React to Reading

Reading in Term 3 will focus on Government and Citizenship. In this unit of work, students will firstly look at rules and laws to identify the differences between the two and reasons why they are so important. Following this they will then discover what democracy is and features of a democratic society. This then complements several more topics for investigation, namely: Government, Parliamentary features and the process involved in law making. The final component of our reading this term will look at prominent political figures, their position and roles for their various political parties. 

To conclude this unit of work we will look at Elections, the electoral process and the issues that people consider when casting their vote. Students will also gain an understanding of preferential voting, voting age and penalties for not casting a vote during an election. Much of this knowledge will then be utilised in a visit to Parliament House.

Perfect Peer Support

Peer Support is a lovely way in which the older students can mix with the younger students.  I can genuinely say our Year 6 class loves seeing their buddies on a fortnightly basis.  Our sessions together are largely surrounding the theme – ‘Cooperation’ and students participate in a range of activities that are designed to develop this skill.  Other activities include annual events such as drawing and designing images for our Junior School Musical and introducing the Year 2s to the Mind LAB games. All in all, a wonderful and relaxing experience for both year levels.

Mind LAB - Life and Games

The Mind Lab Group was founded in 1994. Its activities are centred around the development and training of thinking skills through thinking games.

The goal of Mind Lab is to impart thinking abilities and life skills, that will assist them to maximise their own potential and help them to become more successful and happy individuals, who act honourably toward their peers and achieve optimal self-realisation of their respective talents.

At the heart of Mind Lab Method is the notion that the most effective way to learn is through an immediate and authentic experience that leaves one wanting more. Game playing is the perfect example of such an experience – it is entertaining, engaging and exciting, and therefore stimulates eager involvement. No less important is the fact that the game-playing experience provides students with the training and application of thinking abilities and life skills.

The Four Goals

Developing Awareness

Awareness of thinking processes is essential for personal enhancement in every walk of life. The Mind Lab Method, making use of unique metacognitive thinking models, emphasizes reflective and cognizant thinking that enhances the use of rational processes and enables pupils to constantly progress.

Imparting Thinking Skills

In our information-rich age, an ever-increasing emphasis is being placed on the importance of basic thinking skills. The Mind Lab Method provides a broad range of these skills: problem-solving strategies, decision-making models, investigative processes, information and data management, logical and mathematical thinking, verbal and communication skills, and more.

Strengthening Life Skills

The game-playing experience is an extraordinary simulative tool for the development of emotional and social intelligence. It obliges us to deal with situations involving cooperation and competition, winning and losing, success and failure, and it reinforces our ability to effectively manage and control our emotions, to defer gratification and to enhance our determination, perseverance and self-discipline.

Interdisciplinary Transference

The application of content and skills learned in one setting to another is considered by many researchers to be one of the most important learning abilities. Mind Lab's unique teaching method establishes an organising base for many aspects of our lives. Through this method, children develop the ability to identify links between different fields of human thinking and activity, and this consequently enables them to transfer knowledge and apply it to other fields.

Methodology

The Mind Lab learning process is simple and yet extremely powerful. The process begins with children indulging in game playing, which ultimately empowers them with skills and knowledge relevant to real-life situations. The Mind Lab Method is the bridge that connects the World of Games with the Real World.

Royal Adelaide Show Exploration

This term in Design and Technology the Year 6 students will be engaged in the topic of ‘Amusement Rides’. This topic has been chosen for Term 3 as it relates extremely well with the upcoming Royal Adelaide Show in early September. Throughout this unit students will develop a deeper understanding of the Royal Adelaide Show and its importance for the local community. Furthermore, students will be required to explore and understand the science, safety and marketing ideas behind amusement rides when they design their own plans for a new and exciting ride.

Another essential component of this unit is the incorporation of differentiation and the RAFT task model. This provides the students with the opportunity to have more choice in the assessment task, thus generating more interest from the students. Some of the possible tasks include; create a news report of the new ride, design an advertisement campaign or construct the model, just to name a couple. This is an exciting unit and we encourage you to speak with your child about their task selection and progress.

Helping others...a SOSE project with meaning

Students will be involved in a range of activities designed to promote community and global awareness. Such activities will provide a platform for students to write a report about a chosen ‘help’ organisation.  This project will comprise of two separate components, a research project and questionnaire.

Author in Residence

Later in the term Year 6 Facci will be meeting Nathun Luff (our author in residence) on Friday, 9 September.  Nathan Luff was born in 1981. He is one of five boys and they all grew up on a farm outside of Yass, New South Wales. Nathan was born with his head in a book and has rarely been seen without one since. He graduated from Charles Sturt University in 2001 with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication (Theatre/Media) and later received a Graduate Diploma in Screenwriting from the Australian Film, Television & Radio School (AFTRS).

Nathan began his career writing for newspapers, theatre & television. In 2007 he was nominated for an Australian Writers’ Guild Award (Awgie) for a youth/community theatre project titled Smashed. The same year he received 2^nd prize in the Grenfell Henry Lawson Short Story Competition and was commended in the Children’s Book Council (NSW Branch) Frustrated Writer’s Mentorship Program for what was to become Chicken Stu. Since 2005, Nathan has worked for the Wakakirri National Story Festival, an arts festival for Australian schools promoting sustainability and education through the telling and sharing of stories. In 2010, Nathan takes on the role as Festival Director for Wakakirri.

Chicken Stu, published by Scholastic in April 2010, is Nathan’s first children’s novel.  The story is loosely inspired by the antics he and his four brothers got up to on their home farm. We are currently reading this book as a class.  We have already encountered witty moments and look forward to reading the remainder of the novel.

Science in the Classroom

This term in Science the students are focusing on chemistry. A major theme throughout the unit is identifying and classifying the differences between chemical and physical change of different substances. Through a range of hands-on activities students will foster a deeper appreciation of the importance of science inquiry, whilst continuing to develop effective science report writing skills. Students will conduct two major investigations in class; ‘Gas bags’ and ‘Fizz whizz’.

Another exciting component of the Year 6 Science curriculum in Term 3 is the involvement in the Junior School Science Fair (Monday Week 5) for National Science Week. In the weeks leading up to this event the students will be analysing qualities that make an effective science presentation whilst becoming more confident with their experiment. This event will give the Year 6 group an opportunity to exhibit their fine leadership and presentation skills to their fellow students within the Junior School. A wide variety of experiments and demonstrations have been chosen for the students to relate to this year’s National Science Week theme of ‘React to Chemistry’. We encourage you to talk to your child about the Junior School Science Fair as they are very excited about the opportunity this event has given them.