Year 5/6—Celebrating Learning

4/5/6 Mainstream

In term 4 we are doing a design and technology unit. For our first lesson we were given challenge cards with a design brief on them. In our groups we had chosen a challenge card and using recycled materials we had to create something that met the design brief.

In my group with Tilda and Katherine we chose the design brief to build a raft. However this raft had to be able to float on water AND hold 10 coins. This was really fun and challenging for our group. Right from the start we knew that the suggested materials (straws and masking tape) wouldn’t work because straws are hollow and will take on water making our raft heavier. And ultimately sinking it. This task helped us think differently about how to solve problems.

 Violet 5/6A

This term in unit focus we are doing design and technology. In our first session we were tasked with the job to make something out of recycled materials. There were challenge cards on each table, with a design brief and suggested materials. In our groups of 3, 4 or 5, we had to choose an idea and create it.

I was in a group with Kingston and Maya, and we chose to do the pyramid. The suggested materials were pipe cleaners, straws and sticky tape, but we ended up using cardboard, masking tape, paper, string, and a skewer. When we took the card we thought it would be fun and interesting but as we started making it, we realised it was actually much harder than we thought. We made it even harder by putting a coffin inside the pyramid, attaching a string, poking it through a side of the pyramid, and tying it off. That way, we could pull the string and the coffin would open mysteriously. 

The challenge definitely made us think out-side the box, and use our imagination.

Eleanor A 5/6 A

4/5/6 Steiner

Our State

This term has begun with both 5/6S and 4/5S focusing on the history and geography of High Street in Thornbury, Melbourne City and the suburbs that mean the most to us, the diverse regions of Victoria, and the state as a whole. Students have written articles with accompanied illustrations, copied and drawn maps of these areas, and have learnt about stories from pre-colonisation to modern day. Below are some images of student work and their thoughts on the main lesson.

Sataya says “I think this is a good main lesson and particularly enjoy working in the art room with the other class. I really like that we get to change locations for our learning too.”

Rosalie says “I enjoy this Main Lesson, I like how we get to draw our own maps, with the things that matter to us.”

Euca says “It’s pretty cool. It’s great to learn about our state and to learn more about it”

Boston says “I think it’s pretty fun, I really like learning more about the state I live in.”

Annabelle says “I like that we got to draw our own maps, which was fun and exciting to do. I particularly enjoy hearing about events and stories of my state.”

Cohen says “It is fun, it’s cool to learn about the history of the local area.”