Year Five
Dear Parents and Carers,
It has once again been a productive and engaging fortnight in the Year 5 area with Students making a number of links to their learning and the unit of inquiry.
Literacy
Students have continued to expand their understanding of how authors lay clues in their texts to help their readers infer deeper meaning. We have looked at books written by Chris Van Allsburg, who intricately weaves in clues and foreshadows events that will occur. Students have enjoyed reading the "crazy" antics of his main characters in 'Zathura', inferred reasons behind characters actions in 'The Stranger' and connected different texts to develop understanding in 'The Sweetest Fig'.
They have also continued to explore themes and main ideas in the class novel 'The Boy at the back of the Class'. Students analysed how key themes of kindness, acceptance, and bravery are shown towards the main character as he navigates life as a refugee. This text has assisted Students to explore how different circumstances can impact the opportunities they have which directly links to the big idea in our inquiry for this unit.
Within writing lessons, Students have been aligning their writing with the author process. From researching and using the Cornell note taking method, to drafting, editing, and publishing, Students have undertaken an intensive look at how their writing can be improved and structured to guide their audience to understand the topic.
Students information reports have been formulated from their guiding questions for our inquiry unit and display their areas of interest or passion. Students have written on a number of topics that highlight inequality such as gender discrimination, race, religion, disability, and income level. It is clear that Students have thought deeply about their writing.
Mathematics
In Mathematics this week, students have begun looking deeply into decimal numbers. Students have begun to apply their knowledge of place value and strategies for addition and subtraction to decimal numbers. They have also enjoyed playing Decimal War and the Decimal Pickle Game, which have provided opportunities to build their understanding of decimal place value and practise comparing and ordering decimals in a fun and engaging way.
Inquiry
Students have spent this fortnight taking action to conclude our inquiry into the central idea 'Access to opportunities may impact equality for all'. Students were given the opportunity to take action in a variety of ways from creating posters to promote respect and equality within our school to participating in model UN sessions where they debated global issues around equality and access to opportunities.
Model UN
Model UN
REMINDERS:
Please bring computers to school fully charged each day.
Book Week is next week with our Dress Up day scheduled for Friday 28th August. Come dressed as your favourite book character.
Year 5 camp to Arrabri Lodge is in Week 10. Reminders and packing lists will be shared in the coming weeks.
For those buying their lunch, these should be ordered either online or at the canteen in the morning so the food can be prepared and ready at the appropriate eating time. This will also reduce the amount of time students are lined up waiting to purchase food.