What Makes A Good Procedure?

Over the last few weeks, we have been working on procedure writing. Before we were able to write any type of procedure we were given the task of investigating exactly what makes a good procedure. We came up with a list of ideas as a class and were then challenged to come up with a way to show our understanding of procedure texts.

Most of us focussed on recipes as these are a popular type of procedural text. We are also working on developing a cooking demonstration DVD and recipe book!

Take a look at what we know about procedures-

By Tatenda and Aaron

By Kyla and Celine



By Makeelly and Chelsea

Why do you think procedural texts are important?

What kind of procedural texts have you written in the past? 

Term 4

Learning Neighbourhood 3

Yr 5-6 News 

READING:

Throughout Term 4 in Reading, we will continue to develop a deep understanding of reading skills based on the CAFE reading model- Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency and Extended Vocabulary. We will be focusing on asking questions before, during and after reading, using questioning to monitor understanding, reviewing the six dimensions of fluency, using think aloud strategies and explaining how thinking about reading helps with our reading comprehension.

We will continue to participate in guided reading and literature circle groups to develop and review their skills in these areas.

WRITING:

In writing, we will continue to use our VOICES menu to develop our understanding and knowledge of the six traits of writing- Voice, Organisation, Ideas, Conventions, Excellent Word Choice and Sentence Fluency.

We will read and write a variety of poems and will be able to explain the purpose, mood and voice of a range of poetry. We will also take part in writing procedural texts as well as reviewing persuasive writing techniques.

We will continue to develop our ideas for writing through their Writer’s Notebook as well as work in small groups and teacher conferences to develop individual writing goals based on the VOICES menu.

Numeracy:

Numeracy this term will be very busy with students learning about and reviewing fractions. We will learn to simplify fractions as well as add, subtract and multiply fractions and decimals. We will also focus on chance and data, mass and location.

We will develop their ability to solve real world mathematical problems based on the topics studied.  Through open ended mathematical questions students will explore a range of problem solving strategies such as trial and error, working backwards and guess and check. 

HOME READING:

It is a requirement that students are reading at home every weeknight. We ask that readers are returned to school every TUESDAY and FRIDAY signed by a parent. Through home reading it is expected that students will further develop their reading strategies, reading stamina and comprehension skills.

HOMEWORK:

Homework will be placed on our Class website again this term. Students are required to bring their  homework in EVERY Friday for check in.

INQUIRY:

This term we will be taking part in Challenged Based Learning. CBL is an engaging multidisciplinary approach to teaching and learning that encourages students to leverage the technology they use in their daily lives to solve real-world problems through efforts in their homes, schools and communities.

Our challenge for Term 4 is to “Increase understanding and awareness about Asylum Seekers”. You can view our challenge here- http://www.challengebasedlearning.org/challenge/view/164

Students will take on a number of roles including Project Manager, Documentarian, Media Specialist, Research Librarian, Product Manager, Social Media Manager and Public Relations Director to work in groups to research their guiding questions and come up with solutions to increasing understanding and awareness about asylum seekers. 

Our class website-

https://sites.google.com/site/acps4562012/  

Follow us on Twitter-

https://twitter.com/#!/ACPS456

Looking forward to a great term! 

What are you looking forward to most about Term 4?

Our Blogging Milestone

In the last week of term three, we celebrated achieving our goal of 3000 blog visitors! We are very proud and impressed that so many global people are visiting and interacting with us through our blog.

We love blogging because we get to share and celebrate our learning with people all over the world.

It is even more exciting to note that since our party, only two weeks ago we have hit another milestone. Our blog count is now in excess of 4000 global visitors!

Thank you to everyone who follows our learning and supports us in our journey. We appreciate all the kind comments and encouragement.

We celebrated our milestone by having a class party with lots of yummy food and dancing! A great day was had by all!

How many more visitors do you think we will get this term?

Why do you think people are interested in reading our blog? 

What are some ideas for future blog posts?

The Chester Awards

Yesterday we finished our Term 3 Inquiry unit on the Human Body with our presentations on the body systems.

The presentations were of a very high standard and all students should be incredibly proud of the work they have completed.

Over the past term it has been wonderful to watch the students learn and grow together. I have been very impressed with their ability to manage their learning, be organised and to work in cooperative learning groups, focussed on achieving a common goal.

Thank you to Mrs Abo-Karima, Ms Likos, Mrs Winter and Mrs Wade for being judges, they too were impressed with the quality of work presented by the students.

It was fantasic to see students finding interactive and exciting ways to present their information. The use of Glogster and Kahootz were particular stand outs.

The winners of the Chester Award for the "Best System in a Supporting Role" for the human body was the Circulatory system- Makeelly, Fatat, Ramy, Duarte and Adison.

Congratulations to all students. 

Miss Spink

Our Skype With Madison

Today we had a Skype call with Miss Spink's little cousin Madison.

In reading we are learning to identify and use strategies that 'good readers' use when reading. To do this we need to be able to listen to other readers and ourselves to identify the things we do that make us 'good readers'. To help us do this we listened to Madison read and were able to discuss the strategies she was using. We then discussed what possible reading goals we could give Madison if we were her teachers.

Read the document below to see what we noticed and found out.

What strategies do you use well when reading?

What is your reading goal?

What strategies do you think you need to work on? 

Managing Our Own Learning

In Grade 5/6 we are trying to be organised learners who manage our time wisely. We have learnt to identify areas of our learning we do well, as well as elements we need to improve on.

This is something we will continue to work on for the rest of the year and will help us to become self managed, independent learners.

But what is managing our learning all about?



Here are some examples of different ways we are managing our own learning-

This year we will manage our own learning! 




Describe two ways you are confident when managing your own learning.

Identify and describe an area you need to improve on.

Discuss how you will achieve this. 

Guest Post- Minecraft by Cheuk Yue

Minecraft is a game about surviving and adventure. You can have lots of fun but there is one thing you need to do first. Survive in this harsh world. If you keep dying on your first night then you have come to the right place! I’m going to teach you basic stuff about Minecraft you need to become a pro!

About Minecraft

Minecraft is a game where you basically try to survive. There are also these achievements to complete when you haven't got anything to do. There are these things out there called mods (or modifications) that changes or adds thing to the games. Minecraft is a type of game called a ‘sand box’ game. The creator of this game is Markus Alexej Persson or ‘Notch’. He made a company called Mojang which was specially made for updating and maintaining Minecraft. Unfortunately Notch is not developing the game any more.

Basic stuff

Here are all the things in Minecraft:

Here is the items tree in Minecraft

Here are all the blocks in Minecraft

From what I know these are all the mobs in Minecraft you should avoid:

Hostile

·      Skeletons                         

·      Zombie

·      Slimes

·      Spiders

·      Cave spiders

·      Creeper

A guide on Minecraft

When you start out in Minecraft you start with nothing. Absolutely nothing. Now depending on where you start (or spawn) there should be some trees around you. If you can’t find any around you may need to walk around to find some. Once you find a tree approach it put your crosshair on one of the wood blocks. Left click on it to ‘mine’ the wood. Once you fully mine the wood a smaller version drops and you can collect it. When you collect it the item appears in your hot bar which is the bar where you can place blocks. When you mine your first wood blocks the tree above does not fall. Only a very few blocks in Minecraft obey the rules of gravity. 

Mine all the available wood from that tree. I suggest you mine all the wood from one or two more trees. Once you have enough wood open up your inventory. On the top left hand corner you have slots to put in your armour. Next to that is a representation of your character. You will notice that your character will follow where you mouse moves. On the top right hand corner there are these slots. Those slots are your basic crafting table. 

Now drag the wood into one of the slots and you will notice something in the output slot. You will notice that there is a number next to them. That’s how many there are in that slot. Now the output is wooden planks and you need them to craft basic things. Now drag all four of the wooden planks into the crafting table by right clicking. Now the output is a big crafting table.

 Now first we have to make a pickaxe. First make sticks like this

We make a pickaxe like this.

Make a house or dig a cave. Baddies spawn in the dark including your house if not lit! We usually light homes with torches.  Craft them like this:

(The black stuff is coal. To get coal just keep mining then you should find some)

You need a furnace. You really need one. To craft them: 

A furnace is like a crafting table. Here is it is interface:

That is about it. All you need to know about Minecraft to get you started! Good luck on what you plan next.

Useful Links:

For the Minecraft website

www.minecraft.net

For more information

www.minecraftwiki.net

For forums go to

www.minecraftforums.net

For a 2d version of the game

1.          Type into Google ‘mine blocks’

2.        Click on the first link    

3.        You’re now playing mine blocks

What is you favourite computer game?

Is there anything you can add?

What do you think about Minecraft?