August September 2011

Year 6 Unit How We Organise Ourselves

Dear Parents of Year 6 EAL Students, The first unit of inquiry about ORGANSIATION is well under way. We have been inquiring into how our lives are organised, the tools and strategies needed for organisation, and the relationship between organisation and independence. The inquiries have been guided by the central idea:

being organised empowers us to achieve

The students have been identifying areas and setting goals where they feel they need to become more independent, take more responsibility and ultimately become more organised. The following graphic explains the reflective process that your child will be involved in as they move along the gradual release of responsibility continuum.

How will your childs learning be supported in EAL class?

In addition to language learning activities such as developing critical reading skills, improving sentence structure/ written expression, expanding academic vocabulary, learning grammar, punctuation and the overall mechanics of the language, we will be discussing and clarifying learned concepts related to the unit of inquiry and linking the unit with meaningful activities. I will regularly post vocabulary related to the unit on the EAL blog.

How can you help?

At the moment the EAL students are using the organisational tool of mind mapping to create an illustrated and organised mind map of themselves. They may need your support in remembering the details of their lives. Also, please use your home language(s) to discuss key concepts of this unit as well as new vocabulary which will help in maintaining and developing the academic language of your childs mother-tongue. I look forward to working with you this year! -- Ms Kyla