What we're learning in Pōhutukawa

Health

Students will learn about nourishment and food choices.

Inquiry Learning Area - Technology

Big Idea - People’s different choices in food reflect their family, culture, location and available resources.

Lines of Inquiry:

• People choose, prepare, cook and eat food in different ways.

• Our family, cultural background, location and resources influence the food we eat and how it is prepared.

For this inquiry, we will be looking at different foods from around the world.

Literacy -

Reading: For our ‘Terrific 10 Comprehension Strategy’, we will be focussing on Asking and Answering Questions. Here is a great link with information on how to practise this at home. Asking questions

Writing:

This term, we will be focussing on Narrative writing.

Character Descriptions:

We will start with character descriptions. We learn about adjectives and will use adjectives to describe our characters. We also focus on including similes and metaphors in our character descriptions.

Setting:

After working on our character descriptions, we move on to the setting part of the story. Students work on writing descriptive settings - they need to paint a picture with their words.

We learn to use some of the 5 senses to help us with describing the setting.

Things we might see: Long, droopy branches; dark, spooky cave; dazzling blue river.

Things we might feel: warm breeze; rough pebbles; wet sand.

Things we might hear: gushing water; howling wind; rustling leaves.

Things we might smell: Salty air; sizzling sausages.

Library Day: Thursday

Maths -

Number:

We will continue to focus on number knowledge and + - x ÷ number strategies. Please practise the times tables at home. Here are some good websites to help learn the times tables:

Times Tables

Multiplication Fruit Splat

Multiplication Mayhem

Strand - Geometry:

Shape

We will be learning to:

• Sort, compare and classify 2D and 3D shapes.

• Explore and describe faces, edges, and corners of 2D and 3D objects.

Position & Orientation

We will be learning to:

• Describe where objects are using the language of position.

• Give and follow instructions using the language of position and direction.

• Follow and give directions involving ½ and ¼ turns.

• Give and follow directions using left, right, up, down, North, South, East and West.

Students will gain experience using everyday language to describe the position and direction of movement. Spatial understandings are developed in four types of questions: directions (which way?), distance (how far?), location (where?), and representation (what objects?).

At home, do some activities to extend your child’s knowledge of position in space. Look at maps in books or online. Make sure they understand words such as over and under, near and far, between, left and right. We will also be looking at North, South, West and East.

Digital Technology

Students will be introduced to basic coding this term, using the Ozobots.

PE (Thursday) -

Focus: Fit for Life and Large Ball Skills - Modified ball activities

NZ Curriculum Key Concepts:

• Participate in creative and regular physical activities and identify enjoyable experiences.

• Participate in a range of games and activities and identify the factors that make participation safe and enjoyable.

• Identify and discuss obvious hazards in their home, school, and local environment and adopt simple safety practices.

• Develop a wide range of movement skills, using a variety of equipment and play environments.

• Demonstrate respect through sharing and cooperation in groups.

Music (Thursday) -

Focus: Experiencing what it is like to perform in a variety of Musical groups ie Kapahaka, Fusion drums, tuned percussion including the musical skills required.

NZ Curriculum Key Concepts

1: Practical Knowledge: Simple notation is a window into different kinds of Music

2: Developing ideas: We can play songs on a range of instruments.

3: Communicating and Interpreting: We communicate Music in ways we and our audience can enjoy.

4: Understanding context for different purposes and cultures. Each culture has a dress, sounds and movements that express their environment and traditions.

Art (Thursday) -

Focus: Exploring the art element shape/form (2D and 3D) and value (light and dark). Developing their drawing techniques, looking at relief sculpture and various wet and dry techniques

NZ Curriculum Key Concepts:

• Practical knowledge through exploring wet and dry techniques

• Developing ideas through creating their own individual artworks