Practical Life and Other Matters

Hello everyone!

We had a lovely morning in Halliday Park this morning for the Rememberance Day commemoration ceremony. Our students were accompanied by the Year 3 students from Cycle Three and conducted themselves beautifully, setting a great example for how to commemorate the fallen with dignity and courtesy.

I will be absent tomorrow on a professional development course, so students will be going to their split classes (just for the day... I promise I'll be back after that though!).

We have a number of students who have asked to complete their PSS (Practical Life, Social or Specialist) goal this week. Morgan is going to cook these cupcakes with us on Thursday, and Jasper has a recipe up his sleeve for Friday! We were priveliged to have Jibril and Caleb teach us how to play Euro Handball last week, and will be learning the finer points of volleyball from Zakariya and Luke on Friday afternoon this week.

A few quick reminders - the usual stuff - black school shoes only, hats need to be named, please bring a drink bottle to school, please make sure your child is accompanied to the office for a late pass and then to the classroom if they arrive after 8:45am, and please make sure you have signed off their homework before it is handed in on Monday mornings.

Also please note: the proposed free dress day has been postponed - it had been tabled for this Thursday but will now be held later in the term.

See you around the school!
-Ang

Week 3 Already!

Goodness, it's hard to believe we're heading into Week Three already!

Reminders for this week:
Monday - our Thinking Skills Display for 2014 will go up, providing everything gets finished! Also - BOOK FAIR! We will be purchasing on Monday at around 12:30pm. Also, book club orders are due.
Tuesday - no library, as the book fair will still be going.
Wednesday - Cashflow session #2!
Friday - health lessons begin for Year 5 students.

Many thanks to Alina who has been running Cashflow in our room last term and this term! We will be continuing with this over the next few weeks so that all students can have a turn playing before the end of the year. Feedback has been really positive, and the students are seeing links between this and their online financial literacy unit.

Book recommendation! - I have recently been re-reading 'The Secret of Childhood'. I would wholeheartedly recommend reading this to anyone looking to get a snapshot of Montessori's first few years in the classroom in San Lorenzo, and at her conceptualisation of the Spirtual Embryo, and the role of the adult in fostering its growth. While I have not been able to find an e-book of this particular tome, the translation and publication from Ballantyne Books (available through Amazon) is flawless and makes for engaging reading. It provides a succinct reminder as to the value added to life by a Montessori education - both for the child, and the adults who come in contact with them.

And with that, see you tomorrow!
-Ang

End Week 2!

Hi everyone!

I've had a request for the homework this term to be uploaded, so you can now find it here. Big thanks to Marianne for making it! Please note that students who did not submit their homework this week should make sure they have at least eight tasks finished for next week. The expectation is that the grid be finished by the end of the term, but that having been said, leaving all 52 or so tasks until the last week is obviously not going to be feasible, so please help your child by setting up a routine that will allow them to do a little at a time. We have talked a lot in class about not leaving it until Sunday night to complete it, and about conferencing with me and doing a little extra in advance if you know you are going to have a particularly busy week during the term.

Please initial and date the corresponding box or activity after your child completes a task.

Looking forward to seeing some creative responses on Monday!

-Ang

Gotta go back - back to school again!

Hello, 46A and followers! Hope you have had a great two week break.

Plunging into Term 4, we have a new specialist timetable:
Monday - Indonesian 8:45-9:45
Tuesday - Senior Lab 8:45-9:45 and Library 9:45-10:45
Wednesday - PE 8:45-9:45
Thursday - Art 12:15-1:15
Friday - Y5 Sport 8:45-9:45, Music 9:45-10:45 and Y4 Sport 11:15-12:15.

Homework will be distributed tomorrow, to be completed in the homework scrapbook used in Term 1 (or in a new book if the old one was finished). It is a new initiative we are trying - Open-Ended Tasks. The expectation is that all tasks on the grid will be done by the end of term - many are not difficult or do not require much time to do, so I am hoping our class will embrace the challenge. Who knows, some people might finish it and ask for more - if that is the case I will happily oblige! As always, if you are not at school for an extended period of time, the volume of work is open to negotiation - however, as 4-6A knows, 'I had a busy weekend' doesn't cut it as an excuse as the homework is set week-by-week, not weekend-by-weekend! Please encourage your child to do a little extra on days where they are not busy if there are some days where they know they will be time-poor.

Lots of exciting events coming up across the school this term - Book Fair in Week 2 and 3, Staff Development Day on Friday of Week 4, Melbourne Cup Day in Week 5, Community Evening, Transition, Bonsai Club - the list goes on! The usual classroom initiatives will continue - CAFE reading, THRASS spelling (boy do I have some fun in store for that one!), a graphing extravaganza, some new science experiments, our turn to make something for the media centre, all sorts of stuff.

REMINDERS - REALLY IMPORTANT - Daylight savings began today (hooray! love this time of year!) so make sure you rock up for the 8:45 bell tomorrow... not at 9:45! Also, being as it is that it is Term 4 - NO HAT, NO PLAY! Make sure you have a sunsmart school hat to wear, and that it is CLEARLY named with your name and class in case you get separated!

See you bright-eyed and bushy-tailed tomorrow!
-Ang.

Free Rice Mitcham Style!

Another post - Wendy's class have asked us to play Free Rice to contribute to their social justice campaign. To play and contribute - it is lots of fun! - click on the banner below.

Feeling Great In Week Eight!

What an exciting week coming up!

Monday - we have the full dress rehearsal for Alice The Musical! Year Four will be watching and applauding our Year Five students as they make their stage debut as Reverend Duckworth, a courtier and a troupe of dancers. Break a leg, Year Five!

Tuesday - the opening night for Alice! Reminder that some students will need to arrive early for hair and make-up - if you haven't returned your blue form, please do so as quickly as possible! I do not have any spares so you will need to hit up the office if you need a new one.

Wednesday - District Athletics Carnival. Good luck to those who are representing our school! I am sure you will give it your biggest and best shot in every event you have been selected for.

Thursday - closing night for Alice! Again remember you may be required to arrive early to get fixed up with hair and make-up.

Quick reminder - your child should be logging on to Literacy Planet several times a week. The tasks for the term were allocated in Week One, so they have known what the expectation is since then. The expectation, to state it again, is that they would be finished by the end of Term 3. If they have lost their password, it is their responsibility to ask me for a reprint or to write it in their diary.

We are all looking forward to the timetable (sort of) going back to normal this week ahead of planning week next week and then - lo and behold! - the last week of term! Hard to believe it is so close to the holidays again already.

Hope you all made it outside to enjoy the beautiful weather over the weekend!
-Ang

CAFE Reading - The Downlow!

You may have seen the Superhero CAFE Menu on the bulletin board over our library corner in the classroom. I thought you might like a bit of a quick run-down on how we use the menu in the classroom and what we're doing with it at the moment.

A system of accountability in reading instruction, CAFE was created in tandem with the Daily Five by 'The Two Sisters' - Gail Boushey and Joan Moser. CAFE stands for Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency and Expanding Vocabulary, and there are strategies under each menu heading to work on these aspects of reading. 46A is currently split into five groups, and they meet with me at least once a week to read aloud and work on the booklet for the novel they are studying. Each group has a focus strategy that they are working on - currently, some are working on inference, some are working on sight word recognition, some are working on taking note of punctuation and others are working on 'backing up and re-reading' when something hasn't made sense the first time they read.

There are times that groups combine or we work together on a strategy, especially if it is practised or explicitly taught using a particularly unusual activity that lots of students want to participate in (for example, our 'fishing expedition' last week!). All practise of the strategies is good practise!

What exactly do we read? This round, all students are reading books from Australian and New Zealand authors from either 3-4 or 5-6 level of the Premier's Reading Challenge. Our current literary fare includes Puppy Place: Pugsley (Ellen Miles), Our Australian Girl: Meet Nellie (Penny Matthews), Weir Do (Anh Do), Mission Fox: Snake Escape (Justin D'ath) and Andy Roid: The Superhuman Secret (Felice Arena). I have had feedback that some students have liked them so much they have finished reading them in their own time and can now read aloud with greater enjoyment the second time around!

Here is a video of the creators of CAFE talking about its benefits. They talk a lot about assessment - in my mind, this dovetails quite well with the Montessori concept of 'observation', as they are mostly talking about embedded tasks to check mastery, without having to implement 'test conditions'.

They have also put out a book which supports the system - I have it on my kindle so I'm really sorry I can't lend it out but if you are interested you can preview it here.

Hope this sheds some light on the process!

Bye for now,
Ang.

A little while between updates!

Hello everyone!

I hope everyone who went to Woorabinda had a great time (and we are all glad Luke got to join us for the excursion on Friday!). We are looking forward to having you back this week, alongside those on holiday who are returning. It was a very quiet week in the classroom without you!

The highlight of last week was, of course, the excursion to IMAX and Melbourne Museum. All three galleries were great - if only we had had more time in them! We could have spent hours more exploring - we got through 600 Million Years in Victoria, the Human Body and Mind, and First Peoples exhibitions, as well as our viewing of Unseen Worlds at IMAX - which was definitely the highlight of the day for many in Cycle Three! We had several compliments from the public about how courteous our students were, which was really pleasing to see and hear. I was really proud of 46A and the way they conducted themselves, while also having a really good time.

Now for the reminders for this week:
Monday - Book Parade. Come as your favourite book character. There will be a parade in the morning for those in costume.
Wednesday - Year 5 have production rehearsal, so be prepared with your words and choreography in your mind, ready to go.

Non-day-specific reminders:
The Path - There is a path outside our building which runs along the end of Wendy's portable. There is a gap of about a metre that is not paved. We have been asked to ensure students and parents are not using this path as it is a) a trip hazard, and b) that metre of unpaved space gets quite muddy in the wet weather.
School shoes - Friday proved that students do own black school shoes! Please make sure your child wears them to and from school. They are allowed to change their shoes for break time and PE once they get here, but it is really important that they are in full school uniform when arriving and departing.
Notes and Money - Year 5 has Summer Sport money due this week. One or two people also have district athletics money still to come in.
Absences and Lateness - We've had a few weeks where many in 46A have not been feeling 100% - if they have been away, please make sure there is a note in the diary or one on paper for me to file to explain their absence. Same goes for lateness - please make sure you have taken your child to the office and then down to the classroom with their late pass signed by you.

On a bright and happy note, I am in the process of updating our flickr photostream! Lots of new work going up this weekend, as well as some photos from the excursion. If you are interested, click here to see what we've been up to! Lots more to upload, so keep checking back!

Enjoy this beautiful weather, and I'm looking forward to a brand new week with you all on Monday!
Ciao for now,
Ang.

Week Two

And we're back in the swing of things!

The biggest this week is, of course, our year four students heading off to camp! Enjoy your time at Arrabri; I hope it stays warm and dry for you. Remember to be here by 8:30am on Wednesday. A packing checklist was sent home last term, and a spare was sent home with all students on Friday. Please make sure you have read it. Any medication or special food needs to be given to the accompanying teachers before departure.

Next week we have 3-way conferences. A note went home on Friday with the details as to how to book a time with me. I can see lots of families have already logged in and booked their time slots - if the times available do not suit you are welcome to contact me for a time outside school hours to discuss your child's goals and progress so far this year, however you do need to be aware that the time slot will remain the same length (fifteen minutes).

Our newsletter will be published through the school website this week - when it has been uploaded, you can access it via the link published here.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend,
Ang

Term 3 - Here Already!

Hi everyone!

I hope you're all as excited as I am to be heading back to school this week!

Lots on, even though it is early in the term - Year 4, there are one or two forms still due back for camp next week. Year 5, hope you have been practising your songs for production over the holidays (even in your head... funny how songs can do that to you!). We have a special guest coming to talk about bonsai trees on Friday, too. The newsletter - due out later this week - will highlight other things that need to be remembered for this term.

I am sure you are wondering about reports as well. I can't give an exact date as to when they will be sent home, but rest assured, it will be as soon as possible.

Our timetable has had some small changes for this term as well. Parents, in case of late arrival, please note that students will not be in the classroom during most of the following times, and you will need to accompany them both to the classroom to put their bag away and then to their specialist class.
Indonesian - Monday - 8:45am-9:45am
Music - Monday - 9:45am-10:45am
Senior Lab - Tuesday - 8:45am-9:45am
Library - Tuesday - 9:45am-10:45am
PE - Wednesday - 8:45am-9:45am
Art - Thursday - 12:15pm-1:15pm
Y5 ONLY SPORT - Friday - 8:45am-9:45am Y4 ONLY SPORT - Friday - 11:15am-12:15pm

This is also in the newsletter, and will be detailed in a note to be sent home this week, but so you know, homework for this term will be set from Literacy Planet (online literacy program to which the school has a subscription). They have used it in lab time and as part of our literacy program for the last two to three terms, so they are familiar with how it works and what will need to be done. Students will have a new copy of their username and password sent home with the note in case the original has gone walking.

That's all for now. Looking forward to seeing you all bright and early tomorrow morning!
-Ang.

Last Week of Term

Hi everyone,

It was wonderful to see many of you on Friday - students and parents included! - when I came in for planning. We have an exciting term coming up and I am grateful for having been allowed to come in to be a part of the planning process. Unfortunately, I have been advised by my doctor that doing so for all of this week would be unwise - so I will not be returning to school to teach until Week One next term.

I believe there was a notice in the Mitchat (and there will probably be another reminder go home this week) that due to my long absence from school, reports for 46A will be held over until next term. My apologies for this - they will be out as soon as possible. The process we go through to finalise reports has many stages, and unfortunately most of them require both my laptop and I to be on site.

A couple of reminders for the week:
- Students in the Mookii Grand Prix - today is your deadline for bonus points for Round 1, and you have another deadline on Thursday for Round 1's Animoto challenge. Good luck everyone!
- Y5 ONLY - your submissions for being considered for the September holidays' New Zealand exchange are due on Friday. I know Marianne and Wendy will have talked about this in class but it is up to YOU to make sure you have finished it and given it in to Wendy or to Mrs. Wood or Mr. Sloane. Good entries last year were well-presented (typed or written in best handwriting), had been checked for good spelling and grammar, and were persuasive! Your aim is to CONVINCE Mrs. Wood and Mr. Sloane that you are a great candidate to represent Mitcham overseas.
-Y4 ONLY - a few people are yet to return their medical/dietary requirements forms for camp. Please make sure you have done this by the end of the term! Anyone who has returned it has had theirs passed on to Miss Domanski but there were still one or two more to go.

Enjoy your last week of term, and your holidays.
Ang.

Thank You! And Absence.

Hi everyone,

First up, I have a BIG thank you to give - I'm not sure who to address it to specifically, so I'll make it very general and say the 46A students and their families! - for a beautiful orchid and some much needed boredom relief that was delivered on Friday afternoon! Thank you so very, very much - the card made me cry. I am grateful beyond words to have such a lovely class and such a supportive group of parents to work with.

Most of you know I've had some back issues the last few months - after hospitalisation and an operation they are hopefully fixed now. I'm not 100% sure when I'll be back at school but rest assured I WILL be back, and am trying very hard to rest, do as I'm told (!) and speed up the healing process so I can return to the classroom as quickly as possible.

To my 46Awesomes, I miss you all! Life at home recovering is very boring compared to life in thriving Cycle Three.

Again, to all my lovely students and their families, thank you so much for thinking of me. I really appreciate it. Words don't quite stretch as far as I would like them to in explaining just how much.

Hopefully see you all soon. Enjoy your long weekend!
Ang

Thank You!

To our grandparents and special friends who visited us today, a big thank you! Your presence was much appreciated by both the students and myself. To those who travelled a great distance, our special special thanks. We are also impressed by the efforts of Allison's grandparents who stayed up late in the USA to join us for Guess Who and Bananagrams, as well as a tour of the classroom, via video conference!

As promised, the video narrated by Trevor Eissler about the underpinnings of the Montessori philosophy can be found below. When I show this, I do preface it by saying that as a Montessori program operating in a dual-stream school we do compromise on several of the elements shown (we do report on progress, we do complete standardised testing and we do set homework). Enjoy!

-Ang.

Education Week

Hello, everyone!

Happy Education Week!

We have some special fun bits and pieces coming up this week to celebrate! If you have a chance to get up to Eastland, there is a display for Mitcham Primary School up to have a look at. On Monday from 11:15am to 1:15pm, we have our 'Grandparents and Special Friends' Day where they can come visit 4-6A and have a look at what we do. We have a few special activities lined up but I won't spoil the fun by telling you what they are now! On Thursday from 10am to 1pm, we have our 'Open Working Day' which is an opportunity for people to take a tour of the school (led by Year Six students) and see us in action as we are every day. We are very excited to show the community what makes us so unique! Finally, our robotics slot - for children who have opted in only will be on Thursday morning from 8:45 - so please make sure you are here before the bell so you do not miss out on any of your allocated time! Students who have chosen not to do robotics will be working in the classroom as usual during that period.

Our cycle newsletter for Term Three will be out early this week. In it are the usual reminders which I will reiterate here - please make sure your child wears black shoes to and from school (they are welcome to bring a pair of runners to change into for break times or sport which is on Friday); please make sure your child's jumper is named as we head into the colder weather; please remind your child not to bring valuables to school in case they are lost or damaged. Also, please make sure you have returned 5/6 sport and camp notices (Year 5), and working bee and Premier's Reading Challenge forms with ALL BOXES TICKED (everyone).

Please also ensure your child is logging on to Mathletics to complete their assigned and of-their-own-choosing tasks each week. We have had a slight attrition in completion in the last week so it would be great if everyone could make a big effort to catch up before Week Six. I do encourage you to make time to do a little bit each day (about two tasks, plus some time (as much as they would like to negotiate with you) on Mathletics Live) to ensure they are not faced with an insurmountable number of tasks to complete over the weekend.

Also reminding everyone that Monday, May 26th, is a staff development day - so the school will be pupil free that day.

We are nearly halfway through the term - hooray for us. Please stay healthy and look after yourselves - get well soon to those who have been absent this week! Hope to see you back soon!
-Ang =)

Week 2 - Homework and a VIP!

Hi everyone,

Well that was a short week! Thank you to 46A for their patience during a very unusual few days - and my apologies for my unavoidable absence on Friday. Week 2 might be a bit of a shock to the system as we will be at school all five days (!), be starting homework again, AND we will have a VIP in the room on Monday and Friday! We will be one of the lucky classes to host a student from our New Zealand exchange group when they visit this week. His name is Ben, and he will be buddied up with Caleb for the days he is in our classroom. I'm sure everyone will make him feel very welcome and also do their best to show all the visitors present this week how hospitable students at our school can be.

Homework will begin this week. Homework is to be completed online, and will use the programs the school subscribes to. We will be doing three weeks each on Literacy Planet, Mathletics and Study Ladder. Students will be assigned a minimum number of tasks according to their ability level and it is expected that they will be completed within the week they are assigned. If students would like to complete more than the minimum number of tasks required, they are more than welcome to - but this will need to be negotiated at home, and in accordance with family guidelines about computer usage, which we will discuss in class to ensure everyone is on the same page. We feel that using these programs will mean we can cater to the individual needs of each student and supply them with jobs that will support their specific learning needs. Tasks will be due Monday morning, the same as last term.

As always, there will be extensive discussion about the set-up in class, and I encourage you to discuss these with your child as well as having a look at the websites to get an idea of what your child will be doing. They will be given a new copy of all their passwords to bring home - I recommend this be either kept next to the computer or on the fridge for easy access.

Another book you might be interested in! This was the first book I purchased about the Montesstori method after having it recommended (as a comparatively easy read) to get a different perspective on the theory. It is Angeline Stoll Lillard's 'Science Behind The Genius' - available both as an e-book or as a paperback copy through the usual outlets (my favourite is Amazon). As well as providing thought-provoking commentary on Montessori's research and writing, there are also examples from Stoll Lillard's research into how science has backed up the philosophy, and how it has been implemented (differently) in classrooms in the 20th and 21st centuries. Unfortunately my copy is currently boxed up (we are moving at home) or I would offer to have it in the classroom for you to have a look at if you were interested! When it is unearthed, I will bring it in.

That's about it from me, so enjoy the sunshine today and I will see you tomorrow!
Ang.

Into Term Two!

Greetings, intrepid 4-6Awesomes and followers!

Hope you have all had a wonderful and safe holiday and are raring to go tomorrow! I am very excited to see you all again and look forward to hearing about your adventures and antics when we have time to share.

Many exciting things are coming our way this term - we begin our classroom banking program (not to be confused with school banking), we will continue our exploration of the Timeline of Life and the creation of the Earth, we have swimming, camp, representative sport, UNSW competitions and Education Week coming up - as well as our day-to-day excitements and items of entertainment!

Homework will be explained to students at the beginning of term, but as a sneak peak, we will be using Literacy Planet, Mathletics and Study Ladder to support student learning in key curriculum areas. We will also be using Study Ladder in our Senior Lab time to support learning about financial literacy and micro-economics.

See you all tomorrow - and a reminder that it is only a three day week, so don't rock up on Friday!
-Ang

PowerPoint The Past Presentations!

If you are interested, the class submissions for the PowerPoint The Past project have been amalgamated into one slideshow and can be viewed here. There was one group who experienced technical difficulties, but I have uploaded what I can of their work. Sorry to the Cenozoic Group, but I also took your photos out (just your school ones). The feedback about the project itself and the process they went through to complete their work has been really valuable.

Enjoy,
Ang

End of Term 1

Hi everyone,

It's been quite a ride this term! I'm sure you are all looking forward to the holidays, whether you be jetsetting away somewhere exciting or staying at home to reconnect with family and recuperate in peace and quiet.

It was great to see such determination at cross-country on Wednesday - special congratulations go to Caleb for coming first in his age group. Lots of students talked about beating their personal best time or place - and it was really gratifying to hear such positive self-talk. We are very proud of you all!

Just a few reminders before school finishes for the term:
- Classes will be dismissed at 2:30pm tomorrow (Friday April 4th).
- There is no homework set over the holidays, though if students would like to continue doing the homework grid they are always welcome to do so.
- The blog will be updated over the holidays, and photos uploaded from the sources I haven't had a chance to tap yet. Watch out for some changes to format that I will be enacting as well!
- First day back for Term Two will be Tuesday, 22nd April. The ANZAC Day public holiday will be on the Friday of that week, so it is a short and very busy one!
- A note about Easter eggs: if your child would like to bring them in to hand out, they are more than welcome to do so but we do request students take any eggs home that they have received in order for parents to veto if there are allergens to be taken into consideration. Our students are generally very good at remembering this request, and as we do have some children with intolerances in the room, it is wonderful to see them demonstrating such respect towards their fellow classmates.

Bye for now,
Ang.

Almost at the end of term...

Hello all,

Welcome to Week 9 - nine tenths of the way through! It is also planning week this week, so things are a little bit different in terms of when we have specialist classes, but we have four days of more or less uninterrupted work time which is great.

Doctor Deane was great fun last week - Jasper was lucky enough to be invited on stage and got to shoot an air-pressure-powered rocket at a simulated moon! The mousetrap experiment demonstrating the principles of nuclear fusion was similarly popular and we have had requests to repeat it in the classroom (or a la Doctor Deane on Hey Hey It's Saturday's recreation in the window at Myer as in the 1990s). We will see - maybe next week. In other sciencey/cosmic curriculum-based news, students are in the final stages of preparing their Eras PPT for presentation at the end of next week.

Notes, reminders and other necessary bits and pieces - notes due back include Year 4 Camp Notice (Year 4 only), UNSW competition (everyone), UMPC notices (Year 4 only), CRE expression of interest and money (only if you would like your child to do CRE - this note went home with the youngest child in the family). Tuesday is our planning day, so please ensure your child is here on time as they will be going straight into specialist classes. There will be no Year 3/4 Sport on Friday; we are not yet sure about Year 5/6 Sport. Our last homework for the term is due next Monday - so Week 9 will be our last homework week for the term. We do not assign homework over the holidays unless requested by individual students.

-Ang.

Four-Fifths/.8/80% of the way through Term 1...

Welcome to Week 8!

I'm looking forward to touching base with everyone this week at three-way conferences, and going over 45A's goals and achievements so far this year. Again, if you haven't been able to make a time due to other commitments, please let me know via the diary when will suit you to meet after school one afternoon.

We have Going Green With Doctor Deane coming to school this week! I am sure everyone is excited to take part - it promises to be a fun workshop with lots of opportunities for interaction and hands-on experimentation.

Other notes due back include cooking notices - we will be cooking in Week 9, and if your child has not returned the note they will not be able to participate - or enjoy the spoils of the activity either! We are still waiting on some UMPC notices to be returned; hopefully they will begin roll out early next term, so it would be good to have all our documentation back before the holidays to avoid any hold-ups.

Not much else to report, except to send out a massive thank you to those parents who were able to come to the athletics carnival last week and help, as well as cheer our class on to their many victories! Big congratulations to everyone for achieving such a high level of participation, and for the good sportsmanship you demonstrated towards others. We look forward to finding out who will go on to represent the school at the district athletics - last year we came home with the trophy for Highest Aggregate Score, which was a huge achievement.

See you all in the morning,
Ang

The Salmon Dissection

Today we used the touch screen to do a virtual dissection of a salmon to look at what similarities and differences there are between amoebas and other water-dwelling creatures. If you'd like to do the dissection again, you can find the game here. Share it with your family and see whether they can tell what the difference is between a fish's brain and an amoeba's nucleus, and the fins and the pseudopodia!

Please note: This does not work in Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox or Safari (at least not on my laptop or iPad). It does work in Internet Explorer. If you cannot get it to load within your default browser, try IE.

Enjoy,
Ang.

Long Weekend

Hello everyone, hope the Labour Day Long Weekend has been a restful one!

We are launching straight into the week tomorrow with Library, Footsteps and Senior Lab taking our first two hours. Homework is also due tomorrow morning (I know lots of 46Awesomes remembered as I was informed gleefully by more than one on Friday afternoon that the weekend gave them one extra day to get it done!). Wednesday is the Athletics Carnival - remember to wear house colours, bring a full drink bottle and a sunsmart hat (both named) and to get lots of rest on Tuesday night ready to go on Wednesday morning. A big thank you to the parents who were contacted after volunteering to help - we will see you there, too!

Premiers' Reading Challenge will begin this week, so please watch for that note coming home over the next few days. Other notes that may be outstanding are 5/6 Camp Rumbug (this is now overdue) and UMPC notices (Year 4). There are also a few cooking permission slips also missing from my collection - please return as soon as possible as we cannot begin our cooking sessions until we have allergy/intolerance information from all students.

Three-Way Conferences will be held next week, on Tuesday and Thursday nights. The note detailing how to log on to the school's interview schedule was sent home at the end of last week. If you are unable to get to the school for an interview at the times listed as being available, please send a message via your child's diary as to when would be suitable on another day - I am some Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays after school. For those who haven't been in an interview in Cycle Three before, it consists mostly of going over your child's current goals, start-of-year assessment and discussing any areas of interest on all three sides of the conference. A reminder that as time slots are quite short, please do your utmost to be present at the classroom as close to your start time as possible.

What else... ah yes! My apologies for not updating the flickr stream more frequently. I will get to it this week. There are lots of interesting pieces of work to be shown, including our gummy bear fossil experiment and our subsequent (and impromptu) set up of an experiment involving different kinds of bread and the plant life they support (a.k.a., hypothesising why white bread molds so quickly?). Students also created models of amoebas last week (sorry if any burst in inopportune places!), and of the earth's layers the week before. We'll be exploring organisms slightly more complex than our single-cell models this week, and students will also be continuing their work on their Era PPT project in Senior Lab. The year five students are doing a great job mentoring the year fours through the functions in PowerPoint that they need to know how to use for future tasks.

Til next time,
Ang (Go Acacia!)

The Post You've All Been Waiting For!

...or perhaps not!

I'd like to share the task that 46A will be working on during their Senior Lab sessions for the rest of term. They have received a brief to keep in their ICT folder, and I have uploaded a copy here as well, in case they want a reminder of the parameters to work on it at home and bring it in on a USB to put into their group's presentation. We will be asking them to present in the last week of school, after which I will upload the presentations (or those that students are okay with having theirs uploaded) so you can see what they can do!

Prior to commencing this project, students have had experience navigating Microsoft Power Point and learning some of the vital functions. This project aims to have them show that they can use those functions to communicate or add to a particular message (in this case, facts about an era in the Earth's geological history).

For students who would like direct links to the resources we used in class, voila:

History of Earth
Geologic Eras Animated - A LineStorm Video on YouTube

The Hadean Era
The Hadean and Archaen Eras - A VAAF Presentation on YouTube (Hadean Era finishes at 2:51)
Hadean: Overview - Smithsonian Institute (Natural History)
Hadean Era for Kids - Scienceforkids.com

The Archaen Era
The Hadean and Archaean Eras - A VAAF Presentation on YouTube (Archaen Era starts at 2:52)
Achaean Era for Kids - Scienceforkids.com
Achaean Era - By BBC Nature

The Proterozoic Era
The Proterozoic Era - A VAAF Presentation on YouTube
Proterozoic Era - Scienceforkids.com
The Proterozoic Era - Life Gets More Complicated - Fossil Facts and Finds

The Paleozoic Era
Geologic History of the Earth - YouTube
Paleozoic Era: Facts and Info - LiveScience.com Happenings During the Paleozoic Era - Window 2 The Universe

The Mesozoic Era
Expedition Earth - The Mesozoic EraA video on YouTube
Happenings During the Mesozoic Era - Window 2 The Universe
Mesozoic Dinosaurs - Enchanted Learning

The Cenozoic Era
Life in Cenozoic TimesA TMWMedia Presentation on YouTube
Happenings During the Cenozoic Era - Window 2 The Universe
Cenozoic Era: Facts About Climate, Animals and Plants - Live Science

Onwards, time travellers!
-Ang

Almost halfway there...

This term is absolutely flying. I know, I know - I say it every week - but I can't believe how far into Term 1 we are already!

Before I begin, a quick thank you to those who came along to the Information Night on Wednesday - our appreciation to you for braving the somewhat revolting weather and coming along to hear what's new and what's happening.

This week is relatively interruption-free! We have our usual round of specialists - Monday morning is Music and Indonesian, Tuesday morning is Library, Footsteps and Senior Lab, Thursday we have Art before lunch and Friday we have 5/6 Sport/Year 4 debating first, PE and then 3/4 Sport after morning tea. A reminder that there are lots of notes out at the moment - Going Green With Doctor Deane and House Athletics permission slips (everyone), UMPC order forms (Year 4) and Camp Rumbug Deposits (Year 5). As always, homework is due tomorrow morning (Monday).

We looked at the Clock of Eras last week. We will be breaking it up into bits over the next few weeks, and students will be offered experiments, modelling activities and multimedia tasks to complete to explore each of the eras in more depth. Our Big Bang Big Book is just about finished and is on display in the classroom if you have time to pop in after school to have a look.

I wanted to share briefly about a book that I have recently acquired (unfortunately receiving it in eBook format, so I am unable to lend it out - but it is available through the Google Play Store, and I suspect it is only a matter of time before Amazon stocks it for Kindle as well). Some of you may be familiar with Dan O'Donnell's 1996 publication 'Montessori in Australia and New Zealand'. It was the definitive guide to the movement's past in Australasia for quite some time - in fact, until last year, when Susan Feez published her 'Montessori: The Australian Story'. Feez' book includes accounts of significant events in the Montessori movement in the interim between 1996 and 2013, but also goes back to expand on events from the early Montessorians' experience in setting up, and in many cases, having deconstructed, educational programs from birth to 12 years. Feez has included much archived materials about these tenacious women and men which make for a fascinating read. If you are interested in skimming over an excerpt, or in downloading it, you can find more information here.

I am in the process of updating the flickr photostream, so check back before school starts this week for new work samples.

See you tomorrow,
Ang =)

Week 4 Already!

Hard to believe we are nearly a month into the school year already, isn't it? Time is certainly flying.

I have updated our flickr photostream with photos of a couple of homework projects and two spelling activities from last week. We were dazzled with Nick's cinematographic talents that accompanied his book, too! It was wonderful seeing so much effort being put in. There have been a few questions this week about the 'Personal Project' block on the grid - so a quick run down about what needs to be done in case you or your child are curious:

What is a personal project?
The personal project can be organised in one of two ways - either as a one-week 'mini-project' or as a long-term project negotiated with the child's teacher. Either way, the quality of work (including research AND presentation) should be in proportion to the amount of time allocated. A one-week project might be one page of work in the student's homework book; a long-term project might be a multiple-slide PowerPoint presentation or a separate booklet of work. It might be one science experiment and its write-up if it is a mini-project; it might be a series of observations and diagrams of plant or animal growth or change if it is a long-term project. Regardless of the size and scope of the project, the subject should be one of interest to the child. The method of presentation should also be of interest to them - and within the realm of their capabilities.

We are proud of the students in 46A who trialled for the swimming team representing the school later this week. Congratulations to those who are attending the district carnival. We wish you lots of good luck and a warm day, and look forward to hearing how things go when you return!

We have our Information Night on Wednesday this week; I hope to see lots of parents in attendance and I'm looking forward to introducing you to our environment and program of work for the year! The following day, Kathy Lawson will be holding the second round of Parent Helper Induction sessions - if you did not make it to last week's session, she will be meeting interested parents in the morning and afternoon in the library (check the Mitchat for exact times).

Notes currently out and due back include: Going Green With Dr. Deane Science Show (everyone), UMPC Order Form (Year 4 only) and Camp Deposit (Year 5 only).

See you tomorrow,
Ang

Heading into Week 3...

Good morning, everyone! Hope you are all staying cool.

Hard to believe we are heading into Week 3 already! Special goings-on this week include Alice auditions on Monday (Year 5 only), Footsteps on Tuesday (everyone) and swimming trials on Wednesday (those who have expressed interest to Miss Ellis). We also have our first round of homework due tomorrow (Monday 10th February). Return of notes for the 'Going Green With Doctor Deane' science show would also be appreciated - the earlier, the better.

Our first newsletter of the year is going to print tomorrow, but if you would like an 'advance copy', you can find it here. It includes an expression of interest form for anyone attached to 46A who would like to help out in the classroom this year. Mrs. Lawson will be holding induction training for new volunteers and a refresher course for returners over the next few weeks, so if you need to get a Working With Children Check or a renewal of your old one, this would be a good time to do it (both a WWCC and training are necessary before being able to volunteer in the classroom).

For those who did not get a copy of the Alice script from me on Friday but want to audition tomorrow, the part you need to remember is below.

'Many a day we rowed together on that quiet stream, the three little maidens, Duckworth and I - and many a fairy tale had been told for their benefit. Yet none of these many tales got written down, they lived and died like summer midges, each in its golden afternoon, until there came a day when one of my listeners begged that the tale be written out for her...'

See you tomorrow!
Ang =)

Week 2!

Good evening everyone!

We have had a strong start to the term so far! We began our specialist classes and Footsteps Dance this week as well as heading to the Library and Senior Lab for the first time. Level group sport begins at school on Friday. In the classroom, we have recommenced our viewing of Behind The News (BTN) and our use of the weekly maths revision sheets and spelling matrix (as well as the materials, of course!).

Today I have sent home the lifestyle grid for homework this term. A copy can also be found here. Please read the information and discuss it with your child, and if you would like more background to Ian Lillico's work on the grid, please pop a note in via your child's diary - I have a handout I am happy to send home for you. The same goes with any questions you may have about the homework - questions are welcome and I will do my best to answer them quickly. Some examples can be found on our flickr photostream, located here. I have used examples from my book to begin with. We will add to this as the term progresses. The first due date for homework is next Monday (10th February).

Quick reminders for this week: Year 5 students interested in being on the IT team have a meeting first half of recess on Thursday; nomination speeches for Junior School Council and Sustainability Monitors will be held on Friday; auditions for 'Alice: The Musical' will be on Monday (YEAR 5 ONLY)so get some practice in over the next few days.

Bye for now,
Ang

Welcome to 2014!

Hello to students, parents and friends of 45A!

I hope you had a fun and relaxing break. Just a few more days before we are back at school in our new classroom! Over the next few days, students will receive a piece of mail from me with a few reminders, as well as some hints as to what we will be starting the year with in cultural studies.

Just in case your letter doesn't reach you in time - please make sure you have all your gear named for the new year. Drink bottles, lunch boxes, pencil cases, anything you took home from your stationery bag - and, of course, your hat! Sun Smart rules still apply in Term One - no hat, no play.

There will be some changes to ensure the blog is updated more often this year, and that it is more student centered. I am also hoping to integrate a calendar of events into the sidebar as a reminder tool for things that are happening at school and in our classroom. We choose not to put identifiable photos of students on the flickr stream for safety and privacy reasons (regardless of photo permission being given or not given), but we do put lots of photos of work up so you can see what your child has done and is proud of. If you have other suggestions as to what you'd like to see on the blog this year (and for returning parents, what was not helpful on the old blog last year), I would like to hear from you! Please comment below.

Looking forward to seeing our fives back, and to welcoming our new fours into the room! Enjoy your last few days and I will see you on Wednesday 29th January, bright and early at 8:45am (we have no prep students on the first day, so you can line up at the door near the prep rooms)

From Ang =)