Summer Term 2019

W.C. 1.7.19

Another busy week for us! 

This week, we have been busy completing our end of year assessments to see the progress that we have made from the start of the year. I was very impressed with how the children have tackled this week as it has meant a lot of working in silence. They should, however, be really pleased with their results and outcomes!

In English, we have continued to look at our novel all about the secret spy Jeremy Brown! This week, we discovered what it was like for Jeremy and Patsy when they landed in Cairo and learnt something about the criminals they were searching for! There were 3 robotic camels that were after them but cleverly they thought of ways to defeat them!

In Maths, we have begun our work on statistics. This week we have looked at pictograms (thinking carefully about the key and what each picture represents!) and bar charts. For this, we have read and interpretted the informations and even drew our own versions too. We had to think carefully about the scales we were choosing and labels for our axis! Next week, we will be exploring tables of information and line graphs to show continuous data.

We linked our Science to our History work this week by thinking about what method the Ancient Egyptians would have used to move the limestone bricks in order to build the pyramids. We conducted an experiment (on a much smaller scale!) using pebbles and different materials. We discussed the forces which would be key to our investigation including friction. We were given the 5 materials and then had to work out which would allow our pebble to move the furthest.

Friday was extremely fun too with our Sports Day! We made sure to show our school values of resilience and determination throughout. Fab job everybody and well done to Cedar for winning!

W.C. 24.6.19

In English, we have been busy recapping skills that we have learnt across the year so that we are prepared for Year Five! We have looked back at identifying different words types such as verbs, nouns and adverbs. We first explained what each one was and then had to identify them in sentences and paragraphs! After, we moved onto the role of apostrophes. We explained that they could be used for contractions and to show possession. We have focused on possession (both singular and plural). Most of us are very confident with showing singular possession although plural possessive apostrophes were tougher! We had to make sure our noun was a plural first, then check if we needed to add an apostrophe and an s or just an apostrophe!

In Maths, we have completed our unit on geometry and taken our post-tests. I was so impressed with the progress the children have made, especially with their recognition of the properties of different triangles and quadrilaterals. Our next and final unit is statistics where we will be looking at pictograms, bar charts, tables and line graphs!

In Topic, we explored Egyptian writing. We compared this form of communication to our own language and found that they used images rather than letters! We discovered that we have been able to work out what each hieroglyph mean because of the Rosetta Stone! Did you know that only scribes learnt how to read and write the language? After this, we created our own cartouches which displayed our names! We had to carefully think about which image corresponded to our letters - some hieroglyphs were the same for more than one letter. In Art, we have completed our 'Eye of Horus' amulets by painting them. We focused on colours which were important to the Egyptians including royal blue which was only avaliable to the richest and most important people. These will be ready to be taken home soon!

We have also had our transition afternoons this week where we go to find out what Year Five would be like!

W.C. 17.6.19

We have been busy writing our balanced argument this week and will be ready to neatly present them next! We have had to think carefully about how to present both sides of the debate fairly whilst providing facts too! We have especially worked hard on including a range of different conjunctions such as coordinating, subordinating and contrasting! We have also made sure to keep our writing on topic and not let it turn too story like which was hard for some of us!

In Maths, we have continued to focus on properties of shape as well as position, direction and movement. We have explored reflective symmetry (making sure that we have both sides the exact same!) through a range of different mirror lines. Next, we looked at the first quadrant on a grid. We were able to read and plot coordinates. For this, we had to remember to go along the corridor then up the stairs (use the x axis before the y) otherwise we would end up at the wrong point!

In History, we have continued to look at Ancient Egypt. This week, we have looked at the difficult process of mummification! We found out that the body had to be dried out, have organs removed and was then wrapped. Our favourite but most gruesome fact was that the brain was thought to be useless so it was smashed inside the skull using a hook which meant it would then become a liquid and fall out of the nose! We also discovered that amulets would be placed on the body for good luck. In Art, we made our own 'Eye of Horus' amulets using our sculpting skills with clay. These will be ready to be painted next week and then protect us!

In ICT, we have looked at what an algorithm is. We have found out that it is a set of instructions that leads us to an end result when followed correctly. First, we had to listen to instructions and try to draw the picture that matched it. We then compared the algorithm to our final pictures and found that they were different! This was because the algorithm wasn't accurate and needed to be debugged! We then wrote our own algorithms (with deliberate mistakes) ready to be debugged by our partners!

In PSHE, we have started our next topic of 'Changing Me'. To start, we have explored where we get our DNA from. We found out that half of the information comes from the mother and the other half from the father. We discovered that we may look more like one parent than the other! To demonstrate this, we looked at pictures of kittens and cats and tried to match them to their parents.

Next week, we will be having our 'Move Up' afternoons where we will get to meet our new teachers!

W.C. 10.6.19

In English, we have continued to look at the features of a balanced argument alongside our work on the novel! To start the week, we explored the first chapter again and used our literal, inference and deduction skills to answer questions, remembering that they needed to be full sentences. We then explored contrasting conjunctions which helped us to look at one viewpoint and then its counterpart. These will be important next week for our big writes! To end the week, we read about Howard Carter's discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb and planned our arguments around this. We will be considering the question, 'Should Howard Carter have entered the tomb of Tutankhamun?'.

In Maths, we have continued our work on properties. We looked at the difference between 2D and 3D shapes by thinking about their properties such as their vertices, edges and sides or faces. We then moved onto quadrilaterals. For this, we had to understand that all 2D shapes with four sides are called quadrilaterals but that there are different types. For example, a rhombus has equal lengths on all of its sides but that it is not the same as a square which has all equal angles too! We then started to think about lines of symmetry. We had to remember that the shape needed to be exactly the same on both sides for it to have a line of symmetry and that it can have more than one! Did you know... a regular polygon has the same amount of lines of symmetry as the number of sides!

In History and Geography, we have been thinking about the importance of the River Nile. We had to consider its use in Ancient Egyptian times as well as in the modern day. We discovered that the Egyptians settled around the river as it was an important source of food, water and trade. This was still true today but it is more commonly used for its irrigation as it helped create fertile land. 

In French, we have continued to work on our basic vocabulary. This week, we looked at different clothes and could explain which ones were inside the wardrobe! We then designed our own oufit and labelled it with the correct french spelling.

W.C. 3.6.19

I cannot believe we are in our final term of the year - it's going to be a busy one! We have kicked off this week as we mean to go on... full throttle!

In English, we have begun our new novel called 'Jeremy Brown and the Mystery of the Missing Mummy'. We started by looking at two characters from the front covers and making predictions about what they were like. We discussed what we thought their personalities were like as well as their appearances and make predictions about their roles in the story. Next, we explored features of a balanced argument (as this is what we will be creating!). We found that balanced arguments had topics that often led to us having strong opinions. We then began to look at key features including complex and compound sentences. We are finally starting to get to grips with the difference between the two, including the different conjunctions we can use. To end the week, we read chapter one and learnt all about Jeremy's secret life as an MI7 agent!

In Maths, we have started to explore shape. We began by taking our pre-test to see what we already knew and them swiftly moved onto angles! We have been able to identify acute, right angles and obtuse angles. Some of us can explain what a straight angle is too. Our next job was to order them in both ascending and descending order, making sure we looked carefully at whether they were smaller than, the same as or greater than 90 degrees. To end the week, we classified different types of triangles based on their properties including how many equal sides they had and how many equal angles!

In Science, we learnt all about the life cycle of a flowering plant. We have been building on knowledge we already had from Year 3 and were able to use key words such as germination and pollination. Some of us explained each stage and some of us created posters showing how the life cycle is continuous and repeats itself!

In Topic, we are discovering all about Ancient Egypt. To start, we have solidified our understanding of chronological order and we even able to place BC dates in the correct places. We thought about which of these events we found to be the most interesting and why. In Art, we looked at how beautiful the Egyptian sunset it. We discussed the colours we might see and how the silohuettes were created. We found that we didn't need much detail on the shadows as they would only be outlines. We chose our own equipment and used watercolours to create great backgrounds.

Reminder:

We have PE on Mondays and Tuesdays - please remember your kit!

W.C. 13.5.19

We had a very exciting start to the week - we went to Magna! It was so much fun! We got to learn all about the elements that make up our world: fire, water, earth and air. Each of these had a special zone that we could explore. This connected really well to our science topic of states of matter! We also got to learn about what life was like for steel workers in the city of Sheffield. 

In English, we have finished our newspaper reports. They were of a high quality and included many of the key features! It was great discovering what Mole found in The Wild Woods! The rest of the week has been spent revisiting key features that we have already explored once but this time we have looked in much more detail! We have been able to accurately identify and then use in our own writing prepositions, adverbials phrases and expanded noun phrases. We will be looking to apply these in our setting descriptions next week. 

In Maths, we have focused on money and time! We have been able to convert from analogue to digital 24 hour times (making sure we convert to 12 hour digital first!) After this, we started to look at money. We learnt that it is made up of pounds and pence and that it requires 100 pence to make a pound. We were able to convert between these by remembering to divide and multiply by 100. On Friday, we used these skills to compare and order amounts of money.

In Topic, we have finished our Geography powerpoints. We have made sure to include lots of information about where the mountain ranges are, what their highest peak is and even how people use it. We also were able to insert pictures, change font colours and add animations to make it interesting for our audience!

W.C. 6.5.19

I hope you all had a relaxing weekend... we are now in the month of May!

In English, our focus this week has been on writing our newspaper reports. We have thought carefully about how to include all the key features including different types of speech. It was tough for us as we had to make sure we stuck to the facts and didn't let it become a story whilst making sure it was interesting!

In Maths, we have been concentrating on time. Firstly, we looked a little more at converting between seconds, minutes and hours. To do this, we had to rely on our 6 and 10 times table knowledge so that we could divide and multiply by 60! After, we used our 7 and 12 times table to convert between days, weeks, months and years. We made sure to take each step slowly to avoid us making errors. To end the week, we have revisited reading time to the nearest minute and begun to think about how we can convert analogue time to 12-hour digital time. We had to remember to use am and pm too.

In Science, we have looked a little more in depth at the three states of matter. We worked hard this week to work out the differences between them. To do so, we looked at what makes matter (particles). To be able to tell the difference, we found out that the particles act in different ways. For example, in gases, the particles are able to move freely around and have a lot more energy than solids where particles are in rigid rows (although they still vibrate).

In Topic, we have continued with our Geography topic. This week, we looked at how mountains are created. We looked at 4 main ways including volcanic mountains, dome mountains, fault-block mountains. By the end of the lesson, we were able to work out what types of mountains were which and explain how they were formed.

Reminder:

Our trip is on Monday. Children need to be at school at 8am. Pick up will be approximately 4pm.

W.C. 29.4.19

We have had another busy week and I'm starting to see some traits of Year Five from the children!

In English, we have been looking at more features of newspaper reports. We looked at facts and opinions and how to tell the difference, we have created our own headlines too with stories to match! This tested our skills of alliteration, short sentences and for some of us... puns! We also did some in depth comprehension of the chapter 'The Wild Woods' as this is what our newspaper report will be on. From this, we planned each section of the article and began writing. We shall continue this next week.

In Maths, we have continued to explore perimeter. We are now much more confident on how to find the perimeter of rectilinear shapes including when we are missing lengths. We used our knowledge of parallel lines of rectangles to find these which was a great transference of skills! After, we moved onto area. We looked at what area was and discovered it was the space on the inside of a 2D shape! Following on from this, we have started to look at time. This will be a hard topic for most but I was impressed with their enthusiasm.

In Science, we have begun our next unit, states of matter. This week, we explored liquids and solids and thought about the properties which defined each one. We found that, sometimes, solids can act like liquids. For example, you can pour sugar! This doesn't make it a liquid however because each singular piece has the properties of a solid.

In Topic, we found out about the features of a mountain. We found that most mountains had peaks but that not all were like each other. We explored mountains which were flatter on the top and had different features to others including higher tree lines, steeper slopes and valleys too. This also tested our art skills as we had to sketch our own interpretation of mountains.

Enjoy your three-day weekend!

W.C. 22.4.19

It's only been a four-day week but I have been extremely impressed with how the children have settled back in and got their brains ticking again!

In English this term, we are continuing to read The Wind in the Willows. We will be first looking at this alongside our unit of newspaper report writing. To begin with, we explored the features of newspapers and discovered some things we hadn't heard of before including a by-line. We were able to match the key words to their definitions and then find the same features in texts. We have also looked at the difference between direct and reported speech. We know that both can be found in newspaper reports but that one was directly from the source and the other came indirectly. This was a particuarly tricky thing for some of us to understand. To end the week, we have explored the 5Ws. We know that these are usually found in the introductory paragraph and give the reader some information about: who, what, why, where and when the event happened.

In Maths, we have started our new topic of measurement. We have started with kilometres and how we can convert between them and metres. For this, we had to rely on our knowledge of our multiplication and division skills. As well as this, we have been learning all about perimeter. We know that perimeter is the outer lengths of a 2d shape added together. We began by looking at how we could use centimetre squares to calculate the perimeter but have since moved on to just using measurements! We know that on a rectangle we only have to find one length and width (and then double it) and for a square we can find one length and multiply it by 4!

In Topic, we are now moving onto mountains. We started by thinking about the connections between mountains, mountain ranges and mountain chains. We now know that a mountain range is a collection of mountains together and a mountain chain is a collection of ranges! From this, we were able to find out where mountain ranges were located in the world and also their highest peaks. We combined this with our maths skills by looking at how tall the peaks were in metres!

In R.E., we explored the importance of symbols in Christian worship. We looked at the paschal lamb, candles, the dove, the horn, the holy trinity and the bread and wine. We discussed each of these and I was really pleased to see the children make links to other religions we have explored and to Christian stories they have heard of before.

It has been a jam-packed week!!

Reminders:

We have P.E. on a Monday and swimming on Wednesdays.

If you have not returned your permission slip for our trip on May 13th, please hand them in ASAP!