27 Sep 2019

Yr6 Curriculum Update – 27/09/19

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.

Our Year 6 assembly that took place last week was fantastic! It was heartwarming to see how different classes showcased their learning across a wide range of areas. The performances were outstanding and we thought all of the students looked stunning. We hoped you enjoyed our assembly as well.

Transdisciplinary Learning – It’s all connected!

In Inquiry, On DD (design day), designers and parents from our community came to our school to talk to us so that we got inspiration from them. They talked to us about their process, and their challenges and how they found their potential with a simple 5 step process.

Each step is essential to make a successful product. The first step is empathise. In this step, the designer interviews their clients to find out about their needs. The designer might want to create a survey to ask their end-users too. The second step is define. In define, designers analyse the data collected from the interviews and form a problem statement. The third step is Ideate. In Ideate, designers form many ideas that are unique and special. You need to also value quantity over quality, and form a blueprint. After Ideate is prototype. Designers have to collect materials and build their plans/models. The last step is Test. In this step, the designer will have to test the prototype that they made. If it doesn’t work, the designer has to think and reflect. The person will have to go back to the step Ideate. Now, students are using the steps and knowledge to design potential objects that could solve problems.

In Maths, classes have been working hard on making planimetric drawings, a planimetric drawing is a type of 3-D drawing that includes an accurate ‘Plan View’ or top view, as a floor plan. Using our knowledge of isometric drawings and google maps, students have developed the ability to use scale factors on maps. Some classes have been measuring angles using protractors, to develop knowledge on how to measure an angle with a protractor.

In Mandarin, classes have been working with Meeopp and Seesaw. Meeopp is an online class using an instructor that they can interact with and Seesaw is a place where you can share your learning using a photo, letter, drawing, or a video. also, all mandarin classes watched an eye-stunning performance in the hall.

In Music, students have been working on reading and following drum chords and performing them to different POP and backbeat songs that have the same beat/ tune. We are doing this first and once it has been perfected, we will be writing and creating our own music chart with our groups and play it with our chosen song. Students have also watched videos from the Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon, where he and the popular band “ Aerosmith” sang one of their songs using simple classroom instruments such as African drums, bongos, tambourines etc. So when we are going to make our own drum charts, we will only be using simple classroom instruments. This week, the students have also been playing their instruments to a disco or a backbeat track and playing it to another song with the same chords and beat. We performed our pieces and had the best composition would perform in the assembly.

In PE, we have been working on movement composition. Classes are currently working on a dance called the Electric Slide and adding layers of complexity. Students have been using this move in their own movement composition. They also have started vlogging their moves. They have been inspired by different sports, such as basketball or gymnastics, and chose certain equipment that they think fit with their moves. Some students have to see whether or not it fits the music’s beat, while others are beginning to try new music.

In Art, students have been given the task to make a frame which uses wood and joined together with a mitred butt joint and hot glue guns. A few groups have already mastered the art of woodwork, creating a frame.

 

Library Monitors:

Thanks to all our Library Monitors for applying! Click this Link if you’d like to check it out!

 

Funtastic Friday

Funtastic Friday is an event, especially organised to give students from Y4-Y6 and opportunity to run their own clubs on Friday Lunch plays around different facilities/areas in the school. Clubs can range in things from Origami, Gaming, Reading, Mindfulness, and so on. Details have already been sent out to teachers if the students wish to apply before the end of the half-term holiday in October. The student council will be at the forefront of this event.

 

How you can help at home?

Mother tongue development is necessary for cultural identity and cognitive development. Therefore please support the use of mother tongue to help your child participate more effectively in the global community. Talk to your child about how various designers create solutions to solve the problems in real life. The importance of empathy and how connecting with the client plays an important role in the design and making process.

 

Action

As part of the action for Y6, students need to bring fruits/vegetables or food that is home-made in reusable containers. In order to reduce single-use plastic, we have pledged not to bring in snacks wrapped in plastic, such as chips and biscuits. Year 6 is aiming to be more eco-friendly, so we advise that students should drink water instead of juice, soda or other drinks

 

 

Important dates

Monday 30 September                   CPD Day  – No school

Tuesday 1 October                          National Day – No school

Friday 4 October                              Day before Mid-Term Break –  FULL Day Classes

7 – 11 October                                  Mid-Term Break

Wednesday 23 October                   Hong Kong Camp meeting for the parents

 

We Need Your Help!

As one of our sustainability goals for Year 2019/2020, we are going to replant and propagate our plants from the last year. We believe in partnering with parents to boost our students learning. As part of the process to develop the shared area, our students would like to set up a nursery to help them with the repotting process. We will need soil packs, planters, big clean yoghurt tubs, or any other big clean plastic containers. In case you have any of the above items at home, kindly send them to the school.

 

OUR LEARNING JOURNEY

Classes have tried emulating a drum set using a variety of non-percussion instruments” Watch this video Basic rock beat to find out more!

 

Some students are looking at professional planometric drawing” Here is a Video covering the basics of planimetric drawings.

 

Kind regards,

Year 6 Teachers and Students Editors and Photographers

Anya Motiwala 6A, Claire So 6A, Natasha Lai 6P, Brandon Wong 6E, Shaila Aswani 6G, Scotter Wong 6A, Jolly Law 6G, Momoka Kobayashi 6G, Chesney Yim 6T, Moe Sugawara 6T, Praneel Melwani 6P, Zach Scurville 6E