Grade 5/6

What’s Happening in Term 1 2024

Reading:

In reading, students are exploring text structures and comprehension strategies. They will participate in small group reading sessions, such as, literature circles and reciprocal reading. In literature circles, students will use The Book of Chance written by Sue Whiting to focus on higher level thinking skills such as author’s intent, writing style and characterisation. In reciprocal reading, students will continue to focus on making predictions, clarify unknown words or phrases, generate questions to go beyond the text and summarise the main idea of the text. Furthermore, students will be developing their speaking and listening skills by setting goals in regards to their contribution in their reading groups using our progression of talk ladder. Throughout the term students will also learn about successful readers’ habits when reading. By reading independently for up to 15 minutes each day, students are developing reading habits in the classroom and increasing their reading endurance.

Writing:

In writing, students are learning to understand sentence structures and how to construct a variety of sentences, including simple, compound and complex. They will apply their understanding of these through the exploration of different writing genres including persuasive and narrative texts. In persuasive, students will analyse a range of text types such as debates, speeches and advertisements to identify persuasive tools and vocabulary. Students will learn to use persuasive devices with greater control to convince their readers. In narratives, they will be expected to expand on their ideas when exploring themes and the development of characters, setting, sequence and mood. With the use of rubrics and checklists students will continue to work towards becoming independent writers who edit and revise.

Maths:

In maths, students will read, write, compare and interpret decimal numbers up to thousandths and apply their learning to everyday situations that require a mathematical solution. They will measure time, with a focus on understanding both 12 and 24 hour formats, calculate elapsed time as well as examine a variety of timetables. Students will also estimate, measure and create angles. They will work with the properties of a range of angles, such as supplementary, complementary, vertically opposite and angles at a point.

Inquiry:

This term in inquiry students are exploring ‘What makes a bully, bully?’. Throughout the unit, students will build on their knowledge of bullying and what makes a bully display such behaviours. We will discuss the impact concepts such as stereotypes, discrimination and prejudice have on individuals and the role bystanders take when observing situations of conflict. In groups, students will develop a product that could be used around the school which promotes anti-bullying behaviours, and encourages students to be Upstanders.

SEL:

The first few weeks of the term are devoted to teachers and students getting to know one another in order to establish a welcoming and inclusive classroom. The school’s values of inclusion, resilience, responsibility, and respect are articulated in the classroom expectations. Students will participate in team building activities with a strong focus on collaboration and feedback. They will reflect on the effectiveness of their small groups as well as their own ability to work with others.