Curriculum

Unit 5 – (March 22nd – May 21st)

Central Idea: This issue matters to me and affects my life, my community and my world.

Lines of Inquiry:

The students will develop their own lines of inquiry which will help them to understand the central idea.

Focus for Learner Profile Inquirers Knowledgeable Thinkers Communicators Principled Open-minded Caring Risk-takers Balanced Reflective	and Attitudes: Appreciation Confidence Commitment Cooperation Creativity Curiosity Empathy Enthusiasm Independence Integrity Respect Tolerance
PSE – students will: Participate in team building and cooperation activities. Develop their organisational skills.

Language – students will: Revise the grammatical structure of questions Continue to develop the skills of using a dictionary and a thesaurus. Create key word lists for their inquiries. Transform a text by telling it from a different point of view. Revise note-taking skills: skimming, scanning, determining importance and text marking. Review own reading habits, describe and justify personal preferences for authors and text types. Revise how to write an interview. Revise how to write a formal letter. Develop reflection writing skills. Develop reading skills of summarising and Paraphrasing.

Drama – students will: Create, prepare and practise the expressive part of the Exhibition.

Mathematics – students will: Design a survey and collect, organize and record data in displays. Find describe and explain the range, mode, median and mean in a set of data and understand their use. Use the vocabulary of 2D and 3D shapes. Describe, classify and model 3-D shapes. Turn a 2-D net into a 3-D shape and vice versa. Continue to develop procedures for finding volume. Determine the relationship between area and perimeter. Estimate, measure, label and compare, using formal methods and standard units of measurement the dimensions of area and perimeter. Understand that an angle is a measure of rotation. Measure accurately and construct angles in degrees using a protractor. Understand and use the vocabulary of types of angle: obtuse, acute, straight, reflex, right angle Select and defend the most appropriate and efficient method of solving a problem: mental estimation, mental arithmetic, pencil and paper algorithm, calculator. Develop, explain and model simple algebraic formulas in more complex equations: x+1=y where y is any whole number. Model equivalency of fractions. Simplify fractions. Read, write and model addition and subtraction of fractions with related and unrelated denominators

Italian: Ripasso dei concetti grammaticali imparati . Verifica di analisi grammaticale e logica con griglia preimpostata. I verbi transitivi e intransitivi. Forma attiva passiva e riflessiva dei verbi. Il testo “lettera” –  in particolare la lettera “formale” per l’effettivo invio di mail o lettere alle persone ed alle ditte da contattare per l’exhibition ( spiegare, richiedere, ringraziare…)  Il testo “relazione” – per evidenziare le esperienze fatte nel procedere del proprio lavoro per l’exhibition. Il testo argomentativo – per imparare a distinguere le cause di un problema ed avanzare proposte per una possibile soluzione dello stesso.

Italian as an additional language – students will: Learning vocabulary about home environment, bedroom, living room, etc. Studying the present tense of the conjugation are-ere-ire Learning how to give advice, suggestions and exercise speaking skills through role plays

Art –  students will: Work collaboratively to produce a class piece of artwork, about the Learner Profile, Attitudes or Transdisciplinary Themes, to be displayed at the presentation of the Exhibition. Look at the use of texture in art works. Learn how to use acrylic paints correctly. Further improve colour mixing skills and the use of tools in art.

Music – students will be: Researching and formulating musical ideas linked to their inquiry. Working in groups to incorporate music into the expressive section of the Exhibition. This may include singing, song writing, small instrumental group and band work. Practising singing for  a grade 6 choir performance at the Exhibition.

PE – students will be: Working on Athletics activities in preparation for Sports Day. Understanding the different requirements of athletics activities. Improving their running, jumping and throwing skills in relation to speed, height, distance and accuracy.

Library – students will be: Revising research skills and researching for their Exhibition lines of inquiry. They will: use OPAC and the reference section to locate information, skim, scan and take notes,      acknowledge sources.

ICT – students will: Use the Internet to gather information for the Exhibition. Present information for the Exhibition using different software (e.g. PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Publisher).

Unit 4 – (February 08th – March 19th)

Central Idea: People have developed ways to prepare for, respond to, and cope with crises.

Lines of Inquiry:

• Current or recent crises
• The impact of a crisis on a community
• Prevention and response systems

Focus for Learner Profile and Attitudes: Caring Open-minded Empathy

PSE: – students will: Learn about the roles they people can adopt to contribute to the community Become aware of the existence of some organizations dealing with local and global problems Participate in discussions that address social or political issues in the world

Language – students will: Explore the features of journalistic writing Produce their own journalistic writing Identify opinion and bias in a piece of writing Revise Standard English and its use Read a range of newspaper articles and comment critically on the authors choice of vocabulary Explore different types of poetry and write their own poems Use figurative language (similes and metaphors) in poetry writing Revise the use of apostrophes for contraction and possession Investigate words borrowed from other languages Social Studies – students will: Research manmade and natural crises to find out about prevention and response systems Explore the impact of crises on a community Take part in drama activities that show responses to crises Explore the role of different organizations in dealing with a crisis Prepare interview questions about a crisis for guest speakers Prepare a mock interview live from the scene of a crisis Write a recount in a journalistic style about a current or recent crisis Write a poem about the impact of a crisis In groups take on the role of different organizations and plan an intervention for a mock crisis Mathematics – students will: Revise the place value of decimal numbers Compare and order decimal numbers Revise addition and subtraction of decimal numbers Read, write and model negative numbers Begin to add and subtract negative numbers Begin to find and use ratios Use a numerical probability scale to express the likelihood of events Explore theoretical and experimental probability Revise the relationships between multiplication and division, addition and subtraction, subtraction and division and multiplication and addition.  Italian: Linked to the Unit Il problema dei poveri a Milano: Intervista, se possibile, con un rappresentante del Centro Rosetum per comprendere che il problema potrebbe esistere anche vicinissimo a noi e alla nostra scuola e per scoprire come viene affrontato o risolto. Prendere appunti e scrivere una relazione basata sulle informazioni acquisite attraverso l’intervista. Preparazione di orecchini per raccogliere fondi da destinare al Centro di aiuto Rosetum o per Haiti :  la responsabilità di ciascuno sarà di acquistare e vendere gli orecchini per raccogliere i soldi necessari alla donazione. Stand alone Aggettivi e pronomi – ripasso Esercizi di analisi grammaticale e logica con aggettivi e pronomi Pronomi relativi in analisi grammaticale e logica I verbi – ripasso della forma attiva Introduzione alla forma riflessiva e passiva Italian as an additional language – students will: study the body parts and create a collage from a magazine study the determinative articles study possessives Learn vocabulary about the house (inside), the different rooms, label your own room Art – students will: Explore the use of texture, pattern, shape, form and space in the work of artists such as Picasso, Hodgkin, Matisse, Ernst, Renoir and Rousseau. Build up a visual resource in their work books on aspects of the above and of the artists mentioned. Make a selection of collages using a variety of materials selected for their different textures and shapes to create both a visual resource and works of art. Examine the work of British artist Andy Goldsworthy. Use found natural materials to make an art work which will be based on the work “The wall” by Goldsworthy. Music – students will be: Exploring music for charity and raising awareness - Live Aid, Amnesty international, Hurricaine Katrina Benefit, Live Earth etc…. Looking at singing and community music as a way of bringing people together Performing and creating songs, to raise awareness/protest/bring people together in an emergency.  PE – students will be: Refining their gymnastics skills involving flexibility, strength and coordination. Performing various movement tasks on the floor and using apparatus. Combining skills while using small equipment. Combining movements to create sequence. Playing team games. Developing team skills learned previously. Using space and cooperating when taking part in team games.   Library – students will be:  Using an encyclopaedia. Using an atlas. Revising how to acknowledge sources and produce a bibliography.   ICT – students will learn the features of an effective presentation, including: use of font, colour, images and sound, use of bullet points, how to consider fitness for purpose and audience.

Unit 3 – (December 9th – February 6th)

Central Idea: The fact that materials can undergo changes poses challenges and provides benefits for society and the environment.

Lines of Inquiry:

• Chemical and physical changes
• Practical applications and implications of change in materials
• Ethical dilemmas associated with manufacturing processes and by-products

Focus for Learner Profile and Attitudes: Knowledgeable Thinker Cooperation

PSE: – students will:  Cooperate in different group situations and take on different roles within a group. Use their thinking skills critically in science.

Language – students will: Revise the features of procedural texts and write scientific reports Explore the fantasy genre and plan and write their own fantasy stories. Discuss how readers can interpret stories differently. Look at implicit and explicit information. Investigate synonyms Explore the structure of words. Revise punctuation and use of a thesaurus. Science – students will: Discuss the properties of different materials in groups, students to come up with a list of properties for each material. Using a range of materials students to think about what chemical and physical changes can take place.  Teacher model planning and carrying out investigations into the conductivity of materials. Following on from this and student interests, students to plan and carry out investigations into the changes of state or chemical and physical changes.  Putting the manufacturing process of a particular material into order.  Investigation into what is a good conductor for a specific purpose   Identify ethics involved in Fair Trade Game  Mathematics – students will: Read, write and model percentages. Interchange fractions, percentages and decimals. Collect, organize and record data in displays: bar graphs, pie charts and line graphs. Create, interpret, discuss and compare different data displays. Find the range, mode, median and mean of a set of data. Read and plot coordinates in four quadrants. Rotate, reflect and translate shapes. Create and solve multi digit addition, subtraction, multiplication and division problems. Use a calculator to solve problems. Italian: Agettivi e pronomi: possessivi, dimostrativi, indefiniti, numerali, interrogativi ed esclamativi. I verbi: ripasso del modo indicativo; tutti gli altri modi: congiuntivo, condizionale, imperativo – i modi indefiniti Esercizi di analisi grammaticale e logica di frasi. Testi informativi ed argomentativi – comprensione dei testi, discussioni e commenti individuali e collettivi. Testi narrativi: il racconto giallo ed il racconto d’avventura: analisi e produzione.  Italian as an additional language – students will be: Learning about school and timetables and how to express this in Italian. Learning the in determinative article. Working on a project where they will draw and label in Italian a map of an ideal school. Practising physical description through games and exercises. Art – students will: Explore traditional art from North America (totem poles). Use sketch books to make exploratory drawings. Design a totem pole based on a story. Use different materials to make a 3D totem pole.   Music – students will be: Describing and recognising instruments and/or sounds in terms of what material is used. Exploring timbre. Composing and performing whole group compositions using smaller timbre based sections within the groups. Exploring resonance and vibration and comparing the sound waves created by different materials.   PE – students will be: Focusing on learning and developing skills, actions and agilities from a specific form of gymnastics, e.g. sports acro, rhythmic gymnastics etc. Working in groups to create and perform sequences. Thinking about how to demonstrate skills and agilities singly, in combination and in sequences with as much control, accuracy and precision as possible. Learning about the different materials that can be used in PE. Library – students will be:  Using the reference area of the library for research. Using index and contents pages. Using dictionaries, checking spelling and using the thesaurus. Using the Library to develop essential research skills for use in the Grade 6 Exhibition. ICT – students will learn the features of an effective presentation, including: use of font, colour, images and sound, use of bullet points. how to consider fitness for purpose and audience.

  

UNIT 2 (October 19th – December 4th)

  

The central idea of this unit is:  “The innovations of the few can affect the lives of the many.”

The lines of inquiry will be: 

• Significant inventions and inventors
• The motivation for change
• The relationship between discovery and change
• How discoveries and inventions can affect people’s lives

PSE: – students will: Explore what it means to be curious Demonstrate being an inquirer. Discuss the attitude of independence and set goals for improving their own independence.

Language – students will: Use the reading strategy of self-questioning to aid comprehension Use a variety of sources to gather information Examine the features of non-chronological reports and discussion texts. Extend their understanding and use of complex sentences. Find the meaning of key unit words and apply their understanding of them throughout the unit. Write a report about the inventions of an ancient civilization. Write a discursive text about the positive and negative impacts of an invention or discovery

Social Studies – students will: Find out about the inventions of ancient civilizations. Use timelines to show significant inventions and discoveries over time. Discuss the invention of the landmine inquiring into cause and effect. Inquire about a modern invention and write an interview with the inventor. Find out if they can live without a particular invention by trying to give it up! Design their own inventions. Research the positive and negative impact of an invention.

Mathematics – students will: Use standard units of measurement and measuring tools when estimating, describing, comparing and measuring length. Estimate and measure the dimensions of area and  perimeter and investigate the relationship between them. Model and explain number patterns. Compare and order fractions. Investigate the equivalency of fractions. Simplify fractions. Explore the addition and subtraction of fractions with related and unrelated denominators. Use timetables (12-hour and 24-hour).

Italian: Ripasso di analisi grammaticale: articoli, nomi, preposizioni, aggettivi qualificativi e verbi – Esercizi vari. Ripasso di analisi logica: soggetto, predicato , i principali complementi. Letture e comprensioni del testo. Chi ha inventato la lingua Italiana? La lingua Italiana nel tempo: poesie in Italiano antico La lingua Italiana nello spazio : i dialetti

Italian as an additional language – students will:  Learn how to use the verb to be and to have. Learn how to introduce themselves. Learn parts of the body. Practice basic speaking skills through role play.

Drama – students will be: Creating mimes that demonstrate the learner profile attributes and attitudes. Performing plays based on stories about inventions. Taking part in debates about inventions and discoveries. Hot seating famous inventors.

Art – students will: Explore the effect of invention and progress on the arts in Italy at the start of the 1900’s (Futurism).  Examine the work of artists such as Giacomo Balla, Carlo Carra and Umberto Bocconi. Reflect on how the futurist artists were influenced by innovation, speed and movement. Improve their drawing and paint mixing skills.

Music – students will: Explore the invention and development of instruments. Write music down using rhythmic notation and graphic scores. Find out about musicians/composers who changed the world of music. Discuss music and its impact on society.

PE – students will: Practise and develop techniques that suit the three different types of game (invasion, net, striking and fielding). Identify the skills that are used for attacking and defending. Explore and discuss the similarities between the skills used in the different games. Invent their own games with precise rules and strategies

Library – students will: Use the library to research. Revise the skills of skimming and scanning. Develop note-taking skills. Continue to cite sources and write bibliographies

ICT – students will learn: The importance of evaluating web sites. How to check the quality of information on the World Wide Web. How to cite sources of information (Internet).

Supporting Students at Home

Provide your child with a space in which they can study without distractions or interruptions.

Together with your child read the homework given out on a Monday and help them to organise their time during the week.

Encourage your child to independently check their homework before they hand it in.

Ask your child open ended questions related to their school work.

 

 

  

  

UNIT 1  (September 7th – October 16th)

    

The central idea of this unit is “We can express our ideas and identities through different art forms”.

The lines of inquiry will be:

• Ways of communicating through the Arts
• How art forms can be and have been interpreted
• How different cultures express themselves through the arts  

 In PSE, the students will be:

• Revising the attributes of the leaner profile.
• Exploring different ways of being a commuincator through the Arts.
• Using process journals to be reflective about their learning and evaluate the art work of themselves and others.
• Finding out more about what it means to be creative.

 In language, the students will be:

• Reading ‘The Snow Spider’ and completing a range of related activities.
• Learning to spell subject specific vocabulary and using it in their writing and during discussions.
• Investigating ways of linking sentences using connectives.
• Developing note-taking skills.
• Writing a critique of a painting.
• Exploring how paintings and pictures can be used as an inspiration for poetry and stories.
• Writing play scripts using the conventions of written drama.

 In mathematics, the students will be:

• Revising the place value of numbers to millions and beyond.
• Revising the effect of multiplying and dividing numbers by 10, 100 and 1000.
• Using and applying mental and written addition, subtraction, multiplication and division strategies.
• Using the vocabulary related to 2D shapes and angles.
• Using a protractor and a compass to construct a cubist drawing.
• Exploring the relationship between area and perimeter.
• Using formal methods and standard units of measurement to calculate the dimensions of area and perimeter.

 Wherever appropriate, teaching and learning of mathematics is integrated within units of inquiry. However, such links are not always appropriate. During this unit of inquiry, the majority of the mathematical content of the curriculum will be taught as stand alone.

 In drama, the students will be:

• Learning about drama as an Art form.

• Practising basic theatre skills.

• Performing a play in front of an audience

 

In art with Mr. Kerr, the students will be:

• Representing how colour affects feelings in the form of visual art
• Discussing their own and each others’ artwork
• Exploring a range of media
• Developing their ability to express emotion
• Reflecting on styles and techniques
• Looking at the artwork of a range of artists
• Looking at how art reflects current events and ideas in society

 In Italiano gli studenti lavoreranno sui seguenti argomenti:

• Esprimo i miei sentimenti attraverso:

            -    analisi dei sentimenti attraverso la lettura di brani da libri vari

-          il diario personale

-          la poesia

-          il disegno.

-          Osservo bene il quadro che preferisco, in casa mia: lo descrivo ed esprimo i sentimenti che suscita in me.

• Ripasso di analisi grammaticale e logica: revisione di tutti gli argomenti studiati lo scorso anno.
• Ripasso ortografico.

 In Italian as an additional language the students will be:

• Learning how to introduce themselves.
• Learning how to name objects in class, colours, days, months.
• Learning how to express age.
• Learning there is, there are.
• Practising basic speaking skills through role plays.

 In ICT with Ms. Jones, the students will be:  

• Using OPAC to access library information.
• Learning how to make effective use of Internet search engines with a link to the arts.
• Evaluating web sites with a link to the arts.
• Citing sources (Internet).

 In library lessons with Ms. Towner, the students will be:

• Learning about the organization of the Middle School Library, including how to find and take out books, how to use the reference section and how to use the OPAC (Online Public Access System).
• Finding out how to use the Dewey Decimal System.

 In music with Ms. Hodgson students will be:

• Discussing the links between Music and painting and how the movements in each correspond….e.g. Impressionism, Expressionism.
• Creating Images and pictures using Music as a stimulus.
• Creating Music using Paintings as a stimulus; this will be done as a group composition.
• Exploring and studying musical techniques and structures to create and perform our group compositions (rhythm, beat, pitch, call and response, polyrhythm, texture and ostinato).
• Listening to and recognising music, elements and instruments from different cultures. Discussing and thinking about the role of music in different world cultures.

 In PE with Mr Parlby and Ms Zajelac, pupils will be:

• Exploring how dance and movement can be used to communicate ideas, issues, thoughts and feelings.
• Using dance to express thoughts and feelings.
• Practising and developing their ideas and movements.
• Evaluating their own and others performances.