5/6 CLASSROOM
Grade 5/6 have had a fantastic start to a busy Term 4. We’ve loved having Miss Davidson teach a variety of lessons and share her knowledge with the class.
We have begun reading Bridge to Terabithia for enjoyment, and students are thoroughly engaged and enjoying the story.
The Grade 5/6 students are excited to be baking treats for the Grandparents and Special Friends Afternoon Tea on Friday – we can’t wait to see you there!
English
In English, students have been reading The Last Bear and engaging in a range of sentence-level activities connected to the text. Through this work, they have been learning how to extend their ideas using conjunctions such as because, but, and so to create more complex and meaningful sentences. Students have also been experimenting with the placement of dependent clauses to change emphasis, rhythm, and meaning.
As we near the end of the novel, students will begin exploring persuasive writing as their next text genre. They will learn how to express their opinions clearly, support their ideas with evidence, and use persuasive devices to influence their reader. This will connect closely to the themes in The Last Bear, allowing students to take a stance on key issues such as animal protection, environmental responsibility, and the importance of empathy and action.
Maths
In Maths, students explored time through a hands-on task where they planned a journey visiting five towns between 8 am and 8 pm. They worked out elapsed time to create realistic schedules, carefully considering how long it would take to travel between towns and how much time they could spend on different activities. Students also made decisions about which activities to include in each town, thinking about priorities and what could realistically fit into their day. This task helped them practise problem-solving and time management, and it allowed them to apply their mathematical knowledge to a real-life scenario in a meaningful and engaging way.
RE
In RE, students explored the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament, focusing on its purpose to guide people in making wise, thoughtful, and faith-filled choices in daily life. They examined a passage from Sirach 6:5–17, which offers advice on friendship, and interpreted the text to identify the qualities of true and false friends. Students then used expressive mask templates inspired by Greek theatre to create visual representations of key verses from the passage. These masks were displayed on a class Wall of Wisdom. The lesson encouraged students to reflect on Scripture and consider how its teachings could apply to their own friendships and everyday decisions.
Inquiry
In Lesson 2 of the inquiry unit, students explored how weathering and erosion shape the earth’s surface, learning that physical weathering breaks rocks apart without changing their composition, while chemical weathering alters rocks, and that water and air contribute to erosion over time. They took part in a hands-on sandcastle activity, testing how natural factors like wind, rain, and animals, as well as human impact, could affect their structures. Students made predictions about how their sandcastles would change over different timeframes, linking their observations to real-world processes. This engaging lesson helped students connect scientific concepts to everyday experiences and understand how the earth’s surface is constantly changing.
Thank you Hunter for these photos of our beautiful new basketball court
