Yr6 Weekly Update – 01/06/17
WELCOME BACK!
We hope you had a relaxing and restful holiday with family and friends!
We are right back into the swing of things here in Y6 with a new unit which falls under the transdisciplinary theme of, Sharing the Planet.
This is an inquiry into, the rights and responsibilities in the struggle to share finite resources with other people and with other living things; communities and the relationships within and between them; access to equal opportunities; peace and conflict resolution.
We will be focusing on the highlighted part of this transdisciplinary theme.
Our central idea is,
The choices we make about energy use have consequences.
The lines of inquiry and the concepts that will define our scope of the inquiry are as follows.
- What energy is (form)
- The impact on the Earth of using different energy sources (connection)
- How our choices make a difference (responsibility)
We really want the students to learn how to take action so for this unit we will be asking that they do an energy audit. Part of their home learning each week will require them to audit some kind of energy use at home and keep a record of it. Students may need help finding the meter in the apartment to see the changes. Here are some examples of what the students could be monitoring:
Turning the lights off
Choosing to use the low power mode for phone rather than charging it all night
Energy saving light bulbs
Shorter showers
Changing the setting on the thermostat of the air conditioner
Washing machine turned to using cold water
Taking public transport instead of driving the car
Any other ideas or help you can provide for your son or daughter is most appreciated!
For this unit we will be focusing on the following skills:
Self Management skills:
Informed Choices – selecting an appropriate course of action based on fact or opinion.
Thinking skills:
Acquisition of knowledge – gaining specific facts, ideas, vocabulary; remembering in a similar form.
For Literacy this unit we will be focusing on;
Reading
- Inferring and visualizing
Speaking/Listening
- Performing poetry
Writing
- Poetry with literary devices
- Procedures with science
In Maths we will be specifically looking at Fractions. We will be investigating into the relationship and converting between common fractions, decimal fractions and percentages. We will be finding percentages of numbers or quantities with and without a calculator. We will be looking at simplifying fractions in mental and written form and converting improper fractions to mixed numbers and vice versa. Students will also be solving problems involving addition and subtraction of common fractions with the same or related denominators.
Your child’s report will go live on Friday January 6th. This information will show what your child has accomplished in our last unit of inquiry. The students have worked on several different platforms to demonstrate their learning. If your child’s work does not appear on the report please ask them to show you from their device.
IMPORTANT DATES
Thursday January 12th – Y6 Sports Day 12-2pm. Please make sure you have filled out the permission form and return it to your class teacher if you would like to take your child home before the end of school.
Friday January 13th – NGO day at KJS – All Y6’s will participate in finding out more about different non profit organizations here in Hong Kong with the hope of finding their passion for the PYP Exhibition.
Friday January 20th – KGV Taster Day – Y6 Students will spend a day at KGV discovering what is in store for them for next year.
Thursday January 26th – Last full day before Chinese New Year Holidays
Friday January 27th – February 5th – Chinese New Year Holidays – if you are leaving early or returning late, please let your child’s teacher know in advance.
Monday February 6th – School resumes
