At Berowra Public School, teachers work together to identify students who need extra support and may benefit academically from working in a small group environment. Programs for each group are based on what each grade/stage focus is for the term and what aspect of literacy (e.g. sentence structure, spelling, narratives etc) need to be improved on with these targeted children.
Current support programs:
Year 1
Year 1 are focusing on nursery rhymes this term. The support program focuses on descriptive writing and creating s sentence that paint a picture in the reader's mind. Children have described dragons, castles and magical characters. Every lesson also includes a focus on spelling (initial sounds, blends etc).
Year 2 and Year 4
The students in year 2 and year 4 are woking on the 'super 6' comprehension strategies. Each lesson begins with a shared book and discussion about what was read using the comprehension strategies. Activities in the lesson are based on the text that was read. In Term 1, the focus is on predicting, making connections, and questioning strategies. Students use both oral and written knowledge and skills to communicate their thoughts and most importantly, justify their answers.
Year 3
Year 3 students are working on the sentences a narratives. This program focuses on the subject/verb/object structure of a sentence and use of adjectives, verbs, nouns. This is then linked in with the structure of a narrative and identifying features of a narrative.
Kindergarten
Kindergarten have in class support every morning Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday morning. This support is to help Kindergarten students with daily tasks, class activities, transitioning with behavioural expectations at Berowra Public School and literacy groups.
Number Groups
A small group of students (currently 8) have been chosen to work with Mrs Cabral during Number Groups. The focus of this group os on number concepts and number skills. Students are exposed to hands on activities and will be given the opportunity to ICT as a tool to improve their learning outcomes. In each lesson, students are also exposed to NAPLAN style questions, to familiarise students with the types of questions, and how to work through the problems.