Over the last couple of weeks, we have been learning how to write comic strips. Comic strips usually tell a bit of a story, like a narrative. There is often a problem to be solved and it ends up being quite funny. Some features that you can find in a comic strip are speech or thought bubbles, onomatopoeia and eye-catching illustrations. Often the illustrations tell most of the story, so they need to be big and dramatic (like over the top facial expressions). We have had fun researching and reading different types of comics.

We used the website www.toondoo.com to create our own class comic strip, Monkey Business. We have started to create our own hand drawn comic strips (as well as our own toondoo comic strips. You can see it below, as well as a comic strip that Kaleb completed. Not bad hey? Stay posted for updates of our comic strips.

Do you know any funny comic strips?

What do you think makes a great comic strip?

Our focus this term for writing has been narratives. So far we have learnt all about different genres such as, fantasy, fables, science-fiction, historical narratives and many more. Most recently, we have been writing playscripts. A playscript is like a narrative story. There are characters, events that happen, problems and solutions, but it is written a little differently.

Some features typical to playscripts are; the use of colons after names, brackets highlighting characters emotions, scene titles and a short synopsis outlining what the playscript is about.

When we were composing our playscripts, we thought about our favourite movies and wondered what could happen next. We then planned, drafted and published a sequel (or in some cases a prequel) to these movies. Here is a sample of some of our playscripts. We hope you enjoy them!

Bubbles Kidnapped Script

Finding Omo

TERMINATOR 5 the Battle for Victory

The Night of the Squirrel Apocalypse

Monsters Preschool

Well it’s been such a busy term that we have hardly had time to update our blog. What can we say? Well…..we have been extremely busy preparing for our 5/6 production. This has been a fun process as we have had to audition for speaking parts, learn lines, sing songs, perform dances and try on costumes.

Our production is called ‘Kids at Sea’. Imagine this…..It is turn-of-the century London Town and young Harold Sindbad and his Dad, Albert, have returned home after a long day’s scrounging. Harold is the seventh son of the seventh son of the legendary Sindbad. However, the fabled lost treasure failed to be found and the Sindbads have been reduced to ‘Rag n Bone’ men – junk collectors. Old Albert is tired and feeling a failure to his son. But Harold loves his Dad and is an eternal optimist (‘Something will turn up!)’.

While making a cup of cocoa, the lost map to the Sindbad treasure falls out of the cocoa tin! He takes the map and heads for glory.

When Albert realises this, he sets off after Harold. Along the way, they encounter the likes of Sydney Grummett, Sultanas in pink pyjamas, Zoltan – the Sultan of Soul, Silly Sailors, Pirates and the funny King Neptune. They visit exotic places all in the search for the treasure…..oooohhhh!! (as the sultanas would say)

With only three weeks to go until opening night, we are busy rehearsing. Stay posted for photos of the big day!!

Magnificent microscopic microrganisms on PhotoPeach

Today (12th June) Ian from the Victorian Space and Science Education Centre came to speak to us about different types of fossils and microrganisms. We explored the amazing world of microrganisms by using microscopes to take a closer look.

We investigated trilobite fossils which looked like butchey boys. They used to roll up to protect themselves. We also saw coprolite (fossilised dinosaur poo!) which was pretty cool to look at. They just looked like rock. Everyone got to hold an ammonite (fossilised shells which had tentacle-like limbs poking out of them.)

“My favourite part was looking through the microscope. It was very interesting” – Josh

“My favourite part was the when I saw the Rotifiers through the micrscope. A Rotifier is a small worm-like organism that has two bulgy eyes. It propels the water around to get food” – Tyra

“My favourite part was when we got to see all of the fossils, especially the fossilised dinosaur poo!” – Hayden

Everyone had a great time discovering the incredibly small (but really big) world of microrganisms.

What do you know about microrganisms?

Have you ever seen a fossil up close?

After our SES incursion, we reflected on the visit. Everyone discussed what their favourite part was, something new for them and what they already knew. We then decided to write thank you letters to show our appreciation to the SES members that took the time to come and teach us all about what they do. Here are a selection of our letters!

Brittnee SES Letter

Daniel SES Letter

Sarah Letter to SES

Sarah Letter to SES

Jeremy SES Letter

SES LetterTyra

Tara Letter to SES

Zander SES Letter

Blake SES Letter by 56Crawford

After much consideration and quite a few great suggestions for a name for our class pet, we have decided that ‘she’ is actually a ‘he’, and his name is………….Sheldon!

Last Thursday 23rd May, our local SES (State Emergency Service) crew visited the 5/6’s. They taught us about what they do in an emergency situation, how they help others and what we can do in an emergency situation.

We got a personal tour of their trucks which have lots of fancy equipment in it (the Jaws of Life were amazing!) We also got to play interesting games which taught us the importance of thinking logically in any emergency situation. The flood game was particularly interesting, as we learnt about some potentially dangerous things that lurk in flood waters.

What would you do if faced with a natural disaster?

What would you put in an disaster emergency kit?

Last Monday 13th May, a lovely lady called Megan visited the Grade 3-6’s at WPS. She came riding in on a big lawn mower. Megan suffers from an illness called MS and she decided to ride on her lawn mower from Melbourne to Sydney to raise funds and awareness of this illness. What a brave lady! Her visit was very inspiring, as she shared lots about her life and her journey so far. Read Kiara’s recount to discover more.

Kiara’s Writing

This term we have been learning about natural disasters as our Inquiry focus. We have learnt facts about how some of them begin, what effect they have on both land and people, as well as what you would need in an emergency pack.

Here are some facts that we have learnt about volcanoes so far:

1. There are three major kinds of volcanoes, shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes and cinder cone volcanoes.

2. Volcanoes erupt because of magma escaping from beneath the Earth’s crust

3. Volcanoes can be active, dormant or extinct

4. The tallest volcano in the Solar System isn’t on Earth

5. Volcanoes are dangerous!

Today we created a wordle about a natural disaster that interests us. Wordle is a fun website where you basically choose a topic and write as much information as you can. We researched some extra facts on the internet, put it all together and the end result was exciting. It was so much fun! Check out our slideshow below.

Have you ever created a wordle before?

What great educational websites do you know that help make your learning fun and creative?

What do you know about natural disasters?

Our natural disaster wordles on PhotoPeach

Yesterday the 9th May our 5/6 students competed against other schools in our district in the annual summer sports tournament. The sports we played were softball, rounders and cricket. All of the teams showed our school values by supporting and caring for each other, respecting the other teams and showing great friendship by making new friends from different schools.

We are very proud of ourselves because we tried our best, worked together and had lots of fun. Mrs Crawford had the pleasure of coaching the girls softball team. Here are some pictures that she took on the day.

What do you think? Do you have any great memories from the day? If you didn’t play on the day, what would be your favourite sport to play?