From the Classroom

News from 5/6

Homework 

A number of students have been submitting homework assignments and it has been wonderful to see their enthusiasm for these tasks. As discussed in our last update, completing homework is encouraged but not mandatory. Homework should aim to develop 'intrinsically motivated learners' and see students build healthy relationships with 'learning at home'. 

In addition to daily reading and the homework grid, students are encouraged to engage with Khan Academy, a self-paced Numeracy program with a focus on ‘mastery learning'. Additional information can be found here: https://www.khanacademy.org/khan-for-educators/resources/parents-mentors-1  

As mentioned in the recent news feed students have completed their letters to the minister. These are available via Google Classroom and as homework you are encouraged to read, revise and edit these letters with your child. Once revised and edited please discuss whether or not you and your child wish to forward these letters on to the minister. 

Reminder:  Students are encouraged to spend approximately 1-hour completing homework each week.

English

This week we have begun integrating our inquiry topic (Adaptations) with our work in English. Students have recently completed a learning sprint where, in 2-hours, they were challenged to use Canva.com to create an “Infographic” about the thumb as a key human adaptation. In the coming weeks students will be working in pairs and applying the skills learned in this sprint to create a poster exploring and explaining either an adaptation as it occurs across a variety of species (e.g Camouflage) OR  focusing on a single species and its various adaptations. These posters will form part of student portfolios for the year. 

Maths 

Over the past weeks we have been exploring time, and probability. Our time unit culminated in students creating a timetable for astronauts aboard the international space station. In probability we explored the chances of winning a game of rock-scissors-paper (0.33) and compared this with an alternative version from “The Big Bang Theory” rock-scissors-paper-lizard-spock (0.4). Students have also been working toward their Mastery Goals on Khan Academy. 

Upcoming Events

Grade 5 and 6 zoo excursion - On Wednesday 13th September, Grade 5 and 6 students will be heading to Melbourne Zoo as a culminating activity for our unit on Adaptations. Please complete the event permissions on Compass ASAP. 

We are looking for parent volunteers to support this program. If you are interested in coming along please contact peter.moore2@education.vic.gov.au 

What's happening in 3/4

Kinder Visits

The grade 4 students have been out visiting our local kinders to read to students. The kinder kids have been very welcoming and excited about having the "big kids"  come to visit. Students paired up to read and play games with small groups of kinder kids. We were really impressed with the patience and story telling skills our grade 4's exhibited.  

Bunnings came to Marlborough last week. Bunnings staff came with enough craft supplies to enable each student to complete a wall hanger. 34 students paired up with Foundation and 12 classes to complete their craft.

This week we have been writing persuasive pieces on names for our hens. Each student was required to think of a name for one of the hens and then persuade us as to why that name would be suitable for the hen. Each name will be considered, and depending on the reasons, short listed for the students to vote on. The names will be announced in the next newsletter. Stay tuned!

The Adventures of 1/2s

This week we have been publishing our procedural text on "How to wash your Monster". Each student chose a monster, dragon or creature they had to write instructions on how to wash them and then draw a picture of their creature in the bath and made a booklet. 

In Math's we have been working on division and multiplication, and looking at the different strategies that help us whilst working  these equations. We've looked at Skip counting, repeated addition and Arrays as some of the tools to help. We created our Multiplication Monsters. 

We also enjoyed Bunnings coming to the school to do some DIY. We paired up with the 

3 /4's and made amazing door hangers. It was a lot of fun and great to work with the 3/4's. 

Fantastic Foundation

The excitement has continued in Foundation, last week we went to Myuna Farm, Doveton to learn about farm animals and how they provide us with things like milk, wool and salad. We are continuing our Inquiry Unit of Farm to Plate and will be doing lots of hands on activities like planting seedlings in the coming weeks.

In literacy we are continuing to learn our phonemes and have been exploring adding 's' to make a word plural. Students have started their new genre focus which is Information Texts and learnt what non-fiction texts are and sortint these into categories.

In Maths, we have spent this week learning about location and describing where items are. We have enjoyed using the books 'Rosie's Walk' and 'What the Ladybird heard' as interesting mentor texts to explore maps and locations. Students enjoyed making their own version of  'Rosie's Walk' which they could take home and use the stick puppets to explore location further.

Science

It’s been a spectacular start to science this semester. Classes have been exploring, experimenting and investigating a range of topics across the Science curriculum.  

Foundation: Students in Foundation are exploring the area of Chemical Science this term. They have been busy making observations about the properties of materials and sorting objects based on these properties, such as texture and what they are made of (wood, rubber, glass, metal etc).  We will also be thinking about how the materials used when building or making clothes are chosen to fit the purpose (such as, cotton for clothing to help keep us cool).

Grade 1/2: These students are investigating the area of Physical Science. We are focusing on light and sound. So far we have investigated sources of light- natural and man made and explored different ways to produce sound such as by shaking, blowing and striking objects (instruments and household objects). We will continue to look at sources of sound and how we use our ears to detect sound over the next few weeks. 

Grade 3/4: Students in 3/4 are engaging with the Chemical Science strand this semester. They have been exploring the change of state between solid and liquid and how the addition or removal of heat can change an objects state of matter. We have been completing many hands on experiments including melting crayons and freezing liquids and are looking forward to many more as the term continues. 

Grade 5/6: The grade 5/6 students have been having lot of fun investigating Natural Disasters this term. As part of the Earth and Space Science area, we have been exploring disasters such as earthquakes and volcanoes. Students have applied their science skills to complete experiments and research these events, in order to explore the impact these events have on the Earth.  

For any families looking to learn more about or support their child/ren with Science and/or STEM skills the following website may be of interest to you: https://www.vic.gov.au/encouraging-science-technology-engineering-and-mathematics-stem-skills

Keep up the great learning MPS scientists!

Simone Ryan

Science Teacher