spelling strategies including breaking words into sounds and syllables, identifying the 'tricky' parts of the words and writing the words and sentences from a dictation passage. Emphasis will also be placed on understanding the meaning of the words with students being encouraged to include the words in their writing and oral language. 

MATHS: make models of three-dimensional objects and describe the key features and geometric properties of the shapes, as well discovering the area of regular and irregular shapes. 

UNIT OF STUDY: (We are One, We are Many/History): learn about the history of Australia.

eLEARNING: use the iPads and Netbooks to support and extend learning through Mathletics and Reading Eggs and for research and publishing purposes.


 Term 4 Calendar Dates



Friday 2nd December - Carols Night
Tuesday 6th December - Up Day
Friday 10th December - Whole School Sports Day
Tuesday 13th December - Up Day Meet the Teacher


Current Notices



 Satellite Club
The Satellite Club is a program offered to extend and enrich selected students. Our aim is to present new and exciting challenges for the Satellite Club team. This year they have been working on logical thinking and reasoning skills.

In Term Four students will be developing business plans and creating their own businesses using ICT skills.


The students will work with our new CSIRO ICT in Schools partner, Ms Vikki Morris, Regional Manager, Cisco Systems Australia and Mrs Grisdale.

More information about our new program will be in the newsletter over the coming weeks. Both parents and students have been asking about the program - it's good to hear you are as excited about the program as we are!!
If you have any questions, please speak to Mrs Grisdale.







Grade 3 and 4 Sport

In term 4 will be running Middle School sport on Fridays at 12:00.  The students will be participating in mixed grade groups practising and playing games offered for Interschool sport. The sports include rounders, cricket, tennis and newcombe. Don't forget your runners!


Sun Smart

As we are a Sun Smart school we request that students wear hats when outside in Term 4.  Those students without hats are asked to be in the shaded eating area. We have provided students with sunscreen and encourage them to apply the sunscreen before going out. If you wish to provide your own sunscreen we require a Material Data Sheet before it is brought to school.



Making News

Achievement Awards for Weeks 7 and 8 of Term 4
3S
Maya - for her amazing diagram of what life was like for Aboriginals before and after European settlement. Stunning work!
Antonios - using his understanding of vertical and horizontal symmetry to create a cool symmetrical flag.  Good work!

3G
Mia - writing a detailed procedure to help the hippo find the ghost in the haunted house!
Harper - showing a great work ethic by practising her handwriting and doing extra work.

4H
Sam- designing a maze and then writing a procedure to get a blindfolded person out of his maze (and also getting his pen licence during this process). 
Tikki- using her knowledge of shapes to design a symmetrical flag for a new country.

4W
Sarah - her ability to successfully make informed predictions when reading. 
Maddie - her developing ability to write clear and concise instructions when writing procedural texts.


Carols Night


Don't forget that Mentone Park Primary School's Carols Night is on this Friday the 2nd of December. It will start at 6pm and run until 8pm. The Grade 3 and 4 students have been working really hard on their singing skills. Students will be performing a couple of classic Christmas songs with a twist. They are looking forward to performing for you all!




Olympic-a-thon!


The A-Thon was a big success! Thank you for your generous donations. We raised over $4,000.00! 

Wednesday 16 November 2016

Middle School Week 7 Term 4

Middle School Newsletter: Term 4 Week 7



CONNECT WITH GRADE 3 and 4

Learning and Teaching

We Are Learning To....

READING:
 make predictions and inferences about the books that we are reading, using clues and the information for the different texts.


WRITING/V.C.O.P.: write a sequenced set of instructions focusing on the vocabulary that we are using. We are aiming to create clear instructions that readers will be able to follow with ease.

SPELLING: use SMART spelling strategies including breaking words into sounds and syllables, identifying the 'tricky' parts of the words and writing the words and sentences from a dictation passage. Emphasis will also be placed on understanding the meaning of the words with students being encouraged to include the words in their writing and oral language. 

MATHSsolve financial maths problems involving purchases and the giving / receiving of change.

UNIT OF STUDY: (We are One, We are Many/History): learn about the history of Australia. We are starting our inquiry unit by developing an understanding of Indigenous culture and lifestyles.

eLEARNING: use the iPads and Netbooks to support and extend learning through Mathletics and Reading Eggs and for research and publishing purposes.


 Term 4 Calendar Dates


8th, 15th, 22nd, 28th and 29th November - STOMP Dance
Friday 25th November - Twilight Working Bee
Friday 2nd December - Carols Night
Friday 10th December - Whole School Sports Day


Current notices


 Satellite Club


The Satellite Club is a program offered to extend and enrich selected students. Our aim is to present new and exciting challenges for the Satellite Club team. This year they have been working on logical thinking and reasoning skills.



In Term Four students will be developing business plans and creating their own businesses using ICT skills.




The students will work with our new CSIRO ICT in Schools partner, Ms Vikki Morris, Regional Manager, Cisco Systems Australia and Mrs Grisdale.
More information about our new program will be in the newsletter over the coming weeks. Both parents and students have been asking about the program - it's good to hear you are as excited about the program as we are!!
If you have any questions, please see Mrs Grisdale.





Grade 3 and 4 Sport

In term 4 will be running Middle School sport on Fridays at 12:00.  The students will be participating in mixed grade groups practising and playing games offered for Interschool sport. The sports include rounders, cricket, tennis and newcombe. Don't forget your runners!


Sun Smart

As we are a Sun Smart school we request that students wear hats when outside in Term 4.  Those students without hats are asked to be in the shaded eating area.



Making News
Achievement Awards for Weeks 5 and 6 of Term 4
3S
Carla - for her interesting Dreamtime story about how the cockatoo got it's feathers. Well done Carla!  
Amy - for using her growth mindset when tacking challenging money problems in class this week. Well done!

3G
Sarah - for writing an interesting haiku about lizards
Olivia - for writing an interesting Dreamtime story which included a glossary
4H

Anna - for the images she created in readers minds when writing her Dreamtime Story "Uju the Peacock".
John - for using his knowledge of shopping to help him solve money related problems.

4W
Billy - for his well written and entertaining Dreamtime story, 'How the Echidna Was Created'
Darcy - for successfully writing about the settlement of Melbourne from the perspectives of both the Europeans and Indigenous Australians.


STOMP Dance Program





The year 3 and 4 students are loving the new Stomp Dance Program each Tuesday! For the next three weeks the students will be learning new dances in preparation for the Christmas Concert on December 2nd. Ask them to rehearse one of them for you!



Monday 7 November 2016

Middle School Term 4 Week 5

Middle School Newsletter: Term 4 Week 5



CONNECT WITH GRADE 3 and 4


WOW... The end of week 5 already. How time flies!!!

Learning and Teaching

We Are Learning To....

READING:
 ask questions before we read, while we are reading and after we read. Asking questions helps us to further understand the text.


WRITING/V.C.O.P.: plan, draft and edit a creative story in about how a particular Australian animal came to be, based on our knowledge of Dreamtime stories.

SPELLING: use SMART spelling strategies including breaking words into sounds and syllables, identifying the 'tricky' parts of the words and writing the words and sentences from a dictation passage. Emphasis will also be placed on understanding the meaning of the words with students being encouraged to include the words in their writing and oral language. 

MATHStell the time on digital and analogue clocks, convert between units of time, use am and pm and solve time problems.

UNIT OF STUDY: (We are One, We are Many/History): learn about the history of Australia. We are starting our inquiry unit by developing an understanding of Indigenous culture and lifestyles.

eLEARNING: use the iPads and Netbooks to support and extend learning through Mathletics and Reading Eggs and for research and publishing purposes.


 Term 4 Calendar Dates


Friday 4th November - PFA Free Dress Day (Gold Coin Donation)
8th, 15th, 22nd, 28th and 29th November - STOMP Dance
Wednesday 16th November - Whole School A-Thon
Wednesday 16th November - PFA Disco
Friday 25th November - Twilight Working Bee
Friday 2nd December - Carols Night
Friday 10th December - Whole School Sports Day


Current notices


 Satellite Club

The Satellite Club is a program offered to extend and enrich selected students. Our aim is to present new and exciting challenges for the Satellite Club team. This year they have been working on logical thinking and reasoning skills.

In Term Four students will be developing business plans and creating their own businesses using ICT skills.

The students will work with our new CSIRO ICT in Schools partner, Ms Vikki Morris, Regional Manager, Cisco Systems Australia and Mrs Grisdale.

More information about our new program will be in the newsletter over the coming weeks. Both parents and students have been asking about the program - it's good to hear you are as excited about the program as we are!!

If you have any questions, please see Mrs Grisdale.




Grade 3 and 4 Sport
In term 4 will be running Middle School sport on Fridays at 12:00.  The students will be participating in mixed grade groups practising and playing games offered for Interschool sport. The sports include rounders, cricket, tennis and newcombe. Don't forget your runners!


Sun Smart
As we are a Sun Smart school we request that students wear hats when outside in Term 4.  Those students without hats are asked to be in the shaded eating area.




Making News
Achievement Awards for Weeks 3 and 4 of Term 4
3S
Angelo- for applying himself fully in maths and having a growth mindset when tackling multiplication problems. Great work!
Ben- for his brilliant Dreamtime story about how the rainbow lorikeet became colourful. Great work Ben!

3G

Josh - for sharing insightful comments related to early settlement and the inhabitants of Australia.  Well done.

4H

Faye- writing an interesting Haiku poem about Doritoes.
Tyler- always using his Growth Mindset and giving everything a go.

4W

Andjelka - for developing her ability to solve complicated division problems in maths lessons.
Dylan - enthusiastically learning how to tell the time by using an analogue clock.





MIDDLE SCHOOL POETRY
In the Middle School we have been writing different types of poetry, including Limericks, Haikus and Found Poems...


LIMERICKS
There once was a very old man,
Who loved to play in his band,
He fell off the stage,
And broke his rib cage,
The man was unable to stand.

There once was a girl called Faye,
She liked to eat pate,
She ate it lots and lots,
While driving her yachts,
She did it every day.

There once was a boy called Luke,
He liked to eat all the fruit,
The oranges at half time,
He ate his and ate mine,
If I got one it was a fluke.
HAIKUS
Witches are ready,
Scary skeletons are here,
It is Halloween.

Lovely soft icing,
On light fluffy cupcakes,
Better eat them up.

Monday 10 October 2016

Middle School Newsletter Term 4 Week 3

Middle School Newsletter: Term 4 Week 3



CONNECT WITH GRADE 3 and 4



What a wonderful start to the term we have had.  Both students and teachers have enthusiastically embraced the new term and the learning challenges.


Learning and Teaching

We Are Learning To....

READING:
 recognise and know how words work: multiple meanings, antonyms and synonyms, powerful descriptive words and etymology. 


WRITING/V.C.O.P.: write and identify the features of different forms of poetry such as Haikus and Found poems. 
Our VCOP focus is Vocabulary including a focus on adjectival and adverbial words and phrases.

SPELLING: use SMART spelling strategies including breaking words into sounds and syllables, identifying the 'tricky' parts of the words and writing the words and sentences from a dictation passage. Emphasis will also be placed on understanding the meaning of the words with students being encouraged to include the words in their writing and oral language. 

MATHS: continue work on multiplication and division using our place value knowledge, times table facts and problem solving techniques.
            tell the time on digital and analogue clocks, convert between units of time, use am and pm and solve time problems.

UNIT OF STUDY: (We are One, We are Many/History): learn about the history of Australia. We are starting our inquiry unit by developing an understanding of Indigenous culture and lifestyles.

eLEARNING: use the iPads and Netbooks to support and extend learning through Mathletics and Reading Eggs and for research and publishing purposes.


 Term 4 Calendar Dates


Monday 24th October - 3/4 Murrundindi incursion
Tuesday 1st November - Melbourne Cup Public Holiday
Tuesday 8th November - Whole School A-Thon
8th, 15th, 22nd, 28th and 29th November - STOMP Dance
Friday 25th November - Twilight Working Bee
Friday 2nd December - Carols Night
Friday 10th December - Whole School Sports Day


Current notices



 Satellite Club



The Satellite Club is a program offered to extend and enrich selected students. Our aim is to present new and exciting challenges for the Satellite Club team. This year they have been working on logical thinking and reasoning skills.

In Term Four students will be developing business plans and creating their own businesses using ICT skills.

The students will work with our new CSIRO ICT in Schools partner, Ms Vikki Morris, Regional Manager, Cisco Systems Australia and Mrs Grisdale.

More information about our new program will be in the newsletter over the coming weeks. Both parents and students have been asking about the program - it's good to hear you are as excited about the program as we are!!

If you have any questions, please see Mrs Grisdale.



In school visit - 24th October
To complement our Inquiry unit we have organised an in school visit from Murrundindi who will teach us about Indigenous culture and lifestyle.  He is always an entertaining and engaging presenter.  
 
Grade 3 and 4 Sport
In term 4 will be running Middle School sport on Fridays at 12:00.  The students will be participating in mixed grade groups practising and playing games offered for Interschool sport. The sports include rounders, cricket, tennis and newcombe. Don't forget your runners!


Sun Smart
As we are a Sun Smart school we request that students wear hats when outside in Term 4.  Those students without hats are asked to be in the shaded eating area.



Making News
Achievement Awards for Weeks 1 and 2 of Term 4
3S
Ayaan - for trying his best to write a creative limerick and 
making a great start to term 4!
Antonios - for being enthusiastic in his learning, especially when it comes to completing his reading activities. Great work, Antonios!

3G
Oscar - displaying the 3G values consistently throughout the week.
Talia - using her growth mindset when attempting challenging learning tasks.


4H
Katarina - writing an excellent limerick poem titled 'Anna Banana'.
Conor - using his Growth Mindset when presented with challenging multiplication tasks


4W
Angie - for her amazing ability to write a creative and clever limerick entitled Bird and Mouse.
Josh - for his careful and thoughtful selection of words when creating Found poems in writing lessons.


In the Dreamtime!

On Monday the 10th October Grade 3 and 4 went to the Ian Potter Centre NGV in the city.  We visited a sculpture exhibition by Bruce Armstrong called Strange Creatures which included mythological creatures, animals, birds and people carved out of wood. Have you seen his sculpture near the Docklands and Southern Cross station?
We also visited an exhibition of modern indigenous art.  The artists painted using bright colours and big brushstrokes.  To enjoy the art we sat and thought about what the paintings reminded us of.  We also thought what music came into our mind when we looked at them.
The next exhibition was The Angel Gift with over 100 Aboriginal paintings from 1990 until now.  They used more dot art and had lots of patterns and some even looked like mazes.  There were many rooms of art in the exhibition.

After the Gallery we met Jordan at the Koorie Heritage Centre.  He explained about Aboriginal culture.  Did you know that boomerangs can be used for killing or scaring animals?  We walked along Birrarung Marr and Jordan talked about the sculptures and how they related to Aboriginal culture and life.  Jordan was from Geelong and his parents were from Warrnambool and Alice Springs.  He entertained us with a dance showing us the movements of an emu, kangaroo, eagle and hunter. 

It was an enjoyable and informative day.
Reporters: Sarah and Chloe

Quiz
What significance does Bunjil the eagle have to Indigenous cultures in Victoria?
How are boomerangs used when hunting birds?
What animals are used to make the traditional cloaks of the Bunurong people? 













Wednesday 5 October 2016

Middle School - Term 4 Week 1

Middle School Newsletter: Term 4 Week 1



CONNECT WITH GRADE 3 and 4

Welcome back to our last term of 2016! We hope that everyone is well rested and ready to make the most of this term.

Learning and Teaching

We Are Learning To....

READING:
 revise the different strategies that we use while we read. What do good readers do? How can the reading strategies help us to become a better reader? 


WRITING/V.C.O.P.: Learn about limericks and how to write an interesting and creative limerick poem. For VCOP we have a focus on Penny Punctuation. How do we use appropriate punctuation?

SPELLING: use SMART spelling strategies including breaking words into sounds and syllables, identifying the 'tricky' parts of the words and writing the words and sentences from a dictation passage. Emphasis will also be placed on understanding the meaning of the words with students encouraged to include the words in their writing and oral language. 

MATHS: solve multiplication problems using a range of efficient mental and written strategies. The students will explore multiplication through engaging student centered tasks.

UNIT OF STUDY: (We are One, We are Many/ History): This term our focus is on learning about the history of Australia. We are starting the unit by understanding who the first owners of the land were and exploring Indigenous culture.

eLEARNING: use the iPads and Netbooks to support and extend learning through Mathletics and Reading Eggs and for research and publishing purposes.


 Term 4 Calendar Dates

Monday 10th October - 3/4 excursion to Federation Square
Monday 24th October - 3/4 Murrundindi incursion
Tuesday 1st November - Melbourne Cup Public Holiday
Tuesday 8th November - Whole School A-Thon
8th, 15th, 22nd, 28th and 29th November - STOMP Dance
Friday 25th November - Twilight Working Bee
Friday 2nd December - Carols Night
Friday 10th December - Whole School Sports Day



Current notices


Homework: 
Homework in the Middle School is sent home on a Friday and due back the following Thursday. The homework consists of reading (minimum of 4 nights), Mathletics activities and SMART spelling-look, say, sound, spell, write, check.
We would appreciate if parents could record and sign in the student diary when students complete their homework tasks.

Reading Eggs and Mathletics:
All students have individual passwords to access both of these programs.  We encourage students to explore activities to revise and extend their learning.  These programs are online tools which students use to enhance their learning. 
Students are given set Mathletics tasks to be completed for homework.  This week the focus is on Division.

Morning Bell Times
Students are welcome to enter their classrooms to prepare for their school day from 8:50 each morning. A first bell will sound at 8:55 which is a reminder for all students to enter their classrooms. A second bell will sound at 9 o'clock which will signal the start of the day's learning. Thank you.


Making News
Achievement Awards for Weeks 9 and 10 of Term 3
3S
Liam - using his growth mindset to work towards achieving his goals. Good work Liam! 

3G
Owen - providing comprehensive answers about his reading
Lucy - answering reading questions comprehensively.


4H
Hannah - for her excellent efforts towards completing her inquiry project.
Dylan - for creatively comparing Australia and Kenya in his inquiry project.

4W
Billy - for the hard work he has put into completing his Inquiry project - comparing the geography of Australia with that of the United States.
Darcy - for her enthusiasm in preparing for our school production 'Alice's Adventure'


Dreamtime!

This week we are starting to explore Aboriginal history by looking at Dreamtime stories and the importance of these stories to the Aboriginal people. Our classes have looked at stories such as "The Rainbow Serpent" and "Pheasant and Kingfisher." The students created stick puppets to retell these stories.




We also focused on Aboriginal artworks and how these are important to Indigenous culture. 

Image result for aboriginal dot painting authentic 
























Thursday 8 September 2016

Middle School: Term 3 Week 9

Middle School Newsletter: Term 3 Week 9



CONNECT WITH GRADE 3 and 4



Learning and Teaching

We Are Learning To....

READING:
 determine what are the most important parts of what we read. We will practise doing this by using a range of reading strategies across a variety of text types.


WRITING/V.C.O.P.: 'up-level' our Big Write narrative on life in Ballarat in the 1850s. We will use the VCOP student friendly assessment guide to improve our pieces of writing, focusing on things such as vocabulary, connectives, openers, punctuation, descriptive language and paragraphing, to name a few things!  

SPELLING: use SMART spelling strategies including breaking words into sounds and syllables, identifying the 'tricky' parts of the words and writing the words and sentences from a dictation passage. Emphasis will also be placed on understanding the meaning of the words with students encouraged to include the words in their writing and oral language. For the next two weeks we will revise the words we have looked at this term.

MATHS: explore the concept of probability through a range of activities. We will explore the possible outcomes of chance experiments, develop our ability to use the language of probability and make links between chance and fractions.

UNIT OF STUDY: (Location, Location, Location / The Olympic Games): For the final two weeks of this term, the Middle School students will work on their in-class project which will answer the key question of 'how and why are places similar and different?' The students will compare and contrast Australia with their country of study this term. They will research and then show the similarities and differences between the geographic features of the two countries.

eLEARNING: use the iPads and Netbooks to support and extend learning through Mathletics and Reading Eggs and for research and publishing purposes.


 Term 3 Calendar Dates

Friday 9th September - Swimming Program concludes
Friday 9th September - Footy Day
Tuesday 13th September - School Production Dress Rehearsal (at School)
Wednesday 14th Sep. - School Production Dress Rehearsal (at Parkdale SC)
Wednesday 14th & Thursday 15th September - School Production
 Friday 16th September - Last Day of Term 3
Monday 3rd October - First Day of Term 4 
(remember that Term 4 is a Sun Smart Term) 



Current notices


Homework: 
Homework in the Middle School is sent home on a Friday and due back the following Thursday. The homework consists of reading (minimum of 4 nights), Mathletics activities and SMART spelling-look, say, sound, spell, write, check.
We would appreciate if parents could record and sign in the student diary when students complete their homework tasks.

Reading Eggs and Mathletics:
All students have individual passwords to access both of these programs.  We encourage students to explore activities to revise and extend their learning.  These programs are online tools which students use to enhance their learning. 
Students are given set Mathletics tasks to be completed for homework.  This week the focus is on Division.

Morning Bell Times
An adjustment has been made to the morning bell times. Students are welcome to enter their classrooms to prepare for their school day from 8:50 each morning. A first bell will sound at 8:55 which is a reminder for all students to enter their classrooms. A second bell will sound at 9 o'clock which will signal the start of the day's learning. Thank you.


Making News
Achievement Awards for Weeks 7 and 8 of Term 3
3S
Emily- for creating an excellent postcard based on her time at camp last week.
Sam- for working hard to improve his handwriting and not giving up! 

3G
Seb- for showing initiative to create a 3G banner to inspire our learning.
Lucy- for answering reading questions comprehensively.

4H
Olivia- for generating excellent ideas for her writing, including a letter to the teachers about why we need new books in the library.
Drew-  for her detailed and insightful narrative about the 1800's and the Gold Rush.

4W
Holly - for her developing ability to read and interpret maps which include direction, key and scale.
Jordyn - for her ability to create a detailed 'open minded portrait' to visualise the thoughts and feelings of a character from Ballarat during the 1850s.



Icy Poles!

To raise money for the Grade 6 Graduation Ceremony, icy-poles will be sold on the following dates:

Thursday 15th September (Recess only)
Every Tuesday in Term 4 (Recess only)


V.C.O.P. Big Write

Thank you for taking the time to chat with your child about the writing topic given out last week. As a result students were excited and prepared for the Big Write session and were eager to write and share their ideas. 
Keep an eye out future Big Write topics!



Swimming Program 🏊

Our School Swimming Program at Don Tatnall Leisure Centre is now well under way! The students have enjoyed swimming each day and their confidence in their swimming skills have developed tremendously over this time!