Reading Eggs is also here!

Good evening parents,

You may have heard from your child that we have begun using reading eggs in class! The reading eggs program is a wonderful online reading program that focuses on phonics and helping your child to be a more confident reader. The Reading Eggs program is both motivational and fun way for children to get excited about reading.

Each child has been given a login which has been stuck into their reading file so they can access the program at home. Each child has or will do a reading placement test at school. This will place them in the correct map and reading level within the program. I am able to login as a teacher and check the progress of each of the students as they complete their allocated lessons. The children can read books, complete lessons and create and change their avatar (which is often the first thing they like to do).

The program is meant to become part of the children's homework routine for the rest of the term and into next year. A maximum of 15 minutes three times a week would be a great starting point to use the program. For the more competent readers who finish all the lessons in the Reading Eggs program there is Reading Eggspress which is an add on to help children develop comprehension, spelling, grammar and writing skills. This is a wonderful gateway to tie into what is being taught in the classroom.

Please view the video below to learn more about the benefits of Reading Eggs and the find out how you and your child can navigate each part of the program.

Have a look at the ReadingEggspress video too!

I understand that some of you have already purchased Reading Eggs privately, however as the subscription is through the school, I would appreciate if you use the school login so I am able to keep track of each child in the class.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email me.

Miss Prowse

Mathletics is here!

Dear Parents,

Year One is now using Mathletics!

Mathletics is the next generation in learning as it helps students enjoy maths and achieve great results. 

About Mathletics: Mathletics is a web-based learning program which integrates home and school learning via the internet. Mathletics is based on the Australian Curriculum from the Early Years to Year 12 and is currently used in over 3000 schools!

There are thousands of students in schools across Australia, New Zealand,  UK, Singapore and the USA are accessing the site every day! 

Your child has 24 hour access to Mathletics by using a unique user name and password. These passwords have been taped to the inside of their reading file. 


We recommend that you spend time looking at the program with your child so that you can gain the greatest understanding of how Mathletics will benefit your child. 

Benefits of Mathletics 
• Students love Mathletics!
• Students are engaged and motivated to learn. 
• Mathletics is adaptive which means that it responds to the individual student’s strengths and weaknesses. 
• Students instantly know if they are on the right track and can work through the curriculum at their own pace. 
• Animated support guides students through concepts at their own pace which is like having a personal maths tutor 24 hours a day! 
• Live Mathletics fosters a stimulating and exciting online learning community. 
• Results flow seamlessly between home and school so you can stay informed of your child’s progress. 


I have assigned the children some tasks and they may complete up to four tasks over the week. Once they have finished this task, they are allowed to go onto Mathletics Live where they can compete against other children around the world! 

I have told the children about this wonderful resource and they are very excited about it. 

An app can be downloaded for the ipad for free called Mathletics.

Here is the link below for your children to start learning! Save it to your favourites tab on your computer.

http://www.mathletics.com.au/

If you have any questions, please just email me.

Have a lovely night

Miss Prowse 

Week 4 Merit Awards

Congratulations to this weeks Merit Award winners Dior and Madi! You are both Year One super stars!

Miss Prowse 

Year One Math Magicians

In Maths we have been learning about skip counting and have been learning to count in 2's, 5's and 10's. We are also focusing on addition and counting on from the bigger number using the strategy 'Think big, count small'.

Today we had great fun using the cards from our math pencil cases to play a game called
Snap +1/-1, which is a game developed by Dr. Paul Swan, an expert at teaching mathematical concepts through hands on games.

Below is a video explaining the game if you are interested in playing the game at home with your child.

Here are some photos of us having a great time playing the game! 

Have a lovely night Miss Prowse 

Observational Survey Testing Week 5

Hello Year One Parents,

Throughout Week 5, I will be conducting individual Literacy testing using an assessment called The Observational Survey. This assessment gives myself an insight into how your child reads and writes and from this information, how they can be better supported or extended within the classroom.

There are six tasks that each child completes and these include:

A Running Record (to monitor fluency and reading behaviours)

A word reading test (Burt Word)

Concepts about print (eg. Asks where is the beginning of the sentence, punctuation, sentence, word and letter recognition etc)

Word recognition Test (Duncan Word list)

Letter and Sound identification (both capital and lowercase)

Independent Writing task (involves the child writing down as many words within a given time frame focusing on spelling and sounding out)

Listening and Hearing test (Similar to dictation where children must listen to a sentence and write what they hear)

Mrs. Trish Dorrington will be replacing myself throughout the week, however I will still be around the school to see the children or yourselves if need be.

If you have any questions, please email me.

Thank you for your support

Miss Prowse 

Hands on Math Learning in Year 1P

In Year 1P we do lots of hands on learning. This provides us with many opportunities to experiment and make meaning from the concepts we have learnt. Since the beginning of school, we have participated in lots of hands on activities and games and have had loads of fun learning in a safe and supportive environment. Here is a snap shot of one of our Maths sessions:

We have also been learning how to skip count in 2's, 5's and 10's through songs, movement and today we were very lucky to begin using our Math pencil cases!

Here are some pictures of us using our hundreds chart on our desk and our counters to show the pattern of numbers in 2's, 5's and 10's.

We are very clever mathematicians in Year One!

Thank you to those who had the tedious job of making up the pencil cases! We really appreciate it! A big Thank you to those Mum's and Dad's who have also labelled their children's cards during gathering time :)



Miss Prowse

Some more information about hands on learning:

Research has proven that students who are taught using hands-on teaching methods with manipulatives outperform those who are not. It is true for many subjects but most documented in mathematics as acquisition of early math knowledge and skills is the most important predictor not only for later math achievement but also for achievement in other content areas (Amy Claessens, The University of Chicago and Mimi Engel, Vanderbilt University, 2013).

Math is often thought of as a subject that relies on memorization of facts and practicing skills, but the true test of success in mathematics comes when a student must figure out an answer but can’t remember a fact, or has forgotten a skill. Hands-on learning drives authentic understanding and application versus memorization algorithms, or “tricks.” Students who use manipulatives create physical evidence of thinking and reasoning, solve problems, and make sense of mathematical ideas.

Week 3 Merit Award Winners

Congratulations to our week 3 Merit Award winners Jacob and Shaye. You are both absolute super stars!

Miss Prowse

After school pick up

Good afternoon parents,

This is just a quick reminder for all parents picking up their children from the classroom to please wait either under the tree in Pre-Primary or around the corner in the courtyard area until the second bell at 3.05pm rings.

The first bell rings at 3.00pm and is simply a reminder for the children catching the bus to walk to their designated area. Your cooperation in this matter is greatly appreciated as we are finding it hard to settle the children in the afternoon (especially with swimming).

Thank you for your support

Miss Prowse

Week 2 Merit Award Winners

Congratulations to the Week 2 Merit Award winners Sullivan and Sophie. You are both Year One Super Stars!

Miss Prowse

A few reminders

Good afternoon parents,

There are just a couple of reminders midst the chaos of swimming....

- If you could please bring back the parent questionnaires that were included in your parent information pack, that would be very much appreciated. Although I am building a good picture of your children from a teacher's perspective, I would love to hear what your child is like from you, the parent.  

- If you would like a reading folder there are still some available. Like we said at the parent night, they only cost $6.00 and will remain water bottle proof, dog proof and even hopefully child proof throughout the year. If I have already given you a reading file, could you please bring in the money asap to put back into our class budget.

- A parent roster will be going out next week and will begin week 5. We would obviously love as much help as possible to help with out busy Literacy block!

- Sight words will be sent home in week 5 in a plastic sleeve with the first 25 words enclosed. Due to lack of EA support in the afternoons, we were unable to make up these sets so it will require you cut out the words and hole punch them in the corner and attach with the supplied cable tie. A reminder that in Year One we require the children to be able to both read and spell the words before we give them the next 25 words to work on.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to email me.

Thank you for your support

Miss Prowse

Year One parent slide show

Good afternoon parents,

Please click on the following link to access the Year One parent information keynote from yesterday's information session.

Have a wonderful weekend

Miss Prowse



Click here

Year 1 and 2 Maths Resources

Dear Year 1 and 2 parents,

On Thursday 18th February, we are seeking assistance in assembling some Maths resources for each of the Year 1 and 2 parents. The teachers would like to create a "Maths pencil case" for each student that includes tactile maths equipment that will greatly assist in the students learning.
This should only take a few hours.
If you can help please contact the office by Tuesday 16th of February and I will be in further contact with you.

Best Regards
Adrian Torrese
Assistant Principal

Thank you for attending our parent night

Thank you to all the parents that attended this afternoon's information session. If you were unable to attend, all information will be posted on the blog tomorrow afternoon.

In your plastic sleeve you will find a parent questionnaire. Please fill this out and return it to school by next Friday the 19th Feb. We would really appreciate you taking the time to fill this out and supporting us in getting to know your child.  

Thank you

Miss Prowse

Year One parent session Thursday 11th February at 4.15pm

Good evening parents,

Tomorrow (Thursday 11th of February) is the Year One parent information session. It will commence at 4.15pm - 5.15pm in the Library. A creche will be available if you require care for younger children during this time.

If you are unable to make it for any reason, please email me at:
prowse.monique@cathednet.wa.edu.au

I look forward to seeing you then!

Miss Monique Prowse

Swimming fun in Year 1P!

Good evening parents,

We are having a wonderful time at swimming this week. Despite the hot weather the children are loving having the opportunity to swim in the beautiful blue water at the Dunsborough boat ramp!

The children are allowed to wear their swimming outfits to school and are encouraged to bring thongs to wear as it is a very quick change over between lessons. As it is hot when we are having our lessons, children are asked to wear rash vests as I found that a few children were coming without them.

Here are a few snaps from our swimming lessons!

We have had a wonderful time at swimming! 

Week 1 Merit Award Winners

Congratulations to our week 1 merit award winners Nina and Holly G! You are absolute super stars!

Miss Prowse 

Swimming information

Good afternoon parents,

This is just a gentle reminder that we have swimming starting on Monday the 8th of Feb for 2 weeks. Our swimming block time will be from 10.15-11.20 and we will be buddying up with the Year 4 students. Your children are encouraged to wear their swimming clothes and thongs to school (eg. Rashie and board shorts) to school and have their sports uniform in their bad to change into after.

Could you please ensure that your child has a plastic bag to put their wet clothes into and a spare pair of underwear to change into after swimming.

We are very excited about swimming lessons next week!

Thank you

Miss Prowse

Sip and Crunch

Good afternoon parents,

This is just a quick note about sip and crunch. In Year One we have sip and crunch in the mid morning before recess. As we have a long dedicated Literacy block in the morning, we take this opportunity to have a brain break and enjoy some fruit or vegetables so it can keep us going until recess.

The objectives of Sip and Crunch break are:

- Increase awareness of the importance of eating fruit or vegetables and drinking water everyday

- Enable students, teachers and staff to eat fruit and vegetables and drinking water everyday

- Encourage parents to provide students with healthy snack of fruit and vegetables on a regular basis

- Integrate sip and crunch into our dedicated Health program which runs in our school

We would love your help to encourage your child to bring in a piece of fruit or some cut up vegetables and place it on their desk as they arrive in the morning. A small container with fruit or vegetables already cut up would be very helpful.


Sports uniform on Fridays

This is also a note to let you know that on Fridays we wear our sports uniform with our coloured sports shirt. If you have not yet purchased a coloured shirt from our uniform shop, the children may wear their shirt normal sports top for this week.

Thank you for your support

Miss Prowse