Year 5: Blog items
Year 5 Introduction to 'Older Literature'
Date: 24th Feb 2022 @ 7:48pm
During the first week of Spring 2, we have been introduced to the fascinating work of William Shakespeare!
By completing a scavenger hunt, we have learnt lots of new things about the life and works of one of the world's most influential people... did you know we still use words and phrases coined (made up) by Shakespeare? Over 1700 words in the English language are believed to have been invented by him, or introduced to his audience because of him. Gossip, fashionabble and nervy are just some!
Year 5 Fabulous Frame Structures
Date: 8th Feb 2022 @ 4:32pm
Our Design and Technology unit this half-term has been all about frame structures. These are usually hidden structures inside buildings, furniture or toys that provide stability and support. We have been learning about structures and how they can be strengthened in various ways, especially using triangles. In this lesson, pupils were given a design brief and then asked to build a cube-shaped frame for a product. Pupils used various equipment, including hacksaws, to measure, cut and construct there cube frames.
Year 5 Investigating water resistance
Date: 3rd Feb 2022 @ 11:33am
As part of our topic on forces, pupils were challenged to investigate the effect of water resistance on an object. We molded playdough into different shapes and dropped them into water to see how fast they would sink. We discovered that, thin shapes and ball shapes sank faster than large flat shapes. This is because the larger shapes created more water resistance! Water resistance is the force of the water pushing back against the force of gravity - which is trying to make the object sink.
Date: 23rd Jan 2022 @ 11:15am
At the start of Spring 1, Year 5's Science Club was officially launched!
So far, we have had a go at the following experiments to investigate different areas of science:
Making giant fingerprints (DNA and what makes us different)
Making raisins dance (Buoyancy)
Making different sized paper rockets (Air resistance)
Writing messages with lemon juice (Oxidisation)
Magic milk (Surface tension)
Date: 23rd Jan 2022 @ 10:55am
This week, we had our half-termly No Pen Day! This is a day where nobody, including the teachers, can use any form of pen or pencil!! We have to get very creative to be able to continue with the journeys we are in for each of our lessons. This is how we did it this time...
During Maths, we used spaghetti sticks to work out multiplication sums. To do this, we researched the ancient Japanese stick method where you have to put the number of sticks down in a diamond shape to represent the numbers you want to multiply. Next, you have to count how many times the sticks cross over and that is your answer. It took us a while to work it out, but once we had the hang of it, a lot of children said they preferred this method!!
For Reading into Writing, we continued with our 'Persuasive Letters' journey. The children had to cut out a jumbled up letter and put it in the correct order. We then used the Chromebooks to research the benefits of having a support dog in school.
In the afternoon, we made three types of paper aeroplanes to see which one would travel the furthest. We talked about the different designs and how air resistance would have an impact. To finish the day off, we went outside to test them!
Date: 18th Jan 2022 @ 8:15pm
So far during Spring 1, Year 5 have been looking at different aspects of finance.
First, we looked at what 'affording' things mean. To do this, we dicussed the difference between wanting and needing things, as well as being able to prioritise those in order of necessity. We had a really good conversation about this and then put our skills to the test... going to an imaginary toy shop and only having a certain amount of money. We then got into a discussion about lending and borrowing money off our friends and the bank.
This week, we looked at what a payslip is and what the information on it means. We then discussed important terms such as gross pay, national insurance and the different types of taxes. Once we knew the difference between council tax and income tax, we went through different services in our community and discussed where the money comes from to fund these.
Year 5 Quelle Est La Date Aujourd'hui?
Date: 14th Jan 2022 @ 8:30am
Year 5 Use the force...vocabulary
Date: 13th Jan 2022 @ 4:47pm
This week we have started our new science unit: Forces, where we will be learning about the physics of movement on Earth and in space. This unit includes lots of new vocabulary and interesting theories that the pupils will need to learn. In the first lesson, pupils were given a list of words such as: gravity, friction and deceleration, and had to work collaboratively with their group to match the word to its definition.
Date: 13th Jan 2022 @ 2:14pm
During our PE sessions this half-term, we are lucky enough to have Miss Britt teaching us dance.
We started off the term by warming up and getting to know Miss Britt, learning a few simple dance moves and practicing some fitness based activities to get us used to the amount of stamina needed to sustain a full dance routine.
As we progress through the half-term, we will be making up and learning dance routines relevant to our learning that takes place in class.
Year 5 Building Frame Structures!
Date: 8th Jan 2022 @ 5:34pm
Upon our return to Year 5, we spent Wednesday afternoon building our own frame structures... out of raw spaghetti!
We spent time as a class looking at beautiful buildings around the world, some that we knew (Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal and London Bridge) and some that we didn't know (The Louvre... in Abu Dhabi and The Centre Pompidou).
Next, we had to design what we wanted to build and explain why we wanted to build a frame structure in the way we had designed.
Then came the hard part! Putting our ideas into practice with just spaghetti and Blu-Tac. This took a lot of teamwork and patience, but it is fair to say we did an excellent job! Year 5 are really looking forward to our Design Technology unit over this next half-term.
Date: 13th Dec 2021 @ 8:19pm
In line with our RE topic of Hinduism, Year 5 were lucky enough to receive a visit from two practicing Hindu's.
They told us about their life, how they found Hinduism and why they started to practice. They had brought in lots of important objects for us to have a look at, and even let us try on the traditional clothes of angarkha and sari's.
It was fascinating to learn about Hinduism in such a creative and practical way to assist our theoretical learning.
Date: 13th Dec 2021 @ 7:57pm
We have been getting into the Christmas spirit over the past few days!
Last week we enjoyed a delicious Christmas dinner with all of the trimmings whilst we were sat laughing and singing with our friends whilst we pulled crackers.
It made it even more festive as we were dressed in our Christmas jumpers!
It definitely got us into the spirit!
Now Press Play... Anglo-Saxon Adventure
Date: 5th Dec 2021 @ 10:24am
Using our 'Now Press Play' equipment, Year 5 immersed themselves into an Anglo-Saxon experience.
Each child became a character who had been blamed for the escape of the village ox. They were immediately sent into exile and walked for miles to a nearby forest. As they were walking, they came across a camp of Vikings who were planning to burn down their village. They had to warn their neighbours whilst worrying that they would never see their family again.
During this experience, we learnt about:
- How the Anglo-Saxons relied on the land to survive
- The structure of Anglo-Saxon society
- The role of King Alfred in the conflict between Anglo-Saxons and Vikings
Date: 5th Dec 2021 @ 10:19am
Year 5 have really enjoyed learning about the Anglo-Saxons.
To start our unit, we recapped on our chronological knowledge of History. Once we all knew where the Anglo-Saxons came in history, we then talked about the reasons why the Anglo-Saxons invaded.
We have also investigated the different areas of Anglo-Saxon life: kingdoms, laws and punishment, the social hierarchy and the names and places the Anglo-Saxons created that are still around today!
The children were fascinated to learn new words such as churl, weregild and Mercia.
Date: 5th Dec 2021 @ 9:54am
As part of our Hindu topic in RE, this week we have been focusing our learning on Holi. Holi is a Hindu festival that celebrates spring, love and new life.
Holi (also known as the 'festival of colours') is a colourful, fun festival where there is singing, dancing and throwing of powder paint and coloured water. In this festival Hindu's celebrate their god Krishna and the legend of Holika and Prahlad.
As you can see in the pictures, Year 5 have been creating their own Holi art. They really enjoyed putting their knowledge into practice.
Date: 25th Nov 2021 @ 8:39am
This half-term we have been learning how to code animations and games, using a website called code.org. In this lesson we had to code part of a Minecraft game and could even add sound effects and music to make it more realistic. These skills will help the children as they move through school, as computing skills and coding have become part of our everyday lives. Pupils move from 'block-coding', to 'free coding' and eventually may be able to write their own lines of code.
Date: 19th Nov 2021 @ 4:12pm
As part of our final Forest School session, we spent our time outdoors learning different types of survival skills.
Year 5 made dens out of different materials and learnt how to secure them using a range of knots and understood why it is important to protect ourselves from cold weather whilst out in nature. We then made a fire and understood why different factors such as the wind and types of energies can have an impact on their effectiveness.
To finish our sessions, we made pizza, shortbread and hot chocolate.
We have had such a great time and learnt so much about the outdoors.
Date: 15th Nov 2021 @ 4:03pm
This week is Anti-bullying Week 2021
In year 5 we have written about the Christmas Truce 1914, which happened on Christmas Eve, 1914. The Children wrote a postcard home explaining what had happened and how it made them feel. Following this, we made 'kindness hugs' - a nice way to show someone that you care.
#ANTIBULLYINGWEEK
Date: 12th Nov 2021 @ 4:15pm
This half term our music lessons are all about Hip-Hop culture, and focus on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, by Will Smith.
This week we listened to and appraised, 'Me, Myself and I' by Del A Soul - discussing the structure and style of the song and comparing it to 'The Fresh Prints of Bel-Air'. We also discussed the term 'pulse' and tried to move to the pulse in the different tracks.
We played a rhythm game, where we had to repeat the pattern created by the leader, and finally practised and performed 'The fresh Prince of Bel-Air' together as a class.
Date: 12th Nov 2021 @ 4:05pm
We recently started our three week journey of Forest School last week. This is time where we can enjoy being outside and connecting with all things nature!
So far, we have engaged in activities such as singing round the campire, finding frogs and making honey shortbread over the fire.
We all love our time in our dedicated Forest School area, and we are learning so much about how to properly care for wildlife and our planet.
Date: 5th Nov 2021 @ 3:54pm
This week we have introduced Remembrance Day to our class, focusing on why we have a Remembrance Day and why poppies are used to symbolise this important day.
Using special watercolour paints and paper, children in Year 5 produced a range of beautiful poppy art to decorate a fallen soldier. We had to use special techniques to create the different effects on the special paper.
This is the start of a two-week period we have in school to remember and honour members of the armed forces.
Date: 5th Nov 2021 @ 3:48pm
October was Black History month, and in Year 5 we enjoyed finding out about promenent Black muscians from the past. This linked with our learning in Music, where we were listening to, and making observations about Motown music from the 1960s and 1970s. In our writing journey, we researched the singer and musician, Stevie Wonder, and wrote a historical narrative about his amazing life. As part of our guided reading sessions, we read about other famous Black people who have had an impact on the world; Sislin Fay Allen, Rosa Parks and Nelson Mandela.
In space, no-one can here you learn
Date: 4th Nov 2021 @ 4:08pm
This term our science topic is , 'The Earth and Space'.
We will be learning about some of the amazing things that can be found in the universe, including planets, moons and asteroids. In our first lesson, we worked together as a class to create a scale diagram of the planets in our solar system: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
Using the actual sizes, we calculated how big we would have to make the planets to fit on our classroom ceilling - Jupiter has a diameter of 142,800 km (11.2 x bigger than Earth), so in our diagram, Jupiter had a diameter of 66cm. We also used the same method to calculate how far apart the planets would be on our diagram, using their relative distance from the Sun - Earth is approximately 149,000,000 km (1 Astronomical Unit) away from the Sun, but on our diagram it is just 40 cm. The pupils then used real photographs of the planets to paint or colour them in the correct colours.
Date: 21st Oct 2021 @ 5:00pm
We took part in 'What's Under Your Feet' task where we had to check the food supply for birds. We threw a pencil onto the grass to select the area and this would be the place we were going to dig up to investigate. Once we had selected our area, we measured 30cm x 30cm ready to dig up. We used a spade to dig up the top layer of grass and soil and tipped it onto a tray. Using rulers and plastic dishes, we placed worms and other wildlife in to measure the lengths of the food source for birds. Whilst we were doing this task, we saw seaguls stamping their feet on the grass to trick the worms into thinking that it's raining so that they would come to the surface.
Musical Motown Masters - Dancing In The Street
Date: 21st Oct 2021 @ 4:49pm
In today’s lesson we listened to our main song ‘Dancing In The Street’ to remind us of the tempo of the song. We looked at what a music stave was and the meaning of the time signature. We also learnt the notes, F A C E and E G B D F and where they are placed on the stave. We played the glockenspiels to ‘Dancing In The Street’ and finished the lesson by learning the verses and chorus to the song where we performed it.
