Grade 5/6 News

Welcome

Welcome to Term 2! In the first two weeks of term, our Grade 5/6 students have jumped straight back into their classroom routines and impressed us with their learning. It shows they are ready to build on their great work from Term 1 and are heading in the right direction for a successful term ahead. Well done to all students!

Reminders and Upcoming Events:

Week 3 Homework: 2 hours of reading (to be signed in the new Term 2 Reading Log) and 20 minutes of My Numeracy

Week 4 Homework: 2 hours of reading and 'Complex Sentences' worksheet

Division Cross Country - Wednesday 1st May 

Bendigo Secondary Colleges Information Evening - Monday 6th May (See Flyer Below)

A Guide to Navigating Puberty: Parents & Caregivers - Wednesday 8th May 6.30pm (See Flyer Below)

Last Week of Term 1

Our last week of Term 1 was filled with lots of activities! Our students completed Cross Country; they finalised their Topic unit, by presenting a fantastic Travel Expo; and, the week finished, with the always enjoyable, Easter Hat Parade. We hope everyone had a great 2 week break. Here are a few photos from our final week.

ANZAC Assembly

Our Grade 5/6 school leaders did a wonderful job delivering the school ANZAC assembly. Our students dedicated their time in practising and the spirit of ANZAC Day was certainly felt by our whole school on the day. Well done to all involved!

Learning in Weeks 3 & 4

In Reading, we will continue working our way through the C.R.A.F.T. reading strategies (C.R.A.F.T focuses on Comprehension; Response to Text; Accuracy; Fluency and Terms and Vocabulary). In Weeks 3 and 4 we will delve into our reading Accuracy, by looking at ways we can decode unfamiliar words and monitor and self correct errors.

Our students are excited to continue reading our whole class Reader's Notebook novel. We are in the second half of the book, 'Runt' by Craig Silvey. Annie and her dog, Runt, have just won the National Championship and are trying to find ways of raising money to compete in the World competition in London. Each week, our students complete follow up comprehension questions to deepen their connection to the text.

In Writing, we return our focus to Persuasive Texts. In Weeks 1 and 2, our students have chosen a topic and have worked on developing their paragraph structure (including the creation of topic sentences, finding evidence and explaining their reasoning). In Weeks 3 and 4, they will look toward editing and up-levelling their work, to create a detailed persuasive text. This will include a focus on text structure and language features.

In Mathematics, our weeks are broken into 2 sections. On Mondays and Fridays we focus on an Applied area of Mathematics and on Wednesdays and Thursdays, our students move into 'fluid groups' to develop their understanding of Number and Algebra. 

Our Applied topic for Weeks 3 and 4, is 'Chance and Probability'. Students will compare observed frequencies across experiments and will conduct chance experiments with large and small numbers of trials. Our fluid group topic for Weeks 3 and 4, is Patterns and Algebra. Each class will focus on a specific area of the curriculum that is relevant to students' specific needs. This need has been determined through pre-testing of the topic, before moving into groups. 

In Topic, our Term 2 unit is called, 'Think Global, Act Local'. Students will learn about the biggest problems facing children around the world today. In Weeks 3 and 4, students will explore their understanding of ethical dilemmas and investigate dilemmas related to child labour. They will also learn about charities in our local area and how we can help as individuals.

In STEAM, the Grade 5 students will undertake a Digital Design unit. Students have been introduced to the Tinkercad program, and have completed their learning modules. They will now start to explore design techniques and will start creating a 3D object using our 3D printer. The Grade 6 students have started an Electricity unit. In weeks 1 and 2, students explored renewable and non-renewable resources and developed an understanding of simple circuits. In Weeks 3 and 4, students will deepen their understanding, by creating complex circuitry, and drawing their diagrams using universal symbols.

Additional Info...