Term 4 Room 18

Term 4

Welcome to Room 18.

We are into our final term and the children are all looking forward to our over night at MERC, graduation and then Intermediate. It looks like it will be another busy term!

See the bottom of this page for our latest MERC information.

If you have not enrolled at Intermediate please do so as soon as possible. This allows children to be placed in classes before the start of the year. 

Our topic for the term is “the way we were”. We will be looking at the development of the Albany area, the changes and what is planned for the future. We hope to collect old maps and pictures of the region and to talk to people who have lived in the area for a long time as well as those currently working on developing the area. If you have any contacts that you think we may find helpful please do let me know. 

 

Please sign the homework grid. This encourages children to share with you what they are doing. 

The reading log is also very important as it is an opportunity for children to process their thinking, this is such an important part of their reading.

The children need to write their spelling words neatly and correctly into the back of their books. These should be tested at least 4 times. They can be ticked if they are correct. I use a dot if they are not as this is only temporary. The reason for having them in the back is that they are all together and it is easy to review or transfer problem words to next week’s list.   Please have the children write the words down when testing and learning. This enables them to have a visual picture of the word and assists when they are proof reading.

Journal drafts go in the front of the book. Please encourage your child to complete one task a week so that they don’t get behind.

Homework books are collected on Thursday and returned on Friday so that homework can be done at a time that suites your family and the children’s after school commitments. 

Try this site to help children to select books.

 

When working on their Journal it is always a good idea to read material about the topic. This provides a good general understanding. The best place to start is the school library or the Public Library, in the children’s section. When they have a good general understanding then they are able to go on and read the material on the internet. 

Please encourage them to take responsibility for their homework as Intermediate requires children to step up and use those self management skills even more. We are not wanting them to miss out at all so we are fostering the development of these life skills now. 

Empty squares in their home work grid should also be filled. These can be covered by a range of educational activities. Music, sport and cultural activities are all very important and should be included.   There is a list to assist you on the cover of your homework book. 

In class we are using the Discovery Zone.  Children will also be able to  use this from home.

 

 

We are focusing on two types of writing this term, they are narrative and poetry. Narrative is fictional story writing and requires the development of plots and characters. The children enjoy this type of writing as it lets their imagination go wild. Our focus will be on using accurate punctuation and using the appropriate text structure.

During our focus on poetry we investigate different forms of poetry, such as haiku, cinquain, onomatopoeia and others. 

We will continue with our basic facts every week and the children already have this terms list in their homework book.

We start the term recapping and reviewing place value and investigating temperature and money again. A number of students are not able to identify different coins and struggle to make up amounts using a specific number of coins. Please allow your children to calculate change for you and to make up set amounts of money.

Our next topic is algebra where we focus on patterns and relationships. This is an area the children find difficult. They need to be able to identify patterns and to continue them by applying the rule.   This topic develops into using algebraic equations.

We move on to a review of geometry, there are still a number of students who are struggling to name the more complicated shapes that Y6 need to work with. This is especially true with 3D shapes. We will also focus on movement and position when working on this topic.

We finish the term with fractions and decimals and a review of tessellation and rotation. We have done a lot of work on fractions in term 2 and decimals in term 1 we are now working on being able to use these alternatively and to add, subtract and multiply with them. We will recap the year with multiplication and division. 

Throughout the term there will also be a focus on practical application of math and word problems. Often the children can complete the math but find it difficult to do this when the problem is written in a different way. 

 

 

Mrs Jones takes the class on Tuesday. She is the brilliant French teacher. 

Library day- you must have your book bag. 

 

MERC- Don’t forget we are going to MERC on the 25 and 26 of November. This is our big end of year activity for the Y6 children. We stay the night and generally have an amazing time, both socially and with a huge range of new experiences. 

As this is often an expensive time of year, if you would like to start to drip feed money to the school to pay for MERC please do so. We have not calculated the cost at this stage but last year it was $110 for the facilities, equipment, food etc. This includes all day Thursday, over night and all day Friday. On Friday we don’t finish until 4.00 when the instructors finish. 

The gear list will be coming home shortly and a copy will also be on this page. Please don’t go out and buy new items, if you need anything I am happy to lend any of my own gear and if I can’t help others are often willing to lend items. 

I will be applying for a grant to assist with finances but I was not successful with this last year. 

If you have any concerns or questions about anything please don’t hesitate to contact me. It is often very productive to have a little chat and share information. 

Dear Year 6 Students and Parents,

 

As you are aware we will soon be having a 2 day Outdoor Education intensive for the Year 6’s. 

We pay for the MERC instructors from 9.00am to 4.00pm on both days and are keen for the children to get as much from the experience as possible, therefore, it is essential that your child arrives at 9.00am sharp on Thursday 25 November. There will be a teacher there from 8.30am. Please arrange for your child to be collected at 4.00pm on Friday 26 November.

 

Your child will need the following for the 2 days. Please do not rush out and buy things. If you need anything please ask and we will attempt to find it for you.

 

Lunch and morning tea for Thursday 25 November

Solid footwear

Sleeping bag or single bedding

Pillow and pillowcase

Raincoat – activities will go ahead regardless of the weather

Windproof jacket

Swimming gear

Hat

Lots of warm clothes, including:

-warm shirts

-long pants

-socks

-T shirts

-underwear

-shorts

Sunscreen

Pyjamas

Toiletries

Towels 2

Tea towel

Plate

Cup

Knife, fork, spoon

Drink bottle

Plastic bag for plates etc

Pen or pencil

Torch

Plastic bag for dirty clothes

Some baking or biscuits for supper and morning teas  please

 

PLEASE ENSURE EVERYTHING IS CLEARLY NAMED

 

If you have any queries please do not hesitate to ask.

 

 

 

Amanda Smith