29th APRIL, 2019 Issue 05/2019

IMPORTANT DATES

MAY 6th – Labour Day Public Holiday 8th – Central West District – Cross Country Trials - Winton 12th – Mother’s Day 12th - Mothers’ Day Colour Run 14-16th – Naplan Testing

DATE CLAIMERS

Isisford Sheep & Wool Show Saturday 25th May, 2019

Isisford Ross Cup Races

Saturday 26th October, 2019

So many events! Welcome back to Term 2! Firstly, my apologies for the students leaving so late on Friday afternoon. We were discussing a book we had read during the week, can you believe? Students have become pretty good at retelling stories, but on Friday we were discussing what they thought of the book and why, which turned into a pretty big discussion around different types of narratives and different endings. We completely lost track of time! Term 2. Wow! What a crazy way to begin the term with so many public holidays! It has been an exciting start for us with two new students starting kindergarten though. Welcome Ashton and Zane! I must say I can hardly contain my enthusiasm at delivering age appropriate

pedagogy for kindergarten students. Thanks so much to Pat who is joining us this term. I have to say, we gave them (Pat and the students) such a warm welcome and had so much fun while they were here- everyone was smiling! This newsletter will be a bit of a bumper issue as we have Week 10 to catch up on and despite only having been at school for a couple of days, we have done so much already. Thank-you everyone for your attendance at ANZAC Day. I think we marched and represented the school very well. Our school leaders that read the resolutions did a commendable job and our enthusiasm when laying wreaths was undeniable. We will definitely work on technique for future events though. As a school, we are so proud of the beautiful lunch that the PnC provided for the town, which gave everyone the opportunity to sit down afterwards and have a good chat and some beautiful food. Karen Argus Acting Principal

ANZAC Day

ANZAC Day

Hayden reading an ANZAC Day resolution

Jaimee reading an ANZAC Day resolution

ANZAC Day by Lacey (Year 2)

ANZAC Day is a special day when you remember the soldiers who fought and died in the war. On ANZAC Day we close our eyes for a minute. Poppies were the first flowers to grow in the fields where the men died. ANZAC Day is on the 25th of April.

Marching in the parade

Rangi reading an ANZAC Day resolution

Laying wreaths

Clementine reading an ANZAC Day resolution

The parade

The Parade

Being respectful

It is important that each of our students contribute to the newsletter in their own way. These ANZAC Day formalities were captured by Zane one of our new kindergarten students through photos. It was his first attempt at using the school camera, but I think he has made a mighty start!

Andy, our policeman, changing the flag

The people putting the flowers down

Week 1 – Tadpoles Promise We began Week 1 reading one of my absolute favourite picture books, Tadpoles Promise written by Jeanne Willis and illustrated by Tony Ross. I really love that it entertains all ages. Tadpole’s Promise is a transmodern picture book – a book that makes you contemplate life a little. It follows the life of a caterpillar and a tadpole who fall in love … ask one of the students how it ends!!

Tadpoles’ Promise by Payton (Prep)

The caterpillar ate leaves. The tadpole swam in the water. The frog ate the butterfly.

Tadpole’s Promise

by Harriet (Year 2) The caterpillar said that she would give the tadpole one more go because the tadpole broke the promise. The tadpole did not stay the same. When the seasons changed the tadpole did too. The next time they met he had no tail. The caterpillar got mad at the tadpole. The tadpole turned into a frog and the caterpillar turned into a butterfly. The butterfly came looking for the tadpole. Butterfly came to the frog and said, “Have you seen my black pearl?” The butterfly could not say pearl because the frog swallowed her up.

Tadpole’s Promise by Aggie (Year 1)

A caterpillar met a tadpole and the tadpole made a promise that he didn’t keep. At the river a butterfly flew down and the frog jumped up and ate the butterfly.

Zane (Kindergarten) proudly showing off his caterpillar.

Tadpole’s Promise - Draft

by Rangi (Year 4)

Thinking About Reading What we thought of Tadpole’s Promise:

I thought it was great because I haven’t read a book like that before – Jaimee (Year 4) It was actually great but I didn’t like it when the frog at the butterfly – Taylor (Prep) I was shocked at the end when the frog ate the butterfly – Clementine (Year 3)

Tadpole’s Promise - Draft by Hayden (Year 4)

Tadpole’s Promise by Lacey (Year 2)

Once upon a time there lived a tadpole and a caterpillar. They fell in love. The caterpillar is the tadpole’s rainbow. The tadpole is the caterpillar’s black pearl. The caterpillar said, “I never want you to change.” The next day, the tadpole had two legs. You broke your promise said the caterpillar. I’m so sorry, I do not want these legs. But the next day the tadpole had four legs. You broke your promise again said the caterpillar. I don’t want these legs said the tadpole. But the next day the tadpole had no tail. You broke your promise again. She went to sleep. One night she woke up and she asked a frog, Have you seen my black … Before she could say pearl the frog ate her.

Tadpole’s Promise by Memphis (Year 1)

The tadpole met a caterpillar. The frog ate the caterpillar. Memphis wanted his story typed this week, but I wish he hadn’t. This was his first time writing two sentences independently and he got most of the sounds spelt correctly. Such a huge achievement Memphis! Congratulations!

Ashton (Kindergarten) diligently working on his caterpillar. Look at that concentration.

Illustration of Tadpole’s Promise by Rangi (Year 4)

Illustration of Tadpole’s Promise by Harriet (Year 2)

Illustration of the frog in the pond from Tadpole’s Promise by Payton (Prep)

Thinking About Reading

What we thought of Tadpole’s Promise:

I did like it. I was surprised that he was still looking for the butterfly because I thought he would have realised, but he didn’t. – Rangi (Year 4)

Illustration for Tadpole’s Promise by Hayden (Year 4)

Running Records and Reading This week we have spent time listening to students read undertaking running records. This helps us to see how each student’s reading is developing and the strategies they use when reading. Students from Prep to Year 3 are of particular interest regarding this, as students in Year 4 are usually fairly independent readers with the focus primarily on developing comprehension skills.

Narrative – Traditional Tales This term we will focus on narrative. Students will be reading, writing and telling or retelling narratives they have read or heard.

Sports Day I must mention that we came second on Sports Day in Aramac! Yay! What a great achievement. Awesome job everyone. We noticed great sportsmanship and huge efforts by everyone particularly the students for their enthusiasm participating. Thank-you parents for your enthusiasm and to the staff for your continued effort in assisting to supervise throughout the day, all the way to drop off at 7pm. I love your work ethic and cheerful approaches to life. My highlight I must say was having almost our entire school back together after 2 weeks of flooding. It was so good to see everyone.

Our march past

Getting ready to run – Jaimee (Year 4), Clem (Year 3) and Rangi (Year 4)

Taylor (Prep) and Aggie (Year 1)

Waiting to do discus – Jaimee, Rangi, Clem and Hayden

Getting ready for sprints – Clem, Jaimee, Rangi, Aggie

and Hayden

Clem (Year 3) at high jump

Lacey (Year 2) sprinting by

Showing their ribbons

Making friends

Go! (Lacey and Harriet – Year 2)

Jaimee (Year 4) long jump

Jaimee (Year 4) and Aggie (Year 1)

AGE CHAMPIONS!

Congratulations girls. Great job.

My Easter Holiday by Clementine (Year 3)

These Easter holidays I went all around the world! No really I didn’t but for the first four days I went to Emerald to visit some friends. While we were there we got to see Wounder Park in the cinemas. Then we drove all the way to Brisbane and saw some of my family. I have 3 cousins that live in Brisbane, so we went to see them a lot. When we were there we stayed at my grandparent’s place, they also live in Brisbane. We got to see the BFG and Fantasic Mr Fox in Brisbane. Than we came home for 2 days and my Aunty and Uncle came out with there baby girl Vivian. We spent Easter with them I got a lot of Easter eggs. Monday was a public holiday so I stayed home and ate a lot of chocolate eggs. I had so much fun on my school holidays.

Easter Bunny by Aggie (Year 1)

Science By Jaimee (Year 4) & Clementine (Year 3)

This term our science assessment is mixing stuff with ochre. We still have to do a bit more work to we are finished. Clem and I are enjoying the assessment. With the ochre we had to mix several different things into it and write about how it mixed. One of the things we had to mix in, was water. It mixed very easily because it was so runny. We mixed a lot of things: water was runny; oil was lumpy; and, the PVA glue was smooth but very hard to mix and it dried up quickly. The egg yolk turned lumpy and when we put the egg yolk with the ochre on the paper it was easy to spread.

Year 3 and 4 students mixing ochre with glue, water and oil to test scientifically how they run.

Tests and results are recorded by each student and then conclusions drawn.

Lunch Box by Kohi (Year 2)

My lunch box is weak. I used cardboard, paper and staples to make it. I am going to put new staples in it. I am happy about the lunch box I made.

My Own Lunch Box by Harriet (Year 2)

I made my own lunch box. It was made out of a cruskits box and paper. We tested my lunch box. We put a sandwich and an orange in it. I carried the lunch box for 5 meters and it did not break.

Lunch Box by Memphis (Year 1)

We made a lunch box. I built a lunch box and I used paper, cardboard and sticky tape.

Measuring in Maths by Aggie (Year 1)

Today we measured things. We found out that a ruler is longer than a rubber. I wondered what would happen if the rubber was the same size as a ruler. Then Ms Argus said, “What if there was a rubber the same size as you Aggie?”. I said, “I could pick it up because I can pick up Lacey, Hayden and Jaimee.” Imagine if there was one as big as a house. That would be too big. We would need 1,055 people for that! Such a great lunchtime conversation with Aggie today. We went on to talk about how she would use a rubber the size of Lacey, and how hard it might be to rub out with it! So much fun!

Maths this Week This week we focused on measurement and number. The Year 4 students measured using informal units and scaled instruments and documented these in a table. They also converted from centimetres to metres.

The Year 2 students looked around for objects that are 1 metre in length and made a list. The Prep and Year 1 students compared objects to see which were longer and shorter and if they were longer and shorter, by how much?

Thanks to St Vincent de Paul Society Recently the St Vincent de Paul Society (Longreach Branch) donated Easter Egg packages to all the students at the Isisford State School. These were received with much excitement and appreciation. Over the last few years, Mary Bell and her team of volunteers have made many generous contributions to our school and

students. Thank you goes to them all and the work of the Longreach St Vincent de Paul Society.

NIPS Testing At the beginning and end of each term as part of the Outback Cluster we do NIPS testing. NIPS tests are short tests, which assess basic numeracy skills. We moderate across the cluster so that each school shares their experiences in teaching and marking the tests, in an effort to build capability in maths across the cluster. I am new to NIPS having only done my first moderation session last term, so Georgia has taken the lead on all things NIPS and with maths in general, it being a subject that she teaches solely across the school. I’ve put a sample test below for you to look at so that you can see the types of things that it includes. Sample questions for: Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Each student regardless of year level has a 1 to 1 interview section. NIPS helps us to ensure that the basic mental aspects of maths are being taught throughout each year level. The tests are quick to administer and once moderates it is easy to interpret the results, identify the gaps and create lessons or opportunities to correct and improve.