Grade 5 - 6

Reading

Throughout the past two weeks in reading the students have been focusing on persuasive texts. They have been reading two different texts, one about grizzly bears and the other about what happens to plastic bottles when we throw them away. The main focus has been to identify the structure of the text, looking for the author's purpose within the text and learning how to annotate. The students have thoroughly enjoyed working in small groups sharing their own opinions on the test. 

Writing

Writing has seen the students work on their PEEL structure when writing paragraphs. They have commenced writing a persuasive piece on – why school should only be four days a week. The collaboration that occurred during the brainstorming session as to what the arguments should be were very interesting to be a part of. With the students all having their own very strong opinions on why school should only be four days a week. They have been using the PEEL structure to help plan out their individual pieces and they will commence writing them throughout this coming week. 

Maths

We covered data last week, the individual groups focused on the next areas of learning for each student. The points covered were questioning, collecting data, collating data, interpreting data and displaying data in many different forms. This week they are all focusing on fractions and the many areas associated with fractions from identifying a fraction, unit fractions, equivalent fractions, fractions on a numberline and addition/subtraction of fractions.  

Humanities

The students have been focusing on History, the grade 5 cohort have been looking into the establishment of Australian colonies and the environmental impact of European settlement has had on Australia. During the session about the establishment of Australian colonies the students had to write a diary entry from the perspective of an Indigenous person who witnessed the arrival of James Cook. The grade 6 cohort have looked into how key figures and events led to Australia’s Federation. They have participated in a quiz to test their knowledge and created a mind map around the word 'Federation'.  

Mother's Day Afternoon

Last Friday it was lovely to share the afternoon with our Mum’s and other special people in our lives. It was great to see so many people within the learning community sharing stories and our achievements so far this year.