Dear Parents and Students,
It's
hard to believe we have finished our final week of school for 2017. We finished
this week with a Christmas/Winter party. Thank you to parents and students for
the treats we shared today. It was not an obligation this year, but it's clear
that people enjoy sharing, and so it was a nice way to end the week ahead of
the Winter Break.
One
of our activities on Friday was making geometrically accurate snowflakes. This
was an extension of Math Topic 9, and our studies in geometry. We are a little
more than halfway through Topic 9. When we return from the break, we will
complete the topic – with a focus on triangles and quadrilaterals – with the
Topic Test to take place on Friday, 5th January.
In our Literacy Workshop, we have completed
our writing assignment: Writing
Instructions. Many students chose to type the assignment on a computer, so
we spent a lesson in the computer lab practising our typing and formatting
skills. Copies of the assignments, complete with comments and rubrics, have
been sent home to be signed. Please remember to return them after the break. We
have also spent the last two weeks reading Roald Dahl’s Danny, the Champion of the World. After the break, we will return
to reading stories from the class basal, beginning with Boss of the Plains. We will also begin our Book Promotion assignment
shortly after we return. Please try to have read your chosen book by then, so
that you can begin planning your promotion straight away.
In
Science, we completed two practical investigations
as part of our study of motion. We first measured varying speeds of a rolling
marble, and how they relate to the angle of the inclined plane from which it
was rolled. We then made inferences from our observations to determine how the
angle affects the speed. The investigation on Thursday had us testing the
relationship between gravity and friction, and how they affect different
objects on inclined planes of varying degrees. These practical assignments gave
us the opportunity to test our newly acquired skills in using a protractor to
measure angles, and we also got to play with our toy cars!
In
Social Studies, we have been
learning about the growth of the American Northeast, and comparing the urban
sprawl and metropolitan growth of the area to the similar growth seen in other
megalopolises such as Tokyo and Taipei. We will continue our studies of the
area after the vacation.
I
hope that you all have a wonderful winter break, and are able to spend quality
time with your families. Due to family commitments of my own, I will be absent
on the 3rd, 4th and 5th of January, but will
be back on the following Monday. Mr. Terry is looking forward to taking the
class for those three days, and I am confident that you will enjoy learning
with him.
Take
care during the break, and I will see you all in the new year!
Important Dates:
Dec 16- Jan 2: Christmas
Vacation (no school)
Wed, 3rd Jan: Return
to school
Fri, 5th Jan: Math
Test – Topic 9
Wed, 10th Jan: Last
clubs for Semester 1
22nd - 26th Jan: Literacy Week
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