Year 5/6 - Guillemots
Summer Term 2012.
2nd May 2012 – Written by Jessie Barclay-Deane and Siobhan Fey.
English and Science
This week our English and Science work was linked together. Guillemots class got to decide themselves what it would be. After a vote Guillemots decided that we would write a leaflet on Living a Healthy Lifestyle aimed at people with eating problems. Part of our English work was to use persuasive language. On Thursday we made a rough plan and on Friday we wrote it up. This week we are writing a balanced argument about wind farms.
Lucy: “It was so fun!”
Maths
Last week our topic was Multiplication and Division and we have been doing different activities. The Year 6s have been doing booster classes. Miss Gibbons and Mrs Stoneman have been taking different groups to work with also. This week we are doing Fractions, Decimals and Percentage.
PE
In PE we have started playing and learning about cricket. In groups we have been playing mini-games; someone is the bowler, someone as the fielder and two batters. We have been playing it out on the playground and it was very exciting.
Kia Mills: “It was really fun!”
Art
In Art we have been making bunting for the Burton Art gallery. They are trying to break the world record for the longest bunting. We all made a piece of bunting each and had to decorate it. There were many different decorations including lots of animals and many more things.
Jade: “I loved doing a Moshi monster design on mine.”
Drama:
On the 17th April we all went down to the hall and a company called Platform 2 did the Shakespeare play Macbeth with us. We all had different parts and all of the children really got into it and didn’t want it to end. They liked how they got a costume each too. It was brilliant!
Tyler T: “I liked it because I got to be a king.”
Flick: “I liked it because I like acting.”
Miss Gibbons: “Platform 2 were excellent and the children learnt a lot about the story of Macbeth.”
Spring Term 2012
To view this terms Curriculum Overview, please click here.
6th March
Guillemots have been very busy over the last few weeks. We have been continuing our topic on the history and changes of our capital city over time. We have been learning about what London is like now and how the buildings have changed over time. We have also been working hard on our mapping skills so that we can create a map of London. This is linked to our D & T topic which will be making 3D structures. We are working on creating nets for buildings that we will then use to show the changing face of the settlement of London over time.
We are currently working on multiplication and division in our maths topic and we are writing a recount in English.
We have recently been on a visit to RHS Rosemoor in Torrington where we did workshops on growing vegetables and mapping skills. This included tasting vegetables such as mange tout, fennel and cucumber and planting our own cress, salad leaves, sugar snap peas and potatoes. In the afternoon we did some work on map orientation and finding checkpoints around the formal garden. We had a lot of fun.
Our recounts in English will be about the trip that we went on to Rosemoor.
Last week was very busy because we started off on the Monday with a celebration of Fair Trade Week by looking at foods from around the world and why we should buy fair trade. We linked this to our schools in India and Uganda and learned about how fair trade benefits people who live in these countries.
On the Tuesday afternoon a visiting musician called Olly Davey came into school to teach us about sea shanties again. We built on our prior learning of this style of singing and we had the opportunity to create our own compositions. We all enjoyed singing and it was a lot of fun!
On Thursday we had World Book Day and we spent some time looking at some stories from around the world including Turkey, Jamaica and Indonesia. We then went on to create our own stories that were set in other countries and did our own illustrations for the stories. We hope to make a book out of these when we have finished them.
Yesterday we were very lucky as part of our music year to have the experience of watching Swanswood Swing Band come to play for us.
1st February 2012
Written by Tyler T. and Siobhan
French
In French we have recently been learning about a country in Africa called Mali which speaks French. We have been watching video clips of children who live in Mali and while they have been talking about their lives in French we have been translating it into English. We have learnt lots of things about Mali like we now know the capital city of Mali is called Bamako.
Maths
In maths we have been finishing off our fractions, decimals and percentages topic. Last week we were learning about ratio, proportion and probability and this week we are revisiting place value.
English
In English we have remade a story ourselves called ‘The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse’; first we learnt it off by heart with actions and then planned it. After that we made our own version concentrating on adding detail such as adverbs, adjectives and subordinate clauses and they were all brilliant.
Science
In science we have been learning about Materials and Mixtures. We have been looking at reversible and non-reversible changes.
ICT
In ICT we have been going on an educational game called the crystal rainforest you have to travel along the stages of the game and unlock hidden secrets. Solve the mystery of the poisoned darts! People who have finished the game go on BBC Bitesize and do maths challenges.
PE
In outdoor PE we have been playing netball outdoors in teams learning the different passes and playing games of netball against each other. We have been practicing a number of warm-ups such as high skipping and sidestepping. In indoor PE we have been doing gymnastics learning how to do jumps, walk along benches and a number of other positions. We also made videos of our group gymnastics sequences.
Big Schools’ Birdwatch
On the 31st of January Tuesday Guillemots took part in the Big Schools Birdwatch inside Goldcrests’ classroom, we had a with pictures of birds on and beside them there was different numbers which you had to circle when you saw that many at the same time .We also had to sketch pictures of the birds we saw or copy them from books .The sketches were brilliant and we all saw loads of birds, we even got hot chocolate and biscuits while we were watching!
The Space Dome Experience
The space dome was a great experience for us all as we learned about the stars and the planets in the solar system and beyond! Everyone thought it was great for the special effects and things that go on in the other planets, also he told us about the astronauts on the space craft which showed us what it is like with no gravity. We also learned about the position of the stars in the sky and some constellations and what causes the moon to be different shapes at different times of the month.
Art
In art we have made portraits of ourselves with pastels while looking in a mirror we carefully sketched ourselves and then coloured the picture in either with soft pastels or with oil pastels. We have also been doing an art project on trying to make our artwork look similar to the style of the artist Nikolay Stoyanev’s work. Firstly, we did pictures of Bideford drawing and colouring pictures of famous landmarks in Bideford. Then we moved on to doing London pictures concentrating on making them slightly distorted like his work. We had many famous landmarks drawn such as Piccadilly Circus, Big Ben and the London eye. They all turned out brilliantly and I think everyone enjoyed the project!
NSPCC fundraiser
Guillemots have managed to raise a massive £229.85! A big thank you to everyone who sponsored a Guillemot!
Happy New Year!
In Guillemots we have got off to a very busy start to the new term. Our hamster, Gizmo, is looking forward to staying with some of the children during the coming weekends. Our new topic this term will be looking at the changes to our capital city over time and we will be looking in detail at London as it was in the past, and as it is now.
English
In English we are looking at writing a narrative piece. Our core text for this block is ‘A Town Mouse and a Country Mouse’, and we have been looking at some of the differences between living in a city and in the country. We have also written our own versions of the story using the seven key story themes.
Maths
Our current Maths block is Fractions, Decimals and Percentages. We have been working on finding a fraction or percentage of an amount, equivalent fractions and finding equivalent percentages and decimals and understanding the relationship between the numbers. Next week we will be looking at ratio and probability.
Art
In Art we have been looking at the paintings of the Bulgarian artist Nikolay Stoyanev. He is renowned for his pictures using very bold colours and distorted shapes. Some of his cityscapes are painted as though looking through a fisheye lens. So far we have created scenes of Bideford in this style, and we have also done self-portraits using oil pastels. We have started working on pictures of London taking iconic buildings/scenes and adapting them so that the pictures are clearly influenced by the work of Nikolay Stoyanev.
French
This week the Guillemots have been looking at what life is like for children in a French speaking country. We have been watching videos of children in Mali introducing themselves in French and working out what they are saying.
Autumn Term 2011
In Guillemots, our website updates will now be written by the children. This week it has been written by Lucy, Siobhan, Heidi and Rebekah.
English.
We have been learning about information texts in English, last Friday we wrote an information text about the Aztecs. We had to search for information and write an information text in chronological order and add different information.
Comments
I asked one person and this is what one of them said: “It was quite fun because we got to learn about writing an information text and how to set it out, but it was also hard because it was hard to write about something in an informative way.”
French
Last week in French Guillemots were creating French stories about their own imaginative monster. But of course they had to do it in French. They had to write the colour of the monster and had to write how big, small or cute it is. We have asked children in our class about whether they like it or not.
Comments
One said “I liked it because it was fun and you don’t normally get to make a book with another country’s language in it.” Five out of five people enjoyed it.
Maths
Last week in maths we were doing a measure block learning all about measure. There were twelve I can statements which were all about weight and measure. The black and browns are easy, the reds are medium and the green are hard.
Comments
Jess: “I like Maths because it is sometimes a challenge and I like the assessments we do at the start of the week.”
Bethany: “I like maths because it’s useful and fun to learn.”
P.E
Last week in indoor P.E Guillemots have been dancing to Latin American music as they will be doing an Aztec dance to the rest of the Year 5/6 classes wearing their own Aztec clothes.
In outdoor P.E we have been playing ball games like net ball and tennis here are some comments from some boys and girls in Guillemots.
Comments
Kayleigh: “It is fun because we get to try different moves and express what we feel to the music”.
Ryan: “I like it because it is fun and energising”.
Jade: “I like playing netball and running around.”
Josh: “It’s fun because I like the warm up.”
R.E
In R.E we have been learning about Moses and the Ten Plagues. We have listened to the story and drawn pictures of the Ten Plagues. We have interviewed four people and they all said that they liked it because they don’t normally get to do drawing in school and some of the plagues were funny but also a challenge to draw. We interviewed four people and all said they enjoyed R.E.
Science
Last week we set up a shadow experiment mostly on the field in one or in twos or threes. We were recording if the shadows got lighter, darker, bigger or smaller as the day went by. We started at about 10:00-10:45 and recorded it every hour or half an hour.
Comment
Devon: “I like science because we do different things every week and I like space and the human body and living things.”
Phoebe: “I liked the shadow experiment because it was fun and we got to set it up on the field.”
9th November
In Guillemots we have been finishing off our Maths block on Shape, and we have all learned a lot. Our new Maths block is Measure and we are very excited, and honing our estimating skills. In English we are currently working on Information Texts and we will be writing our own on the history of the Aztecs.
In Technology we have been designing and making our own Aztec costumes that we will wear on our Aztec Day when we perform our Latin American inspired dances. We have created some exciting performances and our costumes are very vibrant and the Aztec influence is very clear.
19th October 2011
Since we went to see ‘Kisses on a Postcard’ we have been studying playscripts. We are working towards writing our own playscripts that are about a situation where there is bullying and some sort of resolution. This is also part of our SEAL block, where we have been discussing aspects of bullying.
In Maths we have started a new block on Shape this week. We will be looking at the properties of 2D and 3D shapes, tessellation, symmetry, rotation, reflection and translation of shapes on a grid. We will also be looking at co-ordinates and angles.
We have been creating Aztec costumes that the children will wear when they come to perform their Latin American dance that they are busy creating in PE. We have designed a range of ponchos, tunics, dresses, masks and headdresses. The children have started to create their costumes and are using a range of practical techniques such as sewing, papier maché, cutting and making permanent joins using the glue gun and other methods.
On Friday 28th October, the Burton Art Gallery are holding a lantern parade in Victoria Park from 6.30pm that the children are invited to join in with. As part of this, the children have been making lanterns from willow and tissue paper. It would be very nice, if possible, for the children and their parents to support this.
5th October 2011
It has been a busy few weeks for the Guillemots.
Maths
We have recently finished our maths block on addition and subtraction and we are currently working on multiplication and division.
English
We are still working on our English block where we are working with the story ‘Star Snake’.
Science
We are studying our bodies and how to keep them healthy.
Design & Technology
We are going to be creating an Aztec costume that we will wear in a performance of a Latin American inspired dance later in the year. We have been researching Aztec costumes and starting to think about how we would create them.
P.E.
Our current blocks are creative dance and net and ball games.
We have been very fortunate to have had several visitors to the school and we have very much enjoyed these experiences.
On Friday 23rd September we were visited by ‘Drum Crazy’ where the children got to experiment and experience a range of drums and learn to work with different rhythms and how to work musically in a group of other people.
On Monday 26th September, the author Jeremy Strong came to visit the school and he told us about some of the books that he has written including ‘Cartoon Kid’ and ‘My Brother’s Famous Bottom’. He told us about how he became a writer and showed us some of the work he had written when he was at primary school. He told us that he does all of his writing in a shed at the bottom of the garden. He spent some time talking about how important it is to plan your writing in advance so that you can create well-structured and interesting stories that can develop characters and exciting plotlines.
On Tuesday 27th September all of Year 5 and 6 went to Bideford College’s Moreton Park playing fields to take part in a team building event. The children had to get into groups of 8 and, supervised by some Bideford College students, engaged in a variety of problem solving challenges. Much fun was had by all and the children enjoyed working in groups and enjoying some physical tasks that used their problem solving skills.
In the afternoon of the same day St. Mary’s celebrated our Harvest Festival. Many thanks to all of those parents and children who donated food items that will be taken to the Springfield Centre. We enjoyed celebrating the harvest, and several children from Guillemots volunteered to take part by doing a reading or doing a prayer. This is an important festival in the school year, particularly as we live in an area that has a lot of agriculture and the growing year plays a large part in our local environment.
Throughout the last couple of weeks we have been practicing for our class assembly. On Monday 26th September it was European Day of Languages and as the whole school was celebrating this on Friday 30th September, we decided that for our assembly we would celebrate some of the languages that are spoken throughout Europe. This year, as a school, we are learning French instead of German and we decided to learn some aspects of French language and culture to perform for the rest of the school. We learnt a dance called ‘J’aime les Galettes’, and we performed a short story called ‘Toutes Les Couleurs’ that introduced some colours in French. We also learnt a French version of Ten Green Bottles that is called ‘Dix Cochons Rouges’. We enjoyed putting on the performance and we were pleased to see how many parents came to see it. Thank you for coming and supporting the children!
As part of the rest of our celebration of European Day of Languages, we were sent some ‘Passports to the European Union’ that the EU provide for free for schools. They are beautifully produced books that have questions on each country that is a member of the EU. They have challenges for the children that include finding out about historical monuments, geographical features, political figures and languages of each country. The children enjoyed starting working on these books and we may continue to use them over the rest of the term.
Friday was a very exciting day because in the afternoon all of Year 5 and 6 went on a trip to see a performance of ‘Kisses on a Postcard’ at the Queen’s Theatre in Barnstaple. One of the children from the school was performing in the show and it was very exciting to see someone we know in such an excellent production. In Year 3 and 4 the children have previously studied World War II so they have some understanding of evacuees and it was very interesting to build on that knowledge, and gain a personal perspective of an individual’s experiences as an evacuee. It was quite a moving and emotional experience and we all enjoyed the experience of visiting a theatre.
21st September
Guillemots are currently working very hard and have settled very well into their new class. We are starting our current project, where we are learning about the influence of the Aztecs on Latin America. We are currently reading the story ‘Star Snake’, about a boy in Aztec times, in our English block in order to help us write a narrative text at the end.
In our last English block, we were creating comic strips using the superheroes that we created on Changeover Day. They have been very successful and have created some beautiful pieces of artwork, to support some very interesting stories.
On Monday we had a visit from Mr Terence Frisby who wrote the play ‘Kisses on a Postcard’, that we are going to see a production of at the Queen’s Theatre in Barnstaple next week. We listened to a very interesting talk about how his experiences in World War II as an evacuee inspired him to write the play. We then did a workshop to create our own short performances and Mr Frisby showed us how to do a stage trip, which the children very much enjoyed.
On Friday this week we have ‘Drum Crazy’ coming to visit and we are very much looking forward to it.
7th September
Guillemots have been busy settling in to the new school year and getting used to the new routines. We have been sorting out our new classroom and making some beautiful tray labels and bookmarks to use for the rest of the year. This year outdoor PE will be on Thursdays and indoor PE will be on Fridays.
Our class hamster is still alive and well and children will have the opportunity to take him home for a weekend (with parental permission!), to learn about caring for a living creature and being responsible for his welfare and happiness!
In our writing we are working towards creating a comic using our very own superhero characters that we created on Changeover Day at the end of last term. We are exploring the language and imagery that creates an exciting comic strip. All of our superheroes have special powers that we have decided on and will use in the comics.
Our current Maths block is Place Value.
To see this terms curriculum overview, please click here.