Grade 5/6 Term 3 Week 7 & 8

Grade 5/6 Term 3 Week 7 & 8

CONNECT WITH YEAR 5/6


Learning and Teaching 
 

READING: Our focus has been on developing higher order questions before, during and after reading a text.

WRITING: The students have been writing information reports over the past two weeks. They have chosen topics or current events and have become an expert! Many students have shown passion for social justice through their chosen topics and are inspired to spread their knowledge with others.
 

MATHS: We have started the new maths unit 'Fractions, Decimals and Percentages.' Growth mindset has been very prevalent during the maths sessions, with students working through challenging activities using growth mindset language and problem solving strategies.

INQUIRY: Students have been exploring the geography of their chosen country, using Google Earth, Google Maps and atlas. They have started comparing the landscape of their country of choice with Australia and making notes for their project. All groups have demonstrated teamwork and enthusiasm during our inquiry sessions. We look forward to seeing all their research and ideas come together!


Achievement Awards
5/6S

Rory- For cooperating with his inquiry group.
Hayley- For completing all set tasks on time.

5/6L
Nat- For demonstrating teamwork during group activities throughout the week.
Shaedyn- For demonstrating perseverance when faced with challenging maths tasks.

5/6R

Daniel- For his information report about Black Rhinos.

Grade 5/6 Term 3 Week 5 & 6

Grade 5/6 Term 3 Week 5 & 6

CONNECT WITH YEAR 5/6


Learning and Teaching 

READING: The students have been making predictions and inferences to understand the meaning of their texts.

WRITING: The students have been very creative when writing their own poems. The focus has been on haiku poems and limericks, with students also freely exploring other types of poetry such as odes, riddles and acrostic poems during their free choice writing time.
We will begin informative texts next week.

MATHS: 'Priority Standards' and 'I Can statements' have continued to motivate the students in their Area and Perimeter unit of work. They have been able to apply their knowledge to real world problems and create appropriate solutions.

INQUIRY: Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oi, Oi, Oi! The Olympics have begun and we cannot contain our excitement! The Rio Olympics has been discussed and celebrated across all subject areas and the students have thoroughly enjoyed learning about the various facets. The students have shown their passion for the Paralympics through the discussions held over the past fortnight. The Refugee Olympic Team has been an interesting topic. We have watched videos of the refugee athletes talking about their motivation behind competing and it has given the students a different perspective. 

Other News

Logical Thinking Challenge

This term selected students from Years 3-6 will participate in the Logical Thinking Challenge to challenge their logical problem solving skills.

The Logical Thinking Challenge is an adaptive on line test which has been developed by the University of Melbourne.  The questions the students will be answering will cover a range of skills including the areas of Logical, Measurement, Numerical and Spatial.

The test comprises of 24 multiple choice questions which will be completed during class time in the week of the 15^th- 19^th August.

The school will receive a report of student results. We will notify parents through the newsletter when we receive the results.

Let’s encourage our students to be curious and rise to new learning challenges and opportunities!!

Achievement Awards
5/6S
Daniel- For showing teamwork during our inquiry sessions.
Riley- For creating an interesting Haiku poem
5/6L
Amy- For demonstrating persistence and confidence when solving division problems.
Julian- For contributing his valuable thoughts about the Olympic Games during guided reading.  
5/6R
Mitchell - For using his growth mindset when creating a Haiku poem

Grade 5/6 Term 3 Week 3 & 4

Grade 5/6 Term 3 Week 3 & 4

CONNECT WITH YEAR 5/6


Learning and Teaching 

READING: The students have been unpacking a new strategy, 'Determining Importance' through individual and group activities. 

WRITING: Over the next few weeks, we will be exploring the various types of poetry. We have started with Haiku poems and the 5-7-5 syllable structure. We look forward to seeing their new knowledge of figurative language in their poems. 
Also, 'Big Talk' homework will commence next week.

MATHS: The students have been enjoying the division unit and have taken responsibility for their learning by using the 'Priority Standards' to monitor their progress. This has allowed the students to see all the concepts in the division unit and work at their own pace.

Many students have been beating their own times during the speed tests for times-tables. It has been evident that many have been practising at home. Please continue to encourage your child to practise their times-tables at home every week.

INQUIRY: Our 5/6s have been very excited about the new inquiry unit and have started researching their chosen countries. All classes have had interesting discussions about the pros and cons of hosting the Olympics and the students have been enthusiastic to share their opinions. 


Photos from the SEDA Soccer Clinic

Grade 5/6 Term 3 Week 1 & 2

Grade 5/6 Term 3 Week 1 & 2

CONNECT WITH YEAR 5/6

News

MEET AND GREET OUR NEW PRINCIPAL

Parents are welcome to join us in the school hall for tea and coffee on Friday afternoon at 2.15pm to meet our new Principal Renée Kennedy.

We will have assembly in the hall following this at 3pm.  Renée is looking forward to meeting our parent community so we hope to see lots of you there!

A REMINDER OF MORNING ROUTINES & TIMES

Doors will be opened by 8.50am so parents and students can come in if they choose. When the bell rings at 8.55am, parents are asked to leave the corridor and classrooms to allow all students to come inside and prepare for learning time to begin. Students who are not in class when the 9am bell rings are late to school and must report straight to the office for a late pass.

  

Learning and Teaching 

READING: Students have been exploring figurative language through independent and whole class activities. 

WRITING: This week, the students have created a 'how or why' question to be the basis of their explanation text. They will research their questions and follow the text structure to produce an explanation text.

MATHS: We have started a new unit on division this week. The students have completed a pre-unit assessment and will be exploring various concepts such as written and mental strategies, equivalent number sentences and problem solving.
We also encourage students to continue to practise their timestables at home every week.   

INQUIRY: Our new unit 'Location, location, location' has begun! Linking in with the Olympics, in groups the students have chosen a country to research throughout the term. They will be exploring geography, culture and Olympians to name a few. They are enthusiastic to get started!  

Project Rockit!
The students were so excited to see Caitlin and Ash from Project Rockit come back to Mentone Park Primary School for another engaging session.

Some of the concepts the students unpacked included:
- Everyone is worth so much more than a social label
- Everyone wears an invisible badge by making good choices when no one is looking- Leadership is about making decisions that you're proud of

- Your values make you who you are!

Grade 5/6 Term 2 Week 9 & 10

Grade 5/6 Term 2 Week 9 & 10

CONNECT WITH YEAR 5/6



Learning and Teaching 

READING: Students have been completing independent activities for their novels. They have been developing higher order thinking questions for their texts.

WRITING: This week, the students have been reflecting on their learning for this semester. They have looked at English, Mathematics and Personal achievements and goals. They have published these ready to share with their parents.

MATHS: Our focus has been on revising multiplication and using mental and written strategies for problem solving. 

INQUIRY: We have continued to work on our 'Precious Planet' unit of work. The students chose their own big question to investigate. They also chose their groups to work in. This has been an informative and exciting unit of work for the students with many choosing to do extra work at home. Well done.

Achievement Awards:
56 R: Eliza - for knowing the process of how a law is made
56 L: Alex - for designing a worded problem involving a range of operations
56 S: Tanner - for always completing work to a high standard
                                          Our 'Precious Planet' Investigation

Our 5/6 students participated in a fantastic workshop on Cyber-bullying run by 'Project Rockit.' The students are looking forward to the second workshop in Term 3!

Grade 5/6 Term 2 Week 7&8

Grade 5/6 Term 2 Week 7 & 8

CONNECT WITH YEAR 5/6



Learning and Teaching 

READING: Students have been completing independent activities for their novels. They have been developing higher order thinking questions for their texts.

WRITING: This week, the students have been reflecting on their Canberra camp experience through writing recounts from their favourite camp activity, designing flyers with facts and creating comic strips. They have also been revising and publishing their edited pieces of writing on the laptops.

MATHS: Our focus has been on multiplication and using mental and written strategies for problem solving. 

INQUIRY: We have begun our new earth and space science unit this week. Ivan from 'Scientists in Schools' has provided a fantastic introduction to space science. 

Photos from 5/6 Camp to Canberra

Questacon

 Old Parliament House- The Senate

National Capital Exhibition 

Grade 5/6 Term 2 Week 1 and 2

Grade 5/6 Term 2 Week 1 and 2

CONNECT WITH YEAR 5/6

Welcome back! It has been full steam ahead as we head into the second term. We have had 5/6 sport, Cross Country trials, the wellbeing presentation, scientists in schools and a very special talk from Sue Crennan (Nat Petty's Nanna). We were lucky to have Sue come in to talk about the judicial system and her experience as a High Court Judge. Her talk triggered some insightful conversations with the students. Thank you so much Sue!

We also welcome a new student to Mrs Sampieri's class, Jy. 

Learning and Teaching 

READING: Students have continued to identify the main idea of the text using facts or details in their books to support their understanding. 

WRITING: This week, we have completed a 'Cold Write' assessment on narratives. The students are becoming comfortable with this process, which is fantastic to see as NAPLAN approaches. Students have also continued to edit and publish a chosen narrative over the past two weeks.

MATHS: Our focus has been on addition and subtraction. Students have been working on their number fluency and worded problems. They have been challenged to think of their own worded problem, using irrelevant number information to distract the reader. This has encouraged students to become alert when reading worded problems and identify the important information in a problem.

INQUIRY: We have introduced a new inquiry topic, 'Biodiversity and Adaptations,' which will be explored during the first half of the term. We have been exploring the desert environment and desert animals, in particular camels and how they have adapted to their environment. 
We also have the 'Scientists in Schools' program running this term, which will compliment our inquiry unit.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Interschool Sport 
Friday 22nd of April- Summer Sport Finals/ Winter Sport Training
Friday 29th of April-  Winter Sport Begins- vs. Parkdale PS (Away at Parkdale PS)

Achievement Awards

5/6 L
Jake- For writing an engaging narrative during Big Write titled “The Long Journey.”

5/6S
Jy- For showing confidence starting a new school and having a go at all set tasks.

5/6 R
Hannah- For persistence in finding the main idea during guided reading.