Learning About Plants

Below are some useful websites you can access to help plan your Science curriculum. You could also send this list home for parents to access and help their child with their learning. 

Softschools.com                       
Plants & People of China

BBC Living Things                    
Primary Games - Plants & Flowers

Australian Botany Pages           
Fun Facts about Fungi

ABC Teach

How to draw a swan

As part of our Book Week 2009 celebrations, my Rec/Yr1 class have been reading fairy tales. One of their favourites was 'The Ugly Duckling'. Together as a class we then learned how to draw a swan, starting with basic shapes. I drew each step on the whiteboard and walked around the room to help those who were struggling. I was so impressed with their efforts. 

You can find the instructions here.

School Notices

You give notices for everything...school casual days, excursions, upcoming events, classroom changes... You do this so that parents are informed and aware of what is happening at school...Where can these notices end up? 

I have found notices scrunched up in the bottom of the bag, left on the classroom floor and under the bag hooks. I made a simple sign to put on the classroom door that is accessible by parents, which holds all the notices that have been given out. Each time a new one is given it is placed in the front of the pack. The notices are stored in a clear plastic sleeve from a folder.

If you use a different system or just have a new idea, I'd love to hear it. 

Puss in Boots

As part of our Book Week celebrations, we focused on fairy tales. The class particularly liked the story Puss in Boots. They created these gorgeous crayon resist pictures.

We first made a list of all the characters from the story and what the students believed they looked like. We then made a list of all the scenes from the story. This really helped children stay focused and also through these discussions, helped to re-tell the story. 

More Writing Prompts

• If you could have a super power, what would it be? Why?
• The day the gorilla escaped from the zoo
• Make a wanted poster
• The walk in the jungle
• The day your boat sank in the ocean
• Your parents left you home alone when they went shopping
• Write a recipe e.g for an animal, using weird ingredients
• Write a comic strip
• Describe your perfect pet
• Write job descriptions for various careers
• Write the steps involved in planting/cooking/washing the dog etc. (can make these into flash cards - come back to see my student's efforts)