Year 5/6

READING: During Term 2 in reading, the 5/6 cohort will be learning how the use of text structures and features can achieve particular effects on a reader. They will be using a range of texts to compare and analyse information as to understand how language features, images and vocabulary are used by different authors to represent ideas, characters and events. They will be comparing and analysing the information to understand implied and literal meaning in order to make deeper meaning of the text. 

Students will be explicitly exposed to this through teacher modelling and selecting and using evidence from their text to explain their thinking and make justified responses to their reading. The 5/6 cohort, will also be looking at how vocabulary can express many different things, in different ways through the study of homonyms and word meanings. During this unit, students will also be using a range of questioning strategies to identify the best way to ask and answer questions to support their comprehension of the text. The question strategies students will be focusing on are ‘right there, think and search, author and me and own my own questions’. As a cohort we will be applying all the above strategies through our class novel ‘The Never-Ending Story’.

WRITING: In our Term 2 writing units, the 5/6 students will be learning to understand how language features and language patterns can be used for emphasis. They will learn how specific details can be used to support a point of view and explain how their choices of language features and images are used to support the reader. Students will use banks of known words and the less familiar words they encounter to create detailed texts elaborating upon key ideas for a range of purposes and audiences. They will demonstrate understanding of grammar and make considered choices from an expanding vocabulary to enhance cohesion and structure in their writing. All 5/6 students will also be focusing on using accurate spelling and punctuation for clarity, providing feedback on the work of their peers and can make and explain editorial choices based on agreed criteria. The main text types students will be creating include both narrative stories and information reports.

MATHEMATICS:  For Maths in Term 2, students will be starting with a unit on multiplication and division. This will enable students to transfer their learning and practice from their counting communities in Term 1. They will then extend their understanding of base 10 which was previously taught in Term 1, to a new topic of fractions, decimals, percentages incorporating probability. Building upon what students have learnt about probability, a unit on data analysis will follow. We will conclude the term with a measurement unit where we will be focusing on measuring and calculating length and perimeter and practicing metric conversions. 

INQUIRY: For 5/6 Inquiry in Term 2 we are looking at Australia’s democracy, levels of governments and what it takes to pass a law through the government. Along the way students will work collaboratively and learn to respect the opinions of others. The unit will culminate in students forming a government within the classes, and choosing an area or topic of concern, that they feel there should be a law about. They will then follow the Australian governmental processes for passing a law. 

The following are the key questions and understandings of the topic.

KEY UNDERSTANDING: The function of government is to organise and govern its citizens.

KEY QUESTIONS:

Þ What is democracy in Australia and why is voting in a democracy important?

· I can explain how decisions can be made democratically. 

· I can explain what Democracy means.

· I can identify the values that underpin Australia’s democracy.

· I can explain what the Australian electoral process is.

· I can recognise the importance of rules and distinguish between rules and laws.

· I can explain what an Australian citizen is and what our role is in our voting system. 

Þ What are the roles and responsibilities of the different levels of government in Australia? 

Þ How are laws developed and enforced in Australia?

· I can name different roles of people in our legal system.

· I can list the different roles of each level of parliament and the responsibility of each parliament type. 

· I am aware of the three different types of government (local, state, federal)

· I can explain the role of a parliament in creating a law.

Þ How and why do people participate in groups to achieve shared goals? 

· I can participate in my community as an active citizen

· I can identify factors that shape a person’s identity and sense of belonging.

Respectful relationships: Grade 5/6 students are participating in weekly lessons, learning about topics like resilience, rights and respectful relationships. These lessons follow the department’s Resilience, Rights & Respectful Relationships document. Students will be engaging in lessons that help them to identify positive and negative emotions within themselves and others. They will also learn to identify coping strategies that work for them when they find themselves in stressful situations. Students will identify ways they can use certain strategies to help themselves and to help those around them. Students will also learn about gender identity and issues that often affect students as they progress through early adolescence.

ART: Grade 5 and 6 students will be continuing with colour theory for the first part of Term 2. The students will complete their complementary colour activity with emphasis on colours that work well together, and the students will be able to demonstrate and explain how certain colours create emphasis and enhance their work. Grade 5/6 students will then create 100 colours by using tints and shades with acrylic paint, and will use these shades to create an Evard Munch inspired design using warm and cool shades. Students will also experiment with lines this term and understand the fundamental part they play in drawing. Some art movements that include lines are Anime - Manga art, street art and 3 dimensional drawing, which will be studied this term. I look forward to a fun and creative time with the grades 5/6’s with paint and drawing this term. 

LOTE: Welcome back to a new term! In term two, the grade fives and sixes will be extending their language skills in Chinese Mandarin, including listening and speaking, recognising words in Pinyin and Chinese characters, and writing Chinese characters. They will learn about some Chinese festivals such as the Tomb Sweeping Festival and the Dragon Boat Festival. The topics that will be explored will be clothing and verbs. This term, students will discover the history behind the Terra Cotta Warriors and be involved in making replicas. They will also engage in actions games, songs, books, arts and crafts to deepen their learning of the new topics. The grade five to six students will be integrating technology in their lessons by using their iPads to complete tasks and research given topics.

PE: Welcome back to an exciting term 2 for grade 5/6. This term we will be participating in our winter sports for interschool sports. These are AFL, Netball and Tee-ball. We will be competing against other schools and finishing off with a lightning premiership day to decide the best team in the region. We will also be having our 5/6 soccer interschool sports games along with our cross country! At school we will be learning about badminton through serving, rallying and tactics and a bit about the sports background. We will then move onto Volleyball where students will gather an understanding on the way Volleyball works and the movements involved when playing a game. We will finish this term with athletics where students will be competing in these activities to make the school athletics team to compete against other schools in the region. Looking forward to another big term grade 56!

SCIENCE: I would like to welcome back all the Grade 5/6’s to STEM for this Term. In Term 2, students will be focusing on the science area of Earth and Space. Students will learn about how sudden extreme weather events and geological changes can affect the Earth’s surface. Students will explore the Earth’s interior and investigate the effects of volcanic eruptions not only on the environment but on human settlements.

In addition, the students will look at the engineering design process and how products move from ideas to design to production, which involves some interesting projects and activities.