Year 5
Term 4 - Week 4
KEY DATES:
30th October - Japanese Day - dress up in red and white or anything Japanese.
31st October - Pupil Free day.
3rd November - Report Writing Day - Pupil Free Day
4th November - Melbourne Cup Day - School Closure Day.
14th November - Grandparents morning.
I feel very lucky to be able to spend my days teaching and learning with your children! We are all working very hard but we are having fun as well. Did you know this class are particularly great dancers!
Just a reminder about our home reading and spelling routines.
Students are expected to read each night and then bring their reader in to be checked each morning. We allow one morning of 'I forgot', 'I was too busy' etc, but after that we have reading at recess. It's important that students get into a regular reading routine. There are some students in the class who haven't missed a night of reading all year - so impressive!! Spelling is due Thursdays - each student needs to write their spelling words out 3 times during the week. It is much better for memory and learning if these are three separate nights.
We enjoy having a routine in Year 5, and part of this includes Christian Meditation after lunch, followed by pair-and-share reading. This happens every day, with students reading to a partner for one minute before switching roles. Their reading fluency has improved dramatically as a result. The students are also thriving with short bursts of focused work followed by regular brain breaks. We’ve found a great balance, and it’s helping us get the very best out of them at the moment.
Drifter the Lifter
Friday was an adventure day as we walked down to the station to check out the crane at the rail underpass works! Congratulations to our very own Paige Enright, whose name suggestion was chosen as the winner — so Drifter it is!
The Euroa Show
The Year 5's have been busy building a huge bee swarm out of recycled materials. Lucky we have so many students with so many great skills. We've been sawing, joining, painting, building and working together to make the creative arts award for the Euroa Show. Take a look...
Chook Shed
Plans for the Chicken Shed have taken another turn. Mr Kerlin is very keen that the Year 5's build one, but he would like to get some funds together and make a plan for Term 1. Stay tuned...
Literacy
We’ve finished studying The Grandest Bookshop in the World and have now started reading The Last Bear. It’s an excellent story that the students are really enjoying. It’s also a little easier to read than our previous books, and as their confidence and fluency have grown, they’re really enjoying taking turns and sharing the reading together. It has been a pleasure to see the students flourish in this area and I hope you are seeing this at home as well.
The writing component of The Last Bear is a Persuasive Letter. We are learning about how pollution and climate change effects Polar Bears in the Arctic. The students are asking lots of great questions and have a genuine interest and empathy.
Mathematics
In Maths we are looking at Data. We have learnt how to read frequency tables, we have collected data and we are presenting data correctly.
Religion
We are starting a really nice unit in RE called 'Living as Disciples'. The unit is one of the best units we do, exploring social justice issues and asks us to live life how Jesus teaches us. Our students do this in many different ways during our school week and we hope you see their kindness and love at home as well.
PAT testing
Students have been participating in PAT Reading and Maths testing and Dibels testing. This enables us to compare the same test at the start of the year. We have been delighted with the progress the Year 5 students have made and I hope to catch up with parents over the next few weeks. This might be in PSG meetings, phone calls or catch ups at school.
If you have any questions, feel free to either email me at mwatson@sjeuroa.catholic.edu.au
Have a great week!
Melinda Watson