5/6 News
How amazing was camp? We hope that the stories and memories stemming from camp have continued to be shared at home. We would like to extend a thank you to parents for their flexibility, especially when the buses are late, and for any preparatory or reflective conversations you've had at home. These little things go a long way to setting up memorable and positive experiences for the children.
We are a lucky 5/6 team this week because we have welcomed Jonah and Maria to our team. Jonah is a preservice teacher who will be working with Simon over the next three weeks. Maria has joined Newlands Primary School as a member of the Educational Support staff team, and will be supporting students' learning in 5/6 on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays.
Art Show
After all the hard work before the holidays, it is time to present their progress. The art show will be an opportunity for students to express what they have learned in Cultural Studies classes. In the case of 5/6, their artefacts are related to pre-Columbian peoples, namely the Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas, and through models, they represent the way in which the cities of those ancient cultures were constructed. It has been an extraordinary team effort by the children!S
Spanish Literacy
In Grades 5 and 6, students have begun exploring Spanish narratives and stepping into storytelling in a new language. This week, we focused on the essential elements of a story — setting, characters, plot, conflict, and resolution — while also expanding their Spanish vocabulary. We introduced a few metaphors to help students recognise figurative language and enrich their expressive skills. After reviewing these components and new words, we read a Spanish narrative together. Then, we asked comprehension questions to prompt deeper thinking and conversation, checking students’ understanding of the narrative’s meaning, themes, and details. Our goal is to strengthen reading skills, kindle enthusiasm for storytelling, and boost confidence in reading Spanish.
English Literacy
Students are continuing to read Rivet Boy. This term, we will strengthen our comprehension through a new focus on character analysis.
We launched our narrative writing projects, using the idea of an explorer discovering a new world as our creative hook. Students explored how audience expectations differ across genres to inspire their own story ideas.
A key focus this term will also be spelling with Greek roots and using literary devices purposefully to engage and entertain their readers.
Mathematics
Playing with probabilities, that's what the 5/6 children have been doing this week in Spanish Mathematics. Not only have they worked with them on a conceptual level, but they have also created carnival games to apply the content. Adjusting to content appropriate for their level, we have transitioned from the abstract to the practical in a playful and entertaining manner, allowing students to utilise their imagination and creativity at every step.
In English Mathematics, students have designed their own data investigations, moving through the process's phases of planning, collecting, and representing data. This provoked students to apply the learning that enabled them to match data types (ordinal, nominal, discrete, and continuous) to appropriate collection methods and representations.
Homework
For their homework task this week, Year 5/6 students have been asked to complete a character analysis on one of the main characters from our class novel Rivet Boy. This task links closely to our Writing focus for the term, narrative writing, as students have begun planning the outlines of their own original stories. Students are also asked to complete 50 minutes on Time Table Rockstars to work on their Maths fluency. As always, the tasks can be found on SeeSaw, or in the student's homework books.