Year 5

Welcome to the Turquoise and Maroon Class page!

2022-23

French - w/b 22.05.23

Our current topic in French is 'Je suis le musicien' (I am the music man).

In today's lesson, we recapped our knowledge of the French names for musical instruments, and whether they are feminine or masculine. We did this by playing a game based on 'Snakes and Ladders' with our peers. Following on from this, we participated in a role play activity; practising using French phrases with our peers. 

Oracy - w/b 15.05.23

We have been focussing on our Oracy skills in English this week by generating and answering questions in the role, as one of the main characters Ted, in our book ‘The London Eye Mystery’. During the Q&A session, we ensured we followed the ‘Drama Contract’ and kept an eye on the strands of the Oracy Framework. As a follow-up task, we wrote in character as Ted, building on our conversations in role.

Coronation Celebrations - w/b 08.05.23

We had a wonderful day commemorating the coronation of King Charles III! We started the day off by decorating placemats, and making party hats. We then put our artistic and collaborative skills together to create a collage of King Charles III. In the afternoon we enjoyed scrumptious sandwiches, cake and fruit. We also played musical statues and charades. It was a day we will remember forever!

Climate Week - w/b 01.05.23

During Climate week our focus was: 'Save our forests.' As the week progressed we learnt was deforestation is, why it happens and how it affects our planet and all living things. We used this knowledge to write a non-chronological report about deforestation. With our science hats on, we carried out an enquiry, finding out if we could mimic soil erosion. We were successful! 

Finally, we used waste from home, such as empty plastic bottles and boxed to create one piece of art per group, depicting the effects of climate change on our environment. We wrapped up the week by curating our very own art galleries, displaying these marvellous pieces. 

RE Day - w/b 24.04.23

Last week we had our termly RE day, focussing on the question: Should all creatures be treated equally? We asked questions about the meaning and purpose of life, and suggested a range of answers which might be given by ourselves, as well as members of different religious groups or individuals. We then considered a range of diverse views and opinions, and gave our own thoughts backed with rational reasons. Following on from this, we wrote poems, telling other people what we want to say to the world and how we should treat animals. For this, we carefully chose phrases in our poems that are vivid to bring our ideas to life.

English - w/b 17.04.23

In Year 5 we have started reading our new book; ‘The London Eye Mystery’. In today’s activity, we read the first two chapters to get to know the characters. We then created a family tree, explaining each character’s role in the hierarchy.

Art - w/b 27.03.23

This term, we studied the techniques used by artist Peter Doig. In particular, we looked at how he used tints, reflection and pointillism in one of his paintings called ‘Milky Way’. Our learning journey consisted of experimenting with colour mixing to create tints, using prussian blue. We then practised our skills in creating the night sky as seen in ‘Milky Way’ and produced replicas of this beautiful piece of art. Next, we looked at a photograph of Wanstead Flats and planned how we would recreate this in the style of Mr Doig. Finally, we used all of the techniques learnt to create our final piece. 

Mathematics - w/b 20.03.23

We are learning how to use the written method in multiplication. We started off by showing how we multiply with two digit numbers, by using diennes and place value charts. Since then, we have moved onto the abtract method (written) as we have consolidated our place value knowledge.

Computing - w/b 13.03.23

We are currently looking at coding in Computing and using the program ‘Scratch’. In this week’s lesson, we had to design, write and debug a program that accomplished a specific goal, such as a balloon image (sprite) moving across the screen. For this, we had to use sequence, selection and repetition in the program and work with variables and various forms of input and output.

French - w/b 06.03.23

This week in French we have extended our learning of the topic, bon appetit (healthy eating). We began by revisiting key words and phrases including certain foods and whether these are good or bad for your health. For example, we translated words such as cake or cheese and had to categorise these as healthy vs. unhealthy. This was particularly useful since it consolidated our knowledge of science and our keeping a healthy diet unit. After this, we looked at plural words related to different foods and wrote out the ingredients required to make a baguette! 

RE Day - w/b 27.02.23

During RE day, we looked the question: 'How do Christian people try and follow Jesus’ example?'

We looked at different stories in the Bible and explored how these relate to the Christian charities, such as Christian Aid, Samaritans, etc. We then explored what Christians could give or what they could do to help others less fortunate than them. Following on from this, we linked it to our previuos RE unit, which looked at Zakat (Islam). 

Oracy - w/b 20.02.23

In English, we have been using a Venn diagram to compare and contrast two short films by Marc Craste; Jojo in the Stars and Varmints. After we complete these, we use strands from the Oracy framework to discuss it with our talk partner. 

PHSCE - w/b 06.02.23

This week in PHSCE we have been learning more about the impact of bullying. In particular, we focused on rumour-spreading and the effects of name calling can have on someone’s mental well-being. During the lesson, we distinguished between the role of a bystander and an upstander. As an upstander, it is important that if we see any forms of bullying we make some noise. Further to this, we recapped the different types of bullying one can experience. For example, a person may experience physical bullying which could involve hitting or biting versus cyber bullying which is indirect and typically behind a device (mobile or computer). The effects can be damaging to someone’s self-esteem and it is important to be kind to one another.

Mathematics - w/b 30.01.23

In mathematics, we have consolidated our learning of dividing by 10, 100 and 1,000. We know that we need to use our knowledge of place value when dividing and multiplying by 10, 100 and 1,000. We will use this skill in DT next week when we have to convert between millilitres and litres when baking sconces.

History - w/b 23.01.23

In history, we have been extending our learning of Baghdad. We specifically looked at how Baghdad was formed as a perfect round city. We learnt that when the Abbasids conquered, the Caliph (Al Mansur) wanted to build the perfect capital city for the Islamic Empire he had now inherited. In class, we sketched our designs of the perfect round city for Baghdad and then we built our designs (as architects) using biscuits and icing sugar. 

Reading - w/b 16.01.23

This week we have been reading more of the fictional text, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. We began our week reading through the text and highlighting key vocabulary. Here we learnt new words and used dictionaries to define them. After reading, we summarised the elements of the text and deepened our understanding by completing comprehension questions.

English - w/b 09.01.23

In Year 5, we started to read our new book, ‘Skellig’ by David Almond. So far we have met Micheal, the main character, who moves with his family into a new house. Micheal discovers a strange creature, who calls himself Arthur Itis, in the dilapidated garage at the end of the family’s garden. Who is this creature? 

In today’s lesson, we had to use explicit and implicit descriptions in the book to draw what Arthur might look like. Have a look at our marvellous sketches!

Guided Reading - w/b 05.12.22

In Year 5, we are very good at summarising a text. For this, we follow the next procedure: first we read the text aloud to ourselves. Next, we use our timer-fingers to verbally summarise what we have read, ensuring we use key vocabulary as well as the main points in the text. Finally, we pen this down in our Reading Journals. This week, we summarised a Viking Saga about a boy called Bjorn, who went on a quest to find the biggest reindeer in the world!

Computing - w/b 28.11.22

This term we have been curating our own websites, based on the topics we are studying in school, such as The Vikings, Forces, North America and Christmas. We carefully planned the layout of our site, conducted research and then used Google sites to curate this. This week, we put the finishing touches on our work, and then helped each other by appraising our peers’ websites. Next, we will give verbal feedback to each other, backed up by our completed appraisal sheets, take this on board by tweaking our work and then present it to one another. During the feedback stage, we will focus on displaying strands from the Oracy framework. 

Geography - w/b 21.11.22

This week we are approaching the end of our Geography unit; 'North America'. Over the last few weeks, we have acquired the following knowledge;

• The names of the 23 countries that make up North America
• Finding out about different climate zones across the continent
• Knowing how to use the different time zones across the world
• Conducting research about our local area as well as a region in North America 

Our final piece of work will be a brochure comparing our local area to a region in North America.

We enjoyed learning about this fascinating continent, whom we share a hemisphere with!

Oracy - w/b 14.11.22

This week, we combined our computing skills and learning during RE day to present what we have found out about Christmas celebrations in countries around the world. We focussed on strands from the Oracy framework such as: ‘Varying pace and tone’, ‘Voice projection’, 'Gesture and eye contact’ as well as ‘Listening for extended periods of time’.

Science - w/b 07.11.22

In science, children have delved deeper into the topic of forces. This week we focused on Sir Isaac Newton’s discovery of gravitational forces and tested the laws of gravity. We carried out an enquiry using a specific tool called a Newton meter. This was used to test the amount of gravitational ‘pull’ force on a given object. We tested a range of objects and found that forces acting on an object that is still is balanced. As Newton theorised, every object has at least two forces acting on it at any given time. For an object attached to the Newton meter, there is tension (T) force and the weight (g) which has a downwards pull!

PHSCE - w/b 31.10.22

We started our PHSCE lesson by looking at key vocabulary for the new topic ‘Keeping Me Safe’.  This was followed by completing our KWL grid in our books and write about what we already know about keeping safe. We then moved onto deciding what appropriate touching is and added this to a body map with an explanation.

Black History Month - w/b 17.10.22

As part of celebrating Black History Month, the year 5 classes created a canvas each in the style of American artist Kara Walker. In preparation for the canvas in Maroon class, we cut out a range of monochrome images of influential people of colour, before using these to create a collage depicting the subject’s clothing. We also stuck down strips of card, depicting her hair. The result is truly something we are proud of; have a look at the process and final product in the pictures below!

RE - w/b 10.10.22

During RE day, our focus question was: ‘What inner forces affect the way we think and behave?’ We started by looking at a range of religious stories, such as Jonah and the whale, the story of Bilal and the Miracle Maker. We compared the similarities and differences between the religions and found links between each of the stories. As we gained a deeper understanding, we then created a mood graph. This provided cross-curricular links to mathematics. We even created poems, some of which were acrostic. 

Science - w/b 03.10.22

This week in science, we have been looking at sundials. A sundial is an instrument showing the time by the shadow of a pointer cast by the sun onto a plate marked with the hours of the day. Traditionally, sundials are etched with Roman numerals. In science, we are going to investigate whether the length of the shadow changes based on the time indicated on the sundial. We started with our prediction and we have many interesting ideas. 

Reading - w/b 26.09.22

There have been lots of reading opportunities this week. We started a new text in English having spent a few weeks previously on poetry. The book is titled Floodland and it is a children’s fantasy novel. We made inferences and predictions about the book, including the key characters. We ensured oracy was embedded in the sequence of lessons so that children could explain their points of view clearly to the cohort. We also spent time unravelling some of the key vocabulary used in the text. For example, we learnt the words derelict and inhabitants!

Mathematics - w/b 19.09.22

In mathematics this week, we have been developing our learning of place value. We began exploring larger numbers up to the hundred thousand columns. Before answering questions, we strengthened our understanding of this concept through the use of manipulatives. We found using place value counters and charts helpful for this. After this, we ordered and compared numbers to hundred thousand and even applied rounding to these!

English - w/b 12.09.22

This week in English we have been creating poems. We considered existing poems, annotated the literary devices associated with them and began brainstorming ideas. Our focus was creating poems based on colours. Therefore we used word associations for colours and used poetic devices such as metaphors and personification to bring our poetry to life.

Welcome Back! - w/b 05.09.22

In Year 5, we have been working hard to put our stamp in our classrooms. We started by decorating our school motto, which is ‘Together we learn, together we achieve’. We then created self-portraits of our faces and we used a special technique in which we shaded a printed picture of ourselves using a sharp pencil which then traced our photo on the back of a blank piece of paper.

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Year 4

2021 - 2022

Design and Technology - w/b 11.07.22

This week in DT Year 4 have been writing a recipe for scones. The children considered what the features of  a recipe are. We discussed what makes a good recipe. Children also made a mixture of vegan scones. They learnt new skills and ensured that they followed the step by step guide of making scones.