News from 6B

Since returning to school, 6 Blue have been working hard and learning new things. There is certainly a renewed appreciation for the collegiality and company that face to face teaching brings which has been evident in the engaging class discussions and the way in which every student has thrown themselves into learning tasks.

Literacy and Numeracy

We have been very busy in Maths and English recently. In English at the end of Term 2, we were looking at news article writing. Mrs. Temple creatively introduced the subject by pretending that she saw an alien on the school playground one night (we were not fooled). The teachers then got us to write an article on the extra-terrestrial experience. During the process, we learned the difference between fake and factual news and realised that not everything we read is to be trusted! Our learning on the topic lead us to publish our very own 6 Blue Newspaper called ‘Joey’s Journal’, which included many different events and experiences that took place during Semester One!

This term we have begun reciprocal reading where we must apply our skills of predicting, questioning, clarifying, and summarising to comprehend more deeply the texts that we are reading. We are also looking at debating - look out parents! So far we have learnt strategies to plan a debate and how to rebut the oppositions arguments.

In Maths in Term 2, we were busy with many investigations that tested our skill and ability to explain how we got the answer. We studied chance and probability and had to create our board games that were biased to one player in a way so that they had the highest chance of winning. Year Six also learned about circles and their radius and diameter, we then used our learning to create patterns using compasses. As an extension task, we also looked at Pi and how to calculate the area of a circle. This term we have been studying integers which are positive and negative numbers that can relate to real-life situations such as measuring sea level, temperature, and counting money.

Emily Simpson

Art

Art in Year Six has been very exciting for students and teachers alike. During Term 2 and 3 we have been exploring the creativity and expression evident in artworks. We have been looking at weird and wonderful ideas on how to present our art both digitally and on paper. 

During Term 2, we looked at Surrealism. Surrealism is where you paint, draw or digitally create art that seems unreal and doesn’t quite make sense.  It can be based on a dream, thought or memory that comes through your mind, that, most importantly, doesn’t have to make sense. During Covid-19 remote learning, students began drafting some ideas for their piece and thinking of meaning or message to go with them. When Year Six completed their work, they were asked to write a reflection on what their artwork symbolised, the different tools they used, what is surreal about the art and why they chose to do it in that way. 

For the start of the new term, both classes will be doing something outside of the ordinary. Lino printing. Lino is most often used as a floor covering but Lino printing is where you carve out images using specified tools and use them as a stamp-like object, to create a mirror image to what you have etched out, There’s no doubt that our class will thoroughly enjoy the process of creating our own pieces.

Madeleine Gill

Science

In Science last term we studied sustainability. We had to research the most sustainable produce companies and explore what makes them successful. A sustainable company looks at the way their product is created and makes positive choices for the environment. For example, they should try to keep production or source materials locally so that transportation cost is low and to also look out for the types of materials used in packaging. The final task that we received was to plan a party using the most sustainable products available. We had to consider even the small things that we wouldn’t usually contemplate such as the carbon emission generated by transportation, how it is grown or made and whether the product is renewable or not as natural resources can be exhausted when the demand for the product is high. There was a wide variety of foods ranging from soft-shelled tacos to cauliflower-based pizzas!  

This term we have been looking at Natural disasters and designing an extreme weather survival shelter so that if a disaster strikes the inhabitants will be well protected and prepared. I’m looking forward to molding different prototypes and seeing what works best against certain conditions.

After wrapping up an interesting History unit on Australia’s federation, democracy, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives and migration, we have moved on to explore the Geography of the World and in particular, the Geography of countries on the closest continent to Australia, Asia.

Arun Griffiths

PDHPE

The Term 2 Personal Development and Heath Unit allowed us to explore diversity, equality and inclusion. Australia is a diverse nation which means that our community includes a variety people of different cultures, races and abilities. These differences should be celebrated! If there was no diversity in our world it would be very boring.

In groups, we were tasked with designing a playground that was inclusive of all cultures, abilities and ages. We had to consider things like equal access and how people with differing abilities would access our playground. For example, because studies show that kids with sensory issues or Tourette's Syndrome often find murals and visuals relaxing, some of us included colourful murals to our designs. Another idea was a swing for someone in a wheelchair, you often do see them around but the swings for wheelchairs are always separated from everything else and are basically isolated. To change that, we put a whole bundle of wheelchair swings, baby swings and normal swings together. This topic and project really helped open our minds to think of others and appreciate our differences a lot more.

So far in Term 2 we’ve been focusing personal safety. We’ve talked about times where you do feel unsafe and who would go to for help, security and support. For instance, you go to your parents, siblings, a close friend, a trusted adult or a teacher.

Nina Amidy

Music

For music in Term 2, Miss Parker started teaching us about Body Percussion. We learned to make sounds with our body to play along with ‘Believer’ by Imagine Dragons and ‘Dance Monkey’ by Tones and I. Body Percussion involves hitting parts of your body or by clicking and clapping. In the last couple of weeks, Miss Parker brought in some cups and we learnt the cup song. It was hard at first to get the right speed, but every time we practiced, we improved. After a while, Year 6 perfected the song and most people could do the right cup movements.

This term, Miss Parker has been showing Year 6 how to use Boom Whackers. Boom Whackers are plastic pipe-like things that can be long or short. To use them, you need a good grip and bang them on the ground, so they make a sound. If they’re longer they make a deeper sound, but if they’re shorter, they make a higher sound. We are looking forward to using ukuleles soon because it gives us another way to ‘make some noise’. We think we will ask our parents for recorders for Christmas, what do you think?

Kyle Burr