Hi everyone and welcome to December!!
On Monday this week we will be travelling to the MEN to take part in the largest schools concert in the world. You should have recieved a letter with the details of what will be happening on Monday but just incase it didn't find it's way home here are a few key details.
The children will need their lunch and tea for Monday. If they have a packed lunch, they will need a packed lunch and a packed tea. If they have a hot dinner then they will have this as usual and they will also need a packed tea to eat when we are at the MEN.
You should have been given your t-shirts to wear on Monday and you need to bring it with you in a bag with your name on.
We will be travelling to the MEN in our uniforms. This is because there will be over 8000 children there and if we are all wearing white Young Voices t-shirts then we may well come home with the wrong children!!
It says on the letter to bring a dark pair of trousers or a skirt but the children can leave on their school trousers or skirt of they want to. This is the easier option as it will save lots of clothes getting lost.
The children will be travelling back to school on the coach with the teachers. There are simply too many children around therefore it is easier if we keep them all together and return to school together, at least then we know we have all the children together in one place. We will return to school at approx 10.30pm.
Last time we went to the Young Voices Concert at the MEN lots of parent were stuck in a traffic jam in the car park and we were back at school a lot earlier than they were. If this is the case again, we will wait with the children until they have all been picked up.
The downside to this is that some of the children will have a really late night and for that reason they will not be expected into school until 10.30am on Tuesday morning.
We do realise that some parents will have to bring their children in at normal time due to work commitments therefore the teachers will be in school at normal time, although we cannot promise that we won't be asleep in a corner somewhere!!!!
The Young Voices Concert is a truly remarkable experience and we are lucky to be taking part in it. We will have a fantastic time and if you are coming to the concert you will be amazed!
Now for the rest of the week.....
We mentioned last week that the children will be doing assessments in school and this week will be mostly filled with revision and the completion of the tests. We would usually do this in the last week but in the run up to Christmas and with so much going on we feel that it will be better to do them before things start to get too hectic.
Literacy
We have completed our assessed piece of writing on Myths and Legends and this week we will be using our editing skills to improve that writing. We will also be using peer and self assessment when looking at the writing.
Peer assessment is when we get a friend to look at our work and give 3 stars and a wish. That means that they have to make 3 positive points and something that can be improved.
Self assessment is when we look at descritions of levels, decide what we think our writing is and then set ourselves targets to improve.
The year 5's have completed their reading tests but the year 6's still need to do theirs so this will take place sometime this week.
Numeracy
Numeracy this week will be focused around revision. We will be reviewing what we have covered from September. So have a look through your homework books and on previous blogspots to remind you what sort of things we have been learning.
We will also be reviewing our targets, remember them? You should know them off by heart now but here's a quick reminder:-
YEAR 5 Targets
MUST = I can add and subtract 2 digit numbers rapidly and accurately.
SHOULD = I can find doubles and halves of 2 digit numbers.
COULD = I can find doubles and halves of decimal numbers (to 2 decimal places.)
YEAR 6 Targets
MUST = I know all my multiplication facts to10 x 10
SHOULD = I know all my multiplication facts to 10 x 10 and the corresponding division facts.
COULD = I can multiply and divide decimal numbers.
We also have lots of children getting certificates for their tables. The children that have gained gold will now be completing a series of division questions to gain another certificate. Keep it up children we can see you are really trying hard with this.
Science
As we are nearing the end of our topic on 'The Earth and Beyond' we will be reviewing what we have learned so far and then we will begin the process of planning a lesson for the year 1/2 children.
This proved to be a very successful exercise last time we did it and all the children got something out of it.
The best way to ensure you have learned something really well is to teach it to someone else.
So get thinking children, I'm sure there are loads of exciting activities to come up with to do with Space.
Here I Am
We are still on our topic of visitors but this week a lot of Here I Am time will be spent looking at the Christmas Story and finding readings from the Bible to read at our Carol Service at Church on 21st December. We will also be practising carols for the serivce and are going to be very traditional this year. You could get the whole family round the piano for a sing-a-long in preparation!!
On Saturday this week it is time for our annual Christmas Fair, this is a time when the whole school community can get together and have some fun, it really is a fantastic day, so please come along and support our school.
The School Council still need any items you no longer have use for, for their bring and buy sale. Anything in a reasonable condition will be accepted.
As we are at the MEN on Monday no homework or spelling will be sent out on Monday. You could take this oppotunity to revise homework that has been done in previous weeks in order to prepare for the assessments. You could also use this time to come up with ideas and make resources for the science lesson for year 1/2.
That's all for this week, 3 weeks to go!!
Year 5/6 Team.
Tuesday 27 November 2007
Thursday 22 November 2007
Week Beginning 27th November 2007
Hi everyone, nearly the 1st of December, doesn't time fly when you're having fun?
We had a really busy week last week and in the run upto Christmas things seem to be speeding up rather than slowing down!!
The children got very muddy when doing orienteering with Mr McGreal and as a result a lot of them will have brought home their outdoor PE kits to be washed. Please ensure that they are back in school this week, year 5's will need them on Monday for Rugby Training.
On Friday Father Richard came into school to speak to the children about signs and symbols. This was very interesting and the children asked some interesting questions resulting in some deep discussion. We would like to thank Father for taking time out of his busy timetable to come and speak to us.
Literacy
Last week we had a great time reading and responding to myths and legends and also telling ones of our own.
We completed phase 1 of our literacy unit, having a lot of fun and are now ready to move onto phase 2.
In phase 2 the children will continue familiarisation with the text-type. Discuss and investigate the effect of different techniques used by the author. Work in a group to explore and empathise with characters through drama activities. Children use a reading journal to record inferences and demonstrate understanding of characters by writing in the first person
By the end of this week they:-
must begin to identify different features of legends and identify and comment on narrative viewpoints; (teacher observation, response partners).
Should identify different features of legends and identify and comment on narrative viewpoints; (teacher observation, response partners).
Could identify different features of legends and identify and comment on narrative viewpoints; compose and manipulate more complex sentences within a given context as part of shared and guided writing (teacher observation, response partners).
See last weeks blog for the websites we will be using including the website where you can create your myths and legends, I'm sure we can do much better than the ones that are on there.
Numeracy
This week Miss Wright and Mrs Morgan's groups will be continuing with their work on Fractions. We did start this last week but feel that the children need more time to work on this as it is a difficult concept to get their heads around.
Especially changing mixed numbers into improper fractions and vice versa.
Mrs Millington's group will be continuing their revision on adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing, focusing especially on long multiplication and division.
They will be going through all the different method of doing this and choosing the one that suits them the most.
As we are continuing with last weeks work then please look at last weeks blog for websites.
Science
This week in science we will be looking at 'The Changing Position of the Sun'.
The children should learn that the Sun appears to move across the sky over the course of a day and evidence may be interpreted in more than one way.
We will be asking the children about where the Sun shines into the school (or their homes) at different times of day. Reminding them of earlier work on shadows and ask them to suggest what this evidence shows. Observing the length and position of the shadow of a stick set up in the playground at different times of day over successive days.
By the end this week the children:-
must be able to describe how the apparent position of the Sun changes over the course of a day.
Should be able to clarify that this does not mean that the Sun is moving.
Could explain how we know that the Sun is not moving and how we can prove this.
Again please see last weeks blog for websites.
Here I Am
We continue our topic of Visitors this week, looking at the RELATE section. The children will
learn that their own exploration of VISITORS is enriched by learning about preparations made during the four weeks of Advent to welcome Jesus at Christmas.
As we are going to the MEN Arena a week on Monday a lot of our topic time this week will be spent singing the songs without the words, as we are not allowed to have the words when performing the concenrt.
We will also have to start learning some Christmas Carols for our Carol Concert in Church on the last day of term.
On Friday we will be lucky enough to watch the infants dress rehersal, we cannot wait as we have heard the songs floating around school and we are really excited to see it in action!
The School Council would like to make a plea for any old games, books and other stuff for their bring and buy stall at the Christmas Fair on Saturday 8th December.
This is the ideal time for the children to sort through all their old toys and things to make way for the new things they will get for Christmas.
Please ensure that if you do bring anything in it is a good working condition.
Please support the Christmas Fair by coming along and joining in. It really is a lovely day with a great sense of St Vincent's School Community coming together and having fun.
Assessments
Over the next week or so, your child may come home telling you they have done some ‘tests’. We need to see how much the children have progressed since September and also form judgements about how we can move our planning forward in the new year.
Finally, I know some parents and children are starting to think about SATs already. For those of you who want to make an early start on getting yourselves used to the format of the test the following website will be useful.
http://www.st-josephs-pickering.n-yorks.sch.uk/past_test_papers.htm you can downloads SATs papers from recent years in all 3 subjects, you can also download the mark schemes.
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/revision/Science/index.html past SATs questions and also some great revision games.
http://www.sparkisland.com/public/articles/howto_sats_parents/ this site offers some handy hints for the tests and also some papers to download.
http://www.parentsintouch.co.uk/fulltimeschool/introductiontosats.htm?gclid=CNj_17bn9Y8CFSiWEgodPBMWNA help and advise for parents of children in year 6.
http://www.grumbles.me.uk/ test questions organised in areas.
Have a great week and remember to wrap up warm.
Year 5/6 Team.
We had a really busy week last week and in the run upto Christmas things seem to be speeding up rather than slowing down!!
The children got very muddy when doing orienteering with Mr McGreal and as a result a lot of them will have brought home their outdoor PE kits to be washed. Please ensure that they are back in school this week, year 5's will need them on Monday for Rugby Training.
On Friday Father Richard came into school to speak to the children about signs and symbols. This was very interesting and the children asked some interesting questions resulting in some deep discussion. We would like to thank Father for taking time out of his busy timetable to come and speak to us.
Literacy
Last week we had a great time reading and responding to myths and legends and also telling ones of our own.
We completed phase 1 of our literacy unit, having a lot of fun and are now ready to move onto phase 2.
In phase 2 the children will continue familiarisation with the text-type. Discuss and investigate the effect of different techniques used by the author. Work in a group to explore and empathise with characters through drama activities. Children use a reading journal to record inferences and demonstrate understanding of characters by writing in the first person
By the end of this week they:-
must begin to identify different features of legends and identify and comment on narrative viewpoints; (teacher observation, response partners).
Should identify different features of legends and identify and comment on narrative viewpoints; (teacher observation, response partners).
Could identify different features of legends and identify and comment on narrative viewpoints; compose and manipulate more complex sentences within a given context as part of shared and guided writing (teacher observation, response partners).
See last weeks blog for the websites we will be using including the website where you can create your myths and legends, I'm sure we can do much better than the ones that are on there.
Numeracy
This week Miss Wright and Mrs Morgan's groups will be continuing with their work on Fractions. We did start this last week but feel that the children need more time to work on this as it is a difficult concept to get their heads around.
Especially changing mixed numbers into improper fractions and vice versa.
Mrs Millington's group will be continuing their revision on adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing, focusing especially on long multiplication and division.
They will be going through all the different method of doing this and choosing the one that suits them the most.
As we are continuing with last weeks work then please look at last weeks blog for websites.
Science
This week in science we will be looking at 'The Changing Position of the Sun'.
The children should learn that the Sun appears to move across the sky over the course of a day and evidence may be interpreted in more than one way.
We will be asking the children about where the Sun shines into the school (or their homes) at different times of day. Reminding them of earlier work on shadows and ask them to suggest what this evidence shows. Observing the length and position of the shadow of a stick set up in the playground at different times of day over successive days.
By the end this week the children:-
must be able to describe how the apparent position of the Sun changes over the course of a day.
Should be able to clarify that this does not mean that the Sun is moving.
Could explain how we know that the Sun is not moving and how we can prove this.
Again please see last weeks blog for websites.
Here I Am
We continue our topic of Visitors this week, looking at the RELATE section. The children will
learn that their own exploration of VISITORS is enriched by learning about preparations made during the four weeks of Advent to welcome Jesus at Christmas.
As we are going to the MEN Arena a week on Monday a lot of our topic time this week will be spent singing the songs without the words, as we are not allowed to have the words when performing the concenrt.
We will also have to start learning some Christmas Carols for our Carol Concert in Church on the last day of term.
On Friday we will be lucky enough to watch the infants dress rehersal, we cannot wait as we have heard the songs floating around school and we are really excited to see it in action!
The School Council would like to make a plea for any old games, books and other stuff for their bring and buy stall at the Christmas Fair on Saturday 8th December.
This is the ideal time for the children to sort through all their old toys and things to make way for the new things they will get for Christmas.
Please ensure that if you do bring anything in it is a good working condition.
Please support the Christmas Fair by coming along and joining in. It really is a lovely day with a great sense of St Vincent's School Community coming together and having fun.
Assessments
Over the next week or so, your child may come home telling you they have done some ‘tests’. We need to see how much the children have progressed since September and also form judgements about how we can move our planning forward in the new year.
Finally, I know some parents and children are starting to think about SATs already. For those of you who want to make an early start on getting yourselves used to the format of the test the following website will be useful.
http://www.st-josephs-pickering.n-yorks.sch.uk/past_test_papers.htm you can downloads SATs papers from recent years in all 3 subjects, you can also download the mark schemes.
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/revision/Science/index.html past SATs questions and also some great revision games.
http://www.sparkisland.com/public/articles/howto_sats_parents/ this site offers some handy hints for the tests and also some papers to download.
http://www.parentsintouch.co.uk/fulltimeschool/introductiontosats.htm?gclid=CNj_17bn9Y8CFSiWEgodPBMWNA help and advise for parents of children in year 6.
http://www.grumbles.me.uk/ test questions organised in areas.
Have a great week and remember to wrap up warm.
Year 5/6 Team.
Friday 16 November 2007
Week Beginning 19th November 2007
Hi everyone and welcome to this weeks, very cold blogspot!!
As you have probably noticed the weather has really cooled down in the last week so could you please ensure that all children have a warm coat everyday for school.
The Year 5's are continuing to do rugby training outside and it is essential that they have a warm outdoor kit especially with the weather being so cold.
The dates were mixed up last week with the drama teacher so it is due to start this week, the Year 6's are really looking forward to it now as they were ready to start last week!!
Could we also ask the children to keep plugging away with the songs for the Young Voices Concert. We know it is hard without the music but due to copyright we cannot copy and send the cd's home. Parents you will probably know a lot of the songs anyway, so get singing in the car or while your cooking tea!!
On Friday this week Father Richard is coming in to talk to the children regarding our topic signs and symbols, he will talk about what sign and symbols are important to us in the Catholic Faith.
This week it is also National Anti-Bullying week. During the week we will be doing lots of activities based around the subject of bullying. Each phase team will then have to put something together to show to the rest of the school a week on Monday.
On Friday it is Blue Friday, the children will be allowed to come into school wearing something blue to support National Anti-Bullying Week.
Ready for the curriculum? Here we go.......
Literacy
This week in literacy we are starting a new unit on Traditional Stories, Fables, Myths and Legends.
In phase one of the topic we will be reading and analysing features of the text-type. Making comparisons between different versions of the same legend.
By the end of this phase the children.....
Must classify features of different fiction genres; describe similarities and differences between different versions of the same story. (teacher observation, self-assessment).
Should classify features of different fiction genres; describe similarities and differences between different versions of the same story and support their opinions by referring to evidence in the text; (teacher observation, self-assessment).
Could classify features of different fiction genres; describe similarities and differences between different versions of the same story and support their opinions by referring to evidence in the text; compose and manipulate sentences for different audiences and purposes (teacher observation, self-assessment).
http://www.fairystory.org/ read and respond to the stories.
http://myths.e2bn.org/ create your own stories.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/southwest/sites/myths/ for myths and legends based in and around Wales.
Maths
The children should all be aware of the targets they have been given in class, (published on previous blog) please make sure you are working on these targets whenever you get any spare time.
Again, congratulations must go to all those children who have achieved an award for their times tables. There are quite a lot now and we can tell that the children are working really hard learning them.
On Monday this week Miss Wright's and Mrs Morgan's groups will be testing their skills, baking fairy cakes! This is a follow on from last weeks work of looking a grams and kilograms. It is also important that the children can read scales so there will be a variety of scales available for measuring the ingredients. We really hope the children are good chefs as they will have to take the lead role and teach Mrs Morgan to bake, as she is hopeless!
For the rest of the week we will be working on Fractions.
By the end of the week they will be able to use fraction notation, including mixed numbers and the vocabulary 'numerator' and 'denominator'.
Change an improper fraction to a mixed number and vice versa.
Recognise when two simple fractions are equivalent.
Relate tenths and hundredths.
Estimate simple proportions such as one third, seven tenths.
http://www.revisionaid.co.uk/directory.php?cat=ks2MathsFractions
http://www.mathszone.co.uk/
http://www.coxhoe.durham.sch.uk/Curriculum/Numeracy.htm#Fractions,%20Decimals%20and%20Percentages
In Mrs Millington's group we will be reviewing our work on addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. These are the pins that hold our mathematical knowledge together, it is really important to keep reviewing them at every opportunity we get.
The children will be learning to apply their mathematical knowledge by solving real life problems.
http://www.mathszone.co.uk/
Science
After looking at the planets and the solor system in general it is now time to start to look at just the Sun, Earth and Moon.
We will be looking at how the Earth orbits the Sun and how the Moon orbits the Earth and what these means for humans.
We will be talking about how we get days, years and months.
By the end of the week the children must learn that the Earth takes a year to make one complete orbit of the Sun, spinning as it goes and that it is not always easy to gain information about phenomena eg the length of a year using first-hand experience.
As you have probably noticed the weather has really cooled down in the last week so could you please ensure that all children have a warm coat everyday for school.
The Year 5's are continuing to do rugby training outside and it is essential that they have a warm outdoor kit especially with the weather being so cold.
The dates were mixed up last week with the drama teacher so it is due to start this week, the Year 6's are really looking forward to it now as they were ready to start last week!!
Could we also ask the children to keep plugging away with the songs for the Young Voices Concert. We know it is hard without the music but due to copyright we cannot copy and send the cd's home. Parents you will probably know a lot of the songs anyway, so get singing in the car or while your cooking tea!!
On Friday this week Father Richard is coming in to talk to the children regarding our topic signs and symbols, he will talk about what sign and symbols are important to us in the Catholic Faith.
This week it is also National Anti-Bullying week. During the week we will be doing lots of activities based around the subject of bullying. Each phase team will then have to put something together to show to the rest of the school a week on Monday.
On Friday it is Blue Friday, the children will be allowed to come into school wearing something blue to support National Anti-Bullying Week.
Ready for the curriculum? Here we go.......
Literacy
This week in literacy we are starting a new unit on Traditional Stories, Fables, Myths and Legends.
In phase one of the topic we will be reading and analysing features of the text-type. Making comparisons between different versions of the same legend.
By the end of this phase the children.....
Must classify features of different fiction genres; describe similarities and differences between different versions of the same story. (teacher observation, self-assessment).
Should classify features of different fiction genres; describe similarities and differences between different versions of the same story and support their opinions by referring to evidence in the text; (teacher observation, self-assessment).
Could classify features of different fiction genres; describe similarities and differences between different versions of the same story and support their opinions by referring to evidence in the text; compose and manipulate sentences for different audiences and purposes (teacher observation, self-assessment).
http://www.fairystory.org/ read and respond to the stories.
http://myths.e2bn.org/ create your own stories.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/southwest/sites/myths/ for myths and legends based in and around Wales.
Maths
The children should all be aware of the targets they have been given in class, (published on previous blog) please make sure you are working on these targets whenever you get any spare time.
Again, congratulations must go to all those children who have achieved an award for their times tables. There are quite a lot now and we can tell that the children are working really hard learning them.
On Monday this week Miss Wright's and Mrs Morgan's groups will be testing their skills, baking fairy cakes! This is a follow on from last weeks work of looking a grams and kilograms. It is also important that the children can read scales so there will be a variety of scales available for measuring the ingredients. We really hope the children are good chefs as they will have to take the lead role and teach Mrs Morgan to bake, as she is hopeless!
For the rest of the week we will be working on Fractions.
By the end of the week they will be able to use fraction notation, including mixed numbers and the vocabulary 'numerator' and 'denominator'.
Change an improper fraction to a mixed number and vice versa.
Recognise when two simple fractions are equivalent.
Relate tenths and hundredths.
Estimate simple proportions such as one third, seven tenths.
http://www.revisionaid.co.uk/directory.php?cat=ks2MathsFractions
http://www.mathszone.co.uk/
http://www.coxhoe.durham.sch.uk/Curriculum/Numeracy.htm#Fractions,%20Decimals%20and%20Percentages
In Mrs Millington's group we will be reviewing our work on addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. These are the pins that hold our mathematical knowledge together, it is really important to keep reviewing them at every opportunity we get.
The children will be learning to apply their mathematical knowledge by solving real life problems.
http://www.mathszone.co.uk/
Science
After looking at the planets and the solor system in general it is now time to start to look at just the Sun, Earth and Moon.
We will be looking at how the Earth orbits the Sun and how the Moon orbits the Earth and what these means for humans.
We will be talking about how we get days, years and months.
By the end of the week the children must learn that the Earth takes a year to make one complete orbit of the Sun, spinning as it goes and that it is not always easy to gain information about phenomena eg the length of a year using first-hand experience.
Here are some websites that may help:-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/science/physical_processes.shtml do the activities adn then complete the quiz to test your knowledge.
http://www.engineeringinteract.org/ embark on an intergalatic adventure and help to save the future of space travel.
PE
The children have really been enjoying their orienteering sessions with Mr McGreal, this will continue this week and the competition is hotting up!!
Topic
This week's topc will be replaced with the activities we will be completing for anti-bullying week. Have a look at the website for some ideas.
http://www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/Page.asp
That's all for now.
Year 5/6 Team.
Thursday 8 November 2007
Week Beginning 12th November 2007
Hi everyone and welcome to this week's blog.
First of all we need to stress how important it is that all the children have an outdoor PE kit in school everyday for this half term. As the rest of the school are getting into the Christmas spirit the hall time table has had to change to meet the needs of Christmas play practice and that means that all of year 5/6's PE sessions will be outdoor.
We can not predict which day the children will be doing PE as we have to check the weather first before we can decide and for this reason they need a kit at all times.
On Monday afternoons the year 5 children will be participating in Rugby training with trainers from Warrington Wolves. This also will be an outdoor activity and they will need an outdoor kit.
On Tuesday afternoons starting from this week, the year 6 children will be doing drama sessions with Helen Robinson who is a drama teacher from St Gregory's High School. She is a fantastic drama teacher and the children always enjoy the sessions.
On Thursday this week it is the junior disco run by the friends of St. Vincent's, this is your chance to show off your dancing skills children, although I'm sure the teachers are much better!!
With all this going on it's a wonder we find time to have any lessons but rest assured we will be learning as much this week as ever, here we go with the curriculum:-
Literacy
Our poetry lessons went really well last week and by Friday the children had written some excellent poems using personification, well done for all your hard work children.
This week we will be concentrating on phase 2 of our poetry unit. By the end of the week the children.....
Must reflect on how working in role helps to explore some of the complex issues within a poem; (teacher observation, self-assessment).
Should reflect on how working in role helps to explore some of the complex issues within a poem; and begin to demonstrate understanding of characters, language and plot to write in the first person (teacher observation, self-assessment).
Could reflect on how working in role helps to explore some of the complex issues within a poem; demonstrate understanding of characters, language and plot to write in the first person (teacher observation, self-assessment).
Maths
Well done to all the children who earned a times table award this week. Just incase any parents don't know, we have introduced a times tables challenge and the children are really rising to it so please support them in their learning of their tables.
The way the challenge works is they have 100 tables questions to answer in a set amount of time (5 minutes for year 6 and 6 minutes for year 5). If they get 100% they acheive a gold award, 90% gets them a silver award and 80% a bronze a award. It is essential to mathematical development that their children know their tables inside out so please practice at every opportunity. See previous blogspots for websites to help.
The awards will be given out in assembly on Monday.
This week Mrs Morgan's and Miss Wright's group will be learning to use, read and write standard metric units of length: mm, cm, m, km and use, read and write standard units of weight: kg and g.
You can support this learning by getting the children to measure things at home and you could also get out the baking products and get them to weigh the ingredients. Try and use different types of scales at home.
This week Mrs Millington's group will be ....... Changing an improper fraction to a mixed number, and vice versa and Converting, reducing, comparing and ordering fractions. By the end of the week they will be able to.....
Consolidate changing an improper fraction to a mixed number, and vice versa
Consolidate recognition of equivalent fractions
Reduce a fraction to its simplest form by cancelling common factors in the numerator and denominator
Order fractions by converting them to fractions with a common denominator
Continue to order fractions and position them on a number line
Recognise relationships between fractions, e.g. 1/16 is half of 1/8
Science
We have started our topic on the planets and this week the children will be working in co-operative learning teams to come up with a holiday brochure for a planet of their choice.
There is endless amounts of infomation on the planets on the internet so just google it and see what you can come up with.
Here I am
We are starting our new topic of visitors, this will be in the run up to Christmas and will lead up to taking about a very special visitor that was born on Christmas day!!
Mantle of the Expert:
Mrs Millington's class have been trialling a different way of working called 'Mantle of the Expert' (explained in last weeks blog). The children hopefully came home buzzing about everything we did, and keen to start work in their new company 'Eye Spy'.
We will keep you posted.
Topic
We had great fun having a look behind the scene of one of the Starwars movies this week and we will be continuing our theme of working benhind the camera this week.
Have a look at all the different job titles when the credits roll of any movies you watch over the weekend.
See you all on Monday.
Year 5/6 Team.
First of all we need to stress how important it is that all the children have an outdoor PE kit in school everyday for this half term. As the rest of the school are getting into the Christmas spirit the hall time table has had to change to meet the needs of Christmas play practice and that means that all of year 5/6's PE sessions will be outdoor.
We can not predict which day the children will be doing PE as we have to check the weather first before we can decide and for this reason they need a kit at all times.
On Monday afternoons the year 5 children will be participating in Rugby training with trainers from Warrington Wolves. This also will be an outdoor activity and they will need an outdoor kit.
On Tuesday afternoons starting from this week, the year 6 children will be doing drama sessions with Helen Robinson who is a drama teacher from St Gregory's High School. She is a fantastic drama teacher and the children always enjoy the sessions.
On Thursday this week it is the junior disco run by the friends of St. Vincent's, this is your chance to show off your dancing skills children, although I'm sure the teachers are much better!!
With all this going on it's a wonder we find time to have any lessons but rest assured we will be learning as much this week as ever, here we go with the curriculum:-
Literacy
Our poetry lessons went really well last week and by Friday the children had written some excellent poems using personification, well done for all your hard work children.
This week we will be concentrating on phase 2 of our poetry unit. By the end of the week the children.....
Must reflect on how working in role helps to explore some of the complex issues within a poem; (teacher observation, self-assessment).
Should reflect on how working in role helps to explore some of the complex issues within a poem; and begin to demonstrate understanding of characters, language and plot to write in the first person (teacher observation, self-assessment).
Could reflect on how working in role helps to explore some of the complex issues within a poem; demonstrate understanding of characters, language and plot to write in the first person (teacher observation, self-assessment).
Maths
Well done to all the children who earned a times table award this week. Just incase any parents don't know, we have introduced a times tables challenge and the children are really rising to it so please support them in their learning of their tables.
The way the challenge works is they have 100 tables questions to answer in a set amount of time (5 minutes for year 6 and 6 minutes for year 5). If they get 100% they acheive a gold award, 90% gets them a silver award and 80% a bronze a award. It is essential to mathematical development that their children know their tables inside out so please practice at every opportunity. See previous blogspots for websites to help.
The awards will be given out in assembly on Monday.
This week Mrs Morgan's and Miss Wright's group will be learning to use, read and write standard metric units of length: mm, cm, m, km and use, read and write standard units of weight: kg and g.
You can support this learning by getting the children to measure things at home and you could also get out the baking products and get them to weigh the ingredients. Try and use different types of scales at home.
This week Mrs Millington's group will be ....... Changing an improper fraction to a mixed number, and vice versa and Converting, reducing, comparing and ordering fractions. By the end of the week they will be able to.....
Consolidate changing an improper fraction to a mixed number, and vice versa
Consolidate recognition of equivalent fractions
Reduce a fraction to its simplest form by cancelling common factors in the numerator and denominator
Order fractions by converting them to fractions with a common denominator
Continue to order fractions and position them on a number line
Recognise relationships between fractions, e.g. 1/16 is half of 1/8
Science
We have started our topic on the planets and this week the children will be working in co-operative learning teams to come up with a holiday brochure for a planet of their choice.
There is endless amounts of infomation on the planets on the internet so just google it and see what you can come up with.
Here I am
We are starting our new topic of visitors, this will be in the run up to Christmas and will lead up to taking about a very special visitor that was born on Christmas day!!
Mantle of the Expert:
Mrs Millington's class have been trialling a different way of working called 'Mantle of the Expert' (explained in last weeks blog). The children hopefully came home buzzing about everything we did, and keen to start work in their new company 'Eye Spy'.
We will keep you posted.
Topic
We had great fun having a look behind the scene of one of the Starwars movies this week and we will be continuing our theme of working benhind the camera this week.
Have a look at all the different job titles when the credits roll of any movies you watch over the weekend.
See you all on Monday.
Year 5/6 Team.
Saturday 3 November 2007
Week Beginning 5th November 2007
Remember, remember the 5th of November, because it's going to be the start of another exciting week in year 5/6!!!!
Seriously though, the children brought home a letter about firework safety on Friday so please make sure they read it and stick to the rules for a happy and safe Guy Fawkes night.
We hit the groud running last week and got straight back into our learning. We finished our topic on Roald Dahl by writing a story in the style of Roald Dahl, we had a lot fun thinking about the types of characters to include and making up our own nonsense words, we ended up with some really interesting stories.
LITERACY:
We are really excited this week as we move onto a new topic in Literacy. We all love writing poetry and this is what we will be concentrating on.
This topic relates well to RE, in that it gives the children the opportunity to find out about another religion. The topic gives children the opportunity to reflect and provides steps towards writing poems in different styles. The children read four types of poems – acrostic, free verse, repeated pattern and poem with personification. In each case they read, analyse, build up a writer’s toolkit and write a poem in the same style. In between the poems, sound and visuals related to Hindu pilgrimage provide a rich stimulus.
This sequence requires children to reflect deeply at times and teachers may find it useful to use some basic ‘stilling exercises’ involving visualisation or meditation to help children achieve the right mood for discussion.
This is a 2 week poetry unit and children will be expected to learn the following…..
Phase 1
Should demonstrate understanding of the differences between literal and figurative language (teacher observation).
Could demonstrate understanding of the differences between literal and figurative language and use the text to explain the effects of imagery in a poem (teacher observation).
Phase 2
Must reflect on how working in role helps to explore some of the complex issues within a poem; (teacher observation, self-assessment).
Should reflect on how working in role helps to explore some of the complex issues within a poem; and begin to demonstrate understanding of characters, language and plot to write in the first person (teacher observation, self-assessment).
Could reflect on how working in role helps to explore some of the complex issues within a poem; demonstrate understanding of characters, language and plot to write in the first person (teacher observation, self-assessment).
Phase 3
Must demonstrate the ability to work as a member of a group to plan, perform and evaluate a choral performance of a poem; (teacher assessment, feedback against agreed success criteria).
Should demonstrate the ability to work as a member of a group to plan, perform and evaluate a choral performance of a poem; and begin to demonstrate the ability to evaluate and improve performances in the light of comments from others (teacher assessment, feedback against agreed success criteria).
Could demonstrate the ability to work as a member of a group to plan, perform and evaluate a choral performance of a poem; demonstrate the ability to evaluate and improve performances in the light of comments from others (teacher assessment, feedback against agreed success criteria).
MATHS
Mrs Millington’s group will be Using a protractor to measure and draw acute and obtuse angles and learning to Calculate angles in a triangle.
By the end of the week they should be able to….
Use a protractor to measure and draw acute and obtuse angles to the nearest degree
Consolidate the estimation of an angle in degrees
Measure and calculate angles at a point
Make and investigate a general statement about familiar numbers or shapes by finding examples that satisfy it
Recognise that the sum of the angles of a triangle is 180 degrees
Calculate angles in a triangle
Recognise and explain patterns and relationships, generalise and predict
Miss Wright's and Mrs Morgan's group will be looking at reflective symmetry and the properties of 3d shapes.
By the end of this week they should be able to understand the terms 'reflective symmetry' and 'axis of symmetry'.
Recognise reflective symmetry in regular shapes.
Reconise where a shape will be after reflection in a mirror line parallel to one side.
Complete symmetrical patterns with two lines of symmetry at right angles.
Rehearse the names and properties of common 3D shapes.
Rehearse the terms 'polyhedron', 'tetrahedron' and begin to use 'octahedron'.
Visualise 3D shapes from 2D drawings and identify different nets for an open cube.
This seems a lot to get through and we will aim to get through it in one week but we may need to carry it onto next week depending on the children's learning.
You may have seen some children in the newsletter this week for gaining a gold certificate in their timestables award. These children are from Mr Barker's and Mrs Millington's groups and have got a 100% on a timed, times tables test for a number of weeks on the run.
Mrs Morgan's and Miss Wright's group have started their tests this week so get learning your tables children and you too could be famous!!
Here are some websites to help:-
Times tables
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/timestable/index.html
http://www.crick.northants.sch.uk/assets/Flash%20Studio/cfsmaths/Toolkit/Toolkit.htm
http://www.woodlands-junior.http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/timestable/interactive.htmkent.sch.uk/maths/timestable/index.html
Science
We had planned to start our new topic of the Earth and beyond last week but after reviewing the last topic we decided that the children needed more rewiew time in order to remember the facts.
The children have worked in groups and organised a 10 minute lesson that they are going to teach to the year 1/2 children on Friday. They really love to do this and get really excited and all 4 year groups get a lot out of it. So make sure you have prepared all your resources children as come Friday the roles are reveresed and you get to see what an enjoyable job we have!!
Topic
Last weeks blog is still relevent for our topic work so take a look at that for a better idea.
Here I am
We are starting our new topic of visitors, this will be in the run up to Christmas and will lead up to taking about a very special visitor that was born on Christmas day!!
Mrs Millington’s Class may approach their topic learning slightly differently this term than the other 2 classes. Mrs Millington has been involved in training for developing realistic learning contexts through Drama, particularly a system known as Mantle of the Expert, developed by the inspirational, gifted and internationally renowned Educator
Dorothy Heathcote.
In a Mantle of the Expert, a fictional world is created in which the children all have roles as an expert in a particular field. Their presumed expertise develops into a genuine expertise in certain areas of learning (some of them pre-planned by the teacher) and their understanding of certain concepts (again, planned by the teacher) is greatly enhanced. Almost any area of the curriculum could be taught through a Mantle of the Expert.
Her Class this year, will be running their own Missing Person ‘Private Investigator’ Company through which they will eventually try to solve the mystery of what happened to the illustrator ‘Harris Burdick’. This is a brilliant story…
Apparently Chris Van Allsburg (the author of the mysteries) came across the pictures of Harris Burdick through a friend, Peter Wenders. Apparently, Burdick presented the pictures with their titles and captions to Wenders in hopes that Wenders would be interested in purchasing the stories that accompanied the illustrations. Wenders was intrigued by the pictures and asked Burdick to submit the corresponding stories the next day. However, Wenders never heard from Harris Burdick again, so the "true" stories behind the pictures were never revealed.
The illustrations are fantastic and very thought provoking. Type ‘Harris Burdick’ into any search engine and a wealth of information about the story should come up.
For further information about the mantle of the expert, please go to www.mantleoftheexpert.com.
Watch this space to see how they get on!relevent for our topic work this week so take a look at that for a better idea.
Finally can we make a plea for all outstanding money and slips to be sent in for the MEN Area, we really need to know numbers as we have to order the t-shirts and book the coaches by Monday.
Have a great week and enjoy the fireworks safely.
Year 5/6 team.
Seriously though, the children brought home a letter about firework safety on Friday so please make sure they read it and stick to the rules for a happy and safe Guy Fawkes night.
We hit the groud running last week and got straight back into our learning. We finished our topic on Roald Dahl by writing a story in the style of Roald Dahl, we had a lot fun thinking about the types of characters to include and making up our own nonsense words, we ended up with some really interesting stories.
LITERACY:
We are really excited this week as we move onto a new topic in Literacy. We all love writing poetry and this is what we will be concentrating on.
This topic relates well to RE, in that it gives the children the opportunity to find out about another religion. The topic gives children the opportunity to reflect and provides steps towards writing poems in different styles. The children read four types of poems – acrostic, free verse, repeated pattern and poem with personification. In each case they read, analyse, build up a writer’s toolkit and write a poem in the same style. In between the poems, sound and visuals related to Hindu pilgrimage provide a rich stimulus.
This sequence requires children to reflect deeply at times and teachers may find it useful to use some basic ‘stilling exercises’ involving visualisation or meditation to help children achieve the right mood for discussion.
This is a 2 week poetry unit and children will be expected to learn the following…..
Phase 1
Should demonstrate understanding of the differences between literal and figurative language (teacher observation).
Could demonstrate understanding of the differences between literal and figurative language and use the text to explain the effects of imagery in a poem (teacher observation).
Phase 2
Must reflect on how working in role helps to explore some of the complex issues within a poem; (teacher observation, self-assessment).
Should reflect on how working in role helps to explore some of the complex issues within a poem; and begin to demonstrate understanding of characters, language and plot to write in the first person (teacher observation, self-assessment).
Could reflect on how working in role helps to explore some of the complex issues within a poem; demonstrate understanding of characters, language and plot to write in the first person (teacher observation, self-assessment).
Phase 3
Must demonstrate the ability to work as a member of a group to plan, perform and evaluate a choral performance of a poem; (teacher assessment, feedback against agreed success criteria).
Should demonstrate the ability to work as a member of a group to plan, perform and evaluate a choral performance of a poem; and begin to demonstrate the ability to evaluate and improve performances in the light of comments from others (teacher assessment, feedback against agreed success criteria).
Could demonstrate the ability to work as a member of a group to plan, perform and evaluate a choral performance of a poem; demonstrate the ability to evaluate and improve performances in the light of comments from others (teacher assessment, feedback against agreed success criteria).
MATHS
Mrs Millington’s group will be Using a protractor to measure and draw acute and obtuse angles and learning to Calculate angles in a triangle.
By the end of the week they should be able to….
Use a protractor to measure and draw acute and obtuse angles to the nearest degree
Consolidate the estimation of an angle in degrees
Measure and calculate angles at a point
Make and investigate a general statement about familiar numbers or shapes by finding examples that satisfy it
Recognise that the sum of the angles of a triangle is 180 degrees
Calculate angles in a triangle
Recognise and explain patterns and relationships, generalise and predict
Miss Wright's and Mrs Morgan's group will be looking at reflective symmetry and the properties of 3d shapes.
By the end of this week they should be able to understand the terms 'reflective symmetry' and 'axis of symmetry'.
Recognise reflective symmetry in regular shapes.
Reconise where a shape will be after reflection in a mirror line parallel to one side.
Complete symmetrical patterns with two lines of symmetry at right angles.
Rehearse the names and properties of common 3D shapes.
Rehearse the terms 'polyhedron', 'tetrahedron' and begin to use 'octahedron'.
Visualise 3D shapes from 2D drawings and identify different nets for an open cube.
This seems a lot to get through and we will aim to get through it in one week but we may need to carry it onto next week depending on the children's learning.
You may have seen some children in the newsletter this week for gaining a gold certificate in their timestables award. These children are from Mr Barker's and Mrs Millington's groups and have got a 100% on a timed, times tables test for a number of weeks on the run.
Mrs Morgan's and Miss Wright's group have started their tests this week so get learning your tables children and you too could be famous!!
Here are some websites to help:-
Times tables
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/timestable/index.html
http://www.crick.northants.sch.uk/assets/Flash%20Studio/cfsmaths/Toolkit/Toolkit.htm
http://www.woodlands-junior.http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/timestable/interactive.htmkent.sch.uk/maths/timestable/index.html
Science
We had planned to start our new topic of the Earth and beyond last week but after reviewing the last topic we decided that the children needed more rewiew time in order to remember the facts.
The children have worked in groups and organised a 10 minute lesson that they are going to teach to the year 1/2 children on Friday. They really love to do this and get really excited and all 4 year groups get a lot out of it. So make sure you have prepared all your resources children as come Friday the roles are reveresed and you get to see what an enjoyable job we have!!
Topic
Last weeks blog is still relevent for our topic work so take a look at that for a better idea.
Here I am
We are starting our new topic of visitors, this will be in the run up to Christmas and will lead up to taking about a very special visitor that was born on Christmas day!!
Mrs Millington’s Class may approach their topic learning slightly differently this term than the other 2 classes. Mrs Millington has been involved in training for developing realistic learning contexts through Drama, particularly a system known as Mantle of the Expert, developed by the inspirational, gifted and internationally renowned Educator
Dorothy Heathcote.
In a Mantle of the Expert, a fictional world is created in which the children all have roles as an expert in a particular field. Their presumed expertise develops into a genuine expertise in certain areas of learning (some of them pre-planned by the teacher) and their understanding of certain concepts (again, planned by the teacher) is greatly enhanced. Almost any area of the curriculum could be taught through a Mantle of the Expert.
Her Class this year, will be running their own Missing Person ‘Private Investigator’ Company through which they will eventually try to solve the mystery of what happened to the illustrator ‘Harris Burdick’. This is a brilliant story…
Apparently Chris Van Allsburg (the author of the mysteries) came across the pictures of Harris Burdick through a friend, Peter Wenders. Apparently, Burdick presented the pictures with their titles and captions to Wenders in hopes that Wenders would be interested in purchasing the stories that accompanied the illustrations. Wenders was intrigued by the pictures and asked Burdick to submit the corresponding stories the next day. However, Wenders never heard from Harris Burdick again, so the "true" stories behind the pictures were never revealed.
The illustrations are fantastic and very thought provoking. Type ‘Harris Burdick’ into any search engine and a wealth of information about the story should come up.
For further information about the mantle of the expert, please go to www.mantleoftheexpert.com.
Watch this space to see how they get on!relevent for our topic work this week so take a look at that for a better idea.
Finally can we make a plea for all outstanding money and slips to be sent in for the MEN Area, we really need to know numbers as we have to order the t-shirts and book the coaches by Monday.
Have a great week and enjoy the fireworks safely.
Year 5/6 team.
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