Term 1
Hello, my name is Emma Page and I would like to welcome you and your child to a new year, in a new class at North Kalgoorlie Primary School. This is my third year teaching Year 6 at North Kalgoorlie Primary School and I am very excited for the year ahead. Your child's last year of primary school is bound to be a memorable one with so many exciting opportunities arising throughout the year and I feel privileged to be a part of it. So buckle yourselves in for a year full of highs.
English
As you can see from our class timetable, shown below, we conduct Literacy sessions daily. During which we teach spelling, reading, writing and grammar.
This term our Year 6 students will be following a spelling program called 'Words Their Way'.
Words Their Way is a teacher-directed, student-centred approach to vocabulary growth and spelling development where students engage in a variety of sound, pattern and meaning activities, sorting pictures and words.
All students have completed a placement test which has allowed me to group students with common needs and tailor activities to improve students’ spelling knowledge.
In reading, two days will be spent explicitly teaching students how to use reading strategies to aid them in decoding increasingly complex texts. The other 2-3 days will be spent reading and comprehending a class novel, Blueback by Tim Winton.
In writing we will be looking at biographies. We have commenced the term reading a variety of biographies on Famous Australians such as Steve Irwin, Sir Henry Parkes, Cathy Freeman and Sister Elizabeth Kenny. Later in the term we will be writing our own and we will link this to our history unit by writing a biography on an immigrant who has contributed to the development of Australia.
Our grammar lessons are taught sporadically to complement text forms we are studying at that point in time. This term many of our grammar lessons will be focused around using past tense, third person pronouns, adverbials and repetition as these are text features linked to biography writing.
Maths
In Maths this term we will be focusing on a number of of different topics under each of the three mathematics strands.
Number and Algebra
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Written and mental strategies for problems involving all four operations
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Prime, composite and triangular numbers
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Multiply and divide decimals by powers of 10
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Explore the use of brackets and order of operations to write number sentences
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Make connections between common fractions, decimals and percentages
Measurement and Geometry
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Connect decimals representations to the metric system eg. recognising the equivalence of measurements such as 1.25 metres and 125 centimetres
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Convert between common units of length, mass and capacity
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Investigate combinations of translations, reflections and rotations
Statistics and Probability
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Describe probabilities using fractions decimals and percentages
We will also be using the New Wave Mental and Signpost textbooks to revise and consolidate skills right throughout the year.
Art inspired by Blueback
HASS
In Year 6, Humanities and Social Sciences consists of Civics and Citizenship, Economics and Business, Geography and History.
Room 8 will be looking at history to begin the year. Through guided and independent inquiry students will ask questions and analyse information found through their own research on:
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The key figures and events that led to Australia's Federation and Constitution
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The experiences of Australian democracy and citizenship, including the status and right of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, migrants, women and children
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Stories of groups of people who have migrated to Australia since federation and the reasons for doing so
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The contribution of individuals and groups to the development of Australian society
Health
In health this term the students will be exploring topics such as identity, healthy relationships and identifying community resources and ways to seek help about health, safety and well-being.
Art
In art this term the students will be creating a number of uniquely different artworks, that incorporate different mediums and look at different elements of art (Line, shape, form, space, texture, value, colour)
Specialists
North Kalgoorlie PS has specialist teachers for the following subjects:
Sport
Science
Japanese
Digital Technology
Class timetable
Important Dates in Term 1
Class Newsletter
Graph of ME!
Our first maths activity to begin the year was ‘Graph of me’. Students could select to create an ordinary graph or a graph across four quadrants (a slightly more challenging option). They were asked to read a set of statements and decide which of those applied to them. If the statement applied (eg. I have been to a football game) then the student would plot the coordinates listed next to that statement on their graph.
Year 6 Application
On our second day back at school each of the students completed a writing task titled 'My Year 6 Application'. This was another opportunity for the students to share some of their personal information with me, so I could get to know them better. They were asked to pretend they were still Year 5's applying to be in Year 6 and they had to sell themselves to me on paper. Some of the things they were asked to include on their application was 'Why they would be an asset to our classroom', 'What excited them most about being in Year 6' and 'Three things that I would not already know about them'.
Classroom expectations
On our first day back at school we spent some time brainstorming, in groups, about what each of these phrases meant. We shared our responses as a class before putting them on these sheets which are displayed in our room. These sheets will act as a daily reminder, for both myself and the students, of how we can best achieve success and work together happily in our classroom.