Welcome back to the new term. We hope you all had a well-deserved break and enjoyed the Christmas festivities and the New Year. We have some exciting plans for the start of the term including the new Unit of Inquiry where students will be testing the quality of commercial products to see if they are well made, safe and worth what we pay for them. Don't miss the link to the unit in the U.O.I section on the right. For selected student we also have the Junior School Production which will require a lot of energy, time and dedication. But we know it will be a valuable and enjoyable experience for those involved.
Reflections – 15th – 19th December
Students finished their Trade Fair. It was a great success and students were excited with how well they all did. Counting their profits at the end was a highlight, even if it wasn’t real money! Their final assessment rubrics will be sent home next week. Teachers received wonderful comments about the Year 6 choir at the end-of-year Christmas Concert. Well done year 6!
Weekly News: 7th – 16th December
Unit of Inquiry
This term we start the new Unit of Inquiry “Testing, Testing 1,2,3”. The assessment task for the unit will be to design a series of fair tests for an everyday product to show how and why companies test products before releasing them to the public. The test could be comparative to compare quality and cost of different brands. We will start the unit by discussing the qualities and other features of materials used to make most products.
Mathematics
This week students will start on division. We will revise the connection between division and multiplication and continue our practice of times tables.
English
This week students will be looking at the vocabulary which relates to the new unit and practise using the words to make sure they understand the meaning. The language focus for the unit will be the writing of procedural texts, ie, describing accurately a scientific testing procedure.In our reading groups we will be reading about and discussing materials used in making things we use everyday (plastic, metal, paper and glass). We will also be researching using the library computers.
What can I do to help?
Discuss with your child things that you have purchased that have not been of good quality. Have you ever had a product recalled because of a fault in the product.
Upcoming Events and Reminders:
• Due to technical problems reports could not be delivered during the holidays. Reports will be sent home this Friday.
• Junior School Production practice starts next week. Students will practise Tuesday and Thursday afternoons after school and Wednesday periods 7 and 8. More information will be available soon.
• Wednesday afternoon class activities start next week periods 7 and 8.
• PTA meeting January 13.
• Junior School Cross Country Friday January 30. All students need to bring a spare pair of runners in a plastic bag each PE day. The Cross Country track is very wet on after rain.
With thanks,
David Barrett, David Gocentas and Ms Isabel Costa Pereira
Friday, January 2, 2009
Monday, December 15, 2008
Latest News
Important: Click on the "Trade Fair Week" words above and you will see a slide show of the photos taken at the Trade Fair!
It´s a BIG week at SDIS this week. We have the Trade Fair for year 6 on Monday and Tuesday, the Junior School Concert on Wednesday and Friday is the last day of term.
Reflections – 9th – 12th December
Students finished their plans for the Trade Fair. They made goods to sell, prepared a ledger to record their sales, made advertising signs, price lists and even information sheets about the items they are selling. They also planned how their stall will be organised. We also had the live performance of each group’s advertisement. Teachers were impressed with the scripts and the acting ability of the students. Students had to assess the quality of each group’s advertisement: was it convincing, did it show enthusiasm and emotion and was there evidence of good expression and body language?
Weekly News: 15th – 19th December
Unit of Inquiry
This week students will continue focus on the Trade Fair which will take place on Monday and Tuesday. Teachers will assess the success of each group’s stall: choice of products, satisfactory pricing, satisfactory publicity, good planning and record keeping. They will also be assessed on their individual contribution to their group. After the Trade Fair students will have a chance to reflect on the success of their business and their products. The children will be asked to think critically about their businesses and whether or not they could have improved different aspects, eg. pricing, advertising, product quality, location of business, etc. Ultimately, they will need to refer back to the central idea of the unit and relate it to their business – was your company successful in trading things that people need and desire?
Mathematics
This week students will consolidate most of the money and mixed number concepts taught throughout our current unit. They children will keep ledgers for their business, including all sales and expenses of the business. This will require the children to add, subtract and multiply both whole and mixed numbers to determine whether or not their business made a profit or a loss. We will examine profit margin and see how changing certain inputs, eg. the price of a product, choice of materials, etc. can impact upon the overall profit margin.
English
This week students will be writing reflections about our current unit and the success of their businesses. They will need to be good thinkers and communicate the good and bad things about running a business and the various challenges they faced as a group, eg. teamwork, quality of products, demand for products, etc. In addition to offering their opinions, they will need to offer proof and evidence to support their views. As always, we will be encouraging the students to include good detail in their reflections as well as correct punctuation, grammar and spelling.
What can I do to help?
• Reflection is an important part of learning and refining knowledge. As this is the final week of our unit, ask your child about their business and what goods and/or services they are trading in. Have them tell you about the successes and difficulties of running a businesses and what ways they could improve their business and its performance.
Upcoming Events and Reminders:
• Junior School Concert, Celebrations Around the World – 17th December, 13:30 start. Parents should be early to find a safe car park space and to be seated on time in the Old Gym.
• Christmas card delivery box in Reception. Students may leave cards here for delivery to other students in the school. Students must write the full name and class of the student on the envelope.
• End of Term 1 – 19th December (classes finish at 12:00pm)
• Free Dress – Thursday, 18 December
• Free Dress – Friday, 19 December (holiday theme)
With thanks,
David Barrett, David Gocentas and Ms Isabel Costa Pereira
It´s a BIG week at SDIS this week. We have the Trade Fair for year 6 on Monday and Tuesday, the Junior School Concert on Wednesday and Friday is the last day of term.
Reflections – 9th – 12th December
Students finished their plans for the Trade Fair. They made goods to sell, prepared a ledger to record their sales, made advertising signs, price lists and even information sheets about the items they are selling. They also planned how their stall will be organised. We also had the live performance of each group’s advertisement. Teachers were impressed with the scripts and the acting ability of the students. Students had to assess the quality of each group’s advertisement: was it convincing, did it show enthusiasm and emotion and was there evidence of good expression and body language?
Weekly News: 15th – 19th December
Unit of Inquiry
This week students will continue focus on the Trade Fair which will take place on Monday and Tuesday. Teachers will assess the success of each group’s stall: choice of products, satisfactory pricing, satisfactory publicity, good planning and record keeping. They will also be assessed on their individual contribution to their group. After the Trade Fair students will have a chance to reflect on the success of their business and their products. The children will be asked to think critically about their businesses and whether or not they could have improved different aspects, eg. pricing, advertising, product quality, location of business, etc. Ultimately, they will need to refer back to the central idea of the unit and relate it to their business – was your company successful in trading things that people need and desire?
Mathematics
This week students will consolidate most of the money and mixed number concepts taught throughout our current unit. They children will keep ledgers for their business, including all sales and expenses of the business. This will require the children to add, subtract and multiply both whole and mixed numbers to determine whether or not their business made a profit or a loss. We will examine profit margin and see how changing certain inputs, eg. the price of a product, choice of materials, etc. can impact upon the overall profit margin.
English
This week students will be writing reflections about our current unit and the success of their businesses. They will need to be good thinkers and communicate the good and bad things about running a business and the various challenges they faced as a group, eg. teamwork, quality of products, demand for products, etc. In addition to offering their opinions, they will need to offer proof and evidence to support their views. As always, we will be encouraging the students to include good detail in their reflections as well as correct punctuation, grammar and spelling.
What can I do to help?
• Reflection is an important part of learning and refining knowledge. As this is the final week of our unit, ask your child about their business and what goods and/or services they are trading in. Have them tell you about the successes and difficulties of running a businesses and what ways they could improve their business and its performance.
Upcoming Events and Reminders:
• Junior School Concert, Celebrations Around the World – 17th December, 13:30 start. Parents should be early to find a safe car park space and to be seated on time in the Old Gym.
• Christmas card delivery box in Reception. Students may leave cards here for delivery to other students in the school. Students must write the full name and class of the student on the envelope.
• End of Term 1 – 19th December (classes finish at 12:00pm)
• Free Dress – Thursday, 18 December
• Free Dress – Friday, 19 December (holiday theme)
With thanks,
David Barrett, David Gocentas and Ms Isabel Costa Pereira
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Latest News
Congratulations this week to Mr Gocentas and his wife Annie on the birth of their son Luke.
This week Year 6 continue preparing the goods and services for each group for the Trade Fair next week. More details are below.
Reflections:2nd – 5th - December
Students started planning for the goods and services they may sell at the Trade Fair. We saw that some of the groups had similar ideas so they discussed what other goods or services they may provide. Students also read out to the class the advertisement they each had written to advertise their goods. They are obviously now very familiar with the art of persuasive speech!
Weekly News: 9th – 12th December
Unit of Inquiry
This week students will continue the preparations for the goods and services they will sell at the Trade Fair in the last week of term. Students will also continue work on the group advertisements. (see English below)
For the Trade Fair it is important to remember two things:
1. Each student can spend no more than €10 on buying goods for the fair. We would like students to keep spending as low as possible and use recycled materials etc or items they already have at home.
2. Students from years 3 to 6 will be buying goods at the fair using our year 6 currency (the Bargo). No real money will be used.
If you have any questions regarding the fair please send a message to Mr Barrett in the school diary or via email.
Mathematics
This week students will continue to focus on multiplication, including multiplication of decimals, in our number groups. We will continue our tables drill and use various games to become more familiar with decimals, fractions and percentages.
English
This week students will finish writing, editing, publishing and rehearsing their group advertisement for the goods and services on sale at the Trade Fair. Later in the week we will perform the advertisements to a live audience in the class and some advertisements may be filmed. Student groups will assess other groups on the various qualities of their performance. Students will be given a rubric (list of criteria) to judge each performance.
What can I do to help?
• Students this week will have a Trade Fair Diary in their homework book which details what they need to do at home. Please check their Trade Fair diary.
Upcoming Events and Reminders:
• Junior School Concert, Celebrations Around the World – Wednesday 17th December, 13:30 start. Parents should be early to find a safe car park space and to be seated on time in the Old Gym.
• Christmas card delivery box in Reception. Students may leave cards here for delivery to other students in the school. Students must write the full name and class of the student on the envelope.
• End of Term 1 – 19th December (classes finish at 12:00pm)
With thanks,
David Barrett, David Gocentas and Ms Isabel Costa Pereira
This week Year 6 continue preparing the goods and services for each group for the Trade Fair next week. More details are below.
Reflections:2nd – 5th - December
Students started planning for the goods and services they may sell at the Trade Fair. We saw that some of the groups had similar ideas so they discussed what other goods or services they may provide. Students also read out to the class the advertisement they each had written to advertise their goods. They are obviously now very familiar with the art of persuasive speech!
Weekly News: 9th – 12th December
Unit of Inquiry
This week students will continue the preparations for the goods and services they will sell at the Trade Fair in the last week of term. Students will also continue work on the group advertisements. (see English below)
For the Trade Fair it is important to remember two things:
1. Each student can spend no more than €10 on buying goods for the fair. We would like students to keep spending as low as possible and use recycled materials etc or items they already have at home.
2. Students from years 3 to 6 will be buying goods at the fair using our year 6 currency (the Bargo). No real money will be used.
If you have any questions regarding the fair please send a message to Mr Barrett in the school diary or via email.
Mathematics
This week students will continue to focus on multiplication, including multiplication of decimals, in our number groups. We will continue our tables drill and use various games to become more familiar with decimals, fractions and percentages.
English
This week students will finish writing, editing, publishing and rehearsing their group advertisement for the goods and services on sale at the Trade Fair. Later in the week we will perform the advertisements to a live audience in the class and some advertisements may be filmed. Student groups will assess other groups on the various qualities of their performance. Students will be given a rubric (list of criteria) to judge each performance.
What can I do to help?
• Students this week will have a Trade Fair Diary in their homework book which details what they need to do at home. Please check their Trade Fair diary.
Upcoming Events and Reminders:
• Junior School Concert, Celebrations Around the World – Wednesday 17th December, 13:30 start. Parents should be early to find a safe car park space and to be seated on time in the Old Gym.
• Christmas card delivery box in Reception. Students may leave cards here for delivery to other students in the school. Students must write the full name and class of the student on the envelope.
• End of Term 1 – 19th December (classes finish at 12:00pm)
With thanks,
David Barrett, David Gocentas and Ms Isabel Costa Pereira
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