Connect: Year 6

Hello to the members of our Grade 6 Skye Primary Community!  I hope that the Curriculum Day on Friday didn't cause you too much grief, but it was so important for our students as the teachers and education support staff spent the day at Banyan Fields Primary School learning about the Berry Street Education Model.  Now every class in the school starts the day with a Morning Circle where we meet and greet each other.  We talk about what we are going to expect from the day ahead and what values we are going to focus on that will help us get the most out of the day.  We learnt about transitions between lessons and fun brain breaks that help keep the students' concentration at a high level throughout each lesson.  It's such a great model that promotes positive relationships between all members of our school and promotes a stimulating environment for our classrooms.

Important Dates:

*Friday 24th February - District Swimming

*Friday 1st March - School Photos

*Tuesday 5th March - Meet the Teacher / Twilight Sports Open Afternoon

*Wednesday 6th March - Optus Digital Thumbprint Workshop Incursion

*Friday 8th March Carrum Downs Secondary Discovery Day (Grade 6)

*NAPLAN, 13th-25th of March (Year 5s)

*Monday 25th March - Easter Hat Parade

*Thursday 28th March - House Athletics

What's happening in our classrooms?

Literacy

We're well into the swing and routine during our Literacy sessions.  The students are reading a novel in their small groups and completing Book Study activities that help them to reflect on their understanding.  On the writing front, we are studying the components of what make a good narrative.  We are creating protagonists (good characters) and antagonists (bad dudes!), devising settings and the placing a plot involving them.

We will be drafting next week and then editing and (hopefully) have a fully polished narrative.  All the while the students are still listening to The Princess Bride and how it evolves.  Keep asking them what's happening in the story.  It won't only entertain you, it's good for them to recall and retell.

Numeracy

Following on from last week, we will continue to look at the important skill of Estimation in mathematics before we delve into the explicit teaching of the stuff that would have our parents and grandparents give an approving nod to...the 4 operations!  It's so important that if the students are going to work out something like 58 x 11 that they stop and think that they should expect an answer somewhere around the vicinity of 600 before they complete the algorithm.  That way, if they do make a mistake and come up with 6,000 odd, alarm bells should go off in their head and they will go back and have another go.

Inquiry

This term students will be inquiring into the topics/themes of ethics and emotions.  Students will consider ethical dilemmas as they learn about the value of honesty, respect and loyalty. They will consider the influence that the media and others have on them, and the impact that being a fan of someone or something has on our identity. Students will write a story that includes a moral and share aspects of their identity during the "Identity Expo".

Wellbeing

The topic that we will be focussing on this Term is Stress Mangement.  We all have times where we feel under pressure, but if we can find ways to lessen it, our mental wellbeing is so much better and we function more effectively.  Also, it helps the way that we relate with others around us. 

Farmin' Time!

This week students took a step back from 'normal' learning and became farmers. Here are some photos from 5/6C during the problem solving session. Students were tasked with 'building' a variety of different sized structures on farm land. They created mini models first using the Maths MS Blocks to ensure no mistakes were made when calculating the perimeters. They then sketched their designs into their books.

Thanks for reading and being involved in your child's learning.  It means a lot to us as teachers, as they are a great group!

Have a great weekend,

Mrs. Kelly, Mr. Taberner & Mr. Keenan