Learning in Year 5

English 

Writing:

This term, students have been developing their narrative writing skills through adapting their favourite fairytale. They have explored the key features of fairytales, including character development, setting descriptions, problems and solutions, and the use of language choices to engage their readers. Students have been working through the writing process by planning, drafting, editing and publishing their reimagined fairytale narratives.

Reading:

Each week, students focus on a different reading strategy to deepen their comprehension and understanding of the text. These strategies include making connections, predicting, visualising, summarising and inferring, helping students to think critically about characters, events and themes within their novels.

The second reading lesson focuses on developing students’ understanding of language features and text analysis. Students have been exploring features such as vocabulary, descriptive techniques, as well as creating character profiles and analysing settings to build a deeper understanding of the texts they are reading.

Each Year 5 class is exploring a different novel:

5A has been enjoying The Grandest Bookshop in the World

5B has been reading Boy Overboard

5C has been exploring Holes by Louis Sachar

Maths:

Students have been learning about equivalent fractions, identifying fractions that have the same value but different numerators and denominators. They have also been converting between improper fractions and mixed numbers, learning how these different representations show the same quantity. Students have practised simplifying fractions by identifying common factors and reducing fractions to their simplest form.

Integrated

Students have also begun our integrated unit “Wages, Work and the World”, where they are exploring the world of employment and financial decision-making. Through this unit, students have been investigating questions such as:

• What does it mean to be employed?
• Why do we need to work?
• What is tax and why do we pay it?
• How can we make smart financial decisions?

• Does money make us happy?

   

Last week, students signed a Year 5 employment contract, agreeing to complete their duties and responsibilities as a Year 5 student to the best of their ability. Students have been learning about gross pay, tax deductions and net pay as they manage their own classroom “salary”.

Wellbeing

Over the past few weeks, students have completed our three-week Health and Wellbeing workshops focused on relationships, respectful behaviours and understanding themselves and others. Students have engaged in thoughtful discussions and activities that encouraged them to ask questions, reflect on their values and develop strategies for navigating different situations.

Students have also continued with our RRRR program, completing:

• Topic 4 Lesson 1: We have a problem, how can we deal with it?
• Topic 4 Lesson 2: Exploring what works

On Thursday, we also enjoyed celebrating International Friendship Day! We played Friendship Bingo, had fun taking photos at the GRPS photo booth, and celebrated the importance of friendship together.