Dear 5B Community,

Moving up celebration rehearsals, G4 & 5 Swim Extravaganza, artifact creation, speech building and TEDx Youth prep have been the focus this week.

We can’t wait to share the end of the year with you on Monday at the moving up celebration and then to share some fun with your child during the ice skating activity on Monday afternoon. Please ensure your child has a change of clothes for this event so they don’t ruin the good clothes they will be wearing at the moving up celebration.  

Students will start to bring home their items from school next week and congratulations to 5B for returning all their library books to the library this week. A reminder that students can issue books out, next week, for their summer reading enjoyment. Students can also log into the UNIS library site and begin reading. 

Students will also be filled with mixed emotions as some students move on to other countries for their middle school experience. It has been a pleasure to learn from, be part of, and teach your children. They all have shown courage, kindness, humour and creativity at some point in the year. Some have reached new highs in their academic achievement and some have discovered new talents that have floored us all, Some students created goals and achieved them and some students are well on their way to fulfilling theirs. Whatever your child has achieved this year, is credited to the many teachers and teaching assistants who have helped them along the way.

To you, the families of 5B students, thank you! You have supported UNIS, your child’s growth and stayed interested in their learning. I wish each and every one of you a safe, happy and wonderful summer. I look forward to seeing those of you who are returning to UNIS again next year, and to those moving further afield, good luck and stay in touch.

We said farewell to Zoe and Grant this week and wish them all the best for the next academic year.

Announcements

• TEDx Youth @ Hanoi Event; June 8th at 9:00 am – Here is the link to the ticket registration.
• G5 Moving Up Celebration/Assembly 10th June at 8:30 am
• Final Day of School for students is the 12th of June.

The week that was

Welcome, 5B Community,

Where did this week go?

As we draw a close to the academic year, 5B are beginning to gather items they can use to craft their transitions artifact. Students need to be creative in the way they construct an artifact that reflects the major transitions in their life. I have encouraged them to bring items they have collected over the years, photos, sports items like football boots or swim caps or even game pieces they have had since they were young. Next week students will spend most of their time creating an artifact that represents who they were and who they are now. I’m looking forward to sharing these with you on Monday the 10th of June at the G5 Moving Up Celebration/Assembly.

Moving Up Celebration/Assembly

By now you should have received an invitation to attend this important event. It will start at 8:30 in the Center for the Arts Theater. Once the assembly is over, students will do the traditional walk to MS where they will be greeted by our MS Principal. From there, students will make their way back to their classes to share their artifacts with their families. There will be a morning tea (which our class parent has contacted you about) and the morning will end at 10:10 am.

All students will need to dress in formal attire (special occasion dress) and will need a change of clothes for the event happening in the afternoon. Your child will bring home a permission slip on Monday, to attend an off-campus event to celebrate the end of the year. Please keep an eye out for the permission slip and return it to school by Thursday 6th June.

Students have been asked to supply a photo of them as a baby and one of themselves taken recently. If your child isn’t able to attend the school during the final week of school please let me know as soon as possible. We would still like to celebrate your child, even if they aren’t going to attend, by showing their photos, alongside their classmates.

Announcements

• TEDx Youth @ Hanoi Event; June 8th at 9:00 am – Here is the link to the ticket registration.
• G5 Moving Up Celebration/Assembly 10th June at 8:30 am
• Final Day of School for students is the 12th of June

The Week That Was

Welcome 5B Community

UOI
5B began to explore ideas to create an artifact that would represent the changes (transitions) they have gone through in their life. Students should be thinking about gathering items such as photos or memorabilia from home to support their artifact creation. This week we also had our gender-based visit from Nurse Susan and Nurse Jo to answer questions and review information pertaining to the reproductive system. Mr Dylan came to visit to talk about emotions and how to recognise and control how to react to different situations and students have been viewing a range of life skills such as confidence, sleep, healthy eating, making informed choices and relationships.

Next week 5B will go to middle school for the day on Tuesday and continue to work on their independent transitions slideshow and artifacts.

Math
Angles in art, angles in building, angles in sport, angles in games and angles in medicine; Angles, angles everywhere. The focus for 5B has been how to read, write and interpret angles. We have been spiralling back to other math concepts we have learned throughout the year by way of math talks and games. During international play day on Friday, students explored the school grounds to find the angles in the artworks created by MS students.

Next week we will connect three-dimensional objects with their nets and other two-dimensional representations and begin to choose appropriate units of measurement for volume, capacity and mass.

Literacy
5B have continued to work on the elements of an Explanation text type. We found we were still confused between procedural text types and explanation texts.

An explanation text is similar to a procedural text, and these can often be confused, however, an explanation text explains the how and why behind a process such as

• What causes poorly made sandwiches?
• Why is it important to write clear instructions?
• The process of making a peanut butter sandwich?

A procedural text generally instructs the reader on how to complete a process such as a recipe.  Although they appear similar they are very different when compared side by side.

So, 5B students each followed a recipe they wrote about ‘how to’ make a peanut butter and jam sandwich. The best part was watching students follow the directions exactly as they were written. There was loads of laughter. Ask your child to share the video they made and have a giggle with them. Then students chose one of the above bullet points to create an explanation text, focusing on the ‘how and why’.

Last week I mentioned we had finished our final novel (Bridge to Terabithia) for the year and would begin to explore poetry. However, 5B students decided otherwise and so we have added a last-minute novel to the AVAILLL list – Charlotte’s Web. Here 5B have set goals to look at vocabulary as a way enlist the reader/viewer to use their imagination.

Transdisciplinary learning
To enhance our reading experience of Bridge to Terabithia and connect it to concepts in units of measurement by making beam bridges. Students had to identify the properties of a beam bridge, construct these from items that could be broken down into their original state and then be tested for load bearing. We had great fun constructing these and then testing how much weight the bridges could bare. The strongest bridge carried a load of approximately 90kgs (two people). Impressive!

G5 and G2 Buddy Time
This week 5B students shared a couple of games with their G2 buddies. Stepping stones; which teaches team building skills such as communication and peer support, efficiency and compliance. Stick balancing; which teaches body awareness, balance, focus and mindfulness. 

Early Departure from UNIS
If you are intending to leave UNIS early for the summer (prior to June 12th) please let your child’s homeroom teacher know as soon as possible.

Announcements

• HS Graduation 31st May 11:30 am Early Dismissal for D-G8
• Grade 5 Moving Up Celebration & Assembly 10 June 08:30 – 10:05 am
• Last day of school 12th June
• G4&G5 Swimming Festival Thursday 06 June 09.30-11.00 am

The Week that Was

Welcome 5B Community,

UOI
This week students continued to develop their lines of inquiry and driving/essential questions to match their key concepts and Central Idea: Transitions require changes that involve adaptation.

Nurse Susan visited on Thursday to introduce students to the reproductive system and spent time with students naming the reproductive system parts so they have a clearer understanding of correct terminology. Next week (Monday) Nurse Susan will hold gender specific lessons (girls and boys) to answer any questions students may have and to dig a little deeper into the transitions the body does during puberty.

Step Up Day – A Day in Middle School
5B will spend a full day in Middle school on Tuesday 28th May. Students have received letters from their G6 buddies and took great delight in responding. All the students are looking forward to this event.

Math

This week we discovered what roles these figures had and how to remember them.

As we continue with our Geometry and Measurement unit, we are finding out how important it is to measure accurately and how we use different forms of measurement for different purposes. Do you know what the difference between degree and angle is? Ask your child to explain the difference. Next week we will focus on angles and how to read these without using a protractor.

Literacy

We have finished our final scheduled AVAILLL novel for the year – Bridge to Terabithia; and yes there were tears. In the coming weeks, we will dive into stories and poetry chosen by students to finish our year off.

This week 5B explored how to write a general statement and linking sentence the beginning of an explanation text. We also worked on understanding simple, compound and complex sentence structures. Next week we will look at how to add visual language to their writing, to support the content of the explanation text along with a conclusion to wrap it all up. Then students will practice writing their own until we conclude this text type with an assessment.

Seussical Jr. – What a pleasure it was to watch the opening night on Thursday. The huge success for this has to be given to the two directors; Noor and Daniel for their vision and complete commitment to excellence. The students who performed in this musical production have found a passion for performing and one, I hope they continue to nurture.  

Action beyond PYPx

Quality Education group; Grant, Noi and Audrey had the pleasure of handing over the books they translated for Blue Dragon earlier this week. Mr Tom made a special trip back to UNIS to receive the books and thank the students for their efforts to help his students with quality resources. Congratulations Grant, Noi and Audrey for following through with your action.

The Week that Was:

Welcome 5B Community,

There were a few disruptions to our schedule this week with MAP testing and special visitors to our classroom, but students once again managed the changes and challenges like champions.

Measure of Academic Progress – MAP
Unlike paper and pencil tests, where all students are asked the same questions and spend a fixed amount of time taking the test, MAP testing means every student gets a unique set of test questions based on responses to previous questions. They also have as much time as they require to take the test. Your child’s MAP Growth results will be available online soon.
Here is a short article based on 12 common questions parents ask about the MAP Growth Test.

Math in 5B
Students spent time exploring with shapes and patterns and reviewed what they know about Geometry.

We love to play and explore at the same time.

Students are being encouraged to see the world through a geometrical eye for this unit. What do they notice? What questions or connections might they have? What unit of measure might be needed to measure the area, perimeter, volume or degree of a figure?

The math curriculum outcomes 5B are working on currently are to;

• Choose appropriate units of measurement for length, area, volume, capacity and mass  (ACMMG108)
• Classify two-dimensional shapes and describe their features (2D) (Described in the NSW syllabus)
• Compare, describe and name prisms and pyramids (3D) (Described in the NSW syllabus)
• Connect three-dimensional objects with their nets and other two-dimensional representations (ACMMG111)
• Estimate, measure and compare angles using degrees (ACMMG112)

Visitors to 5B

Nurse Susan came to talk to students about hygiene and how to look after their bodies. Next week, nurse Susan will be coming into classes to explain how the reproductive system works in both males and females. Students will find out the names of body parts, their role in the body and how these roles change during puberty.

Mr Dylan came to talk to students about ’emotional regulation’ and how our emotions change or intensify, and how some students may experience new emotions. Students were given strategies to help them regulate and identify these emotions and how to communicate what they are feeling.

Students visited Ms Cathy’s K2 classroom on Monday and participated in a K2 lesson. This provocation to the Transition unit was intended to give students an understanding of how they have changed over time. During homeroom discussions, students identified changes to their lives such as freedom to make choices about what they learn, more responsibility for themselves and their belongings and friendships.

Next week Ms Michelle will visit us to discuss ‘digital footprints’ and that certain information should not be shared online, in order to keep students safe from online predators.

Ms Megan (ES Principal), Mr Marc (MS Principal) and Ms Beth (ES Math Coach) visited 5B to watch and ask students questions about their learning in math. It was an opportunity for students to share their understandings and demonstrate to the admin team how they work together to identify their areas of strength and areas for development.

Parent Coffee Morning – Transitions UOI

This week the G5 team held a parent coffee morning to share information and resources about the Transitions unit. Thank you to those parents who attended, your conversations and interests were appreciated and it is comforting to know that your child is the centre of all our interests. As discussed here is the slide show we used during the coffee morning.

Literacy

5B are coming to the end of our AVAILLL reading program. We are working through our last novel ‘Bridge to Terabithia’ for the year, looking at language elements and the emotional journey the characters go through. Next week we will learn about the purpose, structure and grammar elements of ‘Explanation’ texts.

The week that was:

Announcements:

Seussical Jr. is on Sale Now – Thursday 16th,  Friday 17th and Saturday 18th.

Get your tickets quick as they will sell out fast. 

• Swimming switches to Thursday for 5A and 5B
• Tuesday 14th – Youth Sports Athletics Festival at BVIS (Royal City, 72A Nguyen Trai, Street, Hanoi).
  Parents are welcome to attend.
  Festival start time: 13:30
  Festival finish time: 16:30
  Students arrive back at UNIS: 17:15
• Wednesday 15th – Seussical Jr full day rehearsal

Greetings 5B Community,

Welcome Back,

Students spent this short week of school (2 days) self-assessing their understanding and skills throughout the PYP Exhibition: understanding of the central idea, thinking skills, research skills, communication skills, social skills and self-management skills. 

Next week we will resume our normal classroom schedule and introduce new units of work in UOI, math and literacy.

• UOI – Transitions, will involve physical, social and emotional changes.
• Math – Geometry,
• Literacy – Explanatory text types 

Beginning next week: Swimming switches to Thursday for 5B, and as students have lessons that are split over break, they have been invited by Mr Martin to bring snacks to swimming so students do not have to change and leave the pool area for recess, they can get some extra pool time.

Book Week Photo’s

Save the Dates:

• 4th May – Saturday of Service – Help maintain the momentum of PYPx and join in
• 7th, 8th, 9th May – Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) Testing
• 10th May – Grade 5 Parent Coffee Morning – Transitions (This is an important gathering if you have any questions or need support with conversations around puberty or moving to middle school)

Congratulations Grade 5

What a wonderful week of learning, showcased through celebration and reflection. We are so proud of our Grade 5 community. The students rose to the occasion, demonstrating knowledge, understanding and action. Thank you for being a part of our learning community. We appreciate the support and hope you too were inspired to take action.
Coming Up
29th & 30th April –  No school – Vietnamese Victory Days
1st May – No school – International Labour Day
2nd May – Book Week Character Parade!! 8:10 am in the Sports Centre on Friday
3rd May – MRISA assembly. Wear your UNIS gear to support our Volleyball teams
3rd May – Book Sale
4th May – Saturday of Service – Help maintain the momentum of PYPx and join in
10th May – Grade 5 Parent Coffee Morning – Transitions

Welcome, 5B Community,

It’s all on as we prepare for next week’s Exhibition Presentations.

Students spent all day Friday working on their PYPx presentation displays. Many thanks to parents who came and assisted their child and their child’s group.

A reminder for parents to complete the G5 PYP Exhibition After School Information Form to assist G5 teachers with planning for next Thursday’s Evening PYPx event.

A range of activities was had this week.

Back to Buddies

5B shared their “Dream Home” models and challenged G2 students to build houses out of playing cards. In return, G2 students shared the math games they had in store to share with their parents during student-led conferences.

5B Blue Dragon Field Trip

5B were invited to visit Blue Dragon this week to talk about human trafficking. Students were told that there are two main types of human trafficking in Vietnam and they are trafficking or labour and trafficking for marriage. Students were shocked to find out children as young as 12 are enticed away from their homes by skilled conversationalists who mislead families into thinking their child will be well looked after, given on the job training and returned home with a pocket full of money. Often these children are made to work 14-17 hour days with no pay, cut off from communicating with family and are kept in poor living conditions.

Girls as young as 16 are tricked into relationships with both boys and older women who promise to give them better lives. After a time they are taken to other destinations such as China to be sold as brides. These children are often unaware of where they are and as they don’t speak or read Chinese, can spend months trying to explain to Vietnamese authorities where they are.

The simple act of raising money for a walk-a-thon, to wanting to know more about the Blue Dragon Foundation has taken 5B on a remarkable journey of inquiry, knowledge, humility and understanding.

Short Animation Film Exploration

5B has been exploring short animation films as a way of expressing and experiencing issues and people’s life stories. One of these was about destiny and what can happen if get caught up in our own existence.

Working with G3

5B visited Ms Chris and her class on Wednesday to teach her students how to create graffiti art pieces. It is always a pleasure to see 5B students sharing their acquired skills in a way that develops the skills of younger students. Mentors in the making.

We look forward to seeing you next Thursday evening at your child’s PYP Exhibition Presentation.

Reminders

• 22nd April – Earth Day – Wear Green
• 25th April – Eventing PYPx Presentations
• 29th & 30th April –  No school – Vietnamese Victory Days
• 1st May – No school – International Labour Day
• 2nd May – Book Week Character Parade!! 8:10 am in the Sports Centre 
• 3rd May – MRISA assembly. Wear your UNIS gear to support our Volleyball teams.

Welcome, 5B Community,

Hope you all had a wonderful Spring Break. A sincere thank you to Ms Aga for taking such good care of 5B in my absence.

5B have jumped straight back into learning this week and are well on the way to making their learning goals come to fruition.

Math – Dream Homes

Students worked through a process of planning, budgeting, designing and building their dream homes. They presented these to the class on Thursday and Friday.

Literacy – AVAILLL – Holes

One of the most enjoyable stories ever written. Students worked in groups to unpack meanings of unfamiliar words within a context. Looked at values and how ancestry plays a part in our everyday lives.

PYPx 

Groups have finished their information reports. These will be available to read in the library from 18th April. There are a number of reports written in different languages and on different topics. Students have worked hard to present their findings, so take a moment when you’re at school to pop in and have a read.

Field trips are coming to an end and student action is well underway. The hope is that by students taking action, they become aware that they can make a difference to issues that affect them, others and the world. To have the opportunity to experience service to others, or change a narrow mindset, at this age is a valuable experience.

PYPx Sub-Committees

On top of their own PYPx inquiries, groups of students have volunteered to be on sub-committees to organise the Exhibition itself. These groups are in charge of invitations to families and other schools, organising assemblies, PYPx T-shirts and the parent evening. This year’s PYPx has been handed over to the students so they have a voice in how they wish to present their findings and actions.

PYPx Work Day

A reminder that next Friday is G5 PYPx work day and all G5 students are required to attend school. There are no student-led conferences for G5. However, parents are welcome to pop into G5 classes and spend time working with their child, as their group designs what their exhibit will look like. It is a full-on day for G5 students and any assistance is greatly appreciated. There are no music or art specials for G5 students on this day as they will be working with their coordinating teacher in preparation for the PYPx on the 24th and 25th of April. If you wish to see your child’s PE teacher please let your child’s PYPx coordination teacher know.

PYPx Parent Evening Event

Keep the evening of the 25th open. An invitation to attend will be coming from the Student Sub-Committee in due course.

Save the Dates

• 8th – 24th April-  Book Drive/sale
• 15th April – No school – Hung King Day
• 19th April – G5 PYPx Work Day
• 29th & 30th April –  No school – Vietnamese Victory Days
• 1st May – No school – International Labour Day
• 3rd – 4th May – Book Sale

The Week that Was

Welcome 5B Community,

A huge thank you to Agnieszka Schaffner for covering 5B’s learning schedule for the past week plus. 5B and I are so very lucky to have you in our class.

To 5B families, have a wonderful Spring break. If your family is travelling, stay safe. If you are staycationing, wishing you great weather and quieter streets.

ES Sport day

PYPX Week 5

The week that was: