Thursday 25 August 2016

Middle School: Term 3 Week 7

Middle School Newsletter: Term 3 Week 7



CONNECT WITH GRADE 3 and 4



Learning and Teaching

We Are Learning To....

READING:
 use the information presented in the different texts that we read to visualise what is happening.


WRITING: develop our writing skills by writing different transactional texts including letters, postcards and posters.

V.C.O.P. (Vocabulary Connectives Openers Punctuation): use relevant and powerful connectives. 

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: interpret simple maps and identify relevant positions of key features, create and interpret grid maps to show position and pathways.

UNIT OF STUDY: (Location, Location, Location / The Olympic Games): This term the Middle School students will use the upcoming Rio Olympic Games as a springboard to study geography and the culture of countries competing. They will also investigate the different athletic events, the history of the Games and the team work and camaraderie they provide.

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

August 22nd - 25th Book Fair
August 24th - Maths Olympiad 4
August 29th - Swimming Program commences
September 2nd - District Athletics Carnival
September 7th - Maths Olympiad 5
September 14th & 15th - School Production
September 16th - Last Day of Term 3



Current notices


SWIMMING 🏊
Our Prep to Grade 4 Swimming Program commences next Monday 29th of August and concludes Friday 9th of September. Parents are invited to come and watch their child/ren swim during their allocated class times (please see timetable below) and may be asked to volunteer to travel to and from Don Tatnell Swimming Pool on the bus. If parents do volunteer, they must have a registered Working With Children Check at the office.

Helpful reminders for swimming each day:
- bag (not school bag) for clothing
-bathers, easiest if worn under school uniform
-towel
-spare underwear
-goggles and swimming cap (optional)
-plastic bag for wet bathers and towel 

Please remember to label all clothing.

Level
Depart MPPS
Lesson
Depart Pool
Grade 4 H
9am
9:30
10:45
Grade 4 W
9am
10
10:45
Grade 3 G
10am
10:30
11:45
Grade 3 S
10am
11
11:45
Grade 2 P
11 am
11:30
12:45
Grade 2 UO
11am
12
12:45
Grade 1 A
12:30pm
1
2:15
Grade 1 O
12:30pm
1:30
2:15
Prep S
1:30pm
2
3:15
Prep B
1:30pm
2:30
3:15




Swimming - Payments WERE due 15th August
Please could all outstanding payments please be finalised for swimming and all notices/ permission forms be completed ASAP. Swimming starts next Monday, the 29th of August and runs for 2 weeks.

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 Week 5 of Term 3 (Week 6 was Camp, no awards)
3S


3G
Olivia - for working to improve her understanding of division.


4W
Angus - for his impressive work ethic and ability to try his best all of the time.



Log Cabin Camp

Last week, the grade 3 and 4 students went on our annual school camp. This time we were visiting Sovereign Hill and Log Cabin Camp.

On Wednesday morning, students boarded the bus for the long bus ride to Ballarat. After a quick and wet stop over for morning tea, we continued on to our first destination of Sovereign Hill. Here we experienced an old classroom where we learnt lots about history and how a classrooms operated in the olden days. We also went panning for gold and on a tour of the Red Hill Gold Mine. The highlight of the day was when we saw how a gold bar was made. It was heated to more than 1000 degrees celcius. Then the melted gold was poured into a mould to cool down. The gold bar was worth $180,000!!! We then got back on the bus to head to Log Cabin Camp in Creswick.




















At Log Cabin Camp we were greeted by the owners Grant and Teagan. After sorting out our cabins, we completed our first activity. The activities on offer were... The Giant Swing, Flying Fox, Archery, Orienteering and Frisbee Golf! That night we went on a night hike up some old logging trails and through the bush.

As the sun rose on Thursday morning, we were all up early ready for a big day of activities. We completed 5 more activity rotations throughout the day! That night we got on a bus and headed back to Sovereign Hill to see the sound and light show called 'Blood on the Southern Cross'! It was amazing learning about Australia's History and how the Southern Cross flag came about!



















Friday morning, and the good weather ran out! It was pouring! Lucky we didn't have many activities to do! Some students got to make some Billy Tea and Damper, while the others played some games in the Rec Hall. After lunch we said our goodbyes and jumped on yet another bus to begin the long journey home.









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