It is starting to become very festive in Year 5! Yesterday, we enjoyed our rescheduled trip to The Lyric Theatre to watch their annual pantomime – there were plenty of laughs and it certainly got us in the Christmas spirit!

In English this week, we have continued to gather more information from the scene of ‘The Lighthouse’ in preparation for our newspaper report. We interviewed a villager, a member of the ship’s crew and the lighthouse keeper. From this, the children practised using inverted commas to record direct speech. The children also looked at formal language and informal language. We discussed how as a reporter, we must have a formal tone, however, the direct speech might be more informal as it is directly what someone has said in conversation. Next week, we will analyse an exemplar newspaper report and plan our own. We will also be completing end of term assessments: reading, grammar, punctuation and spelling.

In Maths, we have been comparing and ordering fractions less than one with different denominators. The children have been practising finding a common denominator, before then being able to order and compare them. The children also ordered and compared fractions greater than 1. Next week, we will look at adding fractions with the same and different denominators. We will also be completing end of term assessments: arithmetic and reasoning.

We completed our final Science lesson this week. We looked at the life and work of naturalists. We defined a naturalist as a person who studies the natural world. We looked at the work of Sylvia Earle and her passion for ocean conservation. Then, the children had the choice to research one of two naturalists: David Attenborough or Jane Goodall. It was interesting to find out about the research these naturalists have conducted and how human behavior needs to change to support our changing planet.

Coastlines were our focus in Geography this week. The children looked at a range of coastlines around the UK and had to annotate the images, labeling the geographical features. The children were able to label: chalk cliffs, limestone cliffs, bays, stacks, stumps, inlets and caves. We discussed that many of these features were as a result of erosion over hundreds of years. Next week, we will look at rivers across the UK.

In R.E., we look at sacred art at Christmas. We looked at a selection of Christmas cards and sorted them into secular and sacred Christmas cards. The children then had to create sacred Christmas cards that depicted the importance of the Christian festival of Christmas.

Today, we looked at the importance of living in a diverse society. As a class, we discussed how we are all different and our differences come in many forms: gender, fingerprints, facial features, religion, height, skills, eye colour, personality, shoe size and blood type. We talked about the importance of celebrating our differences and recorded them on a jigsaw piece. Our jigsaw pieces all then fitted together to form a Silverstein class display, which celebrates how we are all united together as one, regardless of our differences.

This afternoon, we were lucky enough to have a visit from a Year 5 parent to talk to the children about her career (Optometrist) and what this job involves. It was really interesting to hear of the importance that Science plays in the pathway to this career and how these goals can be achieved. Year 5 will continue to have visits from our St Stephen’s community as part of our ‘Cracking Careers’ programme.

Have a restful weekend,

Miss Bill

Another busy week in Year 5!

This week in English, we finished our poetry unit. Taking inspiration from Karl Nova and his poem, ‘The City of my Birth’, the children wrote their own free verse poem about a place special to them. The children made great use of figurative language (onomatopoeia, similes, personification and alliteration). We then began our new unit, writing from visual media. Using the short film, ‘The Lighthouse’, the children had to use their retrieval and inference skills to report on what happened at the scene using the 5Ws (who, where, when, what and why). In this unit, the children will be writing a newspaper report and to get started with this, they used their reporter notes to create a headline and short orientation paragraph. Next week, the children will be interviewing people from the scene and using inverted commas to record their direct speech, which will be used in their newspaper report.

In Maths, we have converted an improper fraction to a mixed number and converted a mixed number to an improper fraction. The children used visuals to support them with this. Once confident with using the visuals, they were taught the written method for converting. We also spent time this week practising our timestables. The children completed the ‘Ultimate Timestable Challenge’ by answering 150 questions in 10 minutes. The children have now identified selected timestables that they need to work on.

This week, the children had their annual Scientist in Residence session with Mercedes. They started by defining some key words and ideas, such as the stages of a life cycle (birth, growth, reproduction, death), internal and external fertilisation, and categories of animals (such as amphibians, mammals and reptiles). They then looked at how different animals reproduce, grow and are born, making life cycle wheels and chatterboxes with key information to use to compare the different animals. We looked for similarities and differences amongst and across the different species of animals.

In Geography, the children used an interactive topographical map to identify hills and mountains across the UK. The children were able to define that when a hill is higher than 600m, it is generally considered a mountain. The children used the topographical map to identify the tallest mountain in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. They used the recorded elevation to create a bar graph representing this data.

In R.E., we began our new unit, ‘Seeing Christmas through Music and Art’. We began by looking at scared artwork and unpicking what the images represented. We were able to annotate how images depicting Jesus often showed him preaching and devoting his life to God. Next week, the children will be using this theme of scared artwork to produce a scared Christmas card.

In RHE, we looked at how to respond respectfully to others. In groups of three, one person was the talker, the other was the listener and another was an observer. The observer had to give feedback on their listening skills. From this task, we created a list of good listening skills: eye contact, good body language, answering and asking questions. In our second RHE lesson, we played a ‘stand up and sit down’ game depending on our similarities and differences. We reflected that we all like different things. We then heard the story of Rosa Parks and how she was discriminated against as a black person in the U.S.A in the 1950s. After the story, we discussed how she might feel: angry, sad, frustrated and scared. We then discussed different scenarios and considered how those being discriminated against might have felt in each scenario. As a class, we finished the lesson by thinking about the actions we can take to prevent discrimination: being welcoming, not questioning people too much, not invading personal space, asking if you could help them with anything (should they need it) and not drawing attention to anyone in a negative light.

Today in Art, we continued with our unit, ‘Drawing: I need space’. Last week, the children began by exploring the purpose and effect of imagery by looking at imagery from ‘The Space Race’. Today, they began the process of creating their own futuristic image. The firstly created a collagraph using a piece of cardboard and different materials: string, hessian and straws. This was set to the side to dry and will be used next week. The children then used their sketchbooks to make visual notes about their ideas for the future, deciding what they will draw on the textured background printed in next week’s lesson. They considered how they will produce their drawn image and where their image will go on the textured background.

On Wednesday, the children showed their true sportsmanship at our Year 5 Football Tournament. The children played a number of matches against each other to then find our winning girls’ and boys’ team. They did not let the freezing weather dampen their spirits!

We also spent time this week making our Silverstein class craft for the Christmas Fair. Please come along, and if you are able to, please buy one of our festive baubles!

Have a restful weekend,

Miss Bill

This week in English, we continued with poetry and wrote a riddle using similes. The children then performed it to their class partner and they had to guess what it was describing. We then wrote a nonsense poem, taking inspiration from Joseph Coelho by using onomatopoeia and nonsense words to create our nonsense poem. The children then performed them to the class. Today, we read ‘The City of My Birth’ by London based poet, Karl Nova. We spent time analysing the poetic devices and figurative language as well as discussing what image and meaning he was trying to portray. Taking inspiration of writing about somewhere special, next week, the children will write their own free verse poem using figurative language about a place special to them.

We began fractions in Maths this week. We began by recapping that a fraction is part of a whole and reminded ourselves of the language of unit fraction, non-unit fraction, numerator and denominator. This week we have found equivalent fractions and converted an improper fraction to a mixed number. Next week, we will convert a mixed number to an improper fraction and order and compare fractions less than 1.

After looking at sexual and asexual reproduction in flowering plants, this week in Science, we looked at sexual reproduction in animals. The children learnt that animals can produce offspring by internal or external fertilisation. They defined internal fertilisation as the male and female sex cell meeting in the female body and combing to fertilise and external fertilisation as a male fertilising an egg that has been laid by a female. The children then used a Carroll diagram to sort animals into the correct category based on their type of fertilisation.

In Geography, the children used an atlas to locate cities on a map of the UK across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. They also used the atlas to locate towns.

In R.E., we discussed the lives of those in monastic communities, particularly the lives of those in monasteries and convents. The children then unpicked what it meant to live in a community by listing the positives and negatives of being in the community we are all a part of, St Stephen’s. They then compared this to life in monastic communities and the positives and negatives associated with living in monasteries and convents. We discussed that the negatives didn’t mean it was ‘bad’ being part of this community, it just meant that there would be challenges to face and overcome. The children then completed their EUQ (End of Unit Quiz). Next week, we will begin, ‘Seeing Christmas through Music and Art’.

This afternoon, we got creative and started our art unit: ‘Drawing: I need space’. The children began by exploring the purpose and effect of imagery by looking at imagery from ‘The Space Race’. We discussed how it dominated popular culture at the time through art and design. The children annotated the ‘Family playing on the moon, as imagined in the 1960s’ image and wrote what they could see and what they thought the purpose of the image could be. The children then explored art created using different processes and considered the artist decisions. Using a chosen ‘space image’ and their sketchbooks, they explored drawing their image through line, tone, shape and textures; experimenting with different media (pencils, handwriting pens, water colours and charcoal).

We were all really disappointed not to go to the Pantomime yesterday, however, we are in the process of rescheduling this. Rescheduled details will be shared as soon as possible via ParentMail.

Have a restful weekend,

Miss Bill

On Wednesday, Silverstein delivered Collective Worship to the rest of the school. The children started by saying six different sentences all containing the word, ‘Force’. This was because our assembly was all about last half term’s Science learning: Forces in Action. The children explained and demonstrated push and pull, friction, gravity and air resistance. They then performed the ancient myth, Daedalus and Icarus, highlighting where forces were used throughout the theatrical performance. The children even sang, ‘Defying Gravity’. The children used tone, intonation and projection to entice the audience – they should all feel very proud!

Today, we visited Gunnersbury Park Museum and took park in a Victorian Classroom Workshop. As we learned about the Victorian’s last term, this was a great opportunity to reflect on our learning and build upon our understanding of this topic. At times, the Victorian teacher was quite intimidating and after this experience, we all agreed that St. Stephen’s is much better off with the rules we have for children.

In Maths this week, we completed our multiplication and division unit. The children finished this unit by completing an assessment. The children did well but must still be practising their multiplication and division recall to further support them with this learning. These are skills we will also continue to revisit in school. Next week, we will begin fractions.

In English this week, we have continued to explore different types of poetry and figurative language. We extended Malorie Blackman’s poem, ‘Cloud Busting’, by adding another verse personifying what could be seen in the sky. The children made great use of verbs to personify the object. We then looked at limericks and the rules associated with them. We identified the AABBA rhyming pattern, as well as the rules associated with syllables. The children then used the set rules identified to write their own limerick.

We have continued with ‘Life Cycles’ in Science this week. After looking at sexual reproduction last week, our focus was now on asexual reproduction. We looked at how strawberries, potatoes and dandelions asexually reproduce. Using the example of strawberries, the children specifically described how small shoots called ‘runners’ grow from the stem of the parent plant. Along this runner, plantlets start to develop. These plantlets then grow roots and stems, developing into new plants that are clones (genetically identical) to the parent planet.

In Geography, the children put their map skills to the test by locating the counties in England. We discussed how England is made up of different regions, and in these regions there are counties that have their own council which is responsible for education, social services and emergency services. The children were able to identify that they live in the county of Greater London.

Yesterday in Computing, we used J2E5 to write blog entries. The children wrote different types of blogs, varying from travel blogs to fictional story telling blogs to weekly blogs. The children considered the purpose of their blogs: to inform and interest others. The children also considered our SMART rules, no personal information should be shared on blogs. We also discussed the positives and negatives associated with commenting on blogs and from these discussions, next week, they will read their peers’ blogs and leave comments.

Have a restful weekend,

Miss Bill

Another busy week in Year 5!

This week in English, we began our new unit, poetry. The children discussed what poetry meant to them, with one child sharing, “It tells a story through the creative use of words.” We then looked at the dictionary definition and explored its meaning: ‘Literary work in which the expression of feelings and ideas is given intensity by the use of distinctive style and rhythm’. We then read, ‘Facing the Truth with Haikus’ by Malorie Blackman. We listened carefully and began to think about what the poem is about and what style of poetry it is. We identified that it was a haiku, following the pattern of 17 syllables per verse, consisting of 3 lines with 5 syllables, 7 syllables and then, 5 syllables. As a class, we then analysed sections of the poem. On Wednesday, we watched Michael Rosen perform his poem, ‘No Breathing in Class’. We discussed how this performance enticed the audience due to his actions, expression and tone of voice. The children then worked in groups to perform ‘Facing the Truths with Haikus’ by Malorie Blackman.

In Maths, we continued with multiplication and division. The children learnt about prime numbers, square numbers and cube numbers. We are now working on multiplying and dividing by 10, 100 and 1000. After completing our end of unit assessment, we will be beginning fractions. It is vital that the children are continuing to practise their multiplication and division facts so they have a rapid recall to support them in their learning.

This half term in Science, we are looking at animals including humans, specifically focusing on life cycles. The children used their knowledge from Year 3 to help label the parts of a flower. The children labelled the male parts (stamen) which includes the filament and anther and the female parts (carpel) and labelled the stigma, style and ovary. The children then used lilies to help identify these parts. The children then explained the process of pollination and fertilisation to describe the process of sexual reproduction in flowering plants. Next week, we will be learning about asexual reproduction in plants.

Yesterday, we had the privilege of welcoming ‘Queen Victoria’ to St Stephen’s. Queen Victoria was able to tell the children all about life in Kensington Palace and the many kings and queens that lived there. Two children were able to ask her her thoughts on the Industrial Revolution and pollution at the time. It was great to see the children showcase all their learning from our Victorians unit last half term.

Today in RHE, we considered important qualities of our friendships and what damaging qualities are. This helped us revise our lesson on ‘healthy’ and ‘unhealthy’ relationships last term. We used charades to think about and identify what these qualities look like in action. We took a class vote and found that respect, being supportive and being fun were considered to be the most important qualities in our friendships. These may well change with time. After reflecting on this, some of us had suggestions on why a friendship might end and found that lacking the qualities listed above could lead to an ‘unhealthy’ relationship and the friendship falling apart.

This week, we celebrated Parliament Week. To mark this occasion, we were joined by MP for Hammersmith and Fulham, Andy Slaughter, who spoke to the children about our British Values and the importance of democracy. The children asked a variety of probing questions which sparked a healthy debate.

We are back to practising our class assembly! It would be great if you could continue to support your child with learning their lines and singing the song. We can’t wait to welcome you in next week to see it!

Have a restful weekend,

Miss Bill

This week, we welcomed the children back after a well-deserved half term break!

We continued with Information Texts in English, with the children analysing our exemplar, ‘The Grey Wolf’. The children had to identify the key features including grammar, punctuation and spelling objectives. After this, the children wrote their own text about Dame Elizabeth Anionwu. The children did a great job of writing factual language that would inform the reader of the great life and work of Anionwu. They also applied the key grammar, punctuation and spelling objectives that had also been identified in the exemplar. Next week, they will edit their information text before then redrafting it. We will also be beginning our new English unit, Poetry.

In Maths, we began our new unit, Multiplication and Division. We started with recapping our multiples to help us find common multiples. The children were then tasked with identifying factors and then common factors. Next week, we will be looking at prime numbers, square numbers and cube numbers. It is vital that the children are continuing to practise their multiplication and division facts so they have a rapid recall to support them in their learning.

This half term, we will be doing Geography and specifically focusing on the United Kingdom. We began this week by recapping the four countries that are in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. We also revised the capitals of each of these countries. The children used their world maps in their books to help them discuss the positioning of the United Kingdom within Europe and the wider world. The children also found the main language, religion and population numbers of the UK. Next week, we will be using maps to locate the counties in England.

This half term in R.E., we focus on Christianity. We began by unpicking what life is like in a monastic community. The children discovered that a monastic community is a community of people that often live a secluded life away from others so they can grow closer to God and not sin. Monks and nuns form part of different monastic communities around the world, worshipping and serving monasteries and nunneries.

On Tuesday, Year 5 joined Year 4 and 6 at Wormwood Scrubs for a cross country competition. It was great to see the children’s sportsmanship, encouragement and perseverance.

We are well underway with our class assembly practise! It would be great if you could continue to support your child with learning their lines and singing the song. We can’t wait to welcome you in next week to see it!

Have a restful weekend,

Miss Bill

This week, we have celebrated Black Voices Week! We started our week with a Collective Worship session held by Mr Faith, who talked about the origins of and importance of Black Voices Week. In doing this, he celebrated the many achievements of Black British women, highlighting many of them, including Nicola Adams and Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon. Year 5 were then joined by linguist, Sylvia, who came in to teach the children the origin of the Creole language and some key phrases. Sylvia explained to the children that today Creole is a legitimate, fully-functioning and recognised language that is spoken in St Lucia and Dominica in the Caribbean. Sylvia explained to the children that although Creole has similarities with some French words, it is not French and a language in its own right.

Throughout this week, we have been completing our English work through studying Black British woman of influence, focusing on Dame Elizabeth Anionwu. The children have discovered that she set up the first sickle cell and thalassemia counselling services in London. She has also used her training to become the first sickle cell and thalassemia nurse specialist. From this research, the children wrote a short, informative paragraph about Dame Elizabeth Anionwu using relative clauses. They also wrote sentences about her using commas, explaining the purpose of the comma in each sentence. After half term, the children will use this grammar knowledge and information to write an information text about Dame Elizabeth Anionwu and her influence and impact on British nursing.

Today, we completed our addition and subtraction unit and finished it by completing an assessment. The children showcased their knowledge of mental strategies, column addition and subtraction, rounding to check answers, how to compare answers and find missing numbers. After half term, we will begin our next unit, multiplication and division. It is so important that the children continue to practise their timestable and division facts.

This week in Science, we looked at how a pulleys, levers and cogs allow a small force to have a greater effect. We made our own catapults and placed a rubber on the lever. We used a small force to push down the lever, which built up energy. When the lever was released, this energy converted to a motion and our load (a rubber) catapulted across the air. We concluded that the more the lever was bent, the further the load would travel as more energy had built up. The children then completed their EUQ (End of Unit Quiz). It was clear in their knowledge that they have thoroughly enjoyed this unit.

In History this week, the children explored some of the activities that The Victorians did during their leisure time. We identified that there are a lot of similarities to leisure activities that people take part in today; however, the main difference is that during the Victorian Era, these activities were only available to the wealthy. The children acted out watching a Punch and Judy show, going to the seaside and visiting a circus. The children finished by completing their EUQ.

In R.E., the children reflected upon how Jews worship and drew similarities and differences to that of Christianity. They noted how in synagogue, men and woman sit separately, however in a most churches, the congregation can sit where they want. They also recognised that although they have different names, both religions have holy book. The children then completed their EUQ, demonstrating all their knowledge from this half term of R.E.

This afternoon in DT, the children made their doodlers! They wrote their equipment list, material list and circuit components before then writing their method. They used their method to help them construct their doodlers. The children were delighted to see their doodler move, albeit the lines created by the pencil were very light. They have brought the base of their doodler home with them.

We have had a great first half term in Year 5 and look forward to the rest of the year ahead.

Have a restful, enjoyable half term.

Miss Bill

It is hard to believe that there is only one week left until half term!

On Wednesday, we had our annual Hispanic Day! We started the day by coming together to sing ‘Somos como las Flores’ and then watched an amazing Peruvian dance performance by ‘Ilusion Flamenca’. In Year 5, we studied Cuba. The children began by looking at the geography of Cuba, before researching about the history of the Cuban flag, traditional foods and significant monuments. We also looked at the Fire Festival, ‘Fiesta del Fuego’. The children were then lucky enough to take part in a Peruvian dance workshop. A Year 5 parent joined us to make traditional Latin American biscuits, Alfajores. He also brought in some traditional Cuban money, Cuban peso, for the children to look at.

This week in English, the children began their new unit, Information Texts. We began with a reading comprehension on ‘Coarse Fishing’, where the children used and practised their VIPERS skills (vocabulary, inference, prediction, explanation, retrieval, summarise/sequence). On Tuesday, the children were given different information texts, ranging from The Water Cycle to Tutankhamun’s Tomb, and had to unpick the features of this text type. From this, we created an information text features display on our working wall around our exemplar text. Yesterday, in preparation for building up to writing their own information text, the children had to research. Next week is Black Voices Week at St Stephen’s and in recognition of this, we have chosen a black British woman of influence to write our information texts about, Dame Elizabeth Anionwu. The children were inspired by her contribution to the NHS and I can’t wait to be further inspired when reading their information texts.

We have been making good progress through our addition and subtraction unit. The children have shown confidence when using the formal written method of column addition and subtraction and since then, have been working on checking answers through rounding and using the inverse.

Last week’s force in Science was water resistance. The children were presented with a statement: ‘The flatter an object, the less water resistance there will be’ and were asked to prove or disprove this statement. They used tall cylinders of water and two pieces of blue tack. They then timed how long it took for the blue tack to fall to the bottom of the cylinder when it was round and then when it was flattened. This allowed us to see how the object’s shape affected the water resistance pushing against it. After gathering our results last week, we spent time analysing the results so we could draw conclusions. One group identified that they had an anomaly because the stop watch was not stopped on time, another group discussed how their flattened piece of blue tack flipped on its side when dropped, which meant it was actually more of a streamlined shape that the round blue tack. This meant it was quicker as there was less water resistance.

In History this week, the children looked at the Victorian healthcare system. They already know that diseases spread quickly due to cramped and dirty conditions in the Victorian Slums but this lesson allowed them to discover that these conditions were also prominent in Victorian hospitals. The children then made comparisons between the Victorian healthcare system and modern healthcare, our NHS. The children were able to reflect upon the many advancements in professional training, medicines and sterile equipment but were also able to make a link to the problems of overcrowding which our NHS is experiencing today.

In R.E., the children learnt about how Jews worship in a synagogue. Through a video, the children were shown around the Prayer room and learnt about where the menorah, Torah scrolls and Star of David are positioned inside. The children discovered how a Cantour, who is specially trained in musically reciting prayers, will sing from The Siddur or Torah, which would be positioned on the bimah.

This afternoon in RHE, we learned about the word assertive. We know that there will be times in the future where our friends try to make us do something we do not want to do. In order to maintain healthy relationships and keep ourselves safe, being assertive is a skill we need to learn. We used role play to practise being assertive by making eye contact, using firm language and remaining confident. We learnt that being assertive does not mean being rude or aggressive. We discussed that there is no need to apologise for being assertive, it is an important life skill which will come in handy one day!

Have a restful weekend,

Miss Bill

This week, the children showed off their creative talents. After planning their creation myth on Monday, they wrote the first draft of their creation myth on Tuesday. I was amazed by the children’s use of language, relative clauses and parenthesis. There are definitely some authors in the making! The children then edited their marked work and checked they had met the success criteria. Once edited, they wrote the final draft of their creation myths, including their edits and ensuring their handwriting was increasing legible, joining those letters that should and leaving those that should not be joined. Silverstein’s fantastic creation myths can be found in our ‘Published Work Folder’ in the reading corner. Next week, we will begin our new unit, ‘Information Texts’.

The children also showcased their excellent place value knowledge this week. As we completed our place value unit, the children completed an assessment. We were impressed with the knowledge the children showcased and will continue to utilise this understanding in our other maths units in Year 5. Yesterday, we began addition and subtraction. So far, we have looked at mental strategies for addition and subtraction, using known facts to support us finding the answer, and revised the formal written method for addition, column addition.

This week’s force was water resistance. Each week in Science, the children continue to showcase how much they are learning as they discuss and recap the previously taught forces. Having investigated air resistance using parachutes of different sizes, we found that objects travelling through water face a similar resisting force which slows them down. The children were presented with a statement: ‘The flatter an object, the less water resistance there will be’ and were asked to prove or disprove this statement. They used tall cylinders of water and two pieces of blue tack. They then timed how long it took for the blue tack to fall to the bottom of the cylinder when it was round and then when it was flattened. This allowed us to see how the object’s shape affected the water resistance pushing against it. The children gathered their results and began to draw conclusions. Next week, we will further analyse these results and the children will write their own conclusion.

In History this week, the children looked at Victorian inventions. They already knew about the Bessemer Converter, Steam Locomotive and Spinning Jenny but found out about other inventions of the time: flushing toilets, post boxes, stamps, typewriters and vacuums, just to name a few. The children then had to consider which inventions they felt were the most important and why.

In R.E., the children learnt about the Jewish day of rest, Shabbat. We watched a video of a Jewish family celebrating Shabbat. From watching the video, in small groups, the children had to act out a tradition or ritual that formed part of Shabbat, or happens on the day before, and the rest of the group had to identify what it was. From this, the children then considered any similarities between Jewish Shabbat and Christian Sabbath. Apart from them being on different days, the children were able to draw many similarities, such as, celebrating with their family, visiting the religious place of worship (synagogue or church) and reading from the holy text.

This afternoon in DT, the children ‘met the doodlers’. As a class, we experimented with a ready-made doodler. The children carried out a ‘product analysis’ to really think about the components and their purposes. They then took the doodler apart to see the effect of their amendments. As a class, we discussed what could be done to make the structure stronger and more stable. We also discussed what steps could be taken to make it even better. After this, the children then designed their own doodler. Firstly, considering the target user, purpose, function and form, then, sketching their doodler design. The children are now very excited to make their own!

Have a restful weekend,

Miss Bill

Another busy week in Year 5!

The children began the week by practising their dictionary skills to find the meaning of high level vocabulary they had read in myths. The children created a glossary, which they can utilise next week when writing their own creation myth. The children also completed a reading comprehension and had a grammar focus on parenthesis. The children will have the opportunity to practise this in this week’s homework. Today, the children had another drama session. They had to begin to consider a setting, plot and characters for their own creation myth. They used drama to explore the characteristics of their characters, how they want their plot to unfold and considered the details of their setting. They also used this opportunity to contemplate what their symbolic meaning would be, experimenting with different ideas. This exploration will support the children on Monday, when they are planning their own creation myth.

In Maths this week, the children have compared and ordered numbers to 1,000,000 and rounded numbers to the nearest 100,000. We will continue to practise rounding next week before we complete our Place Value assessment. Our next unit is, ‘Addition and Subtraction’.

The children are thoroughly enjoying learning about forces and the practical experiments that we have been doing. This week, we learned about air resistance. We know that the force of gravity pulls everything towards the centre of the Earth, however, the children pointed out that people do jump out of aeroplanes (parachutists) and can control the speed at which they hit the Earth. Through our experiment, we learned that the parachute creates air resistance that acts against gravity to help slow the fall. Here was our conclusion: Parachute 1 (with the larger surface area) fell more quickly (2.13 seconds). Surprisingly, the parachute with the smaller surface area fell more slowly (2.97 seconds). This is because when parachute 2 was dropped, a gust of wind pushed it against the side of the building causing the force of friction to interact between the parachute and the building wall. This slowed down the rate of the gravitational pull.

In History, we looked at life in Victorian Slums. The children used sources to learn about how people in Victorian Britain lived their lives. They discovered that the slums were a breeding ground for disease because of open sewers, privies and cramped conditions.

As we continue to study ‘What is it like to live as a Jew?’ the children this week learned more about the Torah. We discussed how many Jews believe that the original Torah was scribed by Moses on Mount Sinai when God was talking to him. The children also learnt more about an artefact they had previously seen, the Yad, which is used to point to the Torah. The children also made comparisons between Christianity and Judaism. The Torah contains the five books of Moses and so does The Old Testament of the Bible.

In Computing, the children completed their e-safety poster using the SMART acronym. Not only were the posters informative, they were also eye-catching!

This afternoon in RHE, we talked about the role of a friend. We acted out different emotions in partners. One child had to act out an emotion and the other one had to respond, first in an uncaring manner and then in a caring manner. We discussed the different scenarios as a class and then identified the most appropriate, kind and caring reaction as a friend. We then created a list of the key qualities of a friend. We then talked about what makes a friendship positive and healthy by discussing some of our own, as well as ‘famous friendships’. We chose Harry, Ron and Hermione from the Harry Potter series and identified that their friendships were filled with negotiation, support, responsibility, teamwork, collaboration, kindness and creativity. We then considered what makes an unhealthy relationship: lying, threats, fickleness and forcing someone to do something they do not want to. Following this, the children created their own recipe for a healthy relationship using some of the features we listed above.

This afternoon, the children also engaged with the fundamental British value of democracy. In their houses, the children listened to the House Captain candidates deliver their speeches. After hearing their speeches, the children democratically voted for who they would like to represent their house this academic year.

Have a lovely weekend!

Miss Bill

In English this week, the children were introduced to relative clauses. We created main clauses and then used a relative clause to give more information about the noun. The children were able to identify how a relative clause is similar to a subordinate clause but must contain a relative pronoun. They wrote a descriptive paragraph about Pandora’s Box using relative clauses. The children have the opportunity to practise relative clauses in this week’s homework and in future English lessons. We also revised the use of inverted commas, ensuring they were used accurately and consistently. Yesterday, the children were introduced to their exemplar myth, ‘The Myth of Colour’. They analysed the text and identified a range of spelling, punctuation and grammar features. Today, in a drama session with Mark, the children further unpicked the language from the exemplar text and then performed sections of the myth, portraying the images created by language through movement, tone and voice.

We have been working extremely hard on our handwriting. This week, we looked at forming curly letters and one-armed robot letters. The children have been really aware of then applying this letter formation into their writing across all subjects.

In Maths, we have continued to work on our place value, reading and writing numbers to 1,000,000, finding 10, 100, 1,000, 10,000 and 100,000 more or less than a number and partitioned numbers to 1,000,000. This week’s Mathletics tasks will allow the children to practise these skills.

This half term in R.E., the children will be studying Judaism and what it is like to live as a Jew. Each table were given different Jewish artefacts and as a group, had to discuss: What could it be called? What is it used for? What would the equivalent Christian artefact be? The children were then introduced to the names of these Jewish artefacts and explored what it was like to live as a Jew by considering how they are used in practice.

We continued with The Victorians in History this week by looking at the Industrial Revolution. We analysed pictures from the past, as well as reading information recorded from the time. Using this, we then recorded the positive and negative impacts of the Industrial Revolution on Britain. The Slave Trade, child labour and factory deaths formed many of the negatives, however, the children were able to recognise the positive impact inventions such as the steam locomotive and spinning jenny had on the production of goods.

In Science, the children looked at another force, friction. The children conducted a fair test by using three different surfaces, a newton meter and a weighted object to discover that the smoother the surface, the less friction therefore the easier it is for the object to move. Where the rougher or bumpier the surface, the more friction, which meant more effort and strength was required to move the object.

Today in RHE, we discussed encountering conflicts/problems and how best we overcome them. We then read about friends who were dealing with difficult situations and what we would advise them to do differently in the future. This helped the children consider that in order to resolve a situation we need to listen, be polite, forgive and ask for forgiveness, as well as understanding when it is important to say sorry. We then talked about the importance of negotiation and compromise.

This half term in DT, we will be making doodlers. Today, the children looked at other motorised products. We discussed how a motorised product has a circuit with a flow of electrical energy going to the motor. We looked at how a motorised whisk works: the electrical energy was being converted into rotational movement by the motor. Next week, the children will ‘meet the doodlers’.

Have a restful weekend,

Miss Bill

A second very busy week in Year 5 Silverstein!

On Monday, we began our English unit for this half term: Myths. In groups, they read a given myth: Jason and the Golden Fleece, King Midas and the Golden Touch, Orpheus and Eurydice, Theseus and the Minotaur and Pandora’s Box. After hearing everyone’s myth, as a class we considered what these mythical stories had in common and made a features checklist in order to ensure that the myths we will create follow a similar style. We also used Theseus and the Minotaur to practise our reading skills, using each of our VIPERS. The children were also introduced to creation myths and created a comic strip for their chosen creation myth. We ended the week with a drama session with Mark. The children thoroughly enjoyed getting into character as they acted out Pandora’s Box.

The children were put into their Maths classes this week and began their first unit of work: Place Value. So far, we have looked at roman numerals to 1,000, numbers to 10,000, 100,000 and 1,000,000. This knowledge is crucial for the rest of the units we will complete in Maths.

This half term in Science, we will be looking at Forces. On Wednesday, we began by looking at gravity. The children were able to define gravity as the force that pulls an object to the centre of the Earth. Through an experiment, we were able to test whether the weight of an object would affect the size of a crater left in the Earth. The children discovered that the heavier the object, the bigger the crater due to the weight impacting upon the gravitational pull, pulling it down to Earth more quickly.

The Victorians is our focus in History this half term. The children learnt all about the life of Queen Victoria and the impact she has had on Britain. Many of the children recognised famous paintings of Queen Victoria wearing black and from the impression they got from these painting, were surprised to learn about her dedication to her country and her popularity in Britain during the 19^th century.

In Computing, we created a poster using the acronym S.M.A.R.T., which stands for Safety, Meeting, Accepting, Reliable and Tell. These words were prompts to help us remember how to stay safe and enjoy the internet responsibly. We then got the chance to share our presentations on Google Classroom.

In our first RHE lesson, we learned about the word ‘collaborate’ which means to work together. We worked in groups of 6 and had six pieces of newspaper and a roll of tape. In groups, we had to work together to construct the tallest tower. We realised we had to negotiate, discuss, listen, respect and be patient in order to work together. We learned that shouting over one another achieved very little and made us feel frustrated and unhappy!

The children settled well into their first Gymnastics, Music and P.E. lessons and look forward to all that is to learn in these subjects throughout Year 5.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Miss Bill

Year 5 Silverstein have done a fantastic job at settling in and have taken everything in their stride. We began the week by looking at our class rules, ‘Be Safe, Be Ready, Be Respectful’. The children created a list of what being safe, ready and respectful looks like, before then signing the sheet for display. The children are already showing how well they can follow these rules.

‘We are Britain’ is a display in all our classrooms and is an opportunity for the children to write about their own heritage, their families and the languages they speak. It is always amazing to explore the diversity of our classroom and school. This lesson really allowed us to get to know one another and our families.

Silverstein also had the opportunity to show their creative side by drawing their own self-portrait. We watched a video which give us a step by step guide to creating the right facial proportions. The children then used oil pastels to finalise their piece and ensured it represented them as individuals.

Yesterday, the children spent time learning about the life of our class poet, Sheldon Alan Silverstein. They discovered that from his time in the U.S. military, being a cartoonist, he discovered his passion for writing. He wrote over 30 books, selling 20 million copies. We listened to one of his most famous books, ‘The Giving Tree’. This gave us an opportunity to talk about the messages that Silverstein wanted to portray though his writing.

Peace is Year 5’s R.E. word. The children were introduced to their class verse, Matthew 5 vs 9 – Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God. We then discussed what peace meant to us, with many saying the outdoors and reading a book is when they feel most at peace. The children created acrostic poems illustrating these ideas.

Today, the children have completed Maths tests to help us assess the children and plan for future lessons. They worked incredibly hard, especially given the warm weather. The children will be put in their Maths classes on Monday and begin their first unit, Place Value.

Reading books will be given out on Monday and have to be returned the following Monday. This is the pattern for the rest of the year. Homework will be given next Friday and has to be returned by the following Tuesday. This again is the pattern for the year.

As always, email me if you have any questions.

Have a restful weekend and enjoy the sunshine!

Miss Bill