Grade 5 News

Important Reminders

Homework

A reminder that homework has begun. The homework week runs from Monday to Monday. During this time, students are required to:

* Read 4 nights and record their reading in their diary.

*Complete activities in Mathletics that equal, at least, 750 points.

Please see your child's teacher if you have any questions regarding homework.

Learning in Action

Literacy:  

In Grade 5, students are delving deeper into their exploration of natural disasters in literacy, which links to our Inquiry unit.  Students are actively engaging with texts related to natural disasters, honing their ability to identify and analyse various text features. Furthermore, they are refining their grasp of grammar and sentence structure by examining appositives and subordinating conjunctions. For instance, they're learning how subordinating conjunctions, like 'even though', play a crucial role in connecting dependent and independent clauses, as illustrated in the sentence 'Ellen kept working even though she was tired'. 

Anzac Day 

Grade 5 students were lucky enough to have a special guest speaker this fortnight, to speak about World War 1 and why we celebrate Anzac Day. Darryl (Mrs Halstead's uncle) is a war veteran, who now dedicates a large proportion of his time to sharing his knowledge of the war and supporting others to receive their correct medals and documentation from being in the war. Darryl was able to share a great deal of insight with the grade five students about what life is like in the war and answer many of their burning questions! 

Preview for Learning: 

Over the next fortnight, students will be working on collating their new learning to create an information report on a topic of their choice. Students will be working on improving their editing and proof reading skills to prepare for publishing. 

Maths: 

In grade five students are currently working through mastering multiplication strategies. They are learning to identify factors, and understanding how numbers can be multiplied together to produce a product. Through visual aids like the area box model, students can use the split strategy to break apart numbers into their place value to assist with multiplication (please see the example below).  Additionally, using the standard algorithm, a step-by-step procedure for multiplying numbers efficiently. Grade 5 students have also been exploring data and how it can be represented. This week students have used the data from Australian bushfires from the 1920's - now to create their own dot plot and column graph to represent how many bushfires occurred and how many houses were destroyed. Students had to sort this data into decades and then display their data accurately. 

Preview for Learning: 

Over the next fortnight students will be continuing to work through their multiplication goals, working on factors, area box model, the standard algorithm and order of operations. Students will also continue their data exploration, analysing and creating their own graphs based on the data about Australian bushfires. 

Inquiry

Grade five students are currently immersed in their Inquiry unit, delving into the fascinating world of natural disasters. With a focus on floods, tornadoes, and volcanoes this fortnight. They are exploring the causes and impacts of these natural disasters, such as how many people are killed, number of houses destroyed and how much damage to property occured. They are also exploring the reasons why natural disasters occur and what is put in place to minimise the damage they cause. 

Other Information

At Lysterfield Primary School, we promote high expectations for all our students, and want to encourage our students to challenge themselves and tackle new and interesting opportunities. In light of this, we are encouraging interested students in Grades 3-6 to participate in the Australian Mathematics Competition this year.

The Australian Mathematics Competition, run by the Australian Maths Trust, is Australia’s longest running, largest and most well-known maths competition for school students. It is made up of 30 unique problems designed to challenge and extend students’ problem solving skills. 

Students have 60 minutes to complete the competition which will occur at school sometime between Tuesday 6th - 8th August (exact date and time TBC). 

Every student who participates will receive recognition and an award at their level of achievement. The levels are:

• Participation
• Proficiency
• Credit
• Distinction
• High Distinction

The competition will cost $8.50 per student. 

For more information about the competition, watch this video from AMT, check out their website, or contact Zahra Harvey (zahra.harvey@education.vic.gov.au).

If you are interested in your child participating in the Australian Mathematics Competition this year, please add their names to the form below by Friday 31st May:

Australian Mathematics Competition Expression of Interest

Exciting times ahead in STEM!

We are thrilled to share some exciting updates about our STEM program. As we continue to inspire and empower our students to explore the wonders of these vital fields, we are reaching out to our wonderful community for support.

Your generosity has always been instrumental in helping us provide enriching educational experiences for our students, and we are once again asking for your support to ensure the success and sustainability of our STEM initiatives.

Your support makes a significant difference to our students' learning opportunities and the success of our STEM program. Here are a few ways you can contribute:

Opportunities to help: 

• Donations of Timber/Wood, appropriate for construction E.g. Billy Cart bases or other small vehicles.   
• If you own or are a part of a company or business who would be willing to sponsor our engineering program. 
• If you have connections with hardware stores/companies, helping us to make contact in order to obtain suitable engineering resources. 
• If you have any household STEM-related materials such as; plastic bottles, milk bottle lids, masking tape, balloons, wooden skewers, plastic or paper cups, unwanted CD’s or DVD’s, Aluminium Foil please drop them off outside the STEM room. 
• Construction Crew: If you're handy with tools and have some basic experience in woodwork or mechanics, we would be delighted to have your help in the upcoming terms to assist with our Grade 6 Science and Engineering program. Please email sophiechamberlain@lysterfieldps.com or melissaadams@lysterfieldps.com

Thank you for your continued support,

Melissa Adams & Sophie Chamberlain

STEM Leaders

Lysterfield Primary School 

From the Grade 5 Teachers

Karin Halstead, Ebony Waldron, Chloe McElroy and Zahra Harvey