Year 5 Newsletter
Term 1 - Friday 10th November 2017
What's been happening in Year 5?
Dear Parents,
Welcome to the sixth edition of the year 5 newsletter!
Thank you to all those who joined us for the camp information evening last night. For Parents/Guardians who couldn't make it; the presentation has been included on the Year 5 section of the VLE.
It's been another busy few weeks in Year 5, since our last newsletter, so please read on to find out all of the latest exciting engagements that have been happening.
Best wishes
The Year 5 team
Unit of Inquiry
We are continuing to inquire into our second unit of the year: How The World Works.
How the World Works
Central Idea: Energy may be converted from one form to another and stored in various ways to enhance human progress.
Lines of inquiry
• Form - Different forms of energy sources (renewable and non-renewable)
• Change - How energy is used (transformation)
• Perspective - Sustainable energy practices (progress)
Last week was SCIENCE WEEK at Kennedy School and not only did the children participate in an action packed sequence of engaging, motivating, exploring, explaining & applying scientific learning; but it was also an extension of our 'How the World Works' inquiry.
The highlights of science week were the experimentation rotations which included:
Soda bottle static
Circuits made easy
Helicopter balloons
Exploding lunch bags
Energy circuit sticks
The children then got the opportunity to conduct their own 'kinetic & potential energy' ramp experiment to explore constants and variables. Mrs Ryan, our science coordinator at Kennedy, also introduced us to the Wonderopolis website where the children were given the opportunity to research some of their wonderings from earlier in the week.
A big thank you to all parents & guardians who have helped support the children's application of 'Rube Goldberg machines' and scientific experiments at home over the last few weeks! The results have been fantastic and the children have really enjoyed sharing the pictures and videos in class.
English
The children have continued to explore Report Writing, with a particular focus on science instructions. During science week, they learnt about the 'scientific method' and, as true scientists, have hypothesised, written up the methodology, labeled diagrams, recorded results and drawn conclusions from their findings. The children will continue to develop these language, observation and recording skills through the ongoing science experiments and demonstrations that they will conduct over the next few weeks.
Our new spelling focus for this two week unit is 'silent t' words (e.g. hustle, castle, listen). Children will be logging their words to learn shortly, so please support them in learning and practising them.
Maths
Number
We have been continuing our Number unit on Addition and Subtraction. A reminder that the key objectives are to:
solve addition and subtraction problems using decimals in the form of money and measurement.
Solve problems (including real life and word) involving multiplication of large numbers by one- or two-digit numbers using efficient mental and written strategies.
Use efficient mental and written strategies for addition and subtraction.
Strand
In the lead up to camp we have shifted our focus to Measurement and specifically looking at Time. The key objective is:
Read, write and compare 12 and 24 hour time systems and convert between them.
Please can you help support your child(ren) by reading both analogue and digital clocks in practical settings. We also request that every child brings a watch to camp to help foster responsibility and independence.
We recommend that children support their learning in the classroom by completing the Mathletics or Study Ladder activities online.
Elephant talk
This week at Kennedy we had a special visit from a Masai Warrior who works with The Elephant Society to help protect the endangered elephants of East Africa. The children learnt about the ivory trade and the devastating affects it has had on the population of wild elephants. We also learnt that through the work of The Elephant Society there is hope for these beautiful creatures.
Well done to the Year 5 children who showed engagement throughout the talk and displayed bravery in asking questions in front of such a large audience.
Camp 28th November - 1st December
Please click here for a reminder of the camp list.
5W - compliment chatterbox instructions
5W - compliment giving train
5W - compliment giving train
Box of Hope
Well done to all of the children who have brought in a box of hope. There is still time to make up your shoebox if you haven't already done so...GO YEAR 5!
Please see the following link for further information: http://www.boxofhope.org/home/main/en/
5I - compliments chatterbox
5I - multiplication challenge
5I - compliments chatterbox
Home Learning
Important Dates:
- 28th November - 1st December - Year 5 Camp (Sai Kung)
- 11th December - PTA choir and carols evening
- 15th December - End of term (12pm)