Year 5

Friday 20th November 2020

It's been another busy week in Year 5. We've been taking daily measurements to see how much salt solution has evaporated from beakers strategically placed round the classroom. In literacy, the children created potent potions (in their imaginations) to cure Coronavirus and will be sending letters to the Ministry of Magic persuading the School to buy their particular concoction - the Jack Vacc, Corona Cracker and Covid Killer 2020 all sound very promising!

In maths, we're working on multiplying 2 and 3 digit numbers by 2 digit numbers using the column method. The children need more practice at this so there is maths homework for Friday in their yellow books.

We finished the week by looking at advertising jingles and are well on the way to producing some catchy raps promoting their miracle Covid Cures. Several children have asked to bring in instruments . I have agreed to this, as long as they have permission. Please could they bring them in for Monday.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Hester

HOMEWORK

LITERACY - Pronouns - sheets in purple books for Friday

Friday 13th November

What a fabulous effort Class 5 made for Children in Need! From Tom Daley to Lewis Hamilton via several top flight footballers, some karate experts, champion horse riders, rugby stars, a ballerina, Serena Williams and a handful of Olympians - we had the full Monty of athletes. As you can see from the picture, we kicked off the day with a Joe Wicks workout then moved on to thinking about looking after our mental well-being. They came up with an impressive list of things for which they are grateful.

We also undertook some science activities this week focusing on how to separate mixtures. We spent Thursday morning testing the best materials for filtering dirty water and writing up our findings. The children are becoming much more adept at thinking scientifically. They asked me to include a link for them to try at home.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=best+way+to+filter+water+in+wild&&view=detail&mid=10F6B34C15B77107B59210F6B34C15B77107B592&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dbest%2Bway%2Bto%2Bfilter%2Bwater%2Bin%2Bwild%26FORM%3DHDRSC3

In maths we're working on column multiplication - keep practising those times tables as they're absolutely vital.

Have a lovely weekend.

Friday 6th November

Year 5 started the week with a charming walk through the Chiddingstone countryside to find ideas for a portal. The children took photos using the Ipads and selected their favourite one. They then used this as a starting point for an adventure story. Taking them to a mysterious land and ready to see what they encounter.

The children were also given a riddle and a map as part of the new topic "Alchemy Island", the class had to use dictionaries to understand some of the more difficult words and then decipher what the riddle meant.

They also started researching gold and I would like them to continue this over the weekend.

The first science experiment of the term was also completed. The class were trying to find out which objects were magnetic and which objects would pass a current through. They talked about fair tests and wrote the experiment up.

Maths was all about: factors, multiples and prime numbers and I hope they will be able to explain to you what each one is.

Maths Homework:

2 grids - please can you write down the time taken to complete each grid.

Have a lovely weekend. 

Year 5 Homework: Potions

I hope you have all had a wonderful first week of holiday. Here is your homework for this week. 

Please can the children create their own potion. The could use: food dyes, oils or a range of liquids and other materials from home (please try not to use anything that will ferment over the 6 week term as we don’t want any sudden rather smelly explosions in the classroom – it has happened before!).  The potion needs to be in a small plastic bottle with a secure lid, no bigger than 500ml. 

The potion will need a label, neatly attached to the bottle. The label should contain the name of the potion, what it is used for (e.g. to turn a dragon into stone), the inventors name (their name) and also details of the ingredients used and in what quantities (can also add a more creative ingredients list such as 2 drops of unicorn blood, a strand of witches hair….).  Some children may also like to write a spell to make their potion detailing the order in which the ingredients need to be added, how they should be prepared and what should be said as the potion is stirred…

The potions should be in school by Monday 9^th November, although they may bring their potion in at any point during the first week. The children will then present their potion to the rest of the class. 

Have fun!

Mr Rowland​

Wow! What a term it's been. Highlights included the children's performance at the Harvest Festival, the enthusiasm with which they embraced the 'Fallen Fields' topic and their fabulous trenches.

Despite six months off, every single one of your children has knuckled down, worked hard and produced some excellent results. they should be proud of themselves. They (and possibly you) will be delighted to hear that the only homework is to make a potion and produce a recipe and method - as per Mr Rowland's letter. They will present these over the course of next term. Our topic is Alchemy Island - all about the chemistry of life!

I would also like them to read, read, read. I'll be asking them which book(s), magazines, graphic novels, newspapers, comics etc they enjoyed over the half term so encourage them to be prepared.

Don't forget The Middler book club on Zoom the first Monday back.

I hope the children have a lovely, restful couple of weeks off.

See you next term!

One week to go!

It was wonderful to speak to some of you on Wednesday and we look forward to the rest of the consultations next week.

The children have had a lovely week at school.

Monday - Consisted of the creation of the shoebox trenches. The children glued, cut, tore and painted (mostly the desk and carpet) and came out with some wonderful and authentic trenches. 

Tuesday - Harvest rehearsals, maths and a cracking game of diamond cricket.

Wednesday - The Harvest Service.

Thursday - Writing a creative story about an Octopus on an adventure.

Friday - Designing and creating a WW1 propaganda poster on publisher.

Please can all children have their wellies in for next Wednesday.

Have a restful weekend.

HOMEWORK

Literacy: a short quiz on WWI in Purple Books. This isn't a comprehension but just a chance for them to check what they know about the First World War. They can, of course, look any answers up.

Friday 2nd October

Rain was the order of play this week. Luckily we managed a bit of time outside. The class have been busy rehearsing for the Harvest Service (fingers crossed for a dry day). We will continue to work on the performance leading up to the event. 

In maths, the children have been completing their lessons on place value and specifically rounding.

Literacy lessons consisted of understanding the differences between: statements, questions and excalamtions! The also began writing fascinating stories about an octopus.

During our topic lessons, they spent time researching trenches and have created their designs for their shoebox trenches. We will be making these on Monday.

I hope you have a lovely weekend and don't get too wet.

Homework:

Maths - I have attached a combination of grids for you to complete. Please complete at least one.

Literacy: comprehension in purple books for Friday. It's quite a long one this week. I've told the children to spend no more than 30 minutes on it and see how far they get.

Friday 25th September 2020

We've completed our third full week back and the children have adjusted brilliantly to being in a 'bubble'. The 'mile a day' helps as they need the extra exercise and time out of the classroom. As the weather cools and we get more rain, it might be sensible to invest in a cheap pair of wellies they can leave at school; coats will also be essential in the coming weeks.

As ever, it's been a busy week -  we've read and discussed a large chunk of Private Peaceful,  revisited subordinating and co-ordinating conjunctions (what a mouthful!), written up our First Day of School stories, rounded numbers into the 100,000s and made poppies.

We were delighted to welcome our new Head Boy and Girl and all the heads of houses - it got the children thinking about the fact that it'll be their turn next year......

Don't forget this term's  Year 5 & 6 Book Club book -The Middler - I've seen a couple of copies on desks and reviews from the children are very positive.

Literacy homework is in the purple books  - due back Friday.

Spellings: The prefixes 'il' and 'ir' added to root words beginning with r and l.

illegal, illegible, illiterate, irregular, irresponsible

Cued Spelling Group: they, then, there, they're, there, these

Happy weekends!

Friday 18th September 2020

Phew - another busy week completed. The children produced fabulous Willy Wonka hats for Roald Dahl Day and we were lucky enough to be visited by Mrs Haysom in the guise of various well known Roald Dahl characters. The children then did an excellent job of creating their own fearsome Dahlianesque villains. Mr Flint and Mrs Whack were a couple of the more evil ones..

In other literacy, the First Day of School stories are almost complete. We'll be correcting them and writing them up in our Published Work books next week  - they are occasionally hilarious and often endearing. The children will be adding their photographs to them to create a Classroom display.

In maths, we're still working on Place Value and times-tables - do keep practising at home.

This week's comprehension is in the purple homework books - please return them by Friday.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Hester and Mr Rowland 

Year 5. and 6 Book Club

Mrs Haysom and Ms Wright will be running the Year 5 and 6 Book Club on Zoom towards the end of term. This term's title is The Middler by Kirsty Appelbaum.

Eleven-year-old Maggie lives in Fennis Wick, enclosed and protected from the outside world by a boundary, beyond which the Quiet War rages and the dirty, dangerous wanderers roam.

Her brother Jed is the eldest, revered and special. A hero. Her younger brother is Trig – everyone loves Trig. But Maggie’s just a middler; invisible and left behind. Then, one hot September day, she meets Una, a hungry wanderer girl in need of help, and everything Maggie has ever known gets turned on its head.

Narrated expertly and often hilariously by Maggie, we experience the trials and frustrations of being the forgotten middle child, the child with no voice, even in her own family.

This is a gripping story of forbidden friendship, loyalty and betrayal. It would be great to see Year 5 children adding their thoughts and opinions to our thriving Book Club so get reading!

Friday 11th September

What a week! We've had more empty seats  than Wembley due to children being off.

This caused some strife when completing all their end of Year 4 assessments....but at last, we are almost there.

The class have done very well in completing the tests after such a long time off.

As well as this, they have also completed a number of place value lessons in maths; we have now moved up to the hundreds of thousands.

In literacy, the class have started to study 'The Christmas Truce' and will be attempting to write a newspaper article about the event next week. We have also begun planning our stories based on our first memories of school. The children have really enjoyed reminiscing and looking at the pictures of themselves. Thank you for sending them in.

During our topic afternoons, they have been busy creating a WW1 trench and we have begun studying the weaponry used in the Great War.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Friday 4th September 2020

It has been so lovely to have the children back in school this week and they have settled in extremely well, adapting to the new routines with apparent ease.

The light blue caps have been a huge hit and Class 5 have been wearing them with pride in our corner of the playground. As you can see from the above picture of our display, we have kicked off our topic about World War I by looking at the causes of the War and the different countries and alliances involved. We have also started reading Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo and begun discussing what a soldier's life was like.

In maths, we are revisiting place value in numbers into the 100,000s. If you have a few minutes spare at home, it's worth writing out one or two larger numbers and asking the value of the number at each position within them. For example - what is the 5 worth in 105,623:  Answer = 5,000.

In order to allow the children more time outside, we are taking them up to the sports field in the mornings for a gentle jog/walk. Hopefully we'll be able to do this for as long as the weather stays reasonably dry.

The only homework this week is to learn the spellings below for Friday. As of next week, maths homework will run from Tuesday to Tuesday and literacy from Friday to Friday.

Have a good week.

Mrs Hester and Mr Rowland.

Spellings: the /aw/ sound spelt 'au' or 'augh' 

caught  naughty  taught  daughter  autumn