Swimming Carnival

Perfect weather, energised children, loud and resonating cheers – how could swimming carnival be anything less than wonderful! Dividing the swimming carnivals into two carnivals was a wonderful concept as it enabled students and staff to monitor closely each event with minimal stress. All students appeared eager and willing to ‘have-ago’, even if swimming wasn’t their area ofstrength.

Tabloid events are always a source of great entertainment, I have to say that I am always impressed with the strategies students use to put on and remove a wet t-shirt in the tube race. Either way, competitive swimmer or not, this event was one to remember. Well done to our marvellous House captains for attending both swimming carnivals – such commitment and leadership was much appreciated.

Health

Bounce Back is a classroom resiliency and well-being program enabling students to develop personal skills that underpin resiliency after encountering problems, difficulties or down times. It is based on the principle that it is important to start as early as possible to teach children and young people to cope with life.

Well-being is a positive and sustainable condition that enables individuals, groups, communities and organisations to cope, thrive and succeed. Just like any other curriculum area, some students are further along the ‘well-being’ developmental continuum than others, and so differentiation will be a critical element to this program. It is our aim to promote well-being in our Year 6 classrooms through the exploration into the following topics:

Emotions

· Why do we have feelings?

· Pleasant and enjoyable feelings

· Worry and stress

· Anger – when we feel angry

· Empathy

Spelling

Our spelling program in Year 6 is diverse, challenging and caters for the individual. Students are essentially divided into three groups depending on their ‘readiness’ in this area of learning. The different groups are allocated different quantities and types of words. The activities are also varied and will increase in complexity for each group as the year progresses. The groups are flexible and, therefore, students may move freely within them if they show development in this area of learning.

Word lists can be comprised of several different lists – Topic Words, Word Bank Words, Focus Words and Challenging words.

Topic Words are essentially words that are related to our topic; derived from a wide range of literature directly linked to our unit of inquiry.

Word Bank Words – are words derived from each student’s written work. Each time we mark students work the errors are identified, recorded onto a post it note which is then transferred to their word bank list located at the back of their spelling books.

Focus Words – are the focus for the week. Focus words include: sounds, rules and concepts that have been sourced from our curriculum documents.

Challenging Words – are exactly that, challenging. This group of words is for students who have exceeded their spelling age.

Red Group has ten/twelve words; 6 focus words and 4 word bank words

Orange Group have fifteen words; 5 topic, 5 focus words and 5 words bank words

Green Group have twenty words; 5 topic, 5 focus words, five word bank words and 5 challenging words

Students compile their Spelling words at the start of each week, which are then marked to determine accuracy. Students then work through a mixture of compulsory and choice related spelling tasks for the remainder of the week. Students work is collected at the end of each week and an assessment occurs each Friday. We encourage parents to assist their child with their Spelling as regularly as possible.

If your child is showing particular concerns in this area of study, a letter comprised of different strategies to specifically assist your child’s learning will go home in the weeks to follow. You are not obligated to take on board our suggestions, but extra help at home will only benefit your child.

Reading

To complement our investigation on the Wonders of the World, a series of reading investigations were implemented surrounding this topic. Note taking, searching for meaning in the text, comparing similarities and differences, ranking and justifying and refining research skills were the skills explored this term.

Written Language

Recount writing has been the focus genre for written language this term. In order to develop each student’s ability to write an effective recount we began by revising the key language features and structure of a recount. This was followed by a series of lessons designed to develop individual language skills. Activities introduced were focused on the topics - time connectives, verbs, adjectives and past tense. Further to these topics, students have also broadened their understanding on how to incorporate effective topic sentences to each paragraph as well as learning to write an effective opening paragraph.

English - Oral Language

The main focus for oral language this term has been leadership speeches. Various skills were introduced to the students to further enhance the delivery and content. The non-verbal skills developed were eye contact, facial expressions and body language. The vocal skills that were developed were reduction/omission of vocalised pauses, clarity, pace and fluency. Additional skills that were encouraged were organisation, time-management, audience involvement and addressing all content criteria.

Design and Technology

Constructing a chosen wonder of the world has been the focus for Design Technology this term.Students have developed skills in scale measurements, drawing images of their design using various view points, construction skills, maintaining a budget and recording the procedure used in the construction process. Progress has been steady and students have worked productively during all lessons. It has been heartening to hear that many parents and even grandparents have become involved in the project. We look forward to celebrating the outcome of this unit of inquiry throughout Week 11.

Society and Environment

Studies of Society and Environment has provided students with the opportunity to explore the many groups of ‘Seven Wonders of the World’. Initially students began by identifying where each of the five groups of wonders were located on a world map, whilst exploring safe methods of travel in the lessons following this task. As the term progressed, students were introduced to a wide range of mapping and geography skills, which was eye opening for many. In the weeks to follow, students will be planning a trip to visit a chosen group of wonders of the world. Tasks will include, the creation of a passport, a travel budget and an itinerary of their adventure.

Shaking Science

Scotch is in the fortunate position to be implementing the new Australian Curriculum in Mathematics, Science and English this year. One of the main focus areas of Year 6 Science is related to Natural Disasters with an emphasis on Earthquakes.

In the early stages of the term we captured the students’ interests by determining what was known about the causes and effects of earthquakes. This was promptly followed by numerous shared experiences of how the effects, magnitude and intensity of earthquakes are measured. In the weeks to follow we will be providing many hands-on experiences that will model the changes to the Earth’s surface, which cause earthquakes.

Once our initial investigations are complete, students will investigate and compare earthquake activity in Australia and neighbouring countries as well as exploring how scientists collect information about earthquakes. To culminate the unit students will have the opportunity to represent what they know about earthquakes and to reflect on their learning during the unit.