From the 5/6 Classrooms

This newsletter article was written by Daniel, Ariana and Athea, members of the Grade 6 Administration Pillar.

What’s been happening in…

English: We have continued exploring the book A Ghost in My Suitcase by Gabrielle Wang. Some of the tasks we have completed over the last two weeks include writing a journal entry from the perspective of the main character, Celeste. We had to think about what had happened and how Celeste was feeling after reading the first few chapters of the book. Another task involved writing a descriptive paragraph about the Isle of Clouds, a fictional setting in the book based on the real river city of Wuzhen in Zhejiang Province.

In grammar, we have been learning about possessive apostrophes and ellipses and have practised using them correctly in our writing.

Maths: We have been exploring the commutative, associative and distributive properties and have practised applying the order of operations. We have also been learning about algebra, where we have to find an unknown value in an equation, and adding positive and negative numbers.

Australia and Our Asian Neighbours: Over the last two weeks, we have been learning about extreme weather and disasters in Australia. Our task was to share a plan to help others prepare for a disaster. We have also explored the types of food produced in Australia and how extreme weather and disasters affect its production.

Sport: On Friday, October 23, the Girls’ Volleyball Team, who won all their matches during Interschool Sport, competed in a Division competition at Mullum Mullum Stadium. They won their first two games, but lost their third, missing out on progressing to the Regional Finals, by one point! Great effort!

We have continued refining our Battle Ball skills and will soon find out which students have been selected to represent the school at the District Battle Ball Competition.

Leadership

Wellbeing Pillar: On Wednesday, October 21, members of the Wellbeing Pillar accompanied Foundation to Grade 2 students on a walk to the Boroondara Shops to support their learning about community and place.

Health Pillar: Members have continued to support the Team 3/4 teachers and students during Team 3/4 Sport, which has included supporting a soccer clinic.

Environmental Pillar: Members have continued caring for our school grounds and animals, enjoyed harvesting vegetables from our gardens and prepared for the launch of our Reconciliation Action Plan.

The Arts, Library and Languages Pillar: Members have been busy taking down and distributing art displays and organising books and resources.

Administration Pillar: We are always kept busy preparing and delivering our whole-school assembly and writing this newsletter!

We hope you enjoyed reading about what’s been happening in Team 5/6!

Have you heard of the game Weiqi?

In A Ghost in My Suitcase by Gabrielle Wang, Celeste introduces and plays a traditional Chinese board game called Weiqi (pronounced way-chee). The game originated in China more than 2,500 years ago and is also known as Go in English. It is a strategy game that involves planning, problem-solving and thinking ahead.

How do you play?

Weiqi is played by two players using black and white stones on a grid. The aim is to surround more territory on the board than your opponent.

• Players take turns placing one stone on an empty point where the lines cross.
• Black plays first, followed by White.
• Stones stay where they are placed unless they are completely surrounded by the opponent’s stones and captured.
• The winner is the player who controls the most territory when the game ends.

The traditional board has 19 horizontal and 19 vertical lines, but you can start with a much smaller grid to make the game easier to learn.

Want to learn how to play? Watch this short beginner's video tutorial below to learn the rules, then have a go at playing Weiqi with your family! 

Have a go at home!

If you have a Weiqi or Go set at home, why not give it a try as a family? You could also create your own simple game board by drawing a grid on paper and using small objects, such as buttons or counters, as your black and white stones. Start small, take turns and see who can surround the most territory!

Boroondara Literary Awards

The Boroondara Literary Awards are hosted by the City of Boroondara, in partnership with the Rotary Club of Balwyn. Held annually by the Boroondara Library Service since 1999, the Awards celebrate the creativity of writers and poets within the City of Boroondara and Victoria. At a Primary Level, students in Years 5 and 6 were invited to submit either a prose (narrative) of a length between 300 and 500 words, or a Poem, of a length less than 100 lines.

 Congratulations to all Year 5 and 6 students who entered a piece of writing.

We are excited to share that Colin, Abby and July received the following awards:

• Abby: Young writers prose, highly commended
• Colin: Young writers poetry, third place
• July: Young writer prose, first place

Abby, Colin and July attended a special awards ceremony, and their written pieces are now published in a book. 

Congratulations Colin, Abby and July, we are so proud of you!

Term 4 Newsletter

If you haven’t had a chance to read our Team 5/6 Term 4 Newsletter, please click the link below for a snapshot of the key learning planned for the term ahead.

Home Learning

A friendly reminder that each week, students are expected to complete the following:

Nightly Reading: 20 - 30 minutes each night, choosing a mix of fiction and non-fiction texts that interest them

Weekly SMART Spelling: practise their spelling words each night using a Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check process. Additional activities are also provided in students' Home Learning books to further reinforce spelling skills and word knowledge.

Mathematics Grid: complete one task from the Mathematics Grid each week. Parents sign once the task is completed.

For students who are still developing recall of multiplication facts up to 10 × 10, regular practice at home is strongly encouraged.

Optional Online Tasks: Optional My Numeracy and My Literacy tasks are available through Essential Assessment for students to explore online.

Students are to bring their Home Learning Book and School Diary to and from school each day.