Tuesday 16 August 2011

Tuesday 16th August

What we did today?

In English today we wrote a book report based on our Dinosaur Tale book "Penny the Dinosaur". The children did a great job and we ended up with a very thorough, well written book report. In English groups the children are working on capital letters, full-stops, brainstorming 'cl' words and completing their final narratives.

In Maths we continued with Money concepts. We grouped dollars and cents and added up sums to determine what items we could or couldn't afford from our classroom shop. The students are getting the hang of these concepts slowly.

Thisafternoon the students had a Listening/Comprehension session followed by a Social Skills lesson where I taught them the skill of debating. It was a very loud lesson! We argued what the best sport was: dancing or soccer. Both teams presented very convincing arguments.

The students had Music thisafternoon, which they always enjoy.

Jenny spent the morning doing running records with a lot of the students. Jenny's feedback to the parents is to note that now the students are reading at higher levels, the level of comprehension is noticably weak. Any efforts you can do to support this at home will be beneficial. Comprehension works at two levels: direct (eg "What was that character's name?") or inferential (eg "Why do you think the dog ran away?). Inferential questions are NOT directly retrieved from the story. These require the students to understand what they are reading and to think about concepts relating to the story. These questions are harder for the students to grasp, but a successful ability to do so usually means that the child has understood what they are reading. Comprehension is important before, during and after reading. Flicking through a book first can help them think about ideas and the plot prior to being influenced by the text. It certainly strengthens the child's ability to comprehend after reading.


Reminders:
  • Book Week parade is Friday from 8:30am in the new Sports Centre.
  • Fathers Day money is also due in for those who are interested. Presents are $5 each.

2S Superstar of the Day Award: Laura

Laura has been working consistently hard lately and always displays beautiful manners. Well done Laura for trying so hard.

Enjoy your afternoon,

Katie Watson

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