Grade 5 Community News

Dear Grade 5 families, 

The end of Term 1 is fast approaching, with little over a week left! Students have been hard at work during this NAPLAN testing period preparing themselves for the tests as well as staying focussed in class on completing tasks to the best of their abilities. We would like to express our gratitude to all our families for the support they have given to their children. 

Reading to Learn

Students are now two weeks into The Age of Exploration unit, where they have looked at trade routes that European explorers have established, including the Portuguese and the Spanish explorers. Students have looked at maps, used their knowledge organisers and written responses to the ‘Big Questions’ to delve deeper into the text.

Writing

In writing, we have looked at persuasive texts in preparation for NAPLAN. Throughout this unit students learnt how to write a persuasive piece from a given prompt, follow the structure of a persuasive text by including transition words and persuasive devices. Students were given the opportunity to share their writing in their classes and respond to feedback given by their peers.

Content:

This term our students have studied Australian History to give each student the opportunity to be able to make a connection to the country that they are citizens of and an understanding of the culture and history that came before. It is important for the children to understand why we recite “The acknowledgement of country” and its connection to Australia’s past and future. 

Mathematics

In Mathematics, the students have completed their post-test for Place Value showing the strategies they have learnt during the unit. Our next unit ist Data Interpretation and Representation of posed questions on graphs. The students began this new topic by  discussing what we already know about graphs and charts and how to read and understand the information. They also looked at the difference between categorical and numerical data.

Vocabulary

Over the past two weeks the students have been learning 5 new words each week from the text Age of Exploration. Students look at the meaning of the words, synonyms and antonyms for the words, and how to use the words in sentences. They are then using these words in their writing and reading. 

Reminders

• Harmony Day is on Thursday the 21st of March. Students may wear cultural/traditional clothing, or orange clothing.
• Pupil Free Day will be on Thursday the 28th of March, therefore Wednesday the 27th of March will be the last day of school for students.
• It is an expectation that all students are reading regularly throughout the week and recording this in their student journals.