Year 6 News

Another busy couple of weeks in Year 6!  

Literacy 

In recent weeks, Year 6 students have continued to enhance their writing by applying their new understanding of sentence structure and vocabulary. They’ve been consolidating their knowledge of how to use both coordinating and subordinating conjunctions to connect ideas, turning basic sentences into more developed compound and complex ones. 

Here are some student recounts: 

Lately, the year 6's have been learning about types of sentences including Simple, Compound, Complex and compound-Complex. We learnt how to identify them and write it correctly. 

• Kiana M 

   Mathematics 

Continuing the revision on the topic of fractions, the Year 6s have been exploring how to add and subtract fractions They’ve been using what they know about factors and multiples to identify lowest common multiple. 

Here are some student recounts: 

In Maths, the year 6's have been learning how to add fractions. We have been learning that we need to (in order to add) to make the same denominators the same, by finding the LCM, before adding only the numerator. 

• Kiana M 

This week in maths we have been learning about adding and subtracting fractions, improper fractions and mixed numbers. We learned how to convert an improper fraction into a mixed number, how to convert a mixed number into an improper fraction, and how to turn improper fractions into proper fractions. We also learned about equivalent fractions and strategies on how to simplify them, and that the denominator must always the same when you add and subtract fractions. 

• Will H and Raph J 

Unit of Inquiry Reflection 

To wrap up our previous Unit of Inquiry, Where We Are in Time and Place, the Year 6 students presented their own plays to the Year 3 classes—an experience met with both excitement and a touch of nerves. Their performances were a wonderful way to showcase everything they had learned and to connect with the younger students in the junior school. 

Here is a student recount of the performances: 

On the 16th of May the year 6 students performed a play to the year 3’s about different events in Australian history, 2 weeks were spent on rehearsing this play and it was done in a few groups sized to 2-5 people. 

The topics we could choose from were; The National Museum of Australia, Port Arthur Massacre, Federation of the states, The Mabo Case, Eureka Stockade, Tokyo Games, Citizenship Act, The Referendum, Julia Gillard, Giving Back Uluru, the Great Barrier Reef, The Bombing of Darwin and Women’s Suffrage. 

I chose The Mabo Case. 

This was a very fun experience for the year 6 students because we got to show year 3’s about Australian history events that happened in 1854-2010. 

• Asha L 

New Unit of Inquiry

Who We Are 

We’ve now launched into our new Unit of Inquiry, Who We Are, where students are exploring themes around identity, beliefs, and values. They’re delving into aspects of health—personal, physical, mental, social, and spiritual—along with the dynamics of human relationships, such as family, friendships, communities, and cultures. 

This unit also covers rights, responsibilities, and the essence of being human. Our guiding Central Idea, “Different cultures are influenced by many factors,” has been explored through our engaging Mystery Briefcases lessons. Below are some reflections from the students that illustrate their understanding. 

Here are some student recounts: 

As part of our Unit of inquiry of Who we are together with our Central idea of Present day cultures are influenced by many factors, we have been learning about Japanese culture. Things like People, Place and Culture eg. sumo wrestling, currency/Yen and Monks. We also have been exploring mystery suitcases made by our teachers. They were filled with artefacts and we had to figure out what the items were and their significance to a country/culture. It was interesting and we enjoyed researching about these artefacts and learning about different cultures. 

• William P and Ed H 

This week in year 6, we have started a new Unit of inquiry, Who We Are. We have been learning about many different cultures.  

To learn more about this, the teachers brought in priceless artifacts from a variety and placed them in mystery suitcases. We gathered in groups of 3 and all got to choose which suitcase to focus on. Each person in our group chose an artifact and researched about its cultural significance and what the item was used for. We then came together in our groups of three to share and record our learnings with each other. 

After, we all came together in our classes to learn more about Japan. We were asked to label three different categories after looking at pictures that represented Japanese culture. 

We are all extremely excited to enter this new unit of inquiry. What will the teachers have in stall for us next?          

• Aria D-S, Olivia R, Annabel W & Gabi K