Dear Parents,
The end of term has arrived. We wish farewell to all those who are leaving us this term and good luck in your new home. We are also saddened to farewell Mrs LeCornu, who is a much loved and respected teacher. We wish the LeCornus all the best with their move to Seoul.
Wishing you all a safe, relaxing and peaceful holiday.
This Unit of Inquiry highlights the need to take action to solve environmental issues we all are facing.
Year 2 have been identifying some of the issues that have impact directly on themselves. Many children have already begun to apply their knowledge and understanding by embarking on their own personal action plan. Many of these issues have identified the role we play in looking after the environment such as reducing rubbish, recycling and planting more trees.
The key concepts of reflection and causation have been explored as children have discussed the connections they have made. This was evident during the homework task in week 9 where students made a tally of the rubbish used in their own home. The challenge discussed afterwards involved, ' what can we do to reduce it?' Children have drawn conclusions about how these environmental problems have changed over time.
An interesting and thought provoking clip called, 'The Great Garbage Patch,' about the use of rubbish (particularly plastic) in our world, was shared within some classrooms. Children reflected on this and wrote their own thoughts.
Here is some more information.
http://www.greatgarbagepatch.org/
One for the parents
Meet the Staff - Mrs Kim Herrmann
Meet the Staff - Mrs Lay Geok Teo
Specialists in the Spotlight - Chinese
Year Two CCA News - Soccer
Dates to Remember
The end of term has arrived. We wish farewell to all those who are leaving us this term and good luck in your new home. We are also saddened to farewell Mrs LeCornu, who is a much loved and respected teacher. We wish the LeCornus all the best with their move to Seoul.
Wishing you all a safe, relaxing and peaceful holiday.
Unit of Inquiry - Sharing the Planet
This Unit of Inquiry highlights the need to take action to solve environmental issues we all are facing.
Year 2 have been identifying some of the issues that have impact directly on themselves. Many children have already begun to apply their knowledge and understanding by embarking on their own personal action plan. Many of these issues have identified the role we play in looking after the environment such as reducing rubbish, recycling and planting more trees.
The key concepts of reflection and causation have been explored as children have discussed the connections they have made. This was evident during the homework task in week 9 where students made a tally of the rubbish used in their own home. The challenge discussed afterwards involved, ' what can we do to reduce it?' Children have drawn conclusions about how these environmental problems have changed over time.
An interesting and thought provoking clip called, 'The Great Garbage Patch,' about the use of rubbish (particularly plastic) in our world, was shared within some classrooms. Children reflected on this and wrote their own thoughts.
Here is some more information.
http://www.greatgarbagepatch.org/
One for the parents
Class of the week - 2HE
There is never a quiet moment in 2HE! In Mathematics we have been busy exploring the mass and capacity of containers. We have also been improving our ability in skip counting and grouping objects so we can connect our knowledge when solving multiplication problems. In Literacy we have been looking at non fiction books and determining what information is important. This skill will help us when researching facts about our current Unit of Inquiry – Sharing the Planet. We are bursting with prior knowledge when it comes to how humans help and hurt the planet and we are eager to build on that knowledge, explore pollution in the environment and reflect on what action we can take to reduce the problem.
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| Using Multiplication strategies - Felix, Phoenix & Tane |
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| Learning about Mass |
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| Sorting containers for Volume and Capacity |
Meet the Staff - Mrs Kim Herrmann
5 Facts about me
- I have a passion for teaching and genuinely get a kick out of watching students progress.
- I have a lot of energy and can’t sit still. I always need to be busy doing something, whether it be working, organizing, gardening, cleaning, shopping, exploring, travelling etc.
- I love my family and enjoy spending time with them. I have a son Jack, who attends The Scots College in Sydney, a daughter Holly who is here at AIS, a husband who works in banking and my 2 dogs Fudge and Lily.
- I have lived overseas for many years (Singapore 9 years & Tokyo 2 years) and value everything I have gained from my experiences. I look forward to moving home one day to Sydney, Australia where we are currently renovating our family home.
- I am an enthusiastic person who likes to laugh, smile, have fun and see people in a positive light; I always see the glass as half full!
Meet the Staff - Mrs Lay Geok Teo
- My favourite colours are red, black and navy blue
- Have two grown-up children and a caring husband. Both children are working overseas
- To keep fit, I exercise every day before going to work
- Love to watch Chinese TV series on “Love” and “Life”
- Love to bake and cook for family members and friends.
House Leaders
Murray - 479 points
Lachlan - 310 points
Fitzroy - 349 points
Derwent - 332 points
Specialists in the Spotlight - Chinese
In this semester of Chinese, Year 2 students are looking at country words both in Chinese Pin Yin and Chinese Characters. This involves learning how to ask and respond to various questions for example ‘你是哪国人?/What is your nationality?’ and ‘你去过中国吗/Have you been to China?’ etc. Students conducted a few surveys and learnt how to present their survey findings graphically. Other activities students have enjoyed included planning and writing in Chinese about ‘My Favourite Country’ and translation between English and Chinese in short sentences. The vocabulary words and sentence structures of the current topic will continue to be very useful in their daily interactions with others. Students have shown great appreciation for music from different countries too. They had a wonderful learning experience linking the Chinese vocabulary words related to countries and Term 3's UOI ‘How We Express Ourselves Through Music’.
Soccer has proven to be a popular CCA amongst the Year Two students, with 30 students signing up. We have been lucky enough to borrow a section of the big sports field so we are running three consecutive games of soccer throughout the lunch period. The level of sportsmanship has been commendable as the kids have thoroughly enjoyed playing without any arguments or bickering between them. Some Year 5 boys have also wandered over to offer assistance and are now umpiring or goal keeping for the younger kids. Naturally the Year Two’s think this is fantastic so we are hoping to make this a permanent addition to the program in the future.
Dates to Remember
Monday October 10 | Term 4 begins |
Wednesday October 12 | Year 2 Athletics Carnival |
| Wednesday October 26 | Deepavali holiday |
| Thursday October 27 | United Nations Day parade |
| Monday November 7 | Hari Raya Public Holiday |
Parent Education
This week we celebrate International Peace Day. It is a timely reminder of ways we can celebrate the purposeful need for peace not only in the world but within our families.
The International Day of Peace ("Peace Day") provides an opportunity for individuals, organizations and nations to create practical acts of peace on a shared date. It was established by a United Nations resolution in 1981 to coincide with the opening of the General Assembly. The first Peace Day was celebrated in September 1982.
International Day of Peace is about creating a culture of peace for future generations, and there is no better place to start than with children and youth. There are numerous examples of events and activities that are suited for children of different ages. By asking “What is Peace?” parents and teachers can get children thinking and talking about their own thoughts of war and peace. Go to this link to explore the history of International Day of Peace
http://internationaldayofpeace.org/about/background.html
http://internationaldayofpeace.org/about/background.html
Interesting Ted Talk - Jeremy Gilley talks about his idea for a day of peace, his idea was to create a day of non violence...one small thing and how he took this idea and made something happen. Jeremy talks of his own school experience, he was not a scholarly student and dealt with learning difficulties, however he always had desire to make sense of the world around him and to question the problems and the concept of responsibility. His insight into making a difference by using his own gifts and talents, together with a high emotional IQ and a passion for his beliefs and questions, helped him to achieve great things. He found his own path through the education system, driven by personal experiences and reflection and the focus on process and achieved great things.
We hope you all have a wonderful holiday.
Ms Elle Ryan and the Year 2 Teaching Team.
