Year 6 Celebration Newsletter

Reading:

In Term Three, students in Year 6 undertook a novel study on the text ‘Holes’ by Louis Sachar. Students unpacked language features such as simile, metaphor, repetition, alliteration, and symbolism. Students identified themes, summarised the text, made a variety of text connections and discovered interesting and new vocabulary. Together with the teacher, students set individual reading goals and have had the opportunity and support to practise applying specific strategies in their independent and small group reading tasks. Students also built on their reading comprehension and fluency during the cohort implementation of fluency buddies.

Writing:

Throughout Term Three, students created a biography on a person of their choice, and a text response essay based on our novel study of ‘Holes’. Students developed a biography by learning the integral aspects of biography writing such as dates of importance, achievements of the individual, a variety of research techniques and the inclusion of a bibliography to validate their research. In partnership with our novel study, students also created a text response essay. Students learned the vital aspects of the TEEL Paragraph structure (Topic Sentence, Evidence, Explanation, Link) in preparation for success to write at Secondary School. Together we worked to collect evidence in the form of quotes from the text, and embed them into our writing pieces as evidence of our thoughts about important themes including family, destiny and fate.

Maths:

The Grade 6 students undertook a unit on fractions and their relationship with decimals and percentages. There was a focus on equivalent fractions, real world examples and application of fractions in context. Students continued to work in a project based approach, where they were supported with explicit teaching of skills that they can apply to their work. This culminated in a project about a cake shop and the different orders students were required to fill depending on the fractions given to them. In Statistics and Probability, students described probabilities using fractions, decimals and percentages. They discovered what the expected outcomes were and compared them to the observed outcomes of their trials. Students developed their own games that involved chance and analysed the expected outcomes and the results.

Inquiry:

Inquiry for Term Three started with students learning about geographical locations in the topic ‘Global Horizons: Discovering Culture and Connections around the world’. Students explored the diversity of countries, economics, demographics and social characteristics between countries, with a focus on their connections to Australia. To show their understanding, students selected one Asia Pacific country and researched facts on their cultures, geological features, important historical events, connections and trades with Australia, and more. Being creative, the students designed brochures and posters to display their facts, then presented their work to the school in a travelling expedition. During their next unit, Needs and Wants in the World of Business, students explored the purpose of businesses, their impact on individuals, communities and environments, and society’s needs and wants. As students progressed through the unit, they began a Shark Tank project where they came up with innovative ideas. They designed, planned, researched, then presented their product with supporting research on related industries.

Wellbeing:

Grade 6 students continued to enhance their wellbeing strategies and knowledge in partnership with The Resilience Project. Students explored their inner and outer selves, discussing and designing a creative piece which showcases their most important values and sources of joy, the people they surround themselves with, and their dreams and aspirations for the future. Students focused on how they can recognise their own feelings and the feelings of others to improve mental health outcomes. They researched gratitude quotes to support our learnings about positive self talk, and explained why they resonated with carefully selected famous quotes. Students investigated useful ways in which they can regulate their own emotions, and establish a sense of mindfulness in preparation for Secondary School.

PERFORMING ARTS

This term in Performing Arts, Grade Six students experimented with digital media skills through a series of ‘Forced Perspective’ photography projects. They learned about the basic principles of photography and experimented with manipulating the foreground and background to change the perspective of their shots. This sensational photo collection was showcased at our Kismet Art Show. Students also showed great creativity and self-direction when they engaged in their own Performing Arts Passion Project. Given the opportunity to choose a project in any of the areas of Drama, Dance, Music or Media- students worked either independently or collaboratively to create a presentation of their own choice. Projects ranged from scripted drama and choreographed dance routines, puppet shows and student bands, to claymation, stop-motion and even making recycled musical instruments. Students celebrated their projects within class in the final weeks of term.

VISUAL ARTS

This term, students experienced how to celebrate the world of Visual Arts at our Art Show! They shared the excitement of presenting their work with family and the community, fostering a sense of pride and accomplishment. Throughout the term, Year 6 students learned to express their ideas and emotions through various artistic mediums, developing their personal voice and style. They continued to develop their creative expression, learning to demonstrate their ideas and emotions through various artistic mediums, developing their personal voice and style.

The art show was a tremendous success, highlighting our students' creativity and talent. The diverse range of artworks captivated the audience, and the enthusiastic support from families and the community made the event truly memorable. The show not only celebrated our students' artistic achievements but also strengthened appreciation for the arts within our school.

JAPANESE

This term in Japanese, the Grade 5 and 6 students developed their reading, writing, speaking and listening skills through the theme of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Students learned vocabulary including sports, countries, food and family members. They planned, drafted and created a presentation on a chosen athlete and included their name, age, country, sport, favourite food and family members. The presentation was a bilingual presentation with Japanese and English. Students learned to type in Japanese on their iPads to support their presentation. They also recorded themselves reading their presentation in Japanese and English. Students were also involved in supporting the art show by making origami paper cranes and various other origami, the students showed our school values of resilience whilst learning this new skill.

In Grade 6 PE classes, students further developed their physical abilities through challenging activities and sports. In preparation for inter-school competitions, students learned, practised, and mastered different game-specific skills. Students continued to refine their skills in different sports such as cricket and lacrosse. They refined techniques and strategies while developing sportsmanship, leadership, and teamwork to best represent Kismet Park against other schools.