Filter Content
Dear Franklin Families,
Over the last few weeks teachers from Huon schools have participated in a series of online workshops that have focussed on improving spelling skills. Led by Education Consultant, Chris Topfer, teachers have developed their understandings of teaching spelling skills using an Inquiry approach. Spelling through Inquiry is essentially a thinking process that requires learners to notice patterns in words, make connections and draw conclusions about words. This approach is about building student’s skills in the use of 5 key strategies and developing their curiosity about words: Where they come from: what they mean: how they are constructed and how they are connected to other words.
In staff meetings, teachers have already shared examples of their classroom programs for spelling and it has been wonderful to see evidence of students posing questions, sharing wonderings and investigating their theories about words and spelling patterns.
Huon & Channel Winter Carnival
Last week the Year 5/6 class travelled to Kingborough Sports Centre to participate in the ‘Come and Try Winter Carnival’. This event was organised to give students an opportunity to try a new sport and to make connections with schools and coaches from the Huon and Channel area. Students were able to choose between judo, table tennis, indoor cricket and volley ball. These events are an important part of the H.P.E program and promote the development of skills, fitness and sportsmanship. We have Mr Mitchell to thank for encouraging student participation. Mrs Leaman and Mr Holmstrom supported students on the day and both confirmed that all were excellent ambassadors for Franklin Primary.
COVID update
The Department and Public Health has worked together to develop some clear guidelines on social events that occur on school sites. These events will be able to go ahead but will need to be held in accordance with current health directions. This means that it will be required that these type of events are undertaken with venue density requirements (one person per 2 square metres: up to a maximum of 250 people) of the site on which they are planned to be held. COVID safe behaviours including hygiene measures and visitor screening will need to be applied to such events.
Planning for end of the year school events, especially the final assembly, will therefore need to consider the guidelines mentioned above. Further details on the dates and organisation for all Term 4 events will be included in newsletters soon.
Have a great week.
Linda Heerey
Gumnuts have been exploring Australian bush animals and their features. We made model animals from clay and also masks.
Our next session on Monday 14th September is 9:30am at Bush Kinder at the Sustainability Centre, Mt Nelson. All families with children ages birth-5 years are welcome to attend. Please bring gumboots, a lunchbox, drink and change of clothes. The walk will be suitable for a pram if required.
Monday 21st September is our final session for the term and we will be at Kingborough Sports Centre, enjoying Kinder Gym.
In Prep we have been inquiring into what helps us spell words. We have used our names to investigate letter-sound patterns and have created a class book. Our name investigations have raised some interesting thinking about letter patterns and the sounds they make and this is helping the children to understand that sounding out is not the only way to read or spell words.
We have also recorded words that sound interesting (as part of our show and tell this term) and have again compiled these into a class book. This allows the children to revisit the interesting words as often as they like, and further develop their knowledge of vowels, consonants and syllables within words.
This week the children worked in pairs to compare the letters and sounds in their names. Their job was to identify if they make the same sound, or a different one. The example below shows that these two discovered both their names had an ‘i’ and an ‘l’ in them and that they made the same sound.
Word investigations are AMAZING!
We have been working hard to recognise and celebrate our school values, focussing on respect. We are getting very good at respectfully agreeing or disagreeing with others and providing a reason why.
In our Inquiry we have been exploring different communities and what we know about them. Our challenge was to construct something that might be useful in a particular community. We had some wonderful constructions such as a water station, a royal castle, a desert landscape, a school and a street scape.
To integrate our Science Inquiry question ‘How do living things protect themselves?’ across other learning areas such as Maths, we looked at what symmetry was. We used images of magnified bug, spider, ant, dragonfly, wasp and butterfly heads, cut them in half and then drew the other half as symmetrically as possible. Here are some examples of our work. Last week, during Prep buddy time, we also read our final typed up pieces of creative writing to our Prep buddies. They signed their name next to their drawing that matched each of our narratives.
This fortnight grade 4/5 had a virtual excursion to TMAG. We had our own personal tour guide, Nicole the Aboriginal Learning Facilitator. She taught us so much about Tasmanian Aboriginal history and culture and she took us through the ningina tunapri exhibit.
Congratulations to Lachlan, Zak and Alex who achieved high scores in the Australian NCSS Coding Challenge
End of Term 3 | Friday 25th September |
Start of Term 4 | Monday 12th October |
Bookweek | Monday 19th to 21st October |
Public Holiday | Thursday 22nd October |
Student Free Day Professional Learning Day for Teachers | Friday 23rd October |
NAIDOC Week | Monday 9th to 13th November |
School Photos | Tuesday 17th November |
End of Term 4 | Thursday 17th December |