Class 5 S 

Celebrating Learning

Kii Families,

Returning to school this term, Class 5S have headed west from Ancient Persia to the lands of Ancient Mesopotamia where we have learned about the once lost civilisation of Sumer.  We have learned about why the ancient Sumerians chose this land between two rivers to settle on six thousand years ago and about the many extraordinary developments made by these peoples over their two-thousand-year history.  One of these was the development of writing, and the discovery of what is believed to be the first ever story written down, The Epic of Gilgamesh. 

Over the last week the class has enjoyed hearing the first instalments of this epic tale.  They have then used this content to begin to develop their ability to discern the main points in each instalment, what details are necessary to support these and which can be set aside.  Dot point writing plans have then been written and summaries drafted, ready to publish in their Main Lesson books.  I hope you enjoy reading one student’s first instalment of the Epic of Gilgamesh below.

You will also see amongst the attached photos, maps of Ancient Mesopotamia that the students created by first drawing up a grid, then carefully observing the myriad of intersections, angles and proportions on the reference map and then accurately rendering these to create their own map.  

In Maths, we are starting the term with a Multiplication and Division unit.  This week our focus has been on the vertical multiplication method.  

This term in Reading we are doing a novel study.  The chosen book is Us Mob Walawurru.  It is a story told through the eyes of Ruby, a young Aboriginal girl who lives on a station in Central Australia in the 1960s and explores the themes of family, culture, education, friendship and self-respect.   

Class 5 have had a wonderfully smooth transition back into school after the holidays and have had a great start to the term.