Welcome to Grade One!

1. Welcome to Grade One! I am Ms Duncan

2. Class Rules. Grade one created the rules for the class in two ways. Firstly we thought about the things we want for our class to help build a healthy learning environment. The children made posters to illustrate what we should do in class. As well as this, we read the book ‘What if everybody did that?’ which presented us with situations where chaos could possibly arise due to rule breaking. The children thought about what might happen if we didn’t follow our class rules and also made posters illustrating what our classroom would be like if we had no rules. The class rules were created by the children (with a little help from me).

3. Class Rules • We keep our classroom tidy • We listen to each other • We raise our hand before sharing our ideas • We walk in the classroom • We sit nicely on our chairs or on the carpet • We respect each other • We look after our things

4. The morning routine The doors to the classroom open at 7.50 and children may come in and put their bags in their cubbies. On the board, there will be an independent or group thinking challenge to start the day while the register is taken. After this, the daily timetable is shared with the class. Fortnightly on a Monday, the class jobs are rotated.

5. CURRICULUM English Language Arts During the Readers/Writers workshops, the children make connections between what they read and what they write promoting the theory that ‘readers make better writers’. We work from either the Raz Kids books and activities, or I choose texts which compliment the skill being taught . I have come from a school where a creative curriculum was in place and so I have developed many creative activities which help teach and reinforce language concepts such as: rhyming words, spelling patterns, golden sentences and parts of speech. I believe in the children having a meaningful reason to write and so often the book or activity is chosen beforehand to promote interest and enthusiasm which gives writing more of a purpose to write (for the children). We will be covering different styles and genres in both reading and writing so that the children are able to understand how, when and why different formats may be used.

6. CURRICULUM Maths For maths, I combine teaching and learning materials from the ‘Everyday Mathematics’ program and my own teaching materials to deliver a curriculum that ensures all of the standards for Grade one are introduced, developed, reinforced and most essentially met. I enjoy teaching maths through the use of games, songs and practical activities and again try to implement meaningful reasons for the children to use and apply what they have learned e.g. hunting for insects in science and showing the results in a bar chart. I aim to incorporate creativity to maths using lots of role-play - e.g. shopkeepers or builders – where the children can solve maths problems in role and have fun at the same time!

7. CURRICULUM Science At ISS we use the ‘FOSS science’ program of study. Over the year the children will experience different branches of science. The program and my teaching style both focus on scientific enquiry and child based learning, therefore the children will prepare, conduct, observe and evaluate their own scientific investigations. These will either be based on or lead to their own questions to be investigated. Again, science will work cross-curricularly in Grade One and will be incorporated into ELA , Maths, Art and other subjects. Social Studies

8. In addition the children will also have specialist classes in: P.E Art Music

9. HOMEWORK!! The children will receive 3-4 pieces of homework weekly; homework will consist of a maths activity and a writing activity although these may be presented cross-curricularly. Homework set will be due in the next day unless otherwise instructed. As well as this, the children should be logging on to Raz kids daily for reading practise.

10. A few things to mention… Please complete your emergency details form before you leave if you have not done so Remember we are a partnership and so email me with any questions or concerns – there is a direct link on the website Please look at the class blog, I will regularly update this with activities, games and information about the learning in Grade One If you have any skills (art, cooking, music etc) that we can use over the year please let me know, likewise if you know of or have a place that might make a good class trip, email me as I am semi-new to the country

11. Thank you for coming!