For the Christmas Carols this year, Year 1/2 will be singing ‘We walk with Mary’.

‘We walk with Mary’- Andrew Chinn

This term in Inquiry we have been learning about ‘Forces and Motion’. We bought in some toys from home to observe how they move, either by a push or a pull. We have conducted many experiments with our Year One learning partners such as the paper helicopter experiment. We wanted to observe when we changed a variable if it made the helicopter spin faster or slower. We wrote our Scientific Report before the experiment including our hypothesis, materials and procedure. We changed three variables for example: adding more weight, making the wings shorter. We tested out helicopters in the hall to see if the variables made a difference and record our answers.

Yesterday we learnt a song about Spring for our assembly this week. We practised singing our song together and then we split into three groups. We are looking forward to performing this song on Friday.

It is Spring Time
(To the tune of “Are You Sleeping?)

It is spring time.
It is spring time.
Winter’s gone!
Winter’s gone!
Soon it will be summer.
Soon it will be summer.
It won’t be long.
It won’t be long.

Andie: I was really concentrating when I was singing the song because I had to listen to my group only not the other groups.

Phoebe: I felt a bit nervous practising this song because I don’t usually sing to other people. However I am excited to perform it this Friday.

Yesterday Michael Ymer came back to St Roch’s and delivered another exciting Maths lesson. We began the lesson by learning a new game to create arrays to show multiplication equations. We had to collect different equipment such as a mat, 6 sided die, numeral die, explanation stick, grid paper and coloured pencils. We then had to roll the dice for our partner and they had to colour in the correct squares to make an array. Once we had finished, we then multiplied these arrays and wrote the answers over the top.

We then started a new activity where we had to split our page up into 4 groups and write a heading on the top about our ‘Tyre Shop’. On our table we had different equipment such as our A3 sheet, explanation stick, counters and a pencil. We had to write 4 different types of transport on our page; for example: car (4), motorbike (2), van (6), truck (8). We then took a handful of counters and grouped them into our vehicles . We drew them on our page and wrote the multiplication equation that matches the picture and answered it.

Hugo- I really enjoy Michael Ymer’s maths lessons, I always learn and have so much fun.
Anouska- I really enjoyed our activities and learnt that 4 x 2 is the same as 2 x 4.

Year 2 got their tickets for the Life Education Van and entered excited for what was ahead. We went on an adventure so we had to pack our bags with healthy food and safety equipment.
Emmanuelle- It was interesting doing this activity because it helps us to understand what you need to bring when you are going on a trip.
Phoebe- I learnt lots about making better choices for eating.

Kathy (the life education teacher) showed us how the body works and the organs that are in our body. We had to place the organs on the body in the correct place.
Phoebs- The activity was very helpful because I didn’t know the heart was in the middle of the chest, I thought it was on the left side but now I know that it is tilted so that’s why you feel it on the left.
Anouska- I learnt the different names for the organs in our body.

We watched Harold the giraffe driving the bus with children and they went to the pool with a gigantic water slide. Harold was feeling scared and a little excited. We helped and encouraged Harold to go down the water slide by using encouraging words such as ‘You can do it and we believe in you!’
Bridget- We learnt that if someone is feeling scared you need to encourage them and say ‘you can do it’.
Archie- I learnt that it is ok to be scared because you are not the only one that is scared of something.

It was an interesting experience about the human body and we had a fantastic time.

This week is Book Week and we celebrated in a big way! On Tuesday we had a Book Week Parade where we all dressed up as one of our favourite characters out of a book, even the teachers joined in! We then created an open minded portrait about our Book Week character. We had a lot of fun doing this activity.

During reading groups we each have roles to play to help us to further understand the book. They are:
– Patty Predictor
– Quentin Questioner
– Charlie Clarifier
– Rhonda Reteller

Stephanie: I really enjoy playing these roles in reading groups. It helps me to understand the story and it gives me a chance to talk about it.
Dom: I like wearing the badges because it tells everyone what my role is and makes me feel important.

Last week we were investigating volume using cylinders we created. We had to design and make a cylinder to fit a certain number of cubes. We were then given a number and had to make a cylinder to fit that number. Here’s what we had to say about the lessons:
Lucie- I really liked designing and making the cylinders. It was hard to think about the what size cylinder we had to make to fit the cubes.
Oliver- I really enjoyed working with my learning partner. It was good to have someone to work with when creating the cylinders.

Year 2 has started creating our origami cranes for the art show. We were lucky enough to have Mayumi come and teach us how to make the cranes. We have since discovered that they are not easy, even Miss Wynne is having trouble. It has been an exciting start and we are really enjoying the journey.

Michael Ymer has been working with the teachers and students at our school. Year 2 were lucky to have Michael come into our class and teach a lesson. We had a great time playing a card game where we had to add and subtract. We had to create a cylinder using paper, fill it with unifix cubes and then count them in 2s, 5s and 10s.