Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Novel study Term 2 - Holes

Good afternoon everyone,
I have mentioned this to our class several times, but I also thought it was important for all parents to know, that our class have dealt with some big issues in our class novel this term. There were very in depth themes such as equality, racism, destiny, family history and true friendship. I am so impressed with how maturely all boys have discussed these issues and voiced their own opinions. It is a true testament to the values they are receiving from home and school.

To make the storyline a bit clearer today, we also drew up a timeline of Zero and Stanley's family to see when events happened and how the families relate. Side discussions that evolved included roman numerals (to name the Stanley's throughout the family), looking in the Atlas at Latvia (where the story begins) all the way to Texas (where the story concludes), whether destiny really exists or if everything is just a coincidence and what it means to have true friends and happiness.

We are finishing off our novel today due to the cancellation of the Cross Country. I am sure your boys would love to tell you all about their opinion of the novel over the weekend.

I hope you all have a very safe long weekend!

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Great idea for speeches

Here are some great ways to gain confidence when practising your speeches:
1. Use a mirror so you can watch yourself and make sure you are glancing up regularly for eye contact.

2. Ask a parent, friend or sibling to watch you and give feedback about your body language, eye contact, pace and volume. This is also a great way to get feedback about whether your speech flows and makes sense.

3. Use an iPad, iPhone or camera to film yourself so you can watch yourself to see where you can improve.


4. Last, but not least. You all MUST time yourselves to check your speech will go for 2-4 minutes. If your speech goes for 2 minutes on the dot or less you will need to add extra information to your speech. This is because when people get nervous they speak quicker and therefore your speech won't go for as long when you present it on Monday or Tuesday.


You all made a fantastic start last week and I cannot wait to see everyone's speeches next week. Best of luck to all of you boys, but I know you won't need it! :)

Week 4 Diary Dates and Homework

BLUE - Dates relating to school (left side page of diary)
RED - Homework (right side page of diary)
OTHER COLOUR OF CHOICE - Own personal commitments (right side page of diary)

MON - Art, Chapel, sports training for AFL and Rugby, Speaker's Challenge speeches to start for our class (will run throughout the week).

TUES -  P.E, Sports training for hockey and socce, Holes Chapters up to 35 finished

WED -  Library, Chapel money

THURS -  P.E, Cross Country, Spelling test and homework due

FRI -  MID - TERM BREAK - Please have a safe long weekend and I look forward to seeing all your smiling faces on Tuesday! :)

HOMEWORK:
WRITING - catch up week / speech practice
READING - Allocated Chapters of HOLES (some are being read in classtime as well)
MATHS - Unit 11 Mental Maths
SPELLING - Unit 16 - m / mm / mb, extension boys do related extension sheet

List 1:
1. stomach
2. commonly
3. camera
4. complaint
5. undamaged
6. examine
7. extremely
8. majority
9. solemnly
10. immense

List 2:
1. recommence
2. competition
3. material
4. accompanied
5. menagerie
6. preliminary
7. resemblance
8. embarrassment
9. unmentionable
10. combustion

List 3:

1.           Abominable
2.           Accomplish
3.           Anonymous
4.           Compatible
5.           Embellishment
6.           Epidemic
7.           Implements
8.           Masquerade
9.           Masculine
10.      pessimism

STARS preperation - compare and contrast

This week we ran a whole class activity on comparing and contrasting (what is similar and what is different) to prepare for our next STARS unit next week. We looked at key words and highlighted text using three different colours. We then changed our notes into a Venn Diagram to see our results.

The boys were very engaged in the text, which was discussing the Sumatran Rhino and the Woolly Rhino. I'm sure your boys would be able to have an interesting discussion with you tonight regarding the similarities and differences between the two, or how to make and use a Venn Diagram.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Diary Dates Term 2, Week 3

BLUE - Dates relating to school (left side page of diary)
RED - Homework (right side page of diary)
OTHER COLOUR OF CHOICE - Own personal commitments (right side page of diary)

MON - Holes Ch 20 finished, AFL excursion (P.E gear), Library, Chapel, sports training for AFL and Rugby

TUES -  P.E, Sports training for hockey and soccer, ICAS Computer Skills (for students who signed up).

WED -  9:30am Aboriginal Incursion, Art, Chapel Money

THURS -  Library, Interschool sport against Trinity, Cross Country Training

FRI -  Assembly, Music (iPad), Homework Due, desk checks, spelling test

HOMEWORK:
WRITING - Finish editing and practicing your speeches (Presentations will be Week 4)
READING - Allocated Chapters of HOLES
MATHS - Unit 10 Mental Maths
SPELLING - Unit 15 - ee, extension boys do related extension sheet

List 1:
1. stream
2. leader
3. speech
4. breathe
5. release
6. recent
7. media
8. recipe
9. relieve
10. achieve

List 2:
1. difficulty
2. naughty
3. necessity
4. fatigued
5. cemetery
6. repeatedly
7. primarily
8. guarantee
9. secretarial
10. approximately

List 3:

1.           alleviated
2.           caffeine
3.           Celsius
4.           Debris
5.           Deceitful
6.           erroneous
7.           Excruciating
8.           initiate
9.           Mediocre
10.      Subterranean

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Class rules activity

Today in form time we went through our 12 class rules (the boys made these rules as a class in Term 1) and the boys wrote in groups examples of how they would be able to show these virtues. I was so impressed with the boys responses and some of the vocabulary they used that I thought it would be nice for parents to see.

We also emphasised that a lot of the rules would relate to outside of the classroom and at home with their siblings as well.

Here are the boys responses:

1. HELPING OTHERS WHEN WE SEE THEY NEED HELP
- Ask people in our row to see if they need any help
- Help class mates when they need help and check if they are ok
- Help other class mates when they looked confused
- When someone does not know something make sure you do offer your help

2. LOOK AFTER YOUR OWN AND OTHERS BELONGINGS TO HELP KEEP OUR CLASSROOM NEAT
- Check for any rubbish or items on the floor to return to the owner (even if it's not yours)
- Make sure you don't lose anything you borrow or use
- Return anything you might use to the correct person / place
- If there is any rubbish on the floor just pick it up

3. BE READY AND FOCUSED EACH SESSION
- Put your stationery on your desk and put your books out for the correct subject
- Be organised for every lesson by having your things out and checking the timetable
- When Mrs Geelhoed says what we are doing for that session get ready quickly
- Be ready for learning by showing a great attitude and eye contact

4. DO YOUR BEST WORK AND ALWAYS CHECK OVER IT
- Use extra tools like when you're writing try to use your have a go pad to help with spelling
- Don't rush your work and write with the correct posture. Give your best effort!
- Reserve your spare time for editing. When you finish, check over your work.
- Do not rush and always thoroughly check your answers for the activity or test

5. ENCOURAGE OTHERS AND CELEBRATE INDIVIDUALITY
- Always acknowledge people for their strengths and don't offend people in any way.
- Make sure everyone is included no matter what they look like
- Always encourage others and give compliments
-When someone gets the wrong answer, don't laugh at them

6. ALWAYS TELL THE TRUTH AND OWN UP TO OUR MISTAKES
- When you take something always tell the truth
- Honesty is the best policy because telling a lie can affect your reputation
- Never lie about breaking class or other student property as someone else might get the blame unfairly
- It shows good character to tell the truth

7. TREAT OTHERS AS YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE TREATED
- The golden rule is important because it means you are showing respect to everyone
- It is important because other people appreciate what you will be doing
- Don't put anyone down under any circumstances or they might do it to you in return
- Making sure everyone is included in games because they might not let you play next time if you exclude or be mean to them.

8. BE PROUD OF YOUR OWN AND OTHER'S ACHIEVEMENTS
- Congratulate others for what they have achieved and be proud of the effort you have shown to achieve things
- You need to be modest when you achieve something. Be proud and congratulate others on what they achieve
- Encourage others even when you are the person who won and they have lost. Also be a good sport if you lose.
- Be proud of your own achievements but don't dwell on it if you don't achieve your goal. Point out what others have done well.

9. LOOK AFTER THE CLASSROOM RESOURCES AND RETURN THEM TO THE CORRECT LOCATION
- Look after class property and put things back where they belong because you do not own them
- After every day make sure your area and other areas of the classroom are clean
- Looking after the classroom resources and putting them in the right location is important because they can get broken
- Keep the trolley and calm corner neat so we can all enjoy using them

10. ALLOWING PEOPLE TO HAVE A SAY IN OUR CLASSROOM
- Don't interrupt people when they are sharing their opinions
- Don't be so verbose and be patient when other people are having a conversation
- Make sure you hear everyone's opinion before making decisions
- Don't speak over others, put your hand up so everyone gets a go to speak for themselves

11. CONTROLLING YOUR EMOTIONS
- Use the traffic lights and turtle that you learnt in PATHS because they can help stop you from snow balling problems
- Take three deep breaths and thing about the situation. This is important to you don't lose your temper.
- You can control your emotions by making sure you don't get too aggressive. It is important to control your emotions because being too stressed can make you sad or unwell.
- If you get upset too often it means you snow ball problems. Use your traffic lights otherwise you may go crazy.

12. USE INSIDE VOICES WHEN IN THE CLASSROOM AND GIVE EVERYONE A FAIR GO
- Don't use your outside voice or you might lose table points. Also let everyone have a say.
- Using inside voices is important because it can effect other people's concentration and can be very annoying.
-Outside voices are very disturbing inside. We can give everyone a fair go when Mrs Geelhoed uses the pop sticks to choose who speaks.
- We should all use inside voices because our voices echo more inside. You can listen out for other people's voice level and adjust your own to fit if you have trouble doing this. 

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Graphing - maths

On Wednesday each week boys focus on graphing. Last week boys looked at using scales in pictographs and how to read pie charts using percentages, fractions and whole numbers.

This week we are covering mean, median and mode. Boys watched this quick video at the start of the session which helped to explain each of the concepts further.

MEAN - Also known as the average
Using a set of data add all the numbers together and then divide by the amount of numbers in that set.
E.g.
2, 4, 2, 6
Add them all together 2 + 4 + 2 + 6 = 14
Divide by 4 = 12 r 2

MEDIAN - Also known as the middle number
Using a set of data order from smallest to largest. If you have an odd set of data the median is the middle number, if you have an even set of numbers you add the two middle numbers together and then divide by 2 (average of the two middle numbers).

E.g. for an odd set
2, 4, 2, 5, 7
Step 1 order smallest to largest - 2, 2, 4, 5, 7
Step 2 find the middle number = 4

E.g. for an even set
3, 6, 4, 5
Step 1 order smallest to largest - 3, 4, 5, 6
Step 2 find the two middle numbers = 4 and 5
Step 3 Find the average by adding them together and then dividing by two = 4.5

MODE - The number that occurs the most
E.g. 2, 5, 4, 6, 6, 4, 3, 6 = in this case 6 occurs the most

E.g. 2, 3, 2, 3, 4, 5, = in this case 2 and 3 occur the most

E.g. 1, 7, 4, 5, 9 = in this case no number occurs the most so there is no mode

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uydzT_WiRz4

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Tectonic plates

Last week in class we started talking about the tectonic plates and the different types of boundaries. Boys revisited the different layers or the Earth and look at where on the Earth's crust the plates sit. They learnt how quickly the plates move, how continents have changed over time due to plate movements and made some links to countries in 'danger zones'. Below is a world map showing the names and locations of the tectonic plates. We will be doing further work on the different boundaries this week in class.

Your child may like to explain to you what tectonic plates are using the map below:

http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-maps/fault-lines-map.html

There is also a great song on you tube made by a Science teacher who changes the words to popular songs to relate to scientific topics. This a one about Pangaea and the plates that some boys may be interested in watching.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW23Z94yf24

 




Diary dates Week 2 Term 2

BLUE - Dates relating to school (left side page of diary)
RED - Homework (right side page of diary)
OTHER COLOUR OF CHOICE - Own personal commitments (right side page of diary)


DIARY DATES:

MON - Boys should of read to the end of Ch 10 for HOLES, Art shirts, Common Assessment Writing (exposition), Sport training for AFL and Rugby

TUES - Boys who do AFL have an excursion with Mr Leckie, Boys need to bring their planning sheets for their Speaker's Challenge into class to help start writing their speeches (the rest is to be done for homework), P.E (P5 instead of 2 due to AFL excursion), NAPLAN for Year 3 and 5,  Sport training for Hockey and Soccer

WED - Chapel Money, NAPLAN Year 3 and 5

THURS - Inter school sport (Scotch), P.E, STARS Cause and effect activity, NAPLAN Year 3 and 5

FRI - All homework due except HOLES Chapters, Assembly, Spelling test and new words


HOMEWORK: (remember boys will not be given slips of paper anymore with homework)
READING: Holes Chap 20
WRITING: Speech finished
MATHS: Mental Maths Ch 9
SPELLING: Weekly word (extension boys have extension sheet)
DIARY DATES: Any boys who have missed diary dates or not brought their diary on the day will be expected to complete their diary dates for homework.

COMING UP: Excursion Monday to Fremantle of Week 3, Book Week next week

SPELLING WORDS: Unit 14 l/ll
List 1
1. vessel
2. lonely
3. cleverly
4. related
5. conclude
6. themselves
7. liquor
8. national
9. practical
10. principal

List 2
1. relatively
2. illustrated
3. elaborately
4. regional
5. religious
6. officially
7. exploration
8. entitlement
9. enveloped
10. miscellaneous

List 3

1.           agility
2.           available
3.           colonel
4.           demolition
5.           dishevelled
6.           emphatically
7.           illegible
8.           lenient
9.           lieutenant
10.      paralysis

Monday, May 6, 2013

Week 1, Term 2 Homework

This week is obviously quite a short week! As noted in the previous blog post boys will no longer be receiving slips of paper explaining their homework. They will be required to write their homework into their diaries and will be shown how to do this this morning. This is in preparation for what they are expected to do next year.

DIARY DATES: Note down all events at school and home for your week (you may like to use different colours for home and school). You may also like to schedule your homework into particular nights.
READING: Allocated "Holes" chapters.
WRITING: Select a topic for your Speaker's Challenge. *It would be a great idea to speak to your siblings, parents and friends to help you decide. Please come prepared with what your topic will be by Friday.
MATHS: Times tables practice.
SPELLING: Practice words every night. Test on Friday.

UNIT 13: ai
List 1:
1. restrain
2. entertain
3. flavouring
4. reign
5. reign
6. sleigh
7. estate
8. statement
9. neighbourly
10. campaign

List 2:
1. calculator
2. bouquet
3. elimination
4. rendezvous
5. accommodate
6. acquaintance
7. fascinating
8. maintenance
9. miscellaneous
10. simultaneous

List 3:

1.           assailant
2.           annihilate
3.           contagion
4.           cooperation
5.           correlate
6.           dissuade
7.           depreciating
8.           emaciated
9.           spontaneous
10.      paraphernalia

Welcome back / homework changes / new routines

Hi everyone,
welcome back to Term 2! I can't believe how quickly the year is flying already. I hope you all have a restful holiday and have recovered from Canberra. I'm very excited to hear all the boys stories this morning. Below is some extra information for you regarding this term, I hope you find the information useful.

This term we will be focusing on the following topics in class:

S&E: Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War
SCIENCE: Volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis
WRITING: Speaker's challenge, finishing off expositions from last term, information reports and narratives.
READING: Our class novel "Holes", running records to mark your child's progress from last term in fluency and accuracy, guided reading, STARS units 4-6, one on one reading and common assessment comprehension tasks.
SPELLING: Allocated weekly units, editing activities, grammar links and impromptu lessons.
MATHS: Graphing, perimeter and area, converting units of measurement, fractions and timestables.
AUSSIE OPTIMISM: Modules 5-10

HOMEWORK: Last term students were given slips of paper explaining their homework on it. This will cease now in second term to start preparing the boys to use their diaries more efficiently for High School. Students will be expected to note their homework in their diaries (which will be modelled this morning). They are still expected to write their own diary dates each week if they miss this session in class. Some boys dropped the ball a bit last term so I will be following up more with them this term and I encourage you to prompt them to organise themselves at home using their diary if you aren't already. As usual homework will also be noted on the blog so there is no reason why students can't find out the requirements of the week.

CLASS NOVEL: Once again we will be starting with our class novel at the start of the term. All boys will be given a "Holes" book today. They will be allocated certain chapters to read throughout the week. It is extremely important that boys stay up to date with the chapters this term since we will be completing our report throughout the term, not at the end of the book like we did last term. Boys are required to take care of these books as they are school property and will have to replace them if they are damaged or lost.

ABSENT STUDENTS: Just like last term I would like you to please notify me via email or phone the office if your child is away. A note in the diary explaining the circumstances is also fine the next day, but it is easier for our records if we are notified on the day.

Any absent student will also be expected to catch up on any work they have missed. On occasion it is possible to email this work on the day so the students can catch up at home, other times that is just not possible. The expectation is that the absent students will have a maximum of a week to complete the tasks they have missed as additional homework.

TESTS AND PREPARATION:
Students will be given study sheets and vocabulary lists to learn for S&E as well as Science again this term. Everything on the sheets has been covered in class either via activities, discussions, videos or through special guest speakers. Students are given some time in class to prepare, but more of the revision needs to be done at home. These sheets will be given to students early in the term and then continued to be used throughout the term.

At the end of each term students also participate in a range of other tests. Maths tests will be notified here on the blog and in student diaries so they are able to further prepare. We often break maths tests down into specific topics to make it easier for students and then space them across the term. Other tests (common assessment tasks) won't necessarily be noted for students as there is no preparation required, such as comprehension tasks. These are often to see growth of skill or progression.

SPEAKER'S CHALLENGE:
Students will be given more information about this on Friday, however they should start thinking about a topic they may like to provide a speech on. The topics are open to whatever the student would like to speak about. Last year the speeches that added some humour often did the best. Some topics previously used are the history of the coffee, door knobs, children should be allowed a diet of lollies, the importance of having siblings, the country my family originate from, etc.

During class time all the rules will be explain and planning sheets to assist students will be handed out. They will be given a certain number of periods to start writing their speeches, but the rest of the writing and preparation will be part of their homework. All students from our class will present their speeches in the same week. Based on their scores two to three students will be selected from our class to compete against two to three students from each of the other Year 6 classes. From there the judges will select the final three to represent our school at the end of Term 2 at the official Speaker's Challenge.

This is a great opportunity for all boys to show some creativity and have ownership over their speeches. There will be no I.T allowed for these speeches, such as PowerPoint. Palm cards MUST be used and prepared properly before the day of the speech.




I know that is a lot of information for the start of the term! I hope it gives you all a bit of an insight into how much we will be covering. There will also be the Semester Reports at the end of the term which will the same as what you experienced at the end of last year.

Lee Geelhoed