This term has seen the class commence new units of learning based on many interesting topics.

In Japanese, the students have been learning about the Japanese names for the different rooms around a house, information about Japanese houses, including Ninja houses, which are called a ‘Ninja Yashiki’, and information about the features of traditional and modern Japanese houses. The students learnt about the origins of emojis, and the Japanese words for each emotion. They also learnt some key Japanese terminology relating to recycling. They learnt that, as Japan is a small country, it is important to recycle as many products as possible. If something is not recycled it is called 'Mottainai' which means 'what a waste!' This week the students created some origami. The photos show the students with the origami snails they made. This linked to their study of ‘Tsuyu’ meaning ‘rainy season’ in Japan. Generally, it lasts from the beginning of June to the middle of July.

In Religious Education this term, the students are developing their understanding of the ways in which faith is lived out and celebrated in the lives of believers, past and present and just leadership. They will learn about the messages of some Old Testament prophets. The students will also explore spiritual and corporal works of mercy and build their knowledge of prayer in the Christian tradition.

This term, in English, the students are learning about the common elements of poetry and will explore how these may be applied to shape poems, limericks, odes and simple ballads. They will construct different types of poems and deepen their understanding of poetry by examining the language, and poetic devices, as well as how these enhance meaning. They will also recite poetry.

In Mathematics this term, the students have been learning about patterns and algebra. This has included describing patterns using mathematical expression and reviewing the use of the correct order of operations in solving number problems. The students developed their understanding of the Cartesian plane by plotting points as a means of showing position. The students have also been focusing on multiplication and division. This has included multiplication of 3 digits by 2 digits with many examples of using zero correctly. The students also worked to explore division algorithms of 4 digits by 1 digit with zeros and wrote remainders as fractions. They have now turned their focus to the relationship between volume and capacity. They started the week off with an investigation about newspaper cubes and the volume of a room. This involved visualising volumes of cubes and cuboids. A conceptual notion was developed firstly in this lesson by making and counting cubes. This then provided them a sound basis for the understanding and application of the formula:

V = L x W x H

There is much to learn and achieve and, as the term progresses, we will continue to explore our units of work to expand our knowledge and understanding of the key topics we are investigating.

Sora Link

Visit https://soraapp.com in your web browser, or download the free Sora app from the Apple and Google Play stores on a mobile device.

SORA eBooks and Audiobooks

You can login to Sora, with your normal CENet login that you use for school network login.

The Sora ‘Sweet Reads’ collection of 20 simultaneous read titles is available until 31 July and the ‘Always available’ 250 titles collection is also a permanent simultaneous read collection.  A particular ‘Sweet Read’ or ‘Always Available’ title could be assigned for all students to borrow and read at the same time.