Grade 5 Community News
Dear Grade 5 families,
Welcome back to school for Term 3! We hope that you and your families had a lovely and safe break over the term holidays. It has been fantastic to see our cohort back to school, excited to see each other again and get back into learning for our second semester. It is hard for us to believe that we are already half-way through the year! Let’s take a look at what has been happening in the classrooms.
Reading
Students have begun our new unit focused on the text Tuck Everlasting. We have been reading this book as a class to explore aspects such as text features (including the prologue), descriptive language, literary devices, character/setting mapping and connections to self, text and world. So far, our students are loving this unit, and we can’t wait to find out what happens next.
Writing
As we have started our new Tuck Everlasting unit in reading, this has been heavily linked to our writing unit. We are exploring fantasy narratives. Throughout the first week, we have been exploring a range of fantasy and non-fantasy narratives to analyse the differences between the two. We have also been breaking these story lines and features down to get a real look at the planning behind these pieces. Students have also been analysing speaking verbs and how they can be utilised to convey the speaker's tone, thoughts and feelings.
Content
This term, we have moved on from our Economics unit and are now exploring History. Specifically, Australian history from colonisation to federation. In the first week, we spent time exploring our own and others’ cultural backgrounds in Australia. Students were able to identify values from their own culture and appreciate that different cultures have different values.
Mathematics
Our first unit that we are exploring this term is Shape and Transformation. Throughout the first week of term, we spent time going over 3D objects and their properties and connecting 3D objects with their nets. Students then incorporated some creativity into their learning through designing a product and its purpose to go on to creating it utilising 3D nets. We have seen some fantastic ideas!
Vocabulary
Students have been learning 5 new words each week. They are looking at the definition of the words, synonyms and antonyms for the words, and how to use the words in sentences. The focus of these words is to improve their listening, speaking, reading and writing. These words have been chosen from our serial text ‘Tuck Everlasting’ to help us better understand what we are reading.
The words we have focused on during weeks 1 and 2 are:
Cyber safety:
Students are learning to think about how our actions might be perceived before posting online. During week 1 and 2, the students will be developing skills to evaluate social and ethical dilemmas and how to protect their safety, privacy and digital reputation.
PLC 5 would also like to take a moment to thank you and your families for your time in attending the Student Led Conferences in the first week. We understand that these can be tricky to fit in amongst your schedules, it was absolutely fantastic to see students presenting the work they most felt proud of, discussing their goals and achievements and seeing students take pride in their learning and efforts.
Kind regards, PLC 5
Reminders
- Hats are not required to be worn outside in Term 3
- Students are able to access Sunset Maths and Jetpack Algebra through Essential Assessment at home for optional extra maths practice
- Whilst your child is completing their nightly reading at home, if they come across a word or phrase they do not know, please encourage them to ask or research the meaning to support and develop both their comprehension and vocabulary