Year 5/6 Term 2 Overview
Year 5/6 Term Two
Welcome back to the start of Term Two! We had a very busy and productive Term 1 with Year 6 Camp, Twilight Sports, NAPLAN, the novel Matilda and Harmony Day, being just some of the learning and events which took place. There is much to look forward to this term with 2 Sports Gala Days, Eucharist, Grandparents’ Day and Special Visitors Day and Mother’s Day all taking place. We look forward to continuing building on our learning opportunities and experiences now that we have settled into our routines from the first term.
Inquiry
Our unit of learning this term is called “Pack Your Bags” where we will be investigating the big question of “How do the stories of our past shape our future?” This unit will have a History focus. Throughout the unit we will be creating a historical timeline of Australia. Students will be exploring the migration history of their own families and our first settlers. We will also be looking at our history through the stories of our Indigenous Australians. This will culminate into small group research projects where students will research a decade in our history & present these to their classmates.
The students will focus on:
- World events that lead to migration
- Immigration data for their decade
- How immigration laws have changed over the years
- Areas that have been settled over the years
- Significant Australian events & people
STEM
This term in STEM we will be focusing on light and different types of energy. We will look at electrical energy and investigate circuits. We will look at solar, electrical and wind energy and how we can use these to create a sustainable community.
DigiTech
Over the term, we will be looking at Digital Systems. This will encompass input and output, hardware and software, binary code, algorithms and programming.
Religious Education
In RE this term, students will look at stories of migration in the Bible and how God provided help for his people. We will then look at what Jesus said about being kind to people around us and how this influences the way we treat friends and strangers amongst us. We will conclude the term by looking at Pentecost and the gifts of the spirit, in preparation for the students confirmation in term three.
Literacy
This term, the 5/6 students will look to develop their reading, speaking and listening and writing skills through a variety of activities and programs. We are very excited that this term our class novel study will be 'Wonder' by R.J Palacio. This novel explores the themes of empathy, friendship, acceptance and celebrating differences and is told from different perspectives. It works alongside our whole school theme of Gratitude.
For Writing this term we will be focusing on Recounts, Narratives and letter writing. Students will further develop their ability to engage audiences, use descriptive language, create original ideas and follow the conventions of each writing style.
Maths
The following curriculum topics will be taught this term:
- Number and Algebra: Subtraction
- Students will use efficient mental and written strategies to solve subtraction problems, involving four and five digit numbers.
- Use estimation to check the reasonableness of answers.
- Measurement & Geometry: Time
- Students will compare and convert between 12 and 24 hour time.
- Interpret timetables.
- Measure and calculate elapsed time
- Number & Algebra: Pattern and Algebra
- Students will describe, continue and create patterns. They will explore the use of brackets and order of operations to write number sentences.
- Statistics and Probability: Chance
- Students will conduct chance experiments and relate the probability of a chance occurring to their understanding of fractions and percentages.
Social Emotional Learning
This term in SEL our focus is on Self Management and the development of Resilience. This includes an exploration of our personal strengths, the idea of positive and negative self talk and how we cope with stress. Students will learn to recognise and name their own positive strengths, identifying coping strategies in stressful events and how they can manage themselves more effectively. We are also going to begin using Class Meetings as part of our strategy to provide more authentic opportunities for student voice.
Timetable
Timetables differ across the three grades, please see the communication from your class teacher to double check when specialists are occurring.
Tuesday
| Wednesday (Sports Uniform) | Thursday (Sports Uniform) | Friday
|
| Chinese - 5/6C | 5/6 - Sport session taken by class teachers.
5/6C - Chinese
| Visual Arts - 5/6A&B
Performing Arts - 5/6B&C
Visual Arts - 5/6A&B
PE - 5/6A,B&C | Performing Arts - 5/6A
Chinese - 5/6A&B
Visual Arts - 5/6C |
Communication
Effective communication between family and school is an important factor in a student's learning. We will be sending our weekly classroom newsletters home via email each Friday in preparation for the week ahead.
Please don’t forget SeeSaw login details were handed out last term. If you did not receive the QR code for this, please let us know. This is where you will be able to see your child's Digital Portfolio. Last term’s samples of learning are available to be viewed. Please make contact with us if you have any questions, comments or concerns.
Important dates to remember:
May 10 - Mother’s Day Stall
May 10 - Year 4 Bread Making Workshop
May 12 - Mother’s Day Breakfast
May 17 - Bike It Safety Day
May 19 - Years 3-6 District Cross Country
May 24 - Grandparents and Special Visitors Day
May 24 - Kids Disco
Esther Wallis, Tracey Farrar and Allison Bayliss
ewallis@sjmitcham.catholic.edu.au