Persuasive Writing Tests and Reading Tests Marked

I have marked the persuasive texts the grade 6 students wrote about whether energy drinks should be sold to children 16 and under. Most of them were of a good standard with many more students successfully using rhetorical questions and emotive language. The majority of students are writing clear introductions, but a few a still forgetting to briefly state their main arguments in their opening paragraph, or, to sum up and restate their opinion at the end.

I alerted students to the following spelling words on Wednesday which were the most commonly misspelt in their texts and have asked them to learn the words by next Tuesday. We looked closely at the part of each word which they were having difficulty with. We also discussed the importance of using the  given support materials which modelled some of the words below. The marked texts, along with the ten writing criteria being assessed, will be put into students' portfolios on Tuesday if parents wish to look at them. The portfolios will go home with the mid-year report.

which         irritable          dehydrate          poison          dietitian          complaining          caffeine
too many    equal              beverages         believe          pressure         nervous                 coffee
allowed      headaches     major                doesn't

Canteen Roster...SRC, Naplan, Physical Education, 3D Shapes and Art

The second day of Naplan testing passed fairly quietly. The grade 6 students completed a reading test whilst the grade 5's did the Naplan reading component. After that students scored a Physical Education lesson much to their delight. 

After recess it was onto the final in class session on their 3D shapes boards. Students can now make their additional shapes at home and stick them on as they complete them.  Twelve students now have produced their A3 Explanatory posters focusing on their chosen two 3D shapes.

In the afternoon, some students had art (the ones who didn't have it  last week, half the class) and music options went ahead as usual. I also went through the persuasive texts with individual grade 6 students and dicussed their assessments and the  progress they have made individually. Some students really took on boardwhat they needed to do to achieve a higher result. This is a really important skill/realizaton to have, to  recognise what needs improving and to actively work on it.  Those students who didn't have art continued with their shapes boards and their Explanatory texts. I am really over the moon with the standard on this and students are achieving good results with a small amount of teacher guidance.

Most students have now handed in their Storm Boy covers or story boards and next Tuesday we will write up the information on the camera angles and filming techniques used in the film.

Canteen roster, I will put this up in the room on Tuesday when I return. I have only just managed to access my email as my connection at school is dodgy.  This Friday KF is on at recess and NS is on at lunch. I was pleased to see how responsibly these grade 5 students were doing their jobs today, as I have canteen duty on Wednesdays at lunch time. Their manners were impeccable. Well done girls.

SRC update, today at recess during our fortnightly SRC meeting, the students voted overwhelmingly in favour of Cystic Fibrosis for the local charity, and a team of five representing grade 2 to grade 6 students has been organised to paint over the graffiti on the climbing wall under the supervision of our wonderful groundsman Norm Hopwood.

Get well VL, because we miss you!

Naplan, Persuasive Texts; Photos and Library

Grade 5's sat the spelling and writing part of the Naplan testing today whilst the grade 6 classes all sat down to read  an article, an advertisment, and watched three short clips about energy drinks. They could argue for or against them and were asked to support their opinions with evidence. The morning was dedicated to reading the articles and some discussion time amongst all the grade 6's was given. 

After recess students wrote up their persuasive texts in a fifty minute block. They then did their ISL cards and listened to a poem about the Coorong. Mr Macarthy, who will be taking my class on Thursday and Friday came in to see the students in action. I will be out for a small operation on the Thursday and be back next Tuesday.  The spelling is organised for the Monday next week and will focus on ful words and sce words for those students who have no issues with the ful  words in the two standardised tests administered at the beginning of the year.  I also showed and quickly talked about some of the new books to our little library.

After lunch we went straight to have individual and class photos done and then it was Library which I swapped from the morning block to the afternoon block so my students wouldn't miss this lesson, and also  so  I could visit around the all classes 2-6 who have representatives on the Students Council  which I run, in order to give them their books and agendas. The meeting will be tomorrow for the duration of recess in my classroom. We will be deciding which local charity we will raise money for, and organising teams of students to paint over and freshen areas in the school which are affected by graffiti or just need to be a bit brighter and more exciting.

Tonight's homework was minimal given the Naplan testing. Students were asked to focus on a table they are having trouble with eg. 7 times table or 8...also to ensure their Storm Boy cover is complete.

I was very impressed with the work of a couple of students whop took their nets home to make the 3D shapes. The boards are coming along nicely. We will have a final session of class time tomorrow.

An outstanding effort by OFW and AK

Some new additions to the classroom library...and "our "is the focus for spelling

Here are a lovely mix of "new" rescued books to our classroom bookshelves. I can recommend Ten True Animal Rescues as I only just finished this one on Mothers' Day. Rotten Romans is pretty informative too and delivered in a humorous way.

This week's spelling focus is our words and these will be tested on Friday. Tonight's homework is to complete the unit which has these words as the focus.  Here are the words:

odour, labour,armour, behaviour, harbour, neighbour,

colour, parlour, flavour, humour, rumour, clamour, favourite, endeavour,courteous, scourge,journal,  journey

glamour, honour

These are also the focus for the daily Spelling Bingo games.

Exit Mould and Camera Angles

Today we shipped out the mould as it was starting to smell pretty bad and could become a safety issue.   I took a photo of the class behind the mould and later they will receive a photo each as a memento of the time mould invaded our classroom. Students have collected enough data to write up their reports. We looked at some possible ways of graphing the data and also at the online program Create A Graph which students might like to try to master.

http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/default.aspx 

Installation made by two of the girls: EXIT mould

Shapes boards are shaping up

Shapes Board

Shapes Board

After recess we continued on with Shapes Boards and naming the shapes and recording information about their faces, edges and vertices.  I gave out a few more interesting nets on card. Student might also look for a few of their own. Three more students completed their Explanatory texts using ICT.

After lunch we had Silent Reading and then looked at they way camera angles can be used in film. On Tuesday we will be looking in detail at the way they have been used in the film Storm Boy.

3D Shape Boards and the artistic side of the common old cube...

Today we spent the majority of the day on our 3D shape boards. Music options went on as usual. This morning only half the class headed off next door for their art lesson whilst I worked with the remaining twelve students on their 3D shapes and explanatory posters.  Next Wednesday they will swap over. This allows Mel to spend more time helping a smaller group with their string prints.  All students are drawing birds and then using string to give definition to the pictures which will be printed at a later date.

String print

The shapes boards will be pinned to the display boards when not in use so to keep them safe. Students should now have four shapes made from scratch using their own hand-drawn nets (cube, rectangular prism, tetrahedron and a square-based pyramid. They are receiving nets daily to construct and add to their boards.

3D shape boards

Working on their shapes

An outstanding effort by AK, very impressive!

A new improved rectangular prism, well done.

I also brought some of my son's award winning bunnies into the room which he made completely from scratch adapting nets to make bunnies. He made these in his first year at Hobart College. Here are three out of a series of fifteen. We discussed cardboard models, skeleton models and hybrids models in relation to these artworks. I really want students to see the connection of learning about 3D shapes to the real world and also the artistic world.

Model bunnies

Below is an example of an Explanatory poster produced using ICT skills by a capable grade 5 boy. 

Here is another outstanding effort

I found this by accident on the internet on Sunday. I made these artistic picture cubes with some Blackmans Bay students some nine years ago. Here is one I designed using Graeme Base illustrations as an inspiration. This is an exceedingly challenging activity and you have to think outside the square BUT it is on offer for those students ho feel they have the design and perseverance skills. This one is obviously produced with a printing aid. The ones below are hand-drawn.

The Lorax assignments came off the display wall today and are now in students' portfolios along with their individual assessments. Tomorrow, those students who finished their persuasive posters promoting picture books which have war as a theme, will be sharing them in the afternoon book buddy assembly. Here are three examples:

I might also add, I am currently marking this week's spelling which focused on "tion" words and the standard is very high. Three students have promised me they will have theirs in by tomorrow. Tonight's homework is to start a cover or storyboard panel (which I showed them how to do) on Storm Boy.