12 Jan 2018

Year 5 Update Wk 17

Wednesday 31st January – Marie Marchand Parent Workshop (6-8pm)

Tuesday 13th February – Chinese New Year Performance (6-7.30 pm)

Friday 16th February – Half term holiday

We hope you have all had a lovely Christmas and enjoyed some time with your friends and family.

Despite a few sleepy faces on Monday, the children have come back and look ready for what will be a very busy and exciting term for Year 5.

This week children have been re-establishing routines and sharing their holiday adventures and news. In addition we have spent some time discussing the term ahead. We have also focussed on developing the children’s fine motor and practical skills by creating pictures out of embroidery thread. This required a lot of patience and perseverance from the children.

 

UOI

Central Idea : People’s actions can impact our water resources.

Change Connection Responsibility
We will understand that water is part of a continuous cycle and can be influenced by humans (water cycle and water treatment).   We will understand that different uses of water are connected to different water issues around the globe.(Water footprint)
We will understand that humans have a responsibility towards the use and conservation of water(water cycle and water treatment).
Taking Action
In UOI we have been discussing the actions the children took to conserve water. They enjoyed sharing the success and challenges of taking this action and it was a fantastic opportunity to reiterate the point that even the smallest action can have a positive impact.
Action from Different Perspectives and Responsibility
We also considered different perspectives of action that can be taken in a wider context. We considered the questions ‘What perspectives are there about Hong Kong’s responsibility for water?’and ‘What perspectives are there about global responsibility for water?’ This afforded the children the opportunity to do some research, practice using their summarising skills when recording findings, as well as record sources and determining importance. We then considered where the responsibilities lie from the perspectives of: individual; home; school; Hong Kong; globally.
Number Maths
Central Idea – Strategies for whole number computation can apply to fractional and decimal computation.

An inquiry into…

  • efficient mental strategies that can be used to solve multiplication and division
  • efficient written strategies that can be used to solve multiplication and division.  

In maths we have been reinforcing and developing multiplication and division strategies when linked with word problems. The children have been encouraged to use self check strategies to ensure their answers are accurate as well as to double check by solving the problem using a different strategy. We have been learning from one another by sharing strategies and we are encouraging children to develop a range of strategies they can pull from.

Strand Maths
Image result for measurement
Central Idea – Accuracy of measurements depends on the situation and the precision of the tool.
An inquiry into….
  • How tools and procedures can be used to measure accurately
  • How tools and procedures can be used to solve measurement problems
  • The connection between measurements and other units of maths (conversion)

In strand maths we have been thinking about the conversion of units of measurement, as well as recapping vocabulary and how this can help to solve practical problems.

 
Synthesising
Students have continued to develop their abilities to synthesise and have enjoyed the opportunity to do this using talking partners. We have used both texts and clips to reinforce the importance of using and applying background knowledge when reading or listening to something new.

Advertising

We have started to look at some of the features of persuasive language through adverts in preparation for our Big Business unit. The children were familiar with some of the features used to develop interest.

 Writing
We have used recount as a method of getting back into good writing habits, where pupils have written recounts of their holidays and have up-levelled their sentences by focussing on interesting sentence openers, connectives and adjectives.

 

Well done to all our Golden Book winners this week in Year 5…

5F – Karl 

5C – Cameron 

5D – Naomi 

Mandarin – Koemi 5C

homelearning

  • Read the Weekly Update
  • Mathletics – continue with the set tasks
  • Reading – keep up with their reading every night.  Don’t forget to get Reading Journals signed every night and children should be reading every night.
  • Spelling – each Monday the children are sent home their 10 personal words that they need to learn for the week.  Please, can a parent (or responsible adult) support the children by...testing them (written or oral), getting them to put their words into interesting sentences (written or oral), discussing the meanings of the words, thinking about synonyms and antonyms of that word, discussing words with a similar meaning etc.
  • UOI – In preparation for the start of our Big Business unit next week we would like children to consider their particular skills and attitudes which will be valuable and useful in a business context. Please make a list of these skills and bring them in on Monday.

Mandarin Home Learning  (All children are encouraged to take a reading book home on the days when they have Mandarin lessons.)

Ms Lynn (Home learning #10) – Please check your google classroom for details.

Ms Xu – Review on topics of ” weather, clothes and feelings”. Practise singing Christmas songs.

We are delighted to welcome back Marie Marchand to present at Beacon Hill School on January 31st from 6-8pm. This year’s focus will be positive behaviour management strategies for parents- Discipline without Shouting. Please see the details and sign up via the gateway https://tg.esf.edu.hk The cost will be $50 per person.

Marie is an excellent speaker- both entertaining and informative and we thoroughly recommend any parents from year 1-6 to come and enjoy her presentation.

Student Council Fruity  Friday
The last term we surveyed our students to find out how we can make BHS even better.  A lot of students wanted Fruity Friday back.  This is an opportunity for you to help your child have delicious and healthy snacks at least once a week.  Can you please support and encourage your child to bring in a fruity snack each Friday.  We do not want processed snacks with fruit in them as they contain preservatives and man-made sugar.  Thank you in advance for your support.  Fruity Friday starts on Friday 19th January.