Grade 5 News

Important Reminders

Thursday, June 6th: Hands on Science Incursion

Monday, June 10th: King's Birthday Public Holiday

Tuesday, June 25th: Celebration Morning

Thursday, June 27th: Senior Hoop Time

Friday, June 28th: Last Day Term 2 - 2.30 pm Finish

Homework

The homework week runs from Monday to Monday. During this time, students are required to:

* Read 4 nights and record their reading in their diary.

*Complete activities in Mathletics that equal, at least, 750 points.

Please see your child's teacher if you have any questions regarding homework.

Learning in Action

Literacy:

This fortnight we commenced our Persuasive Unit. The students have been very keen to share their ideas and opinions on a variety of different topics including whether all children should play sports and if school uniforms should be compulsory. We have explored different strategies that authors use to strengthen their arguments including upgrading nouns and verbs to stronger and more descriptive options, rhetorical questions, exaggeration, groups of three and emotive language. The students have begun to draft their own writing pieces, ensuring that they provide evidence to support their assertions, along with a combination of the persuasive strategies explored in class.

Preview for Learning:

In the coming weeks, we will continue exploring persuasive features including looking more closely at the role of rhetorical questions and quoted speech in persuasive texts. We will also be looking at how to use adverbs of affirmation (certainly, indeed, surely, definitely, obviously) within a sentence to convey an opinion more convincingly.

Maths:

Over the past fortnight, we began our division unit. This has seen students applying their knowledge of multiplication to solve division problems of varying complexities. We have explored several strategies including arrays and fact families, connecting place value through the exploding dots strategy and bundling groups of the divisor (dividing number) to create the dividend (total) to solve a problem.

Students have also begun exploring volume and capacity through our applied unit. We have learned that all 3D shapes have volume because they take up space in the world, but not all 3D shapes have capacity (the ability to be filled). Students enjoyed investigating this concept through measuring a variety of 3D objects using MAB to show cubic centimetres (volume) and sand or water to show millilitres (capacity).

Preview for Learning:

Next, we will deepen our understanding of division by exploring real-life division scenarios that result in remainders and further applying our knowledge to solve puzzles and play division-based games.

In our applied unit, we will introduce mass and continue exploring volume and capacity. This will include measuring and calculating in standard units (grams, cubic centimetres and millilitres) and converting between metric units of capacity and mass.

Inquiry

This week the students started their Inquiry projects in preparation for Celebration Morning. They chose one of our explicitly taught natural disasters (volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, tornados, cyclones, bushfires, droughts or floods) to further research and present. They have begun to independently collate and organise their research to create their information report or poster about their disaster.

Preview for Learning:

Over the upcoming weeks, students will complete the written component of their Inquiry project before moving on to the visual component. The visual component can be completed independently or collaboratively with a partner and will be a 3D representation of their disaster. Options could include dioramas, earthquake shake tables, models or tornados in a jar amongst other ideas.

Please discuss with your child their plans for the visual component of their inquiry project and help them source any required materials such as boxes or plastic containers from home.

Other Information

Hands-on Science Incursion

A reminder that Year 5 students have the Hands-on Science Incursion next Thursday, June 6. Payment is due by Friday, May 31st. In this exciting 90-minute incursion, students explore how natural disasters occur and learn about the forces that control our planet’s geography. They investigate the water cycle, tornadoes, the earth’s rotation, tectonic plates, and model volcanic activity under the water. This incursion challenges students to think about how sudden geological changes can affect the earth’s surface.

9am: 5M 11.10am: 5WH 1.50pm: 5H

Winter Round Robin

For the past two weeks, the senior school students have participated in the Winter Round Robin Interschool Sport in football, netball, soccer, tee ball and lawn bowls. It has been wonderful to see the sportsmanship and Pegasus pride that our students have demonstrated both on and off the field. Go Lysterfield!

At Lysterfield Primary School, we promote high expectations for all our students, and want to encourage our students to challenge themselves and tackle new and interesting opportunities. In light of this, we are encouraging interested students in Grades 3-6 to participate in the Australian Mathematics Competition this year.

The Australian Mathematics Competition, run by the Australian Maths Trust, is Australia’s longest running, largest and most well-known maths competition for school students. It is made up of 30 unique problems designed to challenge and extend students’ problem solving skills.

Students have 60 minutes to complete the competition which will occur at school sometime between Tuesday 6th - 8th August (exact date and time TBC).

Every student who participates will receive recognition and an award at their level of achievement. The levels are:

Participation
Proficiency
Credit
Distinction
High Distinction

The competition will cost $8.50 per student.

For more information about the competition, watch this video from AMT, check out their website, or contact Zahra Harvey (zahra.harvey@education.vic.gov.au).

If you are interested in your child participating in the Australian Mathematics Competition this year, please add their names to the form below by Friday 31st May:

Australian Mathematics Competition Expression of Interest

Exciting times ahead in STEM!

We are thrilled to share some exciting updates about our STEM program. As we continue to inspire and empower our students to explore the wonders of these vital fields, we are reaching out to our wonderful community for support.

Your generosity has always been instrumental in helping us provide enriching educational experiences for our students, and we are once again asking for your support to ensure the success and sustainability of our STEM initiatives.

Your support makes a significant difference to our students' learning opportunities and the success of our STEM program. Here are a few ways you can contribute:

Opportunities to help:

Donations of Timber/Wood, appropriate for construction E.g. Billy Cart bases or other small vehicles.
If you own or are a part of a company or business who would be willing to sponsor our engineering program.
If you have connections with hardware stores/companies, helping us to make contact in order to obtain suitable engineering resources.
If you have any household STEM-related materials such as; plastic bottles, milk bottle lids, masking tape, balloons, wooden skewers, plastic or paper cups, unwanted CD’s or DVD’s, Aluminium Foil please drop them off outside the STEM room.
Construction Crew: If you're handy with tools and have some basic experience in woodwork or mechanics, we would be delighted to have your help in the upcoming terms to assist with our Grade 6 Science and Engineering program. Please email sophiechamberlain@lysterfieldps.com or melissaadams@lysterfieldps.com

Thank you for your continued support,

Melissa Adams & Sophie Chamberlain

STEM Leaders

Lysterfield Primary School

From the Grade 5 Teachers

Karin Halstead, Ebony Waldron, Chloe McElroy and Zahra Harvey