English

Reading 

The narrative text this term is Holes by Louis Sachar. "Stanley Yelnats is under a curse. A curse that began with his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather and has since followed generations of Yelnatses. Now Stanley has been unjustly sent to a boys’ detention center, Camp Green Lake, where the boys build character by spending all day, every day digging holes exactly five feet wide and five feet deep. There is no lake at Camp Green Lake. But there are an awful lot of holes. It doesn’t take long for Stanley to realize there’s more than character improvement going on at Camp Green Lake. The boys are digging holes because the warden is looking for something. But what could be buried under a dried-up lake? Stanley tries to dig up the truth in this inventive and darkly humorous tale of crime and punishment—and redemption."

The weekly reading homework will be allocated chapters posted in Google Classroom. Chapters have been allocated to be read for specific weeks, Monday to Friday. The students will record on a paper sheet the things that they notice while reading (under specific headings). These sheets will be used in the following week's reading lessons dealing with specific reading strategies. 

There will be a strong focus on writing extended responses to Holes and other texts, drawing on specific evidence to demonstrate a high level of understanding of what has been read. We are requesting that students bring their own personal narrative that remains at school for classroom work. There will also be opportunities for students to borrow at the school library. We also have new class libraries in all classrooms and the students will refer to these texts.

Writing

The main focus will be learning how to write information reports. Students have written a cool write with given information about snails. They will set themselves writing goals for improvement in further writing based on personal interest and the immigration inquiry. Teaching of grammar and spelling will be addressed in this term's writing. 

Speaking & Listening

Students have weekly opportunities to effectively use speaking and listening strategies in class, group and partner discussions. Strategies for public speaking will be incorporated in presentations made during the inquiry unit.