Grade 5DD Blog

I’m a Year 5, get me out of here!

Term 2 saw us travelling to the remote corners of the world in our Inquiry Based Learning. Our Inquiry topic was “I’m a year 5, get me out of here!” As part of our Rich Assessment Task we investigated extreme environments (E.g. deserts, mountains, rainforests, and frozen landscapes) and researched things such as climate, terrain, water sources, flora, fauna, and dangers to be aware of. We imagined that we would be dropped into this environment for a week to survive with only a backpack full of items we had brought with us (our survival kit). We came to understand our survival kit would only be as good as our research. We then wrote a diary in narrative form of the seven days we would be there. We tried to incorporate some of the figurative language features we have been learning about this term. We tried to make our diaries look as authentic as possible. They needed to look like they had endured the trip with us!

Which extreme environment would you most like to experience?

Excursion to Werribee Open Range Zoo

On Thursday June 18th, Years 5 & 6 went on an excursion to Werribee Open Range Zoo. Seeing we had been learning about some amazing extreme environments, it was a wonderful opportunity to experience what one of them might be like for real. We were able to imagine ourselves on an African safari, and we gained an appreciation of what it would be like to share an environment with some beautiful, and some a little scary, African animals. Some of these included the giraffe, rhinoceros, zebra, antelope, lion, monkey, gorilla, bison, addax, hippopotamus, and ostrich. We were able to work in groups to discuss the threats to gorillas and their habitat. We talked about real life conservation issues affecting gorillas and the impact that humans are having on their survival. We also learned that by recycling our mobile phones we can reduce the need for coltan mining and help save the gorilla’s natural habitat in the Congo. It was great to learn of a simple way we could make a difference to the gorilla’s survival. We saw and learned lots, and had a great day as well.

What did you like most about Werribee Zoo?

Spending time with our Year 1 buddies

We enjoy having the opportunity to help our buddies with their learning. Recently we helped our buddies make mud pies. When we had finished we helped them write a procedure for making mud pies, and talked about the features of a procedure. We worked outside and took advantage of the sunny winter weather.

Our latest Art successes!

All About Me!

Well, it’s certainly been a busy first term, and we’d like     to give you a peep into what’s been going on in 5DD. We started the year by reflecting on our personal qualities and describing ourselves using some great adjectives.

5 Finger Recounts

We also wrote a 5 finger recount on some of our more exciting holiday experiences.

Camp – Waratah Bay

The beginning of the year is also about getting to know new faces and getting reacquainted with old ones.

Waratah Bay Camp was a great way to do this. It was three days of activities and fun, and we were lucky enough to enjoy a beautiful beach location. Some of the highlights included the giant swing, team building activities, beach walks, exploring rock pools, a game we played with Father Michael called “The priest of the parish has lost his considering cap”, and Red Faces.

Buddies

The Year 5s were very excited at the beginning of the year to meet their Year One buddies. We have enjoyed getting to know our buddies, doing fun things with them, and helping them with their learning. It doesn’t really matter what we do together, we just enjoy each other’s company.

Inquiry: Discovering Democracy

Our Inquiry topic this term has been “Discovering Democracy”. We have been learning about the qualities needed to be good leaders in our community and in our government. Through our own reading and research we have gained a better understanding of how government works in Australia.

Australia has three levels of government: federal, state, and local. Each level has different roles and responsibilities as set out by our constitution. Using our Chromebooks, we were able to collaborate to put our understandings of the three levels of government and democracy into 4 documents.

Autobiographical poems

 To learn about the qualities of good leadership we read   biographies of well known leaders, and then tried our hand at writing our own biographies and autobiographies. To write our biographies we interviewed another person in our classroom and then wrote a biography using the information we had gathered.

We then wrote our own autobiographies and autobiographical poems.

It’s been a busy term with lots of new things to take in, and now we’re looking forward to a well deserved break.

Have a great holiday everyone!