Spotlight on Year 3 STREAM
This year all classes Prep to Year 6 have been enthusiastically participating in our unique, innovative subject, STREAM (Science, Technology, READING, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) with Mrs Mars in the library. Reading is the cornerstone of all STREAM learning opportunities.
A perfect illustration of this opportunity is the current focus in Year 3. The girls have been reading The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy in STREAM class. As well as discussing key themes and ideas presented in the book, the girls have been designing school emblems for the school, Miss Cackle’s Academy for Witches. Each girl designed a draft of their emblem and in the coming weeks will next transfer this design into Adobe Illustrator, with the final product a laser-cut emblem which will be led-light displayed.
We will then move on to making ‘spells’ by conducting science experiments into chemical properties and reactions. Scientific process will be a highlight, with the girls rigorously recording their hypotheses and findings. As you can see, through the lens of reading a book such as The Worst Witch the girls are engaged in purposeful, inquiry-based science, art, and technology-centred learning.
Emily Mars | Teacher
Great Learning in Year 1
Many great learning experiences have taken place throughout Term 1 so far for our Year 1A Learning Community. Here are some of the highlights:
We used a prompt to complete a ‘Me Poem’ which tells everyone a little bit about us, such as what we like and what we can do. This helps us to learn a bit more about each other.
We completed a Y-Chart Thinking Routine to decide what we want our Learning Environment to look like, feel like and sound like. We also worked on our Essential Agreements. We all agreed on how we are going to act in our classroom environment, knowing that we all are valuable contributors to our learning – we are all learners, and we are all teachers too!
As part of our writing, we brainstormed and created an anchor chart listing all of the items we would need in our Writer’s Toolbox. Some of the items are equipment, such as pencils, paper and word chart and some items are our own ideas, imagination and memories. In our reading sessions we have learned what a fake reader is; someone that isn’t really reading. They might be flipping through the story quickly, or even have the book upside down and they are talking to their friend. We demonstrated how we are all great readers and show our own best efforts. In our Writing session, we used an item from our Writer’s Toolbox and were a little creative with what we did on our weekends. Using our imagination, we tweaked some of what happened on our weekends. We connected our mentor text ‘The Day the Crayons Quit’ to our Mood Meter and recognised and described what we might see when someone feels a certain way
In maths we have used the 100s chart to do an exploration. We discovered that patterns emerge vertically, horizontally, and diagonally. We know that we can skip count and start at a chosen number. We learned and played the game ‘First to 100’ where using a die, we had to race our partner to see who could reach 100 first.
We built together a puzzle, making our own piece and adding to a whole class puzzle, and this year we have a ‘Lens of Gratitude’. Using our ‘sunglasses’ we get to look through our lens and see what or who we are grateful for. We have so much to look forward to throughout the year.
Miranda Price | Year 1A Class Teacher
