Pen Pals from Vanuatu

Today Miss Zamperoni (a student teacher in our school) told us about a trip she went on to work in a school in Vanuatu. She showed us a video of her visit as well as a slideshow of some of the things she experienced while over there.

She had letters from students in Vanuatu which she handed out to students in 6L. Each student received a letter from a child in Vanuatu. They then had to write their own letter back. Miss Zamperoni is going to send off these letters to the school in Vanuatu so that the students can receive their letters.

What was something you learned about Vanuatu?

Preps Reading their Writing to Year 6

The Prep students have been achieving some great things in their writing since the start of the year and today we were able to visit their class and hear what they have been doing. Each Year 6 students paired up with a Prep student to see what they have written and hear them read it out.

Once that was done the Year 6 students helped their Prep buddy write a recount about their weekend.

Animal Prezis

For Science this term we have been looking at different ecosystems and how animals have adapted to survive in different environments. We observed mould growing on bread to see which environmental conditions were most favourable to allow the mould to grow and flourish.

Students also researched an animal which was known to survive in an EXTREME ENVIRONMENT.

They had to research and present a Prezi on their animal making sure that they paid special attention to the feature of the animal which allows it to live in its environment. That had to include the following information:

  • It’s habitat (where it lives)
  • Physical features (how does it survive in its environment)
  • Diet (what does it eat? Where does this fit in the ecosystem?)
  • Interesting facts

Students also had top give a hypothesis on how the animal would need to specifically change to adapt to its environment if something happened to disturb their natural ecosystem (e.g environment changed, part of the food web was removed, etc.)

Their reports were fantastic. Here is a quick slideshow of them about to present:

Reversible and Irreversible Changes

In Science we have been learning about the different states of matter.

Today the students worked in Collaborative Clusters to investigate the difference between reversible and irreversible changes.

They looked at mixtures and discussed how certain mixtures can be separated using a sieve or filtration. They also discovered how certain substances are soluble in liquid, but that a solution can become saturated if it can no longer dissolve the substance.

Riding a Unicycle

At the beginning of each year I bring in my unicycle and get the students to try and ride it.

As you can imagine, they all find it very hard.

I use it to help teach a fundamental lesson on resilience, trying your best and not giving up when things get hard.

The unicycle remains in the classroom for the year and students are welcome to practise riding it. It serves as a constant reminder that there will be times that work feels hard and almost impossible – but we need to keep trying to do our best and not give up.

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Learning the Ukulele

We have started our ukulele lessons which form part of our music program in 6L.

We narrowed the song to learn down to 3…

  • Riptide by Vance Joy
  • Don’t Worry Be Happy by Bobbie McFerrin
  • Hey Soul Sister by Train

The votes came in even for all three songs so we had to ask the teacher in the closest staffroom to decide (since they usually have to put up with all the practice) and the winning song was ‘Hey Soul Sister’!

Keep checking in to see how they are going and we will eventually post a video of a performance.

 

Term 1 2016 Kicks Off!

Our new year has started and I have a class of 23 keen and energetic Year 6 students who are ready for the year ahead (Check out the ABOUT 6L section of the blog for more information)

We are already off to a great start with Goal Setting and reflecting on our Core Values.

Apple

We completed our Start Right Booklet which helps us know the sort of things we can do to be successful students at school.

Our Mission Statement:
Our aim in 6L is for all students to be engaged and active learners. We will do this by listening to each other, working co-operatively and being respectful to each other. We will help each other learn by working as a team.

School Values

Success in 2016

For 2016 to be a happy and successful year for all, we need to be considerate of one another. We will take it in turns to speak, listen when others are speaking and expect others to listen to us. We will always show respect by using our manners, taking turns and sharing equipment. We will be responsible for keeping our workspaces tidy, including our tables, lockers and floor space.

To show that we are doing our best, we need to always work hard to produce work of a high standard. Presentation should be neat and tidy and solid attempts at correct letter formation when handwriting.

In 2016 we need to keep developing our resilience; making sure that we don’t give up when success is not instant. If something upsets us, we will use calming strategies such as taking a deep breath or make attempts to resolve the issue.

We will continue to try new things, including learning about more about subjects that we may find challenging and difficult.

We will always be honest and take responsibility for our actions.

I’m looking forward to a great year of learning this year!

Mr Lindsay

Bike Riding

As part of Walk to School Month the Year 5 and 6 students have been doing some bike safety and bike riding activities.

All the students brought their bikes and helmets to school and we conducted some safety checks to make sure they were all roadworthy. The students had to then navigate around an obstacle course which included intersections, stop signs, traffic lights, railway crossings and a school zone with a lolly-pop lady!

We ended the day by heading off to complete the 6km loop ride around Myrtleford and along the Oven’s River.

It was a fantastic day and the kids had a lot of fun. A few of them wanted to give up on the way but they pushed on and did themselves proud by completing the ride.

Electrical Circuits

In Science this week we went on a website which helped us make an electrical circuit to power a light bulb. We also learned how to make the light bulb glow brighter by adding more battery power. We liked how we got to use a laptop and the internet to investigate electrical circuits.

By Jobe and Ryan

Some facts we learned:

  • A circuit needs to be complete for it to work – Jack
  • If you load too much power into a circuit the light globe could blow – Grace
  • Too many batteries together could start a fire – Isis

Circuits 02

Circuits 01