Yr5 Curriculum Update – 13/10/17
Working together to achieve success for every child
A snapshot of our learning in Year 5 over the last couple of weeks to share and discuss with the family:
Our Transdisciplinary Unit of Inquiry: Sharing the planet
“Biodiversity relies on maintaining a balance within nature”
Our second Unit of Inquiry has begun with some amazing findings about the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park in the USA. The children looked closely at this case study to ‘tune in’ to the idea of biodiversity and also practiced their skills of analysis and determining importance through the readings we have done.
Again, our unit asks students to question their own responsibility, this time to biodiversity. We have introduced the idea of learner agency in the last unit and have begun to build on this by recognising that we can all take action to protect biodiversity. This is a central theme to this unit.
This unit has quite a heavy reliance on some technical vocabulary. We have been collecting and defining new words this week and will share it shortly.
Our Skill Focus has been around ANALYSIS and so we have been practicing the comprehension strategy of Determining Importance. This really helps readers decide what the main idea of a text is, as well as identify key words and features of a text. We are deconstructing information and explanation texts so that we can improve our own writing in this genre.
Maths
The students are applying their skills in place value and decimals to addition and subtraction in this unit. They have been investigating different strategies for these operations and deciding whether to use mental or written methods for different calculations. Students have been pleasantly surprised in some cases that the method they thought they had to use was not necessary. For example, try calculating 20.01 – 19.97 using a vertical written method, and then think about the numbers and do it in your head. Is there a faster/easier/more efficient way?
Opportunities for Home Learning:
Please help your child to demonstrate agency and responsibility over their personal reading. The school diary is the place for students to record the books they have chosen and read, as well as a pace for them to record questions, connections and theories about their reading.
It is still vital that children in Year 5 have the chance to read to an adult, as well as listen to stories being read to them. Please encourage your child to choose books that engage and challenge them, and to choose a book that they would like you to read to them. There are many library books that use dual language to support ‘mother tongue’ – home reading doesn’t have to be in English!
In general, Hong Kong does not have a great record for environmental protection. The good news is that there are plenty of opportunities for us to make a positive difference. We can start by reducing, re-using and recycling in school and at home. Let us know how you get on!
Upcoming dates for your diary:
- 31 Oct Parent meeting for Year 5 Camp 3-3.45pm
- 28 Nov – 1 Dec Year 5 Camp
Determining Importance Together Student Conceptual Questions
Sharing our Maths strategies
