Our teacher is Mr Dan Albright and our classroom is in the New South Wales block.   Watch this space for details about our exciting plans for 2009.

Weekly Timetable

	MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY
8.45 - 10.40	Exercise  Maths  Library	Exercise  Maths	Exercise  Maths  Japanese	P.E  Music  Maths	Parade  Maths
10.40 - 11.00  Eating time 11.00 - 11.20  Play time	Eating time / Play time	Eating time / Play time	Eating time / Play time	Eating time / Play time	Eating time / Play time
11.20 - 12.40	Literacy	Literacy	Literacy	Literacy	English/  Rich Task
12.40 - 1.15 Play time 1.15 - 1.30   Eating time	Play time / Eating time	Play time / Eating time	Play time / Eating time	Play time / Eating time	Play time / Eating time
1.30 - 3.00	Rich Task	Rich Task	Mental Maths Rich Task	Rich Task  Art	Interhouse Team Sports

                                                Year 6,  2009

This year our class consists of 26 Year 6 children. We have 15 girls and 11 boys in the class.

Literacy

Literacy groups will operate on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in second session.  This time has been set aside as a dedicated Literacy session where the children will be involved in Guided Reading, S.T.A.R.S.(reading comprehension),  writing,  oral language, spelling activities and typing skills. The children will be working in a small group with Mr. Albright, our Teacher-Aides Sue Barrett and Suzanna Callan, or independently.  Groups have been organized according to the children's attained reading levels. The mechanics of writing including punctuation and grammar will also be stressed in writing sesssions. A wide variety of writing genres will be used throughout the year such as: reports, stories, poetry, recounts, descriptions and formal letters. Children who need an extra boost with reading will be using the Rainbow Reading Program which allows them to listen to texts at an appropriate level as they read along. The children then read the text independently. Literacy activities will also be a large part of our Rich Task work which will occur at other times throughout the week. 

Numeracy

Children will participate in Maths sessions each day, usually in session 1. The main concept areas of Number, Patterns and Algebra, Space, Measurement, and Chance and Data will be covered.  Problem-Solving will again be a major focus this year. We will be using a four step model to approach Problem-Solving in a logical and consistent way.  Children will be taught a range of Problem-Solving strategies and given the opportunity to apply these in a variety of practical situations. Linking concepts in Maths with real world problems is a vital part of developing understanding. At times we will divide into smaller groups in Maths in order to assist children who need extra assistance in certain concept areas. This will also give us the opportunity to provide higher level activities to those children who need extension in Maths.

Rich Task

Rich Task involves a variety of subject areas including Technology, Science, S.O.S.E., The Arts and Health. Certain "Essential Learnings" are taken from these subject areas and used to develop our Rich Task plan for the year.

Our Rich Task for Term 1,2009 is Sustainability. Some of the concept areas we will be investigating include: waste disposal, recycling, resource management, natural and human environments, land use and renewable resources. As part of this study we will be establishing and maintaining vegetable gardens within the school. Worm farms and compost bins will also be maintained and used in the growing of organic foods. Leading up to this work the children in the class will be conducting a variety of experiments to analyse the needs of plants. Some of the skills that we will be using include observing, inferring, controlling variables and researching. We will be growing plants under a variety of conditions in the classroom in order to determine the needs of plants.   

In Term 2 our Rich Task will be Inventions. The children will be investigating and researching a particular inventor or invention and completing a project on this topic. These will be completed as a PowerPoint presentation. We will also be constructing inventions in groups in the classroom. The children will start with a particular goal such as closing a door, frying an egg or pouring a glass of water and then design an invention to complete this task using a number of different and interesting mechanisms.  

All classes will be using a Homework Grid format again this year for homework. Homework will include a greater variety of activities including physical activities, housework, Art, social time, Maths, English, Rich Task, learning about the world, etc. Each fortnight our Homework Grid will be placed on this webpage for parents to view. It will also be pasted into the children's homework books every two weeks.

Details regarding homework have been pasted into children's homework books.  Homework will be handed out on Mondays and collected on Friday of the second week. Children should bring their Communication Folders to school each day. Homework will usually include spelling words to be practised through the week. Daily reading is an important part of our weekly homework and children should read each day if possible. Reading can involve reading silently, reading to others or being read to by someone else. At times, Maths homework will be used to consolidate work that we have been covering in the classroom. Learning of basic number facts will also be included regularly. At times the children will be given a project for homework and this will replace their other homework for that two week period. Please check the children’s homework books for details about homework each fortnight. Our first homework sheet was sent home on Monday 02-02-09.

Homework Grid 7, 09.doc 93.50 KB