Friday, September 18, 2015

Term Three Evaluation ~ Monkey

** For those of you who receive this blog as an email please disregard the previous message - I published it before I actually finished it! **

English:

Reading:
Read Aloud Books:
Picture Books -
365 Penguins
Uno's Garden Counting Book
Splat the Cat Sings Flat
Who Needs Pants?
Cinders - A Chicken Cinderella
Last Tiger
Ten Little Monkeys
Sam's Bush Journey
I Wish That I Had Duck Feet
Hairy Maclary's Show Business
Splat the Cat
Splish Splash Splat
Shark in the Park on a Windy Day
Go Dog Go
I Taste
Splat the Cat and the Duck With No Quack
Octonauts and the Flying Fish
Octonauts and the Giant Squid
At the Water Hole
Summer Rain
Octonauts and the Scary Spookfish
Octonauts and the Whale Shark
Kangaroos Hop
The Very Itchy Bear
Yikes Ticklysaurus
The Jewel Fish of Karnak
Guardians of the Galaxy
A Pet For Fly Guy
Mighty Machines
Noni the Pony Goes to the Beach
Edward the Emu
Hush Hush
The Trouble With Dogs
The New Small Person

Independent Reading:
** Monkey has begun to read independently**
The following list is books that he has read aloud to me

Fishy Tales
What the King Likes
Catch the Rat
Nok Can Fix It
Rabbit on the Run
In the Sky
The Park
Tick Tock Clock
The Car
Monster in My Garden
Cloudy Day Sunny Day
Look Bear
Muddy, Mud, Bud
Trucks
Great Granny's Birthday
Lettergetter Loves I
Big and Little
Big Machines
Hide and Seek
Jumping Beans
My Bridge
Tabletop Soccer
Pippa's Painting
Boxer and the Fish
Lost
Too Big
Here Comes the Sun
The Playground
Barky the Barking Dog

Other Reading Activities:
Reading Eggs online program

Writing:
Institute for Excellence in Writing Curriculum
Teaching Writing: Structure and Style program

Handwriting:
Foundation Handwriting Year 1
Targeting Handwriting Year 1

Spelling:
daily oral review of weekly lists as sourced from known CVC words
(10 words per list)
written test taken every Friday
watched The Great Australian Spelling Bee on channel 10 website

Maths:
Maths Plus Year 1 Textbook
Units 25 - 32 covering the following topics:
combining numbers to make 10, describing number patterns, pentagons and octagons, subtraction to 20, counting coins, reading a map, chance, multiplication, prices, rhombuses, jump strategy, rounding, repeated addition, figure it out - problem solving, faces edges and vertices, know 1 know 4, using 1/2 and 1/4, gathering and displaying data, jump strategy (subtraction), finding groups, digital time, sharing, solving problems, reading a map, rows and columns/area, tessellations
Diagnostic Review 4
Investigations

  • Making Numbers
  • Missing Oranges
  • Visiting Nanna
  • Four-Sided Shapes
  • Square Numbers
  • The Spinning Wheel
  • Four Square
  • Tom's Secret Birthday
  • Input-Output Machines
  • Treasure Island
  • Supergirl Showbag 

Scripture and Character Building:
Bible Read Aloud:
Exodus 15 ~ Leviticus 23

HSIE:
Geography/History - 
All books read below were read aloud as part of our Australian History Unit Study
"My Name is Lizzie Flynn" by Claire Saxby
"How the Birds Got Their Colours" - Aboriginal Dreaming Time Story
"Lord of the Cranes"

Science and Technology:
Completed various activities to do with lifecycles of frogs/toads and butterflies/moths.

Read Alouds on Various Science Topics:
Deadly Spiders and Scorpions - Andrew Solway
Really Weird Animals: Spiders
Finding Out About Great White Sharks - Greg Pyers
Blast Off! Let's Explore Neptune
Australia's Most Dangerous Sharks
Deadly Snakes - Andrew Solway
Blast Off! Let's Explore Mercury
Blast Off! Let's Explore Venus
Blast Off! Let's Explore The Moon
Blast Off! Let's Explore Comets and Asteroids
Blast Off! Let's Explore Jupiter
Blast Off! Let's Explore Saturn
Blast Off! Let's Explore Uranus
Blast Off! Let's Explore Pluto and the Other Dwarf Planets
Rainforest Insects and Spiders
Everything You Need to Know About Snakes and Other Scaly Reptiles
Tadpoles and Frogs
Bug Books - Beetle
Caterpillars
Scorpions
Butterflies and Caterpillars
Insects
Tell Me the Difference Between a Frog and a Toad
Tadpoles
Spiders
Earthworms
Animals With Backbones
Spiders
Frogs and Other Amphibians
Worms
Crabs and Crustaceans
Australian Geographic Insects
Living Nature - Reptiles
Slugs and Snails
Black Holes
Uranus
Neptune
Saturn
What's Inside a Black Hole?
Pluto
The Solar System - Saturn
Fact Cat - The Moon
Bull Sharks
Sharks
Killer Crocodiles
Snakes and Lizards
My Best Book of Snakes
The Shark Book: Fish With Attitude

PDHPE:
walk to and from the library
walk to and from the shops
walk to and from various parks
free play at various parks
riding scooter

Human Body Unit Study
Read Alouds:
Your Brilliant Bones and Marvellous Muscular System
Body Atlas: Skin Muscle and Bones
Move Your Body: Bones and Muscles - Steve Parker
The Human Machine: Digestion and Excretion - Louise Spilsbury
Your Digestive System: Understand it with Numbers
My Healthy Body - Breathing
The Circulatory System: Where Do I Get My Energy?
Your Respiration and Circulation: Understand Them With Numbers
Your Mind Bending Brain and Nifty Nervous System
Body Parts - The Eyes
Senses - Taste
Your Growling Guts and Dynamic Digestive System
Your Thumping Heart and Battling Blood System
Your Breathtaking Lungs and Rocking Respiratory System
Your Growing Body & Clever Reproductive System
The Value of Believing in Yourself - The Story of Louis Pasteur
National Geographic Kids Ultimate Body-Pedia

The Magic School Bus Series
"For Lunch" Topic: Digestion
"Inside Ralphie" Topic: Germs
"Flexes Its Muscles" Topic: Body Mechanics
"Works Out" Topic: Circulation


  • examined our fingerprints
  • viewed photographs of albino people and animals
  • traced his body on butcher paper and placed internal organs in correct places
  • conducted a "digestion" experiment with biscuits soaked in water and saliva
  • conducted the chicken bone in vinegar experiment to illustrate the need for calcium in relation to bone density

Creative Arts:

Socialization:
Weekly attendance of church and Sunday School
Numerous play dates with friends of multiple ages


Other Activities:
Played a variety of board and card games
  • Rummy-O
  • Mancala
  • Snakes and Ladders
  • Skip-Bo
  • Chess
  • Memory
  • Blokus
  • Blink
Imaginative (self created) Lego games with his younger brother
Pokemon card game battles with his brother

Term School Holiday Events:
September:
Library ~ Bingo
Library ~ Spring Crafts Day
ANSTO ~ Superhero Day

Term Three Evaluation ~ Monster

English:

Reading:
Read Aloud Books:
Picture Books -
** See list of picture books read to Monkey as Monster listens to all or most of them**

Chapter Books - 
** See HSIE and/or PDHPE for list of chapter books read aloud**

Independent Reading:
see written list ~ 

Other Reading Activities:
Reading Eggs online program
30 - 60 minutes of silent reading daily

Writing:
Institute for Excellence in Writing Curriculum
Teaching Writing: Structure and Style program
wrote postcards to international pen pals

Handwriting:
Foundation Handwriting Year 3

Grammar:
Parts of Speech Unit
* various activities to do with noun, verb, adverb and adjective

Spelling:
daily oral review of weekly lists as sourced from year 4 lists on the internet
(20 words per list)
written test taken every Friday
watched The Great Australian Spelling Bee on channel 10 website

Maths:
Maths Plus Year 4 Textbook
Units 19 - 27 covering the following topics:
rounding numbers, factors and factorising, turns, investigating likelihood, 3-digit subtraction with trading, division, visible and invisible arms, millimetres, 4-digit addition, revising decimals, classifying angles, millilitres, 4-digit subtraction with trading, fractions of a collection, tessellations, timetables, extended multiplication, rounding to the nearest 5 cents, grid references, comparing graphs, compensation strategy, division strategies, surveys, grams, mixed addition, decimal place value, pentagons and octagons, the square metre, 4-digit subtraction with trading, tens of thousands, combining and splitting shapes, cubic centimetres, contracted multiplication, division, using a scale, and chance
Diagnostic Review 3

Maths Plus Year 5 Textbook
Units 19 - 27 covering the following topics:
3-digit division, ordering decimals, plan view, the tonne, addition and estimation, averages, reflect translate and rotate, enlargements, distributive law, reading numbers, decimals to thousandths, 24-hour timetables, 5-digit subtraction, adding and subtracting fractions, number patterns with fractions, constructing objects, 4-digit multiplication, improper fractions, chance, scale direction and coordinates, division by ten, fractions of a collection, measuring angles in triangles, perimeter, 6-digit addition, multiplication by tens, number patterns/fractions/decimals, gross and net mass, two digits multiplied by two digits, decimal place value, making objects and nets, data survey, division with zeros, GST and budgets, and interpreting graphs
Diagnostic Review 3

Scripture and Character Building:
Bible Read Aloud:
Exodus 15 ~ Leviticus 23

HSIE:
Geography/History - 
All books read below were read aloud as part of our Australian History Unit Study
"Meet Letty" by Alison Lloyd
"Letty and the Stranger's Lace" by Alison Lloyd
"Letty on the Land" by Alison Lloyd
"Letty's Christmas" by Alison Lloyd
"Meet Poppy" by Gabrielle Wang
"Poppy at Summerhill" by Gabrielle Wang
"Poppy and the Thief" by Gabrielle Wang
"Poppy Comes Home"by Gabrielle Wang
"Meet Rose" by Sheryl Clark
"Rose on Wheels" by Sheryl Clark
"Rose's Challenge" by Sheryl Clark
"Rose in Bloom" by Sheryl Clark
"The Camel Who Crossed Australia" by Jackie French
"My Name is Lizzie Flynn" by Claire Saxby
"How the Birds Got Their Colours" - Aboriginal Dreaming Time Story
"Lord of the Cranes"

Science and Technology:
Continued his personal blog
Learned how to edit photographs using Gimp program
Started independently composing and typing content of blog
Edited each entry with assistance from mum

Continued keeping a daily weather log ~ tracking high/low temps, humidity, and rainfall using Bureau of Meteorology website and other weather websites as necessary.  Writing collected data down in a weather notebook.

Completed various activities to do with lifecycles of frogs/toads and butterflies/moths.

Read Alouds on Various Science Topics:
Deadly Spiders and Scorpions - Andrew Solway
Really Weird Animals: Spiders
Finding Out About Great White Sharks - Greg Pyers
Blast Off! Let's Explore Neptune
Australia's Most Dangerous Sharks
Deadly Snakes - Andrew Solway
Blast Off! Let's Explore Mercury
Blast Off! Let's Explore Venus
Blast Off! Let's Explore The Moon
Blast Off! Let's Explore Comets and Asteroids
Blast Off! Let's Explore Jupiter
Blast Off! Let's Explore Saturn
Blast Off! Let's Explore Uranus
Blast Off! Let's Explore Pluto and the Other Dwarf Planets
Rainforest Insects and Spiders
Everything You Need to Know About Snakes and Other Scaly Reptiles
Tadpoles and Frogs
Bug Books - Beetle
Caterpillars
Scorpions
Butterflies and Caterpillars
Insects
Tell Me the Difference Between a Frog and a Toad
Tadpoles
Spiders
Earthworms
Animals With Backbones
Spiders
Frogs and Other Amphibians
Worms
Crabs and Crustaceans
Australian Geographic Insects
Living Nature - Reptiles
Slugs and Snails
Black Holes
Uranus
Neptune
Saturn
What's Inside a Black Hole?
Pluto
The Solar System - Saturn
Fact Cat - The Moon
Bull Sharks
Sharks
Killer Crocodiles
Snakes and Lizards
My Best Book of Snakes
The Shark Book: Fish With Attitude

PDHPE:
walk to and from the library
walk to and from the shops
walk to and from various parks
free play at various parks
riding scooter

Human Body Unit Study
Read Alouds:
Your Brilliant Bones and Marvellous Muscular System
Body Atlas: Skin Muscle and Bones
Move Your Body: Bones and Muscles - Steve Parker
The Human Machine: Digestion and Excretion - Louise Spilsbury
Your Digestive System: Understand it with Numbers
My Healthy Body - Breathing
The Circulatory System: Where Do I Get My Energy?
Your Respiration and Circulation: Understand Them With Numbers
Your Mind Bending Brain and Nifty Nervous System
Body Parts - The Eyes
Senses - Taste
Your Growling Guts and Dynamic Digestive System
Your Thumping Heart and Battling Blood System
Your Breathtaking Lungs and Rocking Respiratory System
Your Growing Body & Clever Reproductive System
The Value of Believing in Yourself - The Story of Louis Pasteur
National Geographic Kids Ultimate Body-Pedia

The Magic School Bus Series
"For Lunch" Topic: Digestion
"Inside Ralphie" Topic: Germs
"Flexes Its Muscles" Topic: Body Mechanics
"Works Out" Topic: Circulation


  • examined our fingerprints
  • viewed photographs of albino people and animals
  • traced his body on butcher paper and placed internal organs in correct places
  • conducted a "digestion" experiment with biscuits soaked in water and saliva
  • conducted the chicken bone in vinegar experiment to illustrate the need for calcium in relation to bone density


Creative Arts:
Music:
Continued to play the recorder

Socialization:
Weekly attendance of church and Sunday School
Numerous play dates with friends of multiple ages

Other Activities:
Played a variety of board and card games
  • Rummy-O
  • Mancala
  • Snakes and Ladders
  • Skip-Bo
  • Phase 10
  • Chess
  • Memory
  • Blokus
  • Blink
Imaginative (self created) Lego games with his younger brother
Pokemon card game battles with his brother

Term School Holiday Events:
September:
Library ~ Bingo
Library ~ Spring Crafts Day
ANSTO ~ Superhero Day

Term Three: Week Ten ~ Finishing Up

The last week of the term and we are just winding up written work and enjoying some hands-on learning.


Munchkin enjoyed an alphabet matching card game. 




It is magpie breeding/nesting season and unfortunately we were attacked by a nesting mother magpie while playing at the park.  She swooped my neck twice before we worked out what was going on and got away quickly.  The season lasts for about eight weeks so we are stuck at home which means our exercise consists of running and/or riding scooters up and down the driveway. 

Munchkin enjoyed building a road for his mini cars. 

Monster was the only one who had written work to do and that was just his maths tests. 


An alphabet puzzle thrilled Munchkin this week as well. 



Drawing on the white board is a favourite activity of Munchkin's.  I wish I had written down his story that went with the picture.  But I do remember that the green lines on the left are him and the brown lines on the right are his brother (Monkey).  LOVING how he draws people at the moment. 



We tried to do an experiment to create a visual example of a blood cell but it didn't work because treacle syrup is the consistency and the colour of molasses.  Back to the drawing board for this one... 



The Spirograph was a HUGE hit! 






Finally we made a scale version of the solar system.
We made the planets to scale and then spaced them out to scale as well. 





Monster's independent reading selections for the week!

 We finished two more books in the Our Australian Girl series as part of our Australian History Unit.


Monkey is working through the easiest level (purple level) of the easy readers in our local library.  I am very pleased with his progress and he is thrilled to be able to read.


Munchkin's read aloud selections for the week.

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 Finally our general read aloud for the week that all three boys listened to.  We enjoyed a lot of space books and also a book about Louis Pasteur as part of our human body unit.

Overall it was a great week and a wonderful end to the term!

Friday, September 11, 2015

Term Three: Week Nine ~ Books and Bird Watching

As the term winds down and the boys complete their written work for the term, I find I'm photographing less structured learning time and more of our natural learning times.

This week was a mix of ALL the books we read and some time spent outdoors.  We had a first this week as well ~ for the very first time ever during a spring trip to the park ~ we were attacked by a nesting magpie.  No one was injured, thank goodness, but it was a rather scary experience for all of us and we are MUCH more cautious when we are outside now as the breeding/nesting season lasts for about eight weeks.











Monster's Independent reading for the week.
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I continue to be VERY pleased with the progress Monkey is making with his reading.  These are the selection of easy readers he worked through over the course of the week.
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Munchkin's selection of books that he wanted me to read to him only!
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The selection of read aloud books for the week that all three boys enjoyed together.
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Finally, in our travelling around through the week we really enjoyed doing some bird watching (and photographing).  The Galahs (pink and gray birds) and the Rainbow Lorikeets were out in force throughout the week and are MUCH friendlier than the nesting Magpies!
The photos of the bees are the two photographs I managed to shoot during our ill fated park visit before the mother magpie swooped the back of my neck twice to let me know in no uncertain terms that we were NOT welcome in HER park!!