Grade 5/6 News

Welcome

We are now getting into some regular routines after our 'Start up' weeks when the focus was more about getting to know each other, revisiting  school wide expectations and developing own own classroom Expectation Matrix. We are looking forward to a fun year of learning in 2024.

Reminders and Upcoming Events:

Week 5: 

Friday - Homework Due - Reading Log and Grammar Activity

Week 6: 

Friday - Homework Due - Reading Log and Maths

Learning in Weeks 5 & 6

In reading, we will are looking at the Comprehension strategies 'Finding the Main Idea, and 'Identifying Author's Purpose'. This term, our Reader's Notebook text is 'Runt'. Runt, written by Craig Silvey, is a heart-warming, funny, beautifully told story and was the winner of the 2023 CBCA Book of the Year for Younger Readers. It tells the story of Annie Shearer who lives in the country town of Upson Downs with her best friend, an adopted stray dog called Runt. The two share a very special bond. 

We are currently focussing on narrative writing and the students are excited to begin writing their own stories. They have been introduced to the writing technique, 'Show, Don't Tell', in which story and characters are related through sensory details and actions rather than exposition. It fosters a more immersive writing style for the reader, allowing them to “be in the room” with the characters. In short: showing illustrates, while telling merely states. Here’s a quick example:

• Showing: As his mother switched off the light and left the room, Michael tensed. He huddled under the covers, gripped the sheets, and held his breath as the wind brushed past the curtain.
• Telling: Michael was terribly afraid of the dark.

In the “showing” example, rather than merely saying that Michael is afraid of the dark, we’ve put him in a situation where his experience of that fear takes center stage. The reader can deduce the same information they’d get from the “telling” example but in a much more compelling way.

In Mathematics, we have begun working in our Fluid Groups to improve our understanding of Addition and Subtraction. We will also be practicing our number skills through authentic real-life problems. Learning Mathematics through more realisitic problem solving adds value to the skills being developed and helps students better understand their context. 

What else is news in 5/6?

SRC

Congratulations to the students who were voted as their class representative on the SRC. We know that these students will do an awesome job in their role.

Netbooks

Students in Grade 5/6 who had their cases at school took their netbooks home for the first time on Tuesday. We ask that they come to school each day charged as we do not have the resources to charge large banks of netbooks during the day.

Netbooks will be collected again during the last week of term as they are to remain at school during holiday periods.