Wednesday, August 29, 2007
NEW BLOG ADDRESS
Please remember that your new blog address is http://www.year56.blogspot.com/. You will find all the latest weekly information there from September.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
...and now the end is near...
As in the title of this week's blog, we are speeding towards the end of the school year, with tremendous speed. I can't believe how quickly this year has gone and how much we have managed to achieve in the year.
You will all have received your end of year reports last Monday and hopefully you will have enjoyed reading the contents. It would be great if you could spare a few minutes to send a comment back to us, using the sheets supplied in the envelopes. We do like to read them all and they provide a lasting memory for us, of each of our classes.
Even though it is the last week of term, it is probably the busiest one, so here goes with the diary for this week...
Monday
9.30am sees the 'Musical Medley' production in the hall. As always, entrance will be strictly by ticket only in order for us to comply with Health and Safety regulations. We are thrilled with how much effort the children have put into this, and have in fact, done most of the preparations themselves. From singing and dancing, to some fabulous musicians, there is something for everyone to enjoy and it will memorable end, for some, to their time at St.Vincent's.
Tuesday
As you will know by now, Sports Day has had to be cancelled for this year, due to the unseasonal weather we have had. The children and staff are disappointed, but mini-sports activities will take place during the day - one of which will undoubtedly be 'Shower-Dodging!!'
The evening performance will start at 7pm. We would be grateful if you could ensure that children return to school no earlier than 6.30pm, when the doors will be opened. Again, please ensure that you remember your tickets, as they will be requested on the door. Many thanks for your co-operation with this.
Wednesday
We're all going on a ... school trip!! Yes, it's the day many of us have been waiting for - the whole school outing to Gulliver's World! You will have also received a letter of the things to bring and the timings. We will return to school for 3pm in order for children to be collected in the normal way - please allow the children to return to their classrooms, so that they may be dismissed from there, rather than trying to collect them from the coaches. Please ensure that you have returned your permission slip by Monday - thanks.
Thursday
We will be finalising a few things in school today, but mainly we will be practising for the Leaver's Mass.
Friday
A very sad day for everyone - our Leaver's day. The most important part of today, will be our Leaver's Celebration Mass, taking place at 10.30am. You are most welcome to join us in the school hall, although please note that space is at a premium for this Mass. It is a very special occasion and a very fitting end to the school year.
As is tradition, the Year 6 children are allowed to bring in AN EXTRA shirt for their friends and staff to sign, as a keepsake of their time at primary school. From experience, a little tip is NOT to use permanent markers on the shirts, or else you could end up with what looks like 'mini-tattoos'!!
and finally...
As you all know by now, I shall be moving to Year 1/2 in September. I shall miss working with everyone in Key Stage 2, but will still see everyone in and around school! You will still be able to access this blog on the internet over the holidays, so you can look at past weblinks, but from September, Year 5/6 will have a new blog address http://www.year56.blogspot.com/ If you click on this now, there are no posts as yet, but you will still get your weekly updates from September.
Thank you for all the lovely comments I have had this week and the comments on this blog.
Good luck in Year 6 and 7 - you will be fantastic!!
Mrs Worrall, Mrs Millington and Mrs Morgan xxx
You will all have received your end of year reports last Monday and hopefully you will have enjoyed reading the contents. It would be great if you could spare a few minutes to send a comment back to us, using the sheets supplied in the envelopes. We do like to read them all and they provide a lasting memory for us, of each of our classes.
Even though it is the last week of term, it is probably the busiest one, so here goes with the diary for this week...
Monday
9.30am sees the 'Musical Medley' production in the hall. As always, entrance will be strictly by ticket only in order for us to comply with Health and Safety regulations. We are thrilled with how much effort the children have put into this, and have in fact, done most of the preparations themselves. From singing and dancing, to some fabulous musicians, there is something for everyone to enjoy and it will memorable end, for some, to their time at St.Vincent's.
Tuesday
As you will know by now, Sports Day has had to be cancelled for this year, due to the unseasonal weather we have had. The children and staff are disappointed, but mini-sports activities will take place during the day - one of which will undoubtedly be 'Shower-Dodging!!'
The evening performance will start at 7pm. We would be grateful if you could ensure that children return to school no earlier than 6.30pm, when the doors will be opened. Again, please ensure that you remember your tickets, as they will be requested on the door. Many thanks for your co-operation with this.
Wednesday
We're all going on a ... school trip!! Yes, it's the day many of us have been waiting for - the whole school outing to Gulliver's World! You will have also received a letter of the things to bring and the timings. We will return to school for 3pm in order for children to be collected in the normal way - please allow the children to return to their classrooms, so that they may be dismissed from there, rather than trying to collect them from the coaches. Please ensure that you have returned your permission slip by Monday - thanks.
Thursday
We will be finalising a few things in school today, but mainly we will be practising for the Leaver's Mass.
Friday
A very sad day for everyone - our Leaver's day. The most important part of today, will be our Leaver's Celebration Mass, taking place at 10.30am. You are most welcome to join us in the school hall, although please note that space is at a premium for this Mass. It is a very special occasion and a very fitting end to the school year.
As is tradition, the Year 6 children are allowed to bring in AN EXTRA shirt for their friends and staff to sign, as a keepsake of their time at primary school. From experience, a little tip is NOT to use permanent markers on the shirts, or else you could end up with what looks like 'mini-tattoos'!!
and finally...
As you all know by now, I shall be moving to Year 1/2 in September. I shall miss working with everyone in Key Stage 2, but will still see everyone in and around school! You will still be able to access this blog on the internet over the holidays, so you can look at past weblinks, but from September, Year 5/6 will have a new blog address http://www.year56.blogspot.com/ If you click on this now, there are no posts as yet, but you will still get your weekly updates from September.
Thank you for all the lovely comments I have had this week and the comments on this blog.
Good luck in Year 6 and 7 - you will be fantastic!!
Mrs Worrall, Mrs Millington and Mrs Morgan xxx
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Week beginning 9th July
Well, we begin this week's blog with an apology. Last week, we promised that the reports were going to be sent home this Friday. They are all ready to go, complete with envelopes...however, the SATs results for the Year 6's have not yet arrived in school. Unfortunately, this is completely out of our control, as we rely on external markers and assessors to return the marked scripts by the deadline. We hope to be able to able to send them out on Monday, so let's just keep our fingers crossed that Parcelforce arrive early!!
Production
You should have all received your tickets last Wednesday, apart from a few children who were absent due to 'bug' which seems to have infiltrated school. If you don't require tickets for a particular performance, please retuen them to school so that they may be utilised by another family. Again, please remember that admittance will be limited strictly by ticket only, to adhere to Health and Safety regulations. Thank you for your co-operation with this.
Although this Friday is 'Friday the 13th' (oh dear, better not say 'break-a-leg to anyone to wish them luck!) we will hopefully be performing the dress rehearsal for the rest of the school.
The children have also come home with lots of words to learn, so please indulge them the 'hairbrush in front of the mirror' technique for this weekend! They really are true performers, and they are really giving it some 'welly' (I had to get in some joke about this fabulous weather we are having!!)
Here I Am
During the rehearsals this week, we will be completing our final Here I Am topic this year of Special Places.
We will:
Recognise a place that is special for people from all over the world
Reflect on some other places that are special for people from all over the world
Reflect that many places from all over the world are regarded as special
We would like you to come armed with lots of photographs and stories of all the places that are special to you. The teachers might even bring some of their embarrassing holiday photos in...!
Numeracy
The year 6's will continue their transition booklets, whilst the Year 5's will be working on the second week of problem solving. Look on the websites from last week's blog and remember to apply the 3 step strategy.
Remember, you can also check on http://www.numeracybooster.blogspot.com/ for booster group sites. This week, you will be investigating fractions.
Other curriculum
Production
You should have all received your tickets last Wednesday, apart from a few children who were absent due to 'bug' which seems to have infiltrated school. If you don't require tickets for a particular performance, please retuen them to school so that they may be utilised by another family. Again, please remember that admittance will be limited strictly by ticket only, to adhere to Health and Safety regulations. Thank you for your co-operation with this.
Although this Friday is 'Friday the 13th' (oh dear, better not say 'break-a-leg to anyone to wish them luck!) we will hopefully be performing the dress rehearsal for the rest of the school.
The children have also come home with lots of words to learn, so please indulge them the 'hairbrush in front of the mirror' technique for this weekend! They really are true performers, and they are really giving it some 'welly' (I had to get in some joke about this fabulous weather we are having!!)
Here I Am
During the rehearsals this week, we will be completing our final Here I Am topic this year of Special Places.
We will:
Recognise a place that is special for people from all over the world
Reflect on some other places that are special for people from all over the world
Reflect that many places from all over the world are regarded as special
We would like you to come armed with lots of photographs and stories of all the places that are special to you. The teachers might even bring some of their embarrassing holiday photos in...!
Numeracy
The year 6's will continue their transition booklets, whilst the Year 5's will be working on the second week of problem solving. Look on the websites from last week's blog and remember to apply the 3 step strategy.
Remember, you can also check on http://www.numeracybooster.blogspot.com/ for booster group sites. This week, you will be investigating fractions.
Other curriculum
During the 'in-between' rehearsal times, we will be working on the Geography activities from last week's blog. Some children have even brought in some of their own research work from home, so we would love to see more!
If you would like to see some of the artwork we produced during our African week, have a look at the display in the junior area, complete with African Dan masks. A big thank you to Mrs Clancy, Mrs Riley and Mrs Hemmings who have worked their magic on making the display, complete with animal print background, look so fantastic!
And finally...
You will have read in the newsletter about the staffing changes for September. Just to clarify, the teachers will be:
Foundation Stage - Mrs Narraway
Year 1/2 - Mrs Worrall, Mrs Pinto-Edwards, Mrs Malone
Year 3/4 - Mrs Harding, Mrs Bethell, Miss Robinson
Year 5/6 - Mrs Morgan (Wilson), Mrs Millington, Miss Wright
Mr McGreal will continue to be the floating teacher, until Mrs Morgan returns from her maternity leave in February 2008.
Miss Wright has been into school to meet the children and staff, and she is delighted to be joining the team from September. I am sure she will be a great asset to the Year 5/6 team and we are looking forward to welcoming her to St.Vincent's.
Have a good week!
Year 5/6 team.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Week beginning 2nd July
For the next two weeks, we will be really focussing on our rehearsals for the End of Year production – a musical medley of songs and dances that the children have chosen from their time at St. Vincent’s. We have some very talented youngsters in our team and they can’t wait to show off their skills and abilities...complete with cockney accents!! The tickets for this should be going out this week, so please keep an eye out for them. Admittance into the hall will, as always, be strictly by ticket only. This is in order for us to comply with Health and Safety regulations. Many thanks for your co-operation with this.
You should also receive the words for the songs on Monday and it would be a BIG help, if you could help your child to learn these words. Don’t worry, even I know some of these words, so it shouldn’t be too much of a trauma!
So...that’s for the afternoons, but what about the mornings? Well...
Geography / Literacy / ICT
Much as I hate to say this, but the current ‘webbed-feet’ weather, has actually worked to our advantage! This week, we are looking at why floods happen and the effect they have on the environment.
It may seem hard to believe that a small, slow-flowing stream or gentle river could cause serious damage to people and the places in which they live and work, but looks can be deceptive! Rivers can be things of beauty and the historic lifeblood of a settlement. We will find out how we use flowing water to enhance life and living, whilst trying to contain its destructive powers when in flood, using the enquiry resources of the Internet!
Activities for you to try
We will be doing these activities in class this week, but have a go at home first – it will give you a great head start!
Identifying a river catchment - Use a map or atlas to identify a major river near to where you live, and use tracing paper to identify and draw its source (where it begins) and its mouth (where it ends). Then trace on the streams, brooks and smaller rivers that feed into your main river - these are called the tributaries. The source of each of these tributaries marks one point on the boundary of the river - joining these points up shows the approximate limits of the catchment area of your river.
Use an atlas to locate and mark Nottingham and the course of the River Trent on a blank outline map of the British Isles.
Try searching for information on how the Ancient Egyptians used the regular annual flooding of the River Nile to help their agricultural activities.
Why do you think that so many cities developed close to rivers despite the obvious risks?
Carry out a debate in the classroom presenting arguments for and against the damming of the River Nile.
What do people see as the advantages of the dam? What are seen as the disadvantages?
Investigate the factors which cause rivers to flash flood and why this is an increasing occurrence compared with past times?
Write a report on how the Thames Barrier works and why it was necessary to protect the city of London.
Locate Mozambique and mark the main rivers. How close are the main settlements to those rivers? Why?
Investigate what could have been done to avoid the devastating floods in Mozambique?
Find out how the world supported Mozambique in its struggle to cope with and recover from the devastating floods?
The following websites will be helpful when trying some of these activities:
http://www.mrdowling.com/607-aswandam.html information on the Aswan Dam
http://www.internet-at-work.com/hos_mcgrane/egypt/egypt2.htm the geography of the Nile
http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/menu.html
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/subjects/flood/1797794/ flood warnings from The Environment Agency’s website
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/662472.stm news story about the floods in Mozambique in 2000.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/655510.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/662847.stm
Numeracy
The Year 6’s will be working on their transition booklets, whilst the Year 5’s will be working on Problem Solving activities.
This is one of the most difficult areas of numeracy, and once you figure out the operation you have to use, the rest is easy (well, that’s the theory anyway!!)
A really good way of organising your problem solving, is to think in 3 steps:
Step 1 – read the question (obvious though it sounds, people often forget to read the actual words!)
Step 2 – highlight the information from the question using a highlighter pen, or just circle it with your pencil (if the question says ‘How much CHANGE...?’ remember not to write how much you have spent.) These are known as TWO-STEP or MULTI-STEP problems.
Step 3 – write down the calculation that you need to do to work out the answer
By then end of the week, we will have:
· Solved mathematical problems or puzzles, recognise and explain patterns and relationships, generalise and predict.
· Suggested extensions by asking ‘What if … ?’
· Known when all possibilities have been found and check for repeats.
· Organised the recording of possibilities, e.g. in an ordered list or table.
MUST: solve a problem by listing all possible answers in a systematic way.
SHOULD: begin to see how working systematically helps me make general statements.
COULD: find and prove that I have found all possible answers to a problem by checking against criteria.
These are some fun websites to help with problem-solving:
http://www.actionmath.com/GSM2/GSM2wp1.html
http://www.actionmath.com/GSM1/GSMwp1.html
http://www.actionmath.com/Katie2/Katie2wp1.html
http://www.actionmath.com/Katie1/Katiewp1.html
http://www.mathplayground.com/mathhoops_Z1.html
http://www.interactivestuff.org/sums4fun/nummaze.html
http://www.channel4learning.net/sites/puzzlemaths/
http://www.transum.org/Software/SW/Starter_of_the_day/index.htm
Also, remember to go to http://del.icio.us/amworrall/numeracy for lots of other websites to support your numeracy work.
http://www.freeducation.co.uk/cgi-bin/index.cgi?action=downloads&cat=mathspowerpoint has some great powerpoints fro numeracy, which will guide you through lots of key concepts on numeracy. Try out some of the problem solving ones and use the 3 step strategy to see if it works.
http://www.timetoteach.co.uk/booster6.html click on lessons 5 and 6 for the activities we will be using this week.
Reports
On Friday you will receive your reports. They are for you and parents to share as a celebration of your achievements. They will be sealed, so PLEASE try to avoid the temptation to open them on the way home. We know that you want to know your SATs results, but it is much better to sit and open them away from your friends at home. As I write this, they haven’t actually arrived back in school from the external markers, so even the teachers don’t know yet!! The results for may look a bit confusing at first, but you will get your ACTUAL results and something called TEACHER ASSESSMENT. These are the levels which your teacher thinks you have been working at through the year. St. Gregory’s get BOTH sets of results.
The year 5’s will also find out which teacher they will be going to next year and the results from your test.
There is also a comments sheet included with your reports, for your parents to send back to school. The teachers do love to read them, so please do remember to send them back into school as soon as possible.
Sports Day
As you may have gathered, due to the very wet weather over the last week, we have had to postpone Sports Day until the 17th July. Unfortunately, this is the only available date, so if it rains on this day, Sports Day will have to be cancelled.
Barbeque
There are still some tickets available for the FOSV ‘BBQ’ this Friday from 6 ‘til late! If you haven’t got your ticket yet, please send requests into school, or see any member of the FOSV.
Here’s to a dry week!!??!!
Year 5/6 team
You should also receive the words for the songs on Monday and it would be a BIG help, if you could help your child to learn these words. Don’t worry, even I know some of these words, so it shouldn’t be too much of a trauma!
So...that’s for the afternoons, but what about the mornings? Well...
Geography / Literacy / ICT
Much as I hate to say this, but the current ‘webbed-feet’ weather, has actually worked to our advantage! This week, we are looking at why floods happen and the effect they have on the environment.
It may seem hard to believe that a small, slow-flowing stream or gentle river could cause serious damage to people and the places in which they live and work, but looks can be deceptive! Rivers can be things of beauty and the historic lifeblood of a settlement. We will find out how we use flowing water to enhance life and living, whilst trying to contain its destructive powers when in flood, using the enquiry resources of the Internet!
Activities for you to try
We will be doing these activities in class this week, but have a go at home first – it will give you a great head start!
Identifying a river catchment - Use a map or atlas to identify a major river near to where you live, and use tracing paper to identify and draw its source (where it begins) and its mouth (where it ends). Then trace on the streams, brooks and smaller rivers that feed into your main river - these are called the tributaries. The source of each of these tributaries marks one point on the boundary of the river - joining these points up shows the approximate limits of the catchment area of your river.
Use an atlas to locate and mark Nottingham and the course of the River Trent on a blank outline map of the British Isles.
Try searching for information on how the Ancient Egyptians used the regular annual flooding of the River Nile to help their agricultural activities.
Why do you think that so many cities developed close to rivers despite the obvious risks?
Carry out a debate in the classroom presenting arguments for and against the damming of the River Nile.
What do people see as the advantages of the dam? What are seen as the disadvantages?
Investigate the factors which cause rivers to flash flood and why this is an increasing occurrence compared with past times?
Write a report on how the Thames Barrier works and why it was necessary to protect the city of London.
Locate Mozambique and mark the main rivers. How close are the main settlements to those rivers? Why?
Investigate what could have been done to avoid the devastating floods in Mozambique?
Find out how the world supported Mozambique in its struggle to cope with and recover from the devastating floods?
The following websites will be helpful when trying some of these activities:
http://www.mrdowling.com/607-aswandam.html information on the Aswan Dam
http://www.internet-at-work.com/hos_mcgrane/egypt/egypt2.htm the geography of the Nile
http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/menu.html
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/subjects/flood/1797794/ flood warnings from The Environment Agency’s website
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/662472.stm news story about the floods in Mozambique in 2000.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/655510.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/662847.stm
Numeracy
The Year 6’s will be working on their transition booklets, whilst the Year 5’s will be working on Problem Solving activities.
This is one of the most difficult areas of numeracy, and once you figure out the operation you have to use, the rest is easy (well, that’s the theory anyway!!)
A really good way of organising your problem solving, is to think in 3 steps:
Step 1 – read the question (obvious though it sounds, people often forget to read the actual words!)
Step 2 – highlight the information from the question using a highlighter pen, or just circle it with your pencil (if the question says ‘How much CHANGE...?’ remember not to write how much you have spent.) These are known as TWO-STEP or MULTI-STEP problems.
Step 3 – write down the calculation that you need to do to work out the answer
By then end of the week, we will have:
· Solved mathematical problems or puzzles, recognise and explain patterns and relationships, generalise and predict.
· Suggested extensions by asking ‘What if … ?’
· Known when all possibilities have been found and check for repeats.
· Organised the recording of possibilities, e.g. in an ordered list or table.
MUST: solve a problem by listing all possible answers in a systematic way.
SHOULD: begin to see how working systematically helps me make general statements.
COULD: find and prove that I have found all possible answers to a problem by checking against criteria.
These are some fun websites to help with problem-solving:
http://www.actionmath.com/GSM2/GSM2wp1.html
http://www.actionmath.com/GSM1/GSMwp1.html
http://www.actionmath.com/Katie2/Katie2wp1.html
http://www.actionmath.com/Katie1/Katiewp1.html
http://www.mathplayground.com/mathhoops_Z1.html
http://www.interactivestuff.org/sums4fun/nummaze.html
http://www.channel4learning.net/sites/puzzlemaths/
http://www.transum.org/Software/SW/Starter_of_the_day/index.htm
Also, remember to go to http://del.icio.us/amworrall/numeracy for lots of other websites to support your numeracy work.
http://www.freeducation.co.uk/cgi-bin/index.cgi?action=downloads&cat=mathspowerpoint has some great powerpoints fro numeracy, which will guide you through lots of key concepts on numeracy. Try out some of the problem solving ones and use the 3 step strategy to see if it works.
http://www.timetoteach.co.uk/booster6.html click on lessons 5 and 6 for the activities we will be using this week.
Reports
On Friday you will receive your reports. They are for you and parents to share as a celebration of your achievements. They will be sealed, so PLEASE try to avoid the temptation to open them on the way home. We know that you want to know your SATs results, but it is much better to sit and open them away from your friends at home. As I write this, they haven’t actually arrived back in school from the external markers, so even the teachers don’t know yet!! The results for may look a bit confusing at first, but you will get your ACTUAL results and something called TEACHER ASSESSMENT. These are the levels which your teacher thinks you have been working at through the year. St. Gregory’s get BOTH sets of results.
The year 5’s will also find out which teacher they will be going to next year and the results from your test.
There is also a comments sheet included with your reports, for your parents to send back to school. The teachers do love to read them, so please do remember to send them back into school as soon as possible.
Sports Day
As you may have gathered, due to the very wet weather over the last week, we have had to postpone Sports Day until the 17th July. Unfortunately, this is the only available date, so if it rains on this day, Sports Day will have to be cancelled.
Barbeque
There are still some tickets available for the FOSV ‘BBQ’ this Friday from 6 ‘til late! If you haven’t got your ticket yet, please send requests into school, or see any member of the FOSV.
Here’s to a dry week!!??!!
Year 5/6 team
Friday, June 22, 2007
Week beginning 25th June 2007
Rich task week
This week is a multi-cultural week across the whole school, and as such we will be focussing on many different aspects of African art and music.
We don't want to give too much away (who am I to spoil the surprise?!), but here are just a few of the things we will be getting up to...
African Tribal Masks
You will need to bring in a 2 litre bottle of milk (an empty one!!) in order to make this one. Also, any 'junk' collage materials would be great to bring in, and would give you more materials to work with. If you click on the links below, there are some great photos to inspire you.
http://www.webquestuk.org.uk/what%20a%20performance/index.htm a great webquest, based on the art topic of what a performance!! – click on the African masks on the links section.
http://www.rebirth.co.za/masks4.htm click on this link to show some examples of the African masks you could make this week.
African art
There will be lots of opportunties to work with different art media this week, to create pieces of work for block printing, watercolours, charcoal, chalks and batik.
http://www.african-collection.co.uk/about.php click through the menus to see lots of images of African art
African music
We will have the opportunity to work on lots of musical performance skills this week, particularly looking at rhythms.
http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/index.html?genre=African this site has lots of examples of African music to download for free. We will be using this is class, so if you have had a chance to listen to it beforehand, you will have a real advantage.
Summer Concert
We will be rehearsing the songs for our Summer Concert this week. Please bear with us, as there are a lot of words to learn, in a short amount of time. Also, we have had lots of children coming forward to let us know about talents (such as dancers, musicians etc.) that they persue
outside school. Please let us know as soon as possible, so that we can include them in the concert. The cut- off will be Wednesday of this week, when the order of songs and acts will be finalised.
Housekeeping
There are lots of things going on this week, so here is running order of events...
This week is a multi-cultural week across the whole school, and as such we will be focussing on many different aspects of African art and music.
We don't want to give too much away (who am I to spoil the surprise?!), but here are just a few of the things we will be getting up to...
African Tribal Masks
You will need to bring in a 2 litre bottle of milk (an empty one!!) in order to make this one. Also, any 'junk' collage materials would be great to bring in, and would give you more materials to work with. If you click on the links below, there are some great photos to inspire you.
http://www.webquestuk.org.uk/what%20a%20performance/index.htm a great webquest, based on the art topic of what a performance!! – click on the African masks on the links section.
http://www.rebirth.co.za/masks4.htm click on this link to show some examples of the African masks you could make this week.
African art
There will be lots of opportunties to work with different art media this week, to create pieces of work for block printing, watercolours, charcoal, chalks and batik.
http://www.african-collection.co.uk/about.php click through the menus to see lots of images of African art
African music
We will have the opportunity to work on lots of musical performance skills this week, particularly looking at rhythms.
http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/index.html?genre=African this site has lots of examples of African music to download for free. We will be using this is class, so if you have had a chance to listen to it beforehand, you will have a real advantage.
Summer Concert
We will be rehearsing the songs for our Summer Concert this week. Please bear with us, as there are a lot of words to learn, in a short amount of time. Also, we have had lots of children coming forward to let us know about talents (such as dancers, musicians etc.) that they persue
outside school. Please let us know as soon as possible, so that we can include them in the concert. The cut- off will be Wednesday of this week, when the order of songs and acts will be finalised.
Housekeeping
There are lots of things going on this week, so here is running order of events...
- Tuesday - Year 5 Rugby afternoon
- Wednesday - Year 6 Visit to St. Gregory's - all day.
- Thursday - Science show in the morning; Mass at 2pm for Saint Peter and Paul
In order to help out with time etc., homework will now be sent on TUESDAYS to be returned on MONDAYS. Many thanks for you co-operation with this.
Here's to a fun-packed week!
Year 5/6 team
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Week beginning 18th June
Literacy
This week, we will be looking at how good we are at persuading people to come round to our way of thinking. We will be dividing the classes into half...one half will be animal rights campaigners – the other half will be circus owners.
By the end of the week, we will have covered issues such as bias and writing for different audiences.
While composing the pieces of writing, we will be focussing on the following:
Style: sentence construction
· Adapt or rearrange sentences in relationship to persuasive texts, using subordinate clauses to add information, to give reasons and to explain.
· Write complex sentences, selecting and using a wide range of subordinators.
Style: language effects
· Use well-chosen phrases and vocabulary to engage the reader.
· Use appropriate grammatical features for different text types.
Purpose and organisation
· Draw writing, both narrative and non-fiction forms, towards a defined conclusion.
· Use a repertoire of causal and logical connectives as well as those that signal time, e.g. however, therefore, next, meanwhile.
· In non-fiction, elaborate the basic structure of text types in order to make writing more effective in relation to audience and purpose.
· to construct an argument using note form or full text to persuade others of a point of view;
· to understand how writing can be adapted for different audiences and purposes.
· to construct an argument to persuade others of a point of view;
· to use connectives to link clauses within sentences and to link sentences in longer texts.
· to construct an argument to persuade others of a point of view;
· to use connectives to link clauses and sentences (see pp.130–1 Grammar for Writing);
· to investigate clauses.
When we are marking your piece of writing, we will using the following statements from the marking ladders:
· I stated my point of view clearly in the introduction and in the conclusion
· I backed up each argument with relevant evidence and detail
· My argument is mainly in the present tense
· I used conditionals
· I used connectives: to structure the argument: ‘first’, ‘finally’; to link ideas with in the argument: ‘because’, ‘consequently’
· I used persuasive devices such as: statistics, emotive language; rhetorical questions
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/writing/index.asp?topic=Persuasive mini lessons to help you get to grips with persuasive writing. Have a look at the teacher’s section too!
http://www.little-g.com/shockwave/hotel.html although this is aimed at younger children, the questions that are asked via the ‘story machine’, will give you a few ideas for your own writing
http://www.kidsonthenet.org.uk/dragonsville/poster.htm designing a persuasive poster. Maybe you could use your ICT skills to print your own design off?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/english/activities/argument.shtml choose an activity and then argue against your partner’s point of view.
Numeracy
The year 6’s will continue to work on their transition booklets, whilst the year 5’s will be working on the following objectives:
· Express a quotient as a fraction or as a decimal when dividing a whole number by 2, 4, 5 or 10
http://teacher.scholastic.com/maven/virtual/index.htm solve the mystery by answering the multiple choice questions
http://nwlg.org/pages/resources/ma_num/swf/para002c.html click on the percentages which match the fractions in the top left hand corner
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/mathsfile/shockwave/games/saloonsnap.html if you spot a snap, click on the bell, but you have to be quick!
http://www.ictgames.com/equivalence.html drag the fractions, decimals and percentages onto the correct place on the number lines
http://www.mathplayground.com/Matching_Fraction_Percent.html click on the cards to turn them over and see if you can find the matching pairs.
http://www.freewebs.com/weddell/FDP%20contents.html choose whether you want to convert decimals to fractions or vice versa
http://www.amblesideprimary.com/ambleweb/mentalmaths/fracto.html play on the ‘decifractor’ to change a fraction into a decimal
http://www.freewebtown.com/weddell/mw/decimals/fraction%20of%20amount.swf finding fractions of amounts
· Represent halves, tenths, and fifths as fractions and decimals
http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/3_num_multiply/eng/Introduction/default.htm click on each of the lesson parts to take you through each section, step by step
http://www2.sherston.com/freebees/act/MSactivity/loadms.htm imagine that you are in the sandwich shop – this is a spreadsheet simulation, in which you have to calculate how much money your shop has made
http://www.freewebtown.com/weddell/mw/short_multiplication/3x1contents.swf multiplying a HTU number by a single digit
http://www.freewebtown.com/weddell/mw/long_multiplication/long%20multiplication.swf multiplying a two digit number by another two digit number. This shows you how to use the grid method to multiply numbers together.
http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/primary/teachingresources/mathematics/nns_itps/multiplication_grid/num_itp_multi_grid_2_2.swf another example of the grid method for multiplication
· Use informal written methods to support, record or explain multiplications
· Identify and use appropriate operations (including combinations of operations) to solve word problems
http://www.actionmath.com/GSM2/GSM2wp1.html solve the word problems for the baseball game
http://www.actionmath.com/GSM1/GSMwp1.html solve the word problems for the baseball game
http://www.actionmath.com/Katie2/Katie2wp1.html solve the word problems for the baseball game
http://www.actionmath.com/Katie1/Katiewp1.html solve the word problems for the baseball game
http://www.mathplayground.com/mathhoops_Z1.html again, solve the word problems in order to win the basketball game
http://www.interactivestuff.org/sums4fun/nummaze.htmluse use your multiplication knowledge in order to move the circles around the grid
http://www.channel4learning.net/sites/puzzlemaths/ how many of the puzzles can you solve?
http://www.transum.org/Software/SW/Starter_of_the_day/index.htm look back at this site every day for a new word problem
By the end of the week, you could be able to:
· Represent the remainder as a fraction, using the divisor as the denominator
· Use the grid method for multiplying three-digit numbers by two-digit numbers or by numbers to one decimal place
· Identify the key words and select the appropriate calculation
Geography
This week, we will be reviewing our knowledge of the water cycle and describing in using the words evaporation and condensation. We will also be discussing how site conditions can influence the weather. We will be looking at the playground or school field and asking the children to note run-off – water collection areas – after rainfall. We will be identifying areas of poor drainage; measuring how puddles change over time; photographing and tracing changes; and carrying out controlled experiments in the classroom.
By the end of the week, we will have:
· drawn puddle maps to scale
· described what happens to rain water when it reaches the ground
· identified forms in which water occurs in the environment
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/riversandcoasts/water_cycle/rivers/index.shtml lots of information to refresh your memory about the water cycle. Can you remember all the vocabulary? Click on the animated diagram to show you step by step how the cycle works.
http://www.angliacampus.com/public/pri/geog/rivers/ lots of ideas and links for all things to do with rivers and how they are formed.
Look back at all the links for Rivers and Coasts from last week’s blog to help.
Design and Technology
The children worked really hard on the start of their Spanish Galleon last week and are ready to apply the flourishes this week. We have even christened the vessel the Santa Vincent!! A huge thanks to Mrs Lockett, without whom, this would never have got off the ground (or set sail!!) We have even heard a rumour that Foundation Stage children can’t wait to come and conduct the boat’s maiden voyage! Photographs will be put on the blog when it’s finished.
First Holy Communions
The children in Year 3 will be receiving their First Holy Communion this Saturday at St.Joseph’s Church. We and they, would love you to join them at 9.30am for their special day. Our prayers and thoughts will be with them and their families as they continue on their spiritual journey.
Future planning
For those parents who need to book time off work, the Leaver's Mass will take place on the last day of term, but now at 10.30am in the school hall. Thank you for your understanding with this.
Have a good week.
Year 5/6 team
This week, we will be looking at how good we are at persuading people to come round to our way of thinking. We will be dividing the classes into half...one half will be animal rights campaigners – the other half will be circus owners.
By the end of the week, we will have covered issues such as bias and writing for different audiences.
While composing the pieces of writing, we will be focussing on the following:
Style: sentence construction
· Adapt or rearrange sentences in relationship to persuasive texts, using subordinate clauses to add information, to give reasons and to explain.
· Write complex sentences, selecting and using a wide range of subordinators.
Style: language effects
· Use well-chosen phrases and vocabulary to engage the reader.
· Use appropriate grammatical features for different text types.
Purpose and organisation
· Draw writing, both narrative and non-fiction forms, towards a defined conclusion.
· Use a repertoire of causal and logical connectives as well as those that signal time, e.g. however, therefore, next, meanwhile.
· In non-fiction, elaborate the basic structure of text types in order to make writing more effective in relation to audience and purpose.
· to construct an argument using note form or full text to persuade others of a point of view;
· to understand how writing can be adapted for different audiences and purposes.
· to construct an argument to persuade others of a point of view;
· to use connectives to link clauses within sentences and to link sentences in longer texts.
· to construct an argument to persuade others of a point of view;
· to use connectives to link clauses and sentences (see pp.130–1 Grammar for Writing);
· to investigate clauses.
When we are marking your piece of writing, we will using the following statements from the marking ladders:
· I stated my point of view clearly in the introduction and in the conclusion
· I backed up each argument with relevant evidence and detail
· My argument is mainly in the present tense
· I used conditionals
· I used connectives: to structure the argument: ‘first’, ‘finally’; to link ideas with in the argument: ‘because’, ‘consequently’
· I used persuasive devices such as: statistics, emotive language; rhetorical questions
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/writing/index.asp?topic=Persuasive mini lessons to help you get to grips with persuasive writing. Have a look at the teacher’s section too!
http://www.little-g.com/shockwave/hotel.html although this is aimed at younger children, the questions that are asked via the ‘story machine’, will give you a few ideas for your own writing
http://www.kidsonthenet.org.uk/dragonsville/poster.htm designing a persuasive poster. Maybe you could use your ICT skills to print your own design off?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/english/activities/argument.shtml choose an activity and then argue against your partner’s point of view.
Numeracy
The year 6’s will continue to work on their transition booklets, whilst the year 5’s will be working on the following objectives:
· Express a quotient as a fraction or as a decimal when dividing a whole number by 2, 4, 5 or 10
http://teacher.scholastic.com/maven/virtual/index.htm solve the mystery by answering the multiple choice questions
http://nwlg.org/pages/resources/ma_num/swf/para002c.html click on the percentages which match the fractions in the top left hand corner
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/mathsfile/shockwave/games/saloonsnap.html if you spot a snap, click on the bell, but you have to be quick!
http://www.ictgames.com/equivalence.html drag the fractions, decimals and percentages onto the correct place on the number lines
http://www.mathplayground.com/Matching_Fraction_Percent.html click on the cards to turn them over and see if you can find the matching pairs.
http://www.freewebs.com/weddell/FDP%20contents.html choose whether you want to convert decimals to fractions or vice versa
http://www.amblesideprimary.com/ambleweb/mentalmaths/fracto.html play on the ‘decifractor’ to change a fraction into a decimal
http://www.freewebtown.com/weddell/mw/decimals/fraction%20of%20amount.swf finding fractions of amounts
· Represent halves, tenths, and fifths as fractions and decimals
http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/3_num_multiply/eng/Introduction/default.htm click on each of the lesson parts to take you through each section, step by step
http://www2.sherston.com/freebees/act/MSactivity/loadms.htm imagine that you are in the sandwich shop – this is a spreadsheet simulation, in which you have to calculate how much money your shop has made
http://www.freewebtown.com/weddell/mw/short_multiplication/3x1contents.swf multiplying a HTU number by a single digit
http://www.freewebtown.com/weddell/mw/long_multiplication/long%20multiplication.swf multiplying a two digit number by another two digit number. This shows you how to use the grid method to multiply numbers together.
http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/primary/teachingresources/mathematics/nns_itps/multiplication_grid/num_itp_multi_grid_2_2.swf another example of the grid method for multiplication
· Use informal written methods to support, record or explain multiplications
· Identify and use appropriate operations (including combinations of operations) to solve word problems
http://www.actionmath.com/GSM2/GSM2wp1.html solve the word problems for the baseball game
http://www.actionmath.com/GSM1/GSMwp1.html solve the word problems for the baseball game
http://www.actionmath.com/Katie2/Katie2wp1.html solve the word problems for the baseball game
http://www.actionmath.com/Katie1/Katiewp1.html solve the word problems for the baseball game
http://www.mathplayground.com/mathhoops_Z1.html again, solve the word problems in order to win the basketball game
http://www.interactivestuff.org/sums4fun/nummaze.htmluse use your multiplication knowledge in order to move the circles around the grid
http://www.channel4learning.net/sites/puzzlemaths/ how many of the puzzles can you solve?
http://www.transum.org/Software/SW/Starter_of_the_day/index.htm look back at this site every day for a new word problem
By the end of the week, you could be able to:
· Represent the remainder as a fraction, using the divisor as the denominator
· Use the grid method for multiplying three-digit numbers by two-digit numbers or by numbers to one decimal place
· Identify the key words and select the appropriate calculation
Geography
This week, we will be reviewing our knowledge of the water cycle and describing in using the words evaporation and condensation. We will also be discussing how site conditions can influence the weather. We will be looking at the playground or school field and asking the children to note run-off – water collection areas – after rainfall. We will be identifying areas of poor drainage; measuring how puddles change over time; photographing and tracing changes; and carrying out controlled experiments in the classroom.
By the end of the week, we will have:
· drawn puddle maps to scale
· described what happens to rain water when it reaches the ground
· identified forms in which water occurs in the environment
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/riversandcoasts/water_cycle/rivers/index.shtml lots of information to refresh your memory about the water cycle. Can you remember all the vocabulary? Click on the animated diagram to show you step by step how the cycle works.
http://www.angliacampus.com/public/pri/geog/rivers/ lots of ideas and links for all things to do with rivers and how they are formed.
Look back at all the links for Rivers and Coasts from last week’s blog to help.
Design and Technology
The children worked really hard on the start of their Spanish Galleon last week and are ready to apply the flourishes this week. We have even christened the vessel the Santa Vincent!! A huge thanks to Mrs Lockett, without whom, this would never have got off the ground (or set sail!!) We have even heard a rumour that Foundation Stage children can’t wait to come and conduct the boat’s maiden voyage! Photographs will be put on the blog when it’s finished.
First Holy Communions
The children in Year 3 will be receiving their First Holy Communion this Saturday at St.Joseph’s Church. We and they, would love you to join them at 9.30am for their special day. Our prayers and thoughts will be with them and their families as they continue on their spiritual journey.
Future planning
For those parents who need to book time off work, the Leaver's Mass will take place on the last day of term, but now at 10.30am in the school hall. Thank you for your understanding with this.
Have a good week.
Year 5/6 team
Friday, June 01, 2007
There's no business like...
Welcome back to the last half term before the long summer holidays. Maybe we will get SOME sunshine this time, rather than the constant drizzle we have just had! We may need to get ourselves ‘rust-proofed’ before long!
This half term is fun-filled, action-packed and certainly extremely busy! At the end of it all, will be a fabulous production, which we can now reveal is called ‘Olivia’. No, it isn’t a typing error, it really is a musical called ‘Olivia’, based on the more familiar tale of ‘Oliver’! Although the songs are beautiful, we may include one or two favourites from the original...’Consider yourself’....!!!??? We will cast parts for the play this week, so hopefully you should all know which part you are doing by Friday (fingers crossed!) We hope to keep the costumes fairly simple, so there is no need to rush out and hire anything.
Whilst the play will take over many afternoons, full curriculum will still continue up until the end of term. It will take on many forms, although there will be definitely be an ‘arty’ slant on it...you just can’t keep me away from a paint brush and glitter!
This week is a Rich Task week, where we will complete our History work on the Spanish Armada from last half term. We were so impressed by the standard of the work which was completed using the Bloom’s activities, we have decided to extend them into this first week.
In order to do this, we need you to bring in a medium-sized box (about the size of a crisp box) for Monday, or Tuesday at the latest. They will all be joined together and made into a Spanish Galleon. Hopefully, weather permitting, we will be able to construct our galleon on the patio.
More will be revealed on Monday!
The rest of the curriculum for this half term consists of:
Citizenship/SEAL
Children’s rights – human rights
In this topic, you will learn about every human’s basic rights and the differences between needs, wants and rights. You’ll learn that with rights come responsibilities, such as the responsibility not to infringe the rights of others and the responsibility to support others in their quest for rights. You’ll learn about the importance of honesty, trust, tolerance and respect for others. You find out about the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and that it applies to all children, whoever or wherever they are. You will also learn how human rights apply in their school and in the local community. You will develop strategies for ensuring that rights are upheld and to promote equality in the classroom and playground, and you will learn how to encourage others to respect and care for one another.
By the end of this topic, you:
Must: know that we all have basic human rights. They take some responsibility in the classroom for ensuring the rights of others are not infringed. They consider the viewpoints of other children.
Should: understand that we all have basic rights (known as ‘human rights’) and that there are particular rights for children. They discuss issues of rights and responsibilities with others. They take responsibility within their own school community to effect positive change and to ensure the rights of others are not infringed.
Could: know what basic human rights are and can give examples of these. They are aware of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. They recognise that with rights come responsibilities. They know about human rights issues, how these affect people in other places and how they affected people in the past. They know what action they could take to ensure rights are upheld in the school community. They assume responsibility for others in the classroom and playground.
Music
What a performance
The play...!!! Need we say more??
Geography
Investigating Rivers / Coasts
During this topic, through research, you will learn about rivers and the effects they have on the landscape.
The unit focuses on the components of the water cycle, how rivers erode, transport and deposit materials to produce particular landscape features and the characteristics of a river system in another part of the world
By the end of this unit, you:
MUST: offer appropriate observations about river features; identify how people affect the environment and recognise ways in which people try to manage it
SHOULD: recognise selected physical processes relating to rivers and begin to appreciate how these can change the character of places; draw on their own observations and secondary sources and use their awareness of river events to suggest geographical questions and raise issues that might be studied, eg floods, drought, pollution
COULD: use confidently a full range of skills and different kinds of maps and resources to undertake independent investigations; offer explanations for river features observed; relate local river work to generalisations about rivers elsewhere
http://www.old-glossop.com/flood2002/floodpages2002/indexflood2002.html These images record the dramatic events of 2002 when Glossop in Derbyshire was flooded. There are some lovely archived images of the same location during floods in the twentieth century.
http://www.topicbox.org.uk/browse.php?item_ID=1096&subject=Geography&topic=Rivers Find out about the way the river transports its load see waterfalls and ox bow lakes being formed.
http://www.topicbox.org.uk/browse.php?item_ID=1100&subject=Geography&topic=Rivers understanding flooding.
http://www.globaleye.org.uk/primary_autumn2001/focuson/index.html focus on rivers. A great site for background reading before we start the topic.
http://www.topicbox.org.uk/browse.php?item_ID=1091&subject=Geography&topic=Rivers click on this link to download a Powerpoint for information about rivers.
http://www.cleo.net.uk/resources/displayframe.php?src=307/consultants_resources%2F_files%2Fgorge.swf a short animation which shows how a waterfall creates a gorge...remember gorge walking in Conway?
http://www.cleo.net.uk/resources/displayframe.php?src=309/consultants_resources%2F_files%2Fmeander4.swf meander formation
http://www.nwlg.org/pages/resources/geog/hydro_cycle/alt/alt_into.htm looks at the River Alt
http://www.swgfl.org.uk/rivers/ some good information if you want to do a project about rivers on your own.
http://www.schoolsliaison.org.uk/woodgate/activities/stream01.htm photographs of river features including pollution
http://www.angliacampus.com/public/pri/geog/rivers/ fantastic resources which poses questions for you to think about and then attempts to answer them.
http://home.freeuk.net/elloughton13/contents.htm you might recognise the little avatars from Snaith Primary!
http://www.naturegrid.org.uk/rivers/index.html this provides a real challenge and is definitely a ‘could’! Locate the rivers using the keys and maps provided.
http://icteachers.co.uk/children/cyberhunts/riverhunt.htm great to use as a webquest
http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server/show/ConMediaFile.6373/Watch-the-Thames-rise-and-fall.html watch the River Thames in tide!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/riversandcoasts/rivers/whatis_river/index.shtml this is really good site, packed with useful information
HISTORY – TUDOR EXPLORATION
http://www.nmm.ac.uk/TudorExploration/NMMFLASH/index.htm love it! Click on the two rats at the beginning (aka Sir Walter Rodent and Sir Francis!) As you work your way through this site, you are sure to learn lots and smile throughout!
http://www.channel4learning.net/sites/essentials/history/units/tudorexpl_bi.shtml
Literacy
This term, we will be looking at the following areas:
Poetry – work by significant authors
Authors and text – class model
Extended narrative
Impersonal writing
PE
Athletics
In this unit, you will focus on developing your technical understanding of athletic activity. You will learn how to set targets and improve your performance in a range of running, jumping and throwing activities.
As in all athletic activities, you will have to think about how to achieve the greatest possible speed, height, distance or accuracy. This will be great preparation for Sports Day!
By the end of the topic, you:
Could: show good control, speed, strength and stamina when running, jumping and throwing; adapt skills and techniques to different challenges and equipment; use good technique; pace their effort well; know the rules; organise and judge events and challenges well; identify activities that help develop stamina or power and suggest how some can be used when warming up; pick out the important features of a performance; make good suggestions about what could be improved
Here I Am
We are continuing our topic of Freedom and Responsibility with the Relate section. We shall be focussing on the idea of Forgiveness. You should be familiar with some of the reading that we will be looking at, as they were explored during your Reconciliation.
Forgiveness
In the Gospel according to Matthew, we learn about an important way of
loving other people, of setting them free. When the friends of Jesus
asked him to teach them how to pray, he taught them the ‘Our Father’.
A reflection
I wonder if Peter thought a lot about this prayer, especially the words,
‘Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us’.
I wonder if these words puzzled him, if he did not quite understand what
they meant. We cannot expect God to forgive us, if we are not ready to
forgive others when they have hurt or harmed us. I wonder if Peter
thought as I sometimes do, ‘Sometimes when I forgive someone, they
just go and do the same thing again or something else that hurts me just
as much, or more’. I wonder if that is what led to a question Peter asked
Jesus. Read about this in the Gospel according to Matthew 18:21-22, or
read or listen to the simpler reading version on Copymaster A. Each time
we say the ‘Our Father’, we remind ourselves that we, too, must always
be ready to forgive.
This half term is fun-filled, action-packed and certainly extremely busy! At the end of it all, will be a fabulous production, which we can now reveal is called ‘Olivia’. No, it isn’t a typing error, it really is a musical called ‘Olivia’, based on the more familiar tale of ‘Oliver’! Although the songs are beautiful, we may include one or two favourites from the original...’Consider yourself’....!!!??? We will cast parts for the play this week, so hopefully you should all know which part you are doing by Friday (fingers crossed!) We hope to keep the costumes fairly simple, so there is no need to rush out and hire anything.
Whilst the play will take over many afternoons, full curriculum will still continue up until the end of term. It will take on many forms, although there will be definitely be an ‘arty’ slant on it...you just can’t keep me away from a paint brush and glitter!
This week is a Rich Task week, where we will complete our History work on the Spanish Armada from last half term. We were so impressed by the standard of the work which was completed using the Bloom’s activities, we have decided to extend them into this first week.
In order to do this, we need you to bring in a medium-sized box (about the size of a crisp box) for Monday, or Tuesday at the latest. They will all be joined together and made into a Spanish Galleon. Hopefully, weather permitting, we will be able to construct our galleon on the patio.
More will be revealed on Monday!
The rest of the curriculum for this half term consists of:
Citizenship/SEAL
Children’s rights – human rights
In this topic, you will learn about every human’s basic rights and the differences between needs, wants and rights. You’ll learn that with rights come responsibilities, such as the responsibility not to infringe the rights of others and the responsibility to support others in their quest for rights. You’ll learn about the importance of honesty, trust, tolerance and respect for others. You find out about the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and that it applies to all children, whoever or wherever they are. You will also learn how human rights apply in their school and in the local community. You will develop strategies for ensuring that rights are upheld and to promote equality in the classroom and playground, and you will learn how to encourage others to respect and care for one another.
By the end of this topic, you:
Must: know that we all have basic human rights. They take some responsibility in the classroom for ensuring the rights of others are not infringed. They consider the viewpoints of other children.
Should: understand that we all have basic rights (known as ‘human rights’) and that there are particular rights for children. They discuss issues of rights and responsibilities with others. They take responsibility within their own school community to effect positive change and to ensure the rights of others are not infringed.
Could: know what basic human rights are and can give examples of these. They are aware of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. They recognise that with rights come responsibilities. They know about human rights issues, how these affect people in other places and how they affected people in the past. They know what action they could take to ensure rights are upheld in the school community. They assume responsibility for others in the classroom and playground.
Music
What a performance
The play...!!! Need we say more??
Geography
Investigating Rivers / Coasts
During this topic, through research, you will learn about rivers and the effects they have on the landscape.
The unit focuses on the components of the water cycle, how rivers erode, transport and deposit materials to produce particular landscape features and the characteristics of a river system in another part of the world
By the end of this unit, you:
MUST: offer appropriate observations about river features; identify how people affect the environment and recognise ways in which people try to manage it
SHOULD: recognise selected physical processes relating to rivers and begin to appreciate how these can change the character of places; draw on their own observations and secondary sources and use their awareness of river events to suggest geographical questions and raise issues that might be studied, eg floods, drought, pollution
COULD: use confidently a full range of skills and different kinds of maps and resources to undertake independent investigations; offer explanations for river features observed; relate local river work to generalisations about rivers elsewhere
http://www.old-glossop.com/flood2002/floodpages2002/indexflood2002.html These images record the dramatic events of 2002 when Glossop in Derbyshire was flooded. There are some lovely archived images of the same location during floods in the twentieth century.
http://www.topicbox.org.uk/browse.php?item_ID=1096&subject=Geography&topic=Rivers Find out about the way the river transports its load see waterfalls and ox bow lakes being formed.
http://www.topicbox.org.uk/browse.php?item_ID=1100&subject=Geography&topic=Rivers understanding flooding.
http://www.globaleye.org.uk/primary_autumn2001/focuson/index.html focus on rivers. A great site for background reading before we start the topic.
http://www.topicbox.org.uk/browse.php?item_ID=1091&subject=Geography&topic=Rivers click on this link to download a Powerpoint for information about rivers.
http://www.cleo.net.uk/resources/displayframe.php?src=307/consultants_resources%2F_files%2Fgorge.swf a short animation which shows how a waterfall creates a gorge...remember gorge walking in Conway?
http://www.cleo.net.uk/resources/displayframe.php?src=309/consultants_resources%2F_files%2Fmeander4.swf meander formation
http://www.nwlg.org/pages/resources/geog/hydro_cycle/alt/alt_into.htm looks at the River Alt
http://www.swgfl.org.uk/rivers/ some good information if you want to do a project about rivers on your own.
http://www.schoolsliaison.org.uk/woodgate/activities/stream01.htm photographs of river features including pollution
http://www.angliacampus.com/public/pri/geog/rivers/ fantastic resources which poses questions for you to think about and then attempts to answer them.
http://home.freeuk.net/elloughton13/contents.htm you might recognise the little avatars from Snaith Primary!
http://www.naturegrid.org.uk/rivers/index.html this provides a real challenge and is definitely a ‘could’! Locate the rivers using the keys and maps provided.
http://icteachers.co.uk/children/cyberhunts/riverhunt.htm great to use as a webquest
http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server/show/ConMediaFile.6373/Watch-the-Thames-rise-and-fall.html watch the River Thames in tide!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/riversandcoasts/rivers/whatis_river/index.shtml this is really good site, packed with useful information
HISTORY – TUDOR EXPLORATION
http://www.nmm.ac.uk/TudorExploration/NMMFLASH/index.htm love it! Click on the two rats at the beginning (aka Sir Walter Rodent and Sir Francis!) As you work your way through this site, you are sure to learn lots and smile throughout!
http://www.channel4learning.net/sites/essentials/history/units/tudorexpl_bi.shtml
Literacy
This term, we will be looking at the following areas:
Poetry – work by significant authors
Authors and text – class model
Extended narrative
Impersonal writing
PE
Athletics
In this unit, you will focus on developing your technical understanding of athletic activity. You will learn how to set targets and improve your performance in a range of running, jumping and throwing activities.
As in all athletic activities, you will have to think about how to achieve the greatest possible speed, height, distance or accuracy. This will be great preparation for Sports Day!
By the end of the topic, you:
Could: show good control, speed, strength and stamina when running, jumping and throwing; adapt skills and techniques to different challenges and equipment; use good technique; pace their effort well; know the rules; organise and judge events and challenges well; identify activities that help develop stamina or power and suggest how some can be used when warming up; pick out the important features of a performance; make good suggestions about what could be improved
Here I Am
We are continuing our topic of Freedom and Responsibility with the Relate section. We shall be focussing on the idea of Forgiveness. You should be familiar with some of the reading that we will be looking at, as they were explored during your Reconciliation.
Forgiveness
In the Gospel according to Matthew, we learn about an important way of
loving other people, of setting them free. When the friends of Jesus
asked him to teach them how to pray, he taught them the ‘Our Father’.
A reflection
I wonder if Peter thought a lot about this prayer, especially the words,
‘Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us’.
I wonder if these words puzzled him, if he did not quite understand what
they meant. We cannot expect God to forgive us, if we are not ready to
forgive others when they have hurt or harmed us. I wonder if Peter
thought as I sometimes do, ‘Sometimes when I forgive someone, they
just go and do the same thing again or something else that hurts me just
as much, or more’. I wonder if that is what led to a question Peter asked
Jesus. Read about this in the Gospel according to Matthew 18:21-22, or
read or listen to the simpler reading version on Copymaster A. Each time
we say the ‘Our Father’, we remind ourselves that we, too, must always
be ready to forgive.
Competition
Have you seen the new Olympic logo for the London 2012 games? What do you think of it? Think you could do better? Well, you could have a chance of doing just that. Go to http://www.fubra.com/london2012/ to have a look at some of the alternatives that have been submitted. If you do have a go, we could submit them through school! Go on...be creative!
As you can see, we have so much to get through and to write your end of year reports too!
And finally...
Just as we have had a great holiday, Miss Wilson has also had a fantastic time in Cyprus for her wedding to Anthony. I am sure that we will all still call her Miss Wilson for ages,(sorry Miss!) but just in case you are fantastic with names, she will now be called Mrs Morgan. (This could get confusing when the other Mrs Morgan returns from having her baby!!) We wish her and her new husband every success as they start their married life together. xxx
Here’s to a successful end to the year!
Year 5/6 team.
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