YEAR 3

Year 3 has the central idea of ‘Memories shape Australia.’ for our ‘Who We Are’ inquiry. We have been inquiring into the following two lines of inquiry and concepts. Here are some photographs of how we have been open-minded, thinkers while exploring these lines. 

Line 1: People who cause change affect how we see Australians. causation (cause and effect)

Line 2: Australians have different opinions about significant events, symbols and emblems. perspective (truth /opinion)

Our Text Study is the verse novel ‘The Riding Gallery’ by Sally Murphy and Martina Heiduczek. We have enjoyed learning about how verse novels are a mixture of a chapter book and a long poem. This is also historical fiction based on a real person, place and event. We used Britannica and Kiddle Facts as sources of information to take notes about St Kilda and World War 1 in response to our own questions. 

We also visualised the three characters and the riding gallery. We drew them and labelled them with our own metaphors and similes in order to describe the characters and the setting. 

Currently we are exploring the stereotyping of Anton in the story and how this led to the events at the end of the book. We will be writing a persuasive letter to Rory and his family to convince them to look beyond their prejudice of Anton as a German Australian and get to know the individual.   

In our Inquiry Maths Unit, we had looked at the right angles, acute angles and obtuse angels. We discussed what is bigger or smaller than a right angle to categorise them. We focused on finding angles in everyday life, and why it is important to have knowledge of the different types. 

Currently we are looking at Mapping. Students have created a map of their classroom in a birds eye view. They have also been given the opportunity to have a map of the school, and practise their skills using Keys/Legends. This week students will be following a map to find a hidden object, to familiarise themselves with using a map for navigation. 

YEAR 5

Literacy

In Year 5, students have been engaging their literacy skills through rich, cross-curricular learning experiences. One highlight has been exploring The Dark Emu constellation and using this knowledge to understand First Nations perspectives and ways of learning. By making connections between the night sky, land, and storytelling, students gained valuable insights into how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples observe, interpret, and pass on knowledge.

In writing, students have continued to develop their skills through a focus on procedural and persuasive texts. Year 5 have applied their learning from our How the World Works unit of inquiry by crafting persuasive texts linked to recent scientific discoveries. From immortal jellyfish to lab-grown mammoth meatballs, students were supported to construct logical arguments, enhanced with relevant research and persuasive language features. 

Numeracy

In Year 5 we have been looking at different strategies to solve multiplication questions such as the area model, doubling and the double/half strategies. We have also explored different strategies to estimate and check our answers to help us know if our answers are logical and likely.

We have looked at a wide range of vocabulary to help us understand and solve different maths worded questions, using this knowledge to help understand real world situations where we would be using our strategies and knowledge.

We will soon begin our learning on division strategies and the connection between multiplication and division.

How The World Works

This term for our How The World Works unit of inquiry, we have been exploring science concepts such as states of matter, light and animal adaptations. Students have been applying their Research and Social Skills when investigating concepts and working in groups to complete experiments. We identified the states of matter involved in making a balloon inflate with bi-carb soda and vinegar, and a demonstration of the Elephant’s Toothpaste experiment. We used Hodson light boxes to investigate the reflection and refraction of light with different shapes and identified sources of natural and artificial light around the school.

Students created fact files about the structural and behavioural adaptations of a particular animal. We then explored some modern scientific discoveries and ways that we can take action towards the Sustainable Development Goals. This knowledge will also relate to our upcoming Sharing The Planet unit exploring sustainable housing. 

I enjoyed the light box experiment when we could add colour and shapes to make a light ray look cool. - Neena

I learned what the three states of matter are. - Rhett 

I liked the fun experiments. - Mason K

I learned what an adaptation is. - Tanya

It has been a busy start to the term in the library.

In week 4, every student in the school participated in National Simultaneous Storytime by reading The Truck Cat by Deborah Frenkel and Danny Snell. It is a beautiful story of Yacoub, a new immigrant to Australia, who drives a truck around Australia and has a beautiful cat, call Tinka, who travels with him. One day, while chasing a butterfly, Tinka get separated from Yacoub. It is a moving story that can be accessed at many different levels. More than 2.2 million children in schools and homes around Australia and the world participated in this event. Students from all year levels contributed to a beautiful giant poster, which has now been displayed in the library. Our amazing preschool classes also painted some fabulous trucks and drew cats to travel on them.

Kindergarten have been really focusing on building our library routines. We have been learning some Auslan Key Sign to help us remember all of the steps of selecting and borrowing a library book. 

Ask them if they can show you the signs as you read the following 3 sentences (the underlined words are the ones that we use a particular Auslan sign for):

In our library, we walk to choose a book. 

Then, we sit down and read quietly.

When I hear the bell, I line up and wait with my book. 

All students across the school have learned this now. 

Year 1 have been continuing their exploration of incredible Australian illustrators. This term we have been reading books by Jess McGeachin and are learning to draw a bookshelf dragon this week. We will finish this unit by looking at the work of Cheryl Orsini.

Year 2 have been building their understanding of non-fiction (information) books. We have learned about how non-fiction books are grouped together by topic, being briefly introducedto the system designed by Melville Dewey. We are now learning about the different special features inside the books, like headings, text boxes, key words, captions and lots more. We will also practice using the table of contents or index to locate information and the glossary to learn the meaning of new words.

Year 3 are diving deep into the world of genres. They now understand that genres are a way of grouping books based on the type of story inside. We practiced our note-taking skills using mind maps and will be getting creative very soon to make a big display.

Year 4 have shown they really understand the language and text features of the graphic novel format. They will try their hand at illustrating a few paragraphs of text from “Pearly and Pig and the Great Hairy Beast” by Sue Whiting as a conclusion to the unit.

Year 5 have been learning about different note-taking styles and how hard it is to make notes when you are listening to someone speak. We are experimenting with different formats of note-taking in the hopes that we will find a style that suits our thinking and learning styles.

Year 6 have now got a much better understanding of what plagiarism and copyright are. We are learning how to avoid plagiarism and properly cite our sources and reference where the found an image from for assignments, using the acronym TASL (Title, Author/Artist, Source, Licence). They are aware of the different Creative Commons licences and are applying these to a Canva poster that will be displayed in the library.

Ways to support the CWSC Library

Please keep an eye out for any stray library books around your home and send them back to school with your child/ren. They will have a barcode sticker on the front cover.

A huge thank you to all families who have made a tax-deductible donation to the Library Trust Fund. These donations allow us to purchase new books for our library. 

Another way you can support our library and your child’s reading journey is by purchasing books for your home library through The Book Cow Book Club. You can browse this terms offerings and make a purchase at the following link and the books will be delivered to your child at school as soon as possible. 

Term 2 online catalogues can be found here: https://www.bookcow.com.au/schools

Purchases must be made here:  https://schools-bookcow.square.site/ 

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