This week Milky Way class has continued enquiries in the transdisciplinary theme how we organise ourselves, with the central idea being that people share responsibility in order to achieve a common purpose. The current line of enquiry is: we all have responsibilities.
The students have been investigating the importance of cooperation in eclectic occupational fields of their interest.
Today both classes went on a morning’s excursion to the police station to gain some insight into the importance of team-work and coordination to successfully police. The trip was not without substantial enjoyment looking through three different police vehicles.
In English, the class has finished their list of forty sight-words (Dolch) and will begin their next list (52 words) as of next week. They have been writing daily, various passages about applicable recent activities to (in addition to handwriting practice) build fine motor muscles by writing greater volumes than previously and to scour for the various pronunciations of the multiple phonograms in new words and in context. Additionally, this has led to the adoption of a ‘coincidental vocabulary’ list with words used infrequently day-to-day but which are nevertheless important. This list will remain in the class to indefinitely be extended and to similarly introduce synonyms. This week there has been a noticeable increase in the frequency of English used by, and between students during their free time communications as well as lunch breaks.
Further, regarding student reading, a single, unified system is being implemented according to individually-assessed, levelled reading such that student-specific reading improvement can be developed (Reading A – Z) with benchmark books and running records. This will run alongside the student’s personally driven improvement by their own choice of graduated take-home reading books.
In mathematics the class is continuing to use number lines to solve sums and differences and the concept of negative numbers is being introduced.
In the coming weeks Milky Way will begin a class exercise program with more frequent and structured aerobic and outdoor activity. The students are currently suggesting and debating their preference of activities for these times.
