Term 1 & 2 - Ground Breaking Greeks
Week beginning 11th December
English
In English this week, we have been writing instructions on how to make the perfect Christmas hot chocolate! We have been ensuring to make our instructions specific and clear, so that everyone can become a hot chocolate making expert!
Wider Curriculum
Year 5 have been working hard in their ukelele lessons ready for the Christmas performance next week!
We have been doing our DT project this week. We have been busy exploring different architectural styles and comparing them to modern architecture and ancient Greek architecture. Year 5 then learned how to use Sketch Up- an app that enables computer aided design (CAD). The children were then tasked with designing and creating their own building, including elements of ancient Greek architecture from the Classical Period.
Week beginning 4th December
Maths
Year 5 have been busy this week completing their end of term assessments in maths. We finished the week by completing a maths investigation to challenge us and make us think!
English
In English this week, we have been planning our own narrative stories in which the main character enters through a portal into a different world. We have been entering our creative side to make the portal land engaging and fun! We started to write our stories at the end of the week, ensuring that we create atmosphere through our high- level descriptions!
Wider Curriculum
In history this week, we have been making non- chronological reports about Alexander the Great. We have been practicing our research skills to find out a wide range of information about this historical figure, and chosen the most relevant information to add to our reports. We shared these with the class.
Week beginning 27th November
Maths
We have finished our fractions topic this week, so Year 5 have spent lots of time practicing adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers. We have been exploring a variety of methods to solve questions involving fractions and discussing which method we prefer, and which is more efficient for each type of question.
English
We have been working really hard in English this week to secure our understanding of relative clauses. We began the week identifying the relative clause in a sentence and understanding each element of the clause. Towards the end of the week, we have been becoming more fluent in using commas to demarcate clauses and to avoid ambiguity.
Wider Curriculum
Year 5 have been busy at the beginning of this week preparing for our assembly to our parents! We have been working hard to learn our lines and practice a ukelele prior to our successful assembly on Wednesday afternoon.
In history, we have been continuing our topic of Ancient Greece, and thinking about how ancient Greek mathematicians theorised on mathematical problems that we still observe today. We had a go at proving Pythagoras’ theorem too!
Week beginning 20th November
Maths
In maths this week, we have been continuing our fractions topic and have been learning how to add and subtract both fractions and mixed numbers. We have been using our knowledge of equivalent fractions and multiples to help us ensure that our calculations are accurate.
English
In English this week, we have been planning and writing our persuasive letter to Circe, a character from ‘Tales of the Odyssey’ to try and convince her to turn Odysseus’ men from pigs back into humans. We have been editing our work to make sure that we have included a range of sentence types and emotive language so that we can persuade Circe.
Wider Curriculum
We have been very busy in Year 5 preparing for our assembly next Wednesday! We have been busy learning a script and practicing our ukeleles. In science this week, we have been creating our own scientific enquiries and carrying out an experiment to test our theories.
In computing, we have been editing our videos, ready to present and have been working hard to ensure that they are as good as they can be. In history, we have been discovering significant Athenians including Hippocrates- the father of modern medicine.
Week beginning 13th November
Maths
In maths this week, we have been learning how to compare and order fractions that are greater than 1 and fractions that are less than 1. At the end of the week, we practiced these skills at the end of the week, by having a go at lots of problem solving and reasoning questions.
English
We have been learning and practicing lots of new skills in English this week. We started looking at our new WAGOLL on Monday and considering what makes it an effective persuasive letter. We have been exploring a wide range of vocabulary.
During the rest of the week, we have been learning about subordinate clauses and how we can use subordinating conjunctions to introduce the subordinate clause in a sentence. We have been using the acronym I SAW A WABUB (if, since, as, when, although, while, after, before, until, because) to help us improve our sentences by including subordinate clauses.
Wider Curriculum
Year 5 have been continuing to enjoy ukelele and forest school sessions on a Monday afternoon! In history, we have been acting as philosophers and considering some of the questions that ancient Greek scholars explored.
In science, we have been exploring irreversible reactions by observing reactions between bicarbonate of soda and vinegar, rusting over time, food as it cooks and lighting a match.
Week beginning 6th November
Maths
We have started our new maths unit this week! We have been exploring equivalent fractions and converting between mixed numbers and improper fractions using a variety of different methods.
English
In English this week, we have been writing our retells of ‘The Cyclops’ chapter from Tales of the Odyssey. We have been using all of the skills that we learned last week, such as speech, show don’t tell and adverbial phrases to make our retells exciting and interesting to the reader. At the end of the week, we spent some time editing our retells and ensuring that the vocabulary we have used is effective.
Wider Curriculum
In science, we have been planning and carrying out a practical experiment to test if reactions are reversible. We mixed salt and water and placed it on the windowsill to see if we can use evaporation to leave us with pure salt.
We have started our new PE topic of football. The children have been practicing dribbling and passing to each other, ensuring we keep control of the ball. We have even had a short match to demonstrate these skills!
Week beginning 30th October
Maths
In maths this week, we have been reconsolidating our understanding of addition and subtraction. We have been practicing solving inverse operations, multistep problems and missing number questions.
English
In English, we have been revisiting the ingredients that make an interesting retell, such as adverbial phrases and description of setting and character. We have been delving into our WAGOLL and discussing how these features make it so effective. On Friday, we began to plan our retell so that we are ready to write.
For many days Odysseus and his crew were navigating the seas on a complex journey homeward until they reached an island that seemed to them like paradise.
The island's coastline was a tapestry of powdery, ivory sand that seemed to stretch endlessly into the distance. The emerald leaves of the palm trees swayed in harmony with the ocean breeze casting dappled shadows upon the sand. Seeking refuge and nourishment, Odysseus and his men beached their ship and followed a sandy path from the shore towards a hill. In the hill there was a hollow.
As Odysseus and his crew ventured into the yawning chasm of the cave, their fortune took a dark turn. A big brute of a beast with a single eye blazing like a malevolent sun entered the mouth of the cave and manoeuvred a boulder across the entrance. Odysseus and his men were trapped. A loud bellowing voice echoed from wall to wall, “Who dares enters my domain? State your business here!” Their predicament deepened like the inky night as Polyphemus proceeded to devour several of Odysseus's comrades.
Wider Curriculum
We have started our forest school time this week alongside our ukelele lessons. We have explored significant Athenians in history and have made fact files to share with the class.
In science, we have been discussing and practicing how we can filter a mixture to separate each element. We have written hypotheses for what we think will happen if we filter coffee mixed with water, and soil mixed with water, so that we can evaluate our experiments.
Week beginning 16th October 2023
Maths
In maths this week, we have been continuing our topic on multiplication and division. We have had lots of equipment out as we have explored square numbers and cube numbers. We have been using our factors and multiples knowledge to help us solve problems.
English
In preparation for our next piece of writing, we have been learning how to write speech, including choosing interesting synonyms for said, and making sure that we punctuate our dialogue correctly. We have been using these skills to begin writing some speech for the story of the Cyclops that we can use within our retells.
Wider Curriculum
We have been doing lots of science in Year 5 this week! We have been exploring what makes an effective insulator and designing and carrying out an experiment top test whether a material is soluble in water. We have been using our scientific knowledge to make predictions and evaluate our experiments.
In history, we have been exploring the social hierarchy in ancient Greece and comparing this to society today. We have been practicing our retrieval skills to make notes from an information sheet.
Week beginning 9th October 2023
English
In English this week, the children have written their narrative poems about Odysseus’ encounter with the Cyclops. They have explored rhythm and rhyme and have used rhyming pairs in their drafts. The children have also explored metaphors, similies and personification and have worked extremely hard to include this within their poems too.
Maths
In Maths this week, the children have started their multiplication and division unit. We started the week by looking at multiples and common multiples. A common multiple is a multiple that is shared by two or more numbers. 12 is a common multiple of 6 and 4 as it's in both the 6 and 4 times tables. We then explored factors and common factors as well as prime numbers.
Finding out the common factors of 21 and 35:
Wider Curriculum
In History, the children explored the roles of men and women in ancient Athens and were quite surprised by their findings!
Athens, just like other city-states of Ancient Greece, strongly believed in the ideology of separation between males and females: Athenian women dwelled indoors while their male counterparts involved themselves in public life. Men would serve the polis – state – while the domain of women was the oikos – the household.
In Art this week the children used their sketches of a landscape from the previous week and have used their knowledge of tints, tones and shades to paint a landscape of their choice.
Week beginning 2nd October 2023
English
In English this week we have read the second chapter of Adventures of Odysseus called ‘The Cyclops’. We explored the language used in the chapter to build tension and really focused on the key events. We then looked at a WAGOLL of a narrative poem which included metaphors, similes, personification and rhyme. The children built up some excellent vocabulary throughout the week and have explored in more detail what similes and metaphors are and how to make them interesting.
Maths
In Maths this week the children have continued their addition and subtraction unit. We started the week off with multi-step addition and subtraction word problems where the children had to carefully follow more than one step and use more then one operation to find the correct answer.
We then compared different calculations using more than >, less than < and equal to = and had to explain our reasoning using bar models and written methods.
We ended the week by finding the missing numbers in calculations, using a bar model to help us. We then completed the end of unit assessment ready for our multiplication and division unit next week.
Wider Curriculum
In History, we looked at the development of city states in the ancient Greek Classical period. The Greek Classical period began around 500 BC and ended in 323 BC. We learned that during the Classical period ancient Greece was not one united country but a collection of over a thousand independent city states.
Week beginning 25th September 2023
English
In English this week we have planned our character description of Odysseus. We have included figurative language such as, similes, metaphors and personification to describe his external and internal characteristics.
Maths
In maths this week we have started our addition and subtraction unit. We started the week off with mental strategies and made connections with different additions and subtractions problems for example:
7 + 2 = 9
7 eggs plus 2 eggs = 9
7 tens plus 2 tens = 9 tens
70 + 20 = 90
We also started to add and subtract whole numbers with more than 4 digits and used rounding to check our answers. At the end of the week we used the inverse operations and fact families (for addition and subtraction) to check our answers.
Wider Curriculum
In History this week we compared the ancient Greek Dark Age with the Archaic period.
The Greek Dark Age began when the Minoan and the Mycenaean civilisations collapsed around 1100 BC and lasted until around 800 BC, when the Archaic period began.
During the Archaic period of ancient Greece, language, society, government, trade, art and architecture all started to flourish again creating jobs and wealth.
The world’s first democracy developed during the Greek Archaic period, and people from different city states came together for festivals and games, including the first Olympic Games.
In Science we carried out an experiment measuring the changing temperature of water. Fristly, we discussed the correct way to measure the temperature and recapped how to use a thermometer in degrees Celsius. The children observed the water cooling and measured the temperature at different intervals.
Week Beginning 18th September
Maths
In maths this week, we have been finishing our topic on place value and practicing rounding numbers up to 1,000,000. We concluded the topic at the end of the week with an end of unit quiz, where the children demonstrated all the fantastic learning they have done so far this year.
English
We started a new unit in English this week, where we began listening to ‘The Adventures of Odysseus.’ We have been learning and revisiting lots of skills this week including personification and metaphors, ‘show don’t tell’ and adventurous vocabulary. We have begun to write short sections of a character description of Odysseus in chapter 1 of the book, as he emerges from the sea using all the skills that we have learned so far.
In guided reading, we have been really enjoying reading ‘Who Let the Gods Out’ and practicing our inference and prediction skills.
Wider curriculum
We have been continuing to enjoy Ukelele lessons on a Monday and are developing our skills to learn a new song. In history, we have been learning about the Minoan and Mycenaean civilisations and have spent some time comparing the two.
We have started our new unit in RE about Buddhism, and the children are developing a deeper understanding of the traditions and beliefs that many Buddhists have and understanding that many people have different beliefs that our own.
Week beginning 11th September 2023
Maths
In maths this week, the children have been continuing their topic on place value, including practicing rounding and multiplying numbers up to 1,000,000. We have been using a Gattegno chart to practice multiplying our numbers by 10, 100 and 1000.
English
In English this week, we have been continuing our topic of retells, using the book ‘Hike’ by Pete Oswald as a stimulus for our writing. We have been focussing on developing rich vocabulary to make our writing more interesting. We have been planning, writing and editing our retells, ensuring we have used as many of our writing tools as possible i.e. building tension and using ‘show not tell’ to immerse the reader.
Wider Curriculum
In topic this week, we have been exploring the geography of ancient Greece and creating fact files to show our learning. We have begun to look at a range of source types, including primary and secondary sources, enabling us to pick out key information to develop our understanding of the ancient Greeks.
Week beginning 4th September 2023
English
This week in English we have been exploring the book ‘Hike’, written and illustrated by Pete Oswald. The book has no words so the children have been building vocabulary to describe setting and emotion based on the pictures. We have also been learning and practicing the skill of ‘show not tell’ to enrich our descriptive writing and to appeal to our audience.
Maths
In Maths this week, the children started the week by recapping Roman Numerals to 1000. Then, they continued their learning of place value up to 1,000,000.
Wider Curriculum
In History the children have started their new Topic ‘Groundbreaking Greeks’. We used a comparative timeline diagram to show the chronology of ancient Greece in its place in world history. We also explored the six periods in ancient Greek history:
The Minoan civilisation (c3000 BC–c1100 BC)
The Mycenaean civilisation (c1600 BC–c1100 BC)
The Dark Age (c1100 BC–c800 BC)
The Archaic period (c800 BC–c500 BC)
The Classical period (c500 BC–323 BC)
The Hellenistic period (323 BC–30 BC).
