Teaching and Learning
Room 12
In Room 12 we have been learning to write informative texts. Using the Seven Steps program we first learnt how to write a sizzling start. To do this students practised how to tie a fascinating fact with one or more different sizzling start techniques (action, sound, paint a word picture, ask a question, tell an anecdote) to create an engaging introduction for an information report. The first thing students did was compare before and after examples of informative introductions. Students then analysed the start of a variety of short factual texts and worked out what technique was used. Next students had a go at creating their own sizzling start with their choice of technique.
Here are some examples of our sizzling starts tied to a fascinating fact.
Nihongo News
こんにちは
Konnichiwa
Did you know that our ‘Cherry Blossom’ trees are in full bloom? They are next to the Japanese Garden and are a beautiful sight to see!
Meanwhile, in our Japanese lessons, the students have been working very hard on their reading and writing. I have been so impressed with their enthusiasm and self-motivation. Our Japanese room has been a hive of activity during most break times with the students working together to learn the characters.
A special mention to Jethro (Rm 7) and Erica (Rm 10) who have flown through their reading and writing levels achieving ‘Black Belt’ status in no time at all! A fabulous effort!
さようなら
Sayonara
せんせい
Sensei
Science News
Did you know that resin was discovered by the Indigenous Australians? It has many uses including being used as an adhesive to join parts of tools together and also as a waterproofing agent, among many other things. It can even be used to treat humans during surgery in the modern world!
The Year 6/7 students have been learning about how resin was an integral component of Indigenous culture and aided so many aspects of their lives. They looked at artefacts and even plants where resin comes from to see it up close.
Their next step was to do a scaffolded inquiry on how effective resin is as an adhesive. They completed an interesting experiment to compare the strength of resin to nail glue and see which adhesive proved to be the strongest in holding a join. It was discovered that some groups found resin to be stronger, while other groups discovered that the nail glue was stronger. The mixed results told us that we might need to focus on fair testing to ensure that the experiment results are accurate.
The students are looking forward to working on their own guided inquiry by choosing a question to investigate and designing their own experiment to answer their question based around the uses of resin.
