grade 56 area news                

 

Reminders

• To survive the ‘sneezes’ we request that each pupil brings a box of tissues to share with the grade. Thank you to those who have already done so.

• Pupils at this stage are responsible enough to bring notes and money and hand them in to grade teachers. All money needs to be returned in an envelope, clearly labelled. You also have the option of paying by credit card or EFTPOS.

• Please ensure that all your children’s belongings are clearly labelled or identifiable in some way.

• Right up until the end of April, students are expected to wear a hat when participating in activities outdoors, including recess, lunchtime, interschool sport, P.E, etc. Remember ‘no hat, no play!’

Welcome to Term 2

Dear Parents, Welcome back to term 2. We are preparing for a busy term with many exciting events to come. Camp is quickly approaching and we are all very excited about it. This term we also have the weekly sports games, cross country, reports and NAPLAN (National Testing Program for Year 5 students). Students will be revising and getting ready for the NAPLAN tests which take place in week 5. We continue to expect children to be fully responsible for themselves and their belongings. They are encouraged to be prompt and organised and to have their homework ready to share and celebrate on a Friday. A reminder that the homework sheet is a starting point only and we encourage students to look for ways to extend their learning. Parents are welcome to contact classroom teachers with notes or messages left with the office. We are always eager to discuss any issues concerning your child at a convenient time for all. Matt Buckley, Emily Seing, Bronwyn Taylor & Sophie Cartelli

TERM 2 KEY DATES

APRIL Monday 25th Anzac Day Public Holiday

Tuesday 26th – Thursday 28th Life Ed Sessions

MAY Tuesday 3rd Crazy Hair Day

Wednesday 4th Cross Country Thursday 5th Mother’s Day Stall

Tuesday 10th – Thursday 12th NAPLAN Monday 16th Macleod Mini High School Day Thursday 17th Classroom Open Session

Wednesday 18th Italian Day Tuesday 24th School Photos

JUNE Wednesday 1st District Cross Country Wednesday 8th Regional Cross Country

Monday 13th Queen’s Birthday Public Holiday Tuesday 14th – Friday 17th Anglesea Camp

 

Reading at home is an essential part of students’ development as learners. Students are encouraged to read a variety of materials; from newspapers and magazines, to novels and picture story books. Whilst reading at home, students are encouraged to work on their individual reading goals. They will need to record their home reading on their home- work sheet, which will need to be signed by a parent or guardian.

Information and application forms re secondary school placement have been distributed. It is important to read all information supplied and fill in the form carefully. I strongly advise visits to all secondary colleges before making your decision. Please fill in three government schools you wish your child to attend. This makes the process easier should your child not receive their first preference. These forms are to be returned to Rosanna PS by Friday 13th May, no later. You will be officially advised of your child’s placement in August.

PREMIERS’ READING CHALLENGE Rosanna Primary School students will be participating in the Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge. The Challenge is open to all Victorian children from birth to age 16 and aims to highlight the importance of reading in literacy development. It’s also lots of fun! Our Challenge began on April 11 (beginning of term 2) and will end on June 17 (week 10). To complete the challenge, students in years Prep – 2 are encouraged to read or ‘experience’ 30 books with their parents and teachers and students in years 3 – 6 are challenged to read 15 books. Reading is recorded online – a username and password for your child was provided at the beginning of term 2. All children who meet the Challenge will receive a certificate of achievement signed by the Victorian Premier and can choose to have their name included on the online Honour Roll. For more information about the Challenge and to view the booklists, visit: www.education.vic.gov.au/prc

Homework plays an important role in consolidating, supporting and extending your child’s learning. In grade 5/6, Homework is distributed each Monday and should be completed and submitted by the following Friday. Homework consists of spelling, writing, mathematics and inquiry tasks. Students will present their homework to members of their class on a Friday and will then receive peer feedback. Each teacher will then review and offer suggestions accordingly.

This term, students will work on an individualised spelling program, based on their individual needs. Students will bring a focus each week, such as a rule or strategy, and 10 words associated with their focus. To practise their focus, students will need to find five other words that match their focus and then log on to Literacy Planet to complete set tasks (or alternatively select at least one of the spelling activities from the spelling activity sheet) to practise their words. Testing will take place each Monday.

Students are also encouraged to utilise Literacy Planet and Mathletics at home. Tasks will be set and checked by classroom teachers on a regular basis.

Anglesea Recreation Camp is situated on the sea- side of the famous Great Ocean Road and tucked away in a beautiful, secluded, natural bushland setting. It is only a 1.5-hour drive from Melbourne CBD. It is an adventure style camp, which aims to foster cooperation, independence and initiative in the students. The children will have opportunities to experience a range of outdoor adventure activities. The camp develops students’ self esteem by encouraging individuals to overcome personal and group challenges that have a positive learning outcome. The camp dates are Tuesday 14th to Friday 17th June. Please keep an eye out for more information in the coming weeks.

   

   

           

 

     

 

ENGLISH Daily Five

This year in grade 5/6, students will engage in a literacy program, known as ‘Daily 5’. The Daily 5 is a series of literacy tasks which students complete daily. The 5 tasks include, “Read to Self, Read to Someone, Listen to Reading, Work on Writing and Word Work”. The Daily 5 is a structure that helps students to develop essential reading and writing skills and strategies, as well as the ability to work with peers, with the aim of leading to a lifetime of independent literacy.

We will also be incorporating the CAFE (Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency and Expand Vocabulary) reading program. The Cafe program involves explicitly teaching students a range of reading strategies, as well as providing them with opportunities to practise such strategies whilst reading to themselves and to others on a daily basis (Read to Self and Read to Someone). Another major component of this program is what is known as reading conferences. Reading conferences involve students working one on one with a teacher to identify their strengths, areas of need and a corresponding reading goal. Students will practise their individual goal during Read to Self and Read to Someone, as well as during home reading.

This term we will be focusing on:

• Tune Into Interesting Words • Word Parts • Compare & Contrast • Cause & Effect • Intonation

Writing

In writing sessions we will continue to focus on improved proof reading and editing skills. We will be focussed on narratives and information reports, looking at various writing devices as well as writing our own pieces. Grammar focus for this term: Verbs, Action Verbs, Adjectives and Punctuation.

   

This term we will be covering the RPS value, Excellence and the YCDI focus, Persistence. Students will be encouraged to set goals for their learning and take responsibility to ensure that they achieve their personal best through persistence and effort.

   

Each week, four students from each class will be selected to make a short presentation on a topic of their choice to their class. Students will plan their presentation as part of their homework and will present to their class on the Friday. They will need to focus on providing an engaging speech, audience interaction, voice, body language, content and the ability to respond to audience questions. All students will receive feedback for their presentations from both their peers and their teacher.

This term we will be focusing on text analysis with students working in small groups reading the same book. The students will be given a role each week that they will need to complete and share with the group while reading the text at home and in class.

This is a great opportunity for the students to discuss their thoughts and understanding of the text as well as ask questions they may be unsure about.

MATHEMATICS

This term grade 5/6 students will be investigating the following mathematical concepts:

• Fractions • Decimals • Financial plans • Area and perimeter • Volume, mass and capacity • Structure

This term, students will also have the opportunity to participate in rich tasks. Rich tasks will require students to collect data and information about a specific topic and then use it to create and solve mathematical problems.

Fractions and decimals are used in many different ways every day. Understanding that fractions and decimals are part of a whole is an essential aspect of becoming successful in Maths activities in upper primary years. Regular practice helps increase a student’s efficiency while working on Maths at school. You might like to encourage your child to help with cooking to work with fractions and counting money to work with decimals.

 

This term we are offering students the opportunity to participate in special interest activities. Students were able to nominate an activity they wanted to participate in for the term. The activities offered this year are based on recommendations from the students through their persuasive writing pieces in Term 1.

Each Friday students will take part in one of the following:

The Coders: This term we will be looking at exploring the world of computer science through coding. Students will have an opportunity to create games using characters from Star Wars and many more. They will also be learning the theory of computer science and how it is used in everyday life. This will be a fantastic chance for students who are new to computers and also experienced techies.

Writer’s Workshop: Writer’s Workshop is where students become authors! Using self-selected topics and genres, students will be supported in a workshop setting to explore professional writing skills, focussing on the 7 traits of writing. Each trait covers a specific concept that assists students to produce engaging and high quality written pieces, whether it is a picture book, novel or collection of short stories.

Health and Fitness Challenge: The 10 Week Health and Fitness Challenge is where students can work to improve their fitness levels and learn about the benefits of being active. They will work both individually and as part of a team to challenge themselves and each other. Each week the students will participate in various games and activities that will get their heart rate up and develop both their strength and endurance.

Art Therapy: Art Therapy will use the creative process of creating art to teach students how to identify, explore and manage their feelings, how to reduce stress and/or anxiety and ways to improve one’s self-esteem. The elective will consist of a variety of activities, including mindful colouring and meditation, as well as other more traditional art concepts, including printing and painting.

 

Inquiry: Passion Projects Students will continue to work on their passion projects they started in Term 1. Students will participate in a variety of ‘toolbox’ sessions, where they will be taught a range of skills to support their investigations, including, researching, questioning, paraphrasing, making a phone call, providing feedback, conducting surveys etc. The unit will end with an ‘action’ which will see all students sharing their new found knowledge with their peers.

 

Specialists Music

The grade 5/6s will continue to learn folk songs and dances from around the world. They will read treble (or bass and alto) staff notes and will use this knowledge when playing the keyboard, percussion instruments and vocals. They will learn three and four chord songs on the ukulele, and will perform these songs to each other. Please note: A ukulele at home would be advantageous, but not necessary. They are widely available from most music shops and JB hi fi. An inexpensive ukulele will cost about $30. Jendi Bright – Music Teacher

Italian Chi e`? (Who is it?) is the title of our area of interest for term 2. Through this unit, students will use a collection of adjectives to label, describe and identify people. Students will compose their own descriptive sentences, and exercise their understanding of the specific grammatical rules associated with using adjectives. Speaking with clearer, more accurate pronunciation is an area of focus. Students will practise asking questions, and make descriptive statements about themselves and others such as, hair colour and style, eye colour, height, personality traits and more. Please note that Italian day will be held on Wednesday 18th May (week 6). Please mark this date in your diary and feel free to contact me should you wish to assist in any way. See newsletter for updates. We all look forward to this day with great excitement!!

With thanks, Nadia Tarquinio

Art

Welcome to term 2 in the Visual Art Room! Last term Preps completed their unit on mosaics; grades 1 & 2 are completing their project this term, which will arrive home during May. We are in need of many plastic plant pots, no more than 12cms diameter at top and12cmH to complete these. Please leave in art room if you are able to help with these. Grades 3 & 4 are showing excellent motivation and drive to work towards completing their large individual mosaic blocks, these can be viewed as they progress outside the art room, while Grades 5 & 6 are displaying their creativity and diligence whilst their works of art are nearing completion. We will need parent volunteers for the grouting and fixing to be able to complete this project so please let me know ASAP if you are able to help. You are able to view some pictures of the children working on their art in the school website. For the remainder of term 2, children will be studying Australian contemporary art and artists. They will gain experience in using some of the techniques and skills employed by these artists. Our focus will include using painting and drawing. If you have an interest in becoming part of the Art Show organising committee, please make that known to me ASAP, where tasks can be created around your availability! Notes have been sent home to remind those parents who need to supply their child/ren with an art smock. It needs to adequately cover their winter uniform (ie long sleeves) as well as being of a material, which will not allow paint etc to penetrate and ruin their school uniform. These items need to be clearly named and left at school. Once again thank you to the conscientious parents who are continually providing the art room with clean recycled materials. We currently have children at this school with allergies to nuts, egg, sesame seeds and dust mites so unfortunately I am unable to accept any items, which may have been in contact with these allergens. Thank you for your continuing support,

Sharyn Martinussen - Visual Art Teacher    

Sport and Pe Physical Education This term in physical education, grade 5/6 children will be involved in activities, which continue to develop more complex fundamental motor skills. Particular focus will be given to the following sports:

• Soccer • AFL • Touch Rugby

We will be still focusing on improving co-ordination and fitness in lead up to our school cross country. Interschool Sport All children in the grade 5/6 area will be involved in winter sports. Our winter sports this year are:

• Football – Mr Buckley • Netball – Mrs Lambert • Soccer – Ms Taylor • Macleod Sports Program – Mrs Seing and Mrs

Cartelli

Please stay tuned for training times. Cross Country Our school cross country will be held this term at Rosanna Parklands on Wednesday 4th May taking place 11.30 am to 1.00 pm. We need parent helpers to assist with marshalling on the day. Tear off slips are in the school’s newsletter, if you are able to assist.

• District Cross Country - Wednesday 1st June • Divisional Cross Country - Wednesday 8th June • Regional Cross Country - Wednesday 15th June

 GO ROSANNA! Kelli Lambert – Sport & Physical Education Teacher