Y5/6: Mr Dewdney's Class 2021 - 2022

It's the Summer Term! Please have a look at what we will be learning over the next few months... 

History

In our history topic we will be studying the Ancient Greeks. We will discover how they have influenced the modern world while learning about what it was like to live in Greece at this time. In this exciting topic, we will use historical sources to add to our understanding of this place and era. Our study of the ancient Greeks will culiminate in having an opportunity to make an ostracon and other Greek artefacts with the aim of creating our own in-class museum!

Spellings will be focusing on specific patterns, words from the statutory spelling lists and also some WOW words to expand vocabulary. These will be introduced each week on a Monday and the children will be tested on a Friday. A letter containing the spellings for each half term will be sent home and a copy will be added to this page. 

A spelling test will be carried out on Fridays. 

Is to be taken home on a Thursday and returned on Mondays.

In addition to spellings:

• Mental maths homework
• Grammar / comprehension sheets
• Reading is expected at least 3 times a week (one of which - at least - ideally to be read aloud with an adult for discussion purposes in addition to intonation practice). Any appropriate reading material (stories, information pages from e.g the internet, song lyrics, non-fiction books/info pages etc.) so long as it is enjoyable :-) 
• Timestable and division practise is to be completed weekly using Timestable Rockstars in order to maintain quickfire recall (which is essential for a whole range of numeracy topics such as fractions and measurements).

Homework diaries will be given out and expected to be back in school every day. (Getting you ready for high school!

Every Friday all Year 5 and 6 pupils have the opportunity to change their book for home using our main library. Pupils will be able to access our class libraries during the week for independent reading as well as accessing lots of texts through lessons. 

During Guided Reading Y6 will focus upon a whole variety of fiction and non-fiction texts in addition to an array of poems. 

Year 5 will be studying Brightstorm (A fast-paced, sky-ship adventure!) by Vashti Hardy (shortlisted for both a Blue Peter and Waterstone's book award). It centres around a brother and sister who's father (a famous explorer) dies unexpectedly and with a disgraced reputation. It's up to these twins - Arthur and Maudie Brightstorm - to try and complete their father's expedition and restore their family's good name. But will they succeed? 

If your child loves this book, there are parts 2 and 3 of this advernture in addition to a whole host of Vashti Hardy books such as Wildspark and The Puffin Portal. 

All children, no matter their age, benefit greatly from sharing a book with an adult (both accedmically and emotionally) and we are keen to encourage this outside of school as much as possible. To encourage a love of reading, this term we shall be sampling various books from our library (in order to promote a whole range of material) in addition to sharing songs and looking at key parts of their lyrics. 

For more book ideas for a range of ages / genres please take a look at https://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/  where you can sample sizeable extracts. 

or check out the below website for more ideas which are specific to your child's reading age: https://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/category/reading-lists-for-primary-school-pupils/ 

Our literacy this term will begin with a study of the book Who Let The Gods Out by Maz Evans. Elliot's mum is ill and his home is under threat, but a shooting star crashes to earth and changes his life forever. The star is Virgo - a young Zodiac goddess on a mission. But the pair accidentally release Thanatos, a wicked death daemon imprisoned beneath Stonehenge, and must then turn to the old Olympian gods for help. After centuries of cushy retirement on earth, are Zeus and his crew up to the task of saving the world - and solving Elliot's problems too?This book links in nicely with our topic on Ancient Greece and will inspire a lot of wonderful writing!

Year 5 will be covering: 1) multiplication and division 2) Area and perimter 3) Decimal fractions. 

Year 6 will begin the term by looking at geometry and how we describe position and rotation. They will then move onto developing their knowledge of percentages and their equivalence to fractions and decimals. Following this the children will learn the rudiments of algebra and will then develop their knowledge of units of measurement.

Science

In science, the children will be taking a practical approach to learning about electricty. They will learn the symbols for the components of circuits. Through experimentation, they will discover how the function of different components are affected when the circuit is altered. 

PE will take place twice a week. On Wednesday the children will be doing athletics and on Thursday they will be working with House of Dance.

Children will be expected to bring in their PE kit on a Monday morning and it will be taken home on a Friday to be washed.

As always, children not in the correct PE kit will not be allowed to take part in the lesson. Any children not taking part in PE for other reasons will need to bring a letter in from home - we cannot accept a verbal explanation from the children.