Year One

Science

This term, the Year One students have been learning about what plants and animals need to live in the Science unit, ‘Survive and Thrive’. Over the past three weeks, we have observed what happens to plants if they do not receive one of the basic needs every plant and animal needs to survive: water. In Week One, we brought plants into the classroom for observation. We have measured the plants to see how much they grow each day. We found that by watering our plants, they have grown 10 cm, while the plant without water has only grown 1 cm and no longer looks like a healthy plant. Next week, we will be creating a ‘pet’ for a Pet Shop using playdough and writing a profile about our pet, including all the things that it needs to survive.

English

In English, we have been reading texts about spiders and snails. We listened to the text, ‘The Very Busy Spider’ by Eric Carle, and created our own spiders to hang in the classroom. We read the book, ‘The Snail and the Whale’ by Julia Donaldson, and were amazed by all the wonderful places that the snail and the whale travelled to on their adventures. This week, we will begin designing a snail using an egg carton and drawing a habitat for our snail to live in. Over the next few weeks, we will discover many amazing facts about geckos and chameleons and learn to write ‘What am I?’ texts for our class to guess!

Visual Arts

In Visual Arts this term, we will learn to express our ideas, observations, and imaginations about small animals in the environment. We will use different processes and techniques to create our artworks. In Week One, we created a spider, and in Week Two, we coloured a dragonfly using crayon in red, yellow, orange, and blue and green for its wings. Over the next few weeks, we will design our snail habitat and use watercolours to paint a chameleon and a ladybug on a leaf.

Religion

In Religion, we have been learning about some of the stories from the Old Testament. This term, we will focus on the stories of Joseph, Noah, and Jonah, as well as examining how we can live safely and responsibly with God’s plan for creation.

Mathematics

In Mathematics this term, we have been busy practicing how to represent a two-digit number using tens and ones. We are learning to add and subtract up to 20 and to use strategies such as doubles, near doubles, and rainbow facts to assist us. We are continuing to practise counting in 2s and 10s and learning more about calendars and the months of the year.