21 Sep 2018

Yr6 Curriculum Update – 21/09/18

Working together to achieve success for every child

The Year 6 Team

 

  

 

Welcome to the 3rd edition of our Year 6 Curriculum Update!

In each update you will be able to see glimpses of the learning journey that our students have been involved in over the previous two weeks. Our Learning Journey is written by teachers and students.

Category 5 Typhoon Mangkhut has devastated different parts of Hong Kong. Downed trees and broken fences will take days to clear; however the way which our Hong Kong community has come together; to connect and help each other to clear away the debris, it is commendable. This is what our current unit is about : “people collaborate to make a difference in communities.”

Transdisciplinary Learning – It’s all connected!

In Inquiry, year 6 classes have been working together to formulate open-ended question related to the issues: Inequality, Poverty and Environment the issues that students are interested in. Ask your child if they know what these chosen problems are.

In Writing some classes have been working on persuasive pieces  and students have been exploring the persuasive language and devices used to persuade the audience. Students have worked really hard on unpacking synthesis, the skill focus for this unit. Some classes have been collaborating to learn how to take notes and have also learned how to paraphrase. Students have been learning to focus on the key ideas and write the information in their own words.

In Maths, children have been working on learning about different place value systems, such as base 2 (binary), base 3, and base 4. They had to crack codes, such as the hundred square code, write their own code, and to convert numbers from base 2, 3, and 4 to base 10. Please ask your child about binary numbers, and how to convert base 2 numbers to base 10 numbers. Here is a great video to watch with your child. https://vimeo.com/185075220

In Physical Education, Students have been working on their movement composition with Mr. Riddle and Mrs. Hadley.

During Music, children had to create musical instruments using all sorts of recyclable items and use them to compose music. They had to work in groups. Some students have been chosen to perform in assembly and share their creations to the school.

In Mandarin, some classes have been practicing for their role-play performances. One of the classes have been exploring different ways to achieve their targets by working as a group.Others have been playing games to develop their speaking and writing skills. Students have also been learning about the Mid-Autumn Festival story.

Library news: The librarians have put together an extra piece on Orbit, the library’s website. The extra piece is about book recommendations. The students can submit a form to send to the librarians about which books they think are good and why. This way, the library staff can order the books and get more students to read books that the other students have recommended, based on choice and popularity of the recommended books.

 

How you can help at home?

Explore the Global goals with your child and how these goals are important to solve the issues that are affecting our world at present.Check out some great ideas for how to make a big difference with small but significant ideas and actions with teaspoons of change.

 

Typhoon Mangkhut/山竹:  From year 6 Students’ diaries – Student experiences

I thought that the typhoon was really intense and scary. Everywhere I go, I see fallen trees, stairs like mini waterfalls, pieces of plastic bags flying around. The typhoon was so powerful, it sounded like thunder outside. What was weird about it, while the typhoon was destroying nature outside, I was in my bed, still sleeping, and all of my family was awake already when it was super loud outside. Typhoon Mangkhut made me actually enjoy watching news!   By Jayden

 

I was really excited during the typhoon because I went to my friend’s house for a sleepover. The wind was really loud and trees were falling everywhere, even getting around by road was like a maze. We had to find our way through the fallen trees. I ended up having to stay an extra night and luckily, I was prepared! I feel that this typhoon connects to the Global Goals because there is loads more work for cleaners and poor people probably didn’t have enough protection. By Sia

 

During the typhoon, the wind kept banging my window, which made me quite scared. I couldn’t go out and I barely got any sleep. My apartment was the closest to the sea so we got the most impact. All I could do was stay at home, watch movies and text my friends. By Queenie

 

I was quite scared of the typhoon.  When the typhoon was here, water kept coming through my windows.  The whole day was quite boring, since we didn’t get to go out.  By Clive

 

I was very scared during the typhoon. My building was shaking and my hamster kept going up to the 2nd level of his cage to show me that he was scared. We had to tape up the windows and it was too dangerous to go outside. When it was safer to go outside, my parents went out and took pictures. Trees had fallen everywhere and most of the streets were blocked. By Indi

 

During the typhoon, I was really scared because I thought the glass windows would break, even though I was with my friends. On Monday, I saw that most of the old and big trees were knocked over and you could actually see their roots. The trees were blocking the roads so the cars had to turn around to get to their destination. It was pretty devastating. By Charlotte

 

 

How you can help at home?

Explore the Global goals with your child and how these goals are important to solve the issues that are affecting our world at present.Check out some great ideas for how to make a big difference with small but significant ideas and actions with teaspoons of change.

 

  • 24th, 25th September – No School
  • October 1st – No School
  • 3rd October – Workshop: Your child and technology
  • 15th October – 19th October – Mid-term break

 

Kind regards,

Year 6 Teachers and Students Editors and Photographers

(Indira 6A, Nathaniel 6G, Clive 6P, Simona 6L, Queenie 6P, Azara 6A, Adrian 6G, Charlotte 6L, Rhianna 6L, Jayden 6E, and Sia 6E)