Week Beginning 9th June

Hi Everyone!
Hope you had a fantastic half-term break and are raring to go for the last half term before the summer break. This is a really short term and we are hoping it will be fun (and sun) all the way!

END OF YEAR PRODUCTION
We still have a lot of work to fit in as well as a year 5/6 end of year PRODUCTION. We really enjoyed the singing element of last year’s end of year performance and so this is the route we felt it would be good to go down this year. We felt we would like a slight twist though, so we have decided that we are going to showcase music and artists throughout the decades, starting with the 1940’s right through to present day! This should make sure that there is something to tickle every musical taste bud. Dust off those Michael Jackson wigs, and blue suede shoes NOW!
No doubt you have already pestered your parents with ideas of who you would like to be and what song you will possibly be singing/performing/miming to.
As always, we need to make sure that the year 6 take priority for the parts in the production, however we will need year 5’s as well. Remember year 5’s that your time will come next year!
We are hoping that during this next week children will have a good idea of children’s roles within the production, and you can therefore start practicing at home, and thinking about costume ideas. We realise that some costumes will be more complicated to put together than others and so want to let parents know ASAP. We will not be giving out specific costume letters as we feel that it is much easier for you to look at the artist your child is impersonating and choose a look you feel is easiest to replicate. As soon as we know details of performance dates we will send them home.

LITERACY
Year 6
A few years ago we trialled teaching some Shakespeare to year 6! We were so impressed with the children’s enthusiasm and understanding we thought we would try it again this year! We will spend the start of the week finding out some information about the Bard himself. Later in the week we will begin to read and respond to a ‘child friendly’ version of Romeo and Juliet. Although this still has a lot of Shakespearian language included it is much more accessible for children. Whilst reading the play we will act out certain parts, create poetry, take part in quizzes and generally absorb ourselves in the play. This should take us up to the end of half-term and also be brilliant transition for key stage 3. We will keep you updated as to how we get on with this project. In the meantime web sites that may help with Shakespeare include the following…..
www.shakespeareforkidz.com
www.shakespeareforkids.co.uk
www.shakespeare.org.uk

Year 5
We will be starting on a new topic about Myths & Legends. We have covered aspects of Myths & Legends before, however this will give us the opportunity to delve deeper and gain a deeper understanding of this genre. Targets this week, will include the following….

Style: Language effects
Use powerful verbs to show character.
Use well-chosen phrases or vocabulary to engage the reader.

Interpretation and response
Identify and discuss issues locating evidence in the text.

Knowing how text works
Identify features of different fiction genre, i.e. myths and legends.
To identify the features of myths.
To investigate how characters are presented.
Write character sketches, focusing on small details to evoke sympathy or dislike.
To adapt writing for different readers and
purposes.
To understand how paragraphs or chapters are used to collect and order ideas.

MATHS
Year 5
The curriculum continues as usual and the children in both Mrs Morgan’s and Miss Wright’s group will be learning the following…
To subtract integers of up to 10,000 using formal and informal methods.
To subtract numbers to 2 decimal places.
As usual loads of games and interactive learning will take place to make these topic as fun as possible.
By the end of the week children,
MUST use an informal method to subtract integers up to 10,000.
SHOULD use both formal and informal methods to subtract integers up to 10,000.
COULD begin to subtract numbers to 2 decimal places.


Try logging on to www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk and following the Maths links for some excellent speed subtraction games to help you with these objectives.

Year 6
We will be embarking on some transition work to ease the year 6’s into the Mathematics required for the High School. Much of this knowledge is what we have already acquired, but just requires the children to think in a more sophisticated manner. The DFES provide a pack of material for children to further develop their understanding, and we will build on this in school. We will be consolidating lots of learning, but also favouring a more problem solving route where children are encouraged to think for themselves more, and see patterns in number and data. This sounds really hard going, but lots of fun will be had, and children will feel more confident about what will be expected of them in September.
The week before half-term the children worked in collaborative learning teams to produce lessons and lesson material to teach a mathematical concept, such as times tables to year 3 and 4. The children will get the opportunity to finish resources this week and hopefully teach their session to a group of the younger children. From the quality resources I have seen made, we teachers will soon all be out of a job!!!

SCIENCE
This week in Science we will be continuing with our topic on Changing State. The week’s theme is UPS and DOWNS and we will be Measuring water temperature from freezing point to boiling point. Our objectives for this week are to understand…
· that the boiling point of pure water is 100 ºC, and that beyond that point further heating does not result in any further rise in temperature;
· that the freezing point of pure water is 0 ºC;
and ………
· to obtain evidence by careful observation and measurement;
· to identify patterns in data and to use these to make predictions;
· to explain the patterns they observe in terms of scientific knowledge and understanding.

TOPIC – DRAGON’S DEN
As we explained before half-term we have invited the children, in groups, to come up with a new concept that they will make and market, if the 'Dragons' agree to give them the funding! The excitement generated by this project as been huge and the children are buzzing with ideas for their concept. This week children are still at the planning and design stage of their products and will continue to complete marking research on their product by completing questionnaires and surveys. We are still trying to get across to the children that although some of the ideas are amazing, they do need to be products that can actually be DESIGNED and CONSTRUCTED with minimal work. We have a wonderful new ice-cream design in production, but how easy this will be to make is debatable!! Any help from home in encouraging the children to design products that can be created would be really helpful!!
We hope that this topic will encompass the creative curriculum in a fun, engaging manner. A cross-curricular topic allows for Design Technology, Art, Science, English (Speaking and Listening) and Maths to be taught concurrently.

That’s all for this fun-filled, super-packed week. Have a great one!
The Year 5/6 Team