Level 5: Connect

Reading Log 

A reminder that the Senior Learning Centre Reading Log Challenge is in full swing! Student reading logs are monitored each week to track which class is reading the most and showing the greatest consistency. The competition has sparked wonderful conversations about books and reading, and we encourage all students to keep up the fantastic effort.

 Literacy

In literacy, we are heavily focusing on reinvigorating the Level 5's passion for reading and writing through the introduction of Book Clubs and Writer's Notebook.

This week, students will carefully analyse novels to make an informed selection of a good-fit book. They will learn how publishers design covers, including placement, font and colour, with purpose and intention. Students will analyse the carefully selected words in a blurb and novel's tagline to infer a text's theme and genre.    

In Writing, students have been using inspiration from their own lives, other texts or the wider community to generate ideas to write a text in a genre of their choice. They have learnt how to refine their ideas and use planning and drafting to grow their ideas into a well-structured and engaging text. This week, students will edit and publish their texts, applying what they have learnt from reading to devise succinct titles, front covers and blurbs that capture their text's purpose and theme. We are proud of the agency students have been taking on their writing tasks, including monitoring for correct punctuation, using precise vocabulary, sizzling starts and a range of sentence structure.

Sovereign Hill Camp

Level 5 Sovereign Hill Camp Update

Our much-anticipated Level 5 Sovereign Hill Camp is almost here! Students will be attending from Wednesday 24 June to Friday 26 June, and excitement is building as we prepare for this wonderful historical learning experience.

As part of the immersive program, students will be provided with authentic historical costumes to wear during their stay. To help complete the costume, please ensure your child brings:

• Shoes: Plain black or brown leather-style lace-up shoes or pull-on boots (preferably without zips)

• Socks:

• Girls: Long plain white, black or navy socks (no logos or patterns)
• Boys: Plain white, black, navy or grey socks (no logos or patterns)

• Hair:

• Girls with long hair should wear it in two plaits where possible.
• Boys with long hair should wear it in a low ponytail.

Thank you for your support in helping students fully embrace this unique step back in time. We can't wait for a fantastic camp experience!

Numeracy

Our learning in Numeracy has continued to focus on Multiplicative Thinking, with students building their understanding of multiplication and division and how they work together. 

Students have been:

• Exploring the inverse relationship between multiplication and division.
• Using tree diagrams to solve problems by breaking numbers into their factors. 
• Applying the area model to solve multi-digit multiplication problems.

• Tackling open-ended tasks that encourage multiple strategies and collaboration. 

We are challenging students to solve problems in different ways and explain why their strategy works. This reasoning helps them develop a deeper conceptual understanding rather than simply finding an answer. 

We have also been in the thick of assessments! These are used to track and celebrate student growth and identify next steps for learning. This information also helps us ensure our teaching continues to meet the needs of all learners. 

Over the next two weeks we will revisit topics from this semester, including Decimal Fractions, Measurement and Multiplicative Thinking. Students will engage with rich learning tasks that will strengthen their understanding and challenge their thinking. 

It is fantastic to see students growing in confidence and demonstrating resilience as they tackle new challenging tasks. 

Immigration Museum Excursion

Last Thursday, our Level 5's braved the cold and wet weather and visited The Immigration Museum as part of their Inquiry Unit exploring the rich cultural influences migration has had on our country. Students were invited to explore immigration stories throughout Melbourne's history, from early colonisation to modern immigration patterns. Students worked in teams to explore cultural and personal artefacts that allowed them to build an understanding of where people have migrated from and what their journeys were like. From their research, students were able to draw conclusions on the push and pull factors associated with individual migration stories. When the rain had ceased, students waded through the sloped, flooded streets of Melbourne to cross the Yarra, where they enjoyed the stories that spilled out on glass panels across Sandridge Bridge. From the other side of the Yarra, we were able to spot remnants of historical buildings made possible by the gold rush, nestled amongst the modern high-rises.

Warm regards,

The Level 5 Team - Michelle, Cazz and Katie