Yr5 Weekly Update – 12/02/16
Sharing the Planet Central Idea: Biodiversity relies on maintaining a balance within nature
UOI
What an exciting week we have had with starting our new unit of inquiry. To get us in the mood and immersed in the natural world we visited the Wetland Park near Tin Shui Wai. Our key learning for this day was to identify the biodiversity which exists in this biome and to discover which species are interdependent. Biodiversity and interdependence being key related concepts throughout this unit. We had great fun whilst sharpening our observational skills. Other learning engagements this week enabled us to familiarise ourselves with our central idea, lines of inquiry, key concepts and learning dispositions which we focus on throughout the next five weeks.
Language
Our focus on word choice within reading and writing this week has been key in reflecting on our Year 5 camp experience. We have enjoyed reminiscing about all the team building and challenging activities we participated in, along with our experiences with the food, sleep (or lack of) and friendships whilst at Tai Tam Scout Centre. We are sharing our experiences through a variety of forms and with a variety of audiences. As with most writing, the process involves planning, editing and presenting for an audience.
Maths
We have definitely improved our problem solving and perseverance in maths these last couple of weeks. We have been facing problems which involve using multiplicative thinking and have been learning from each other by explaining our thought processes. We often need to find several ways to solve a problem, so finding one answer does not mean we are done. The improvement in our problem solving and the organisation of recording our strategies has improved immensely. We are now using ideas such as bullet points, numbered steps, sentences as well as numbers and even some colour coordinating to clearly explain our thinking. We have moved onto inquiring into problems involving calculating the volume of a shape using cubes. A revision of our multiplication and division tables is really helpful for this learning.
Other news:
There is still a large amount of unclaimed clothing, towels, bed rolls, shoes, sleeping bag bags, jackets, PE shirts and underwear remaining from camp last week. This will soon be cleared away, so please come and claim your child’s clothing.
End of term party – Y5 End of term party is happening on Wednesday 7th December. Students are invited to wear their own party clothes for the day. Our lunch will consist of pizza, fruit and cookies. Deli fresh lunches are cancelled this day, but children can bring in their own supplementary snacks if necessary.
Home Learning
- Twenty minutes daily reading;
- Try some of the online maths activities to reinforce learning in multiplication and division using MyMaths, Table Trees, Moon Maths or these online games.
