Yangtze Class

HOMESCHOOLING DAYS 68-70

FIRSTLY – THANK YOU HOME-TEACHERS

Well done mums, dads and carers for your fantastic efforts during the 70 school days of lockdown. You have done a wonderful job in very difficult circumstances. I have really enjoyed following you and your children’s progress over the last few months and receiving your children’s work. The range of fun activities you have shared and your support, dedication, determination and inventiveness has been inspiring and a pleasure to follow. Your children have continued to make progress despite not being in school and seem to have enjoyed themselves too. Well done, and thank you for doing my job for me!

STAR OF THE WEEK

The Star of the Week is Alwyn – once again. You have worked really hard throughout the lock-down, and kept up the effort right to the end of term. I was really pleased with your book review this week for Swallows and Amazons which is one of my favourite books. And you also completed all the other tasks set. You seem to have really enjoyed the history unit this term, but you have produced good quality work in all subjects. Well done.

MONDAY LEAVER’S ASSEMBLY

On Monday it is the Year 6s last day in school. There will be a special assembly in the afternoon with all the usual silly gifts, certificates and other treats. The assembly is for all the children in Year 6 and one parent from each family. We are hoping to meet on the school field and for the other children in school to join us for a socially distant, spread-out leavers’ do. We might even sing, One more step along the world I go…

As I am not able to be there, I would just like to use this opportunity to wish all the Year 6s the best of luck for the future. It has been the most unusual final year in primary school, but they have all coped magnificently with the challenges of lock-down, home-learning and – for many – the return to school. I think that, if they can cope with lockdown, they will be able to cope with anything. It has been a great pleasure to be their teacher and I will miss them. As I have said in their reports, I look forward to hearing how they are doing from time to time.

YEAR 5s

We have had a wonderful two weeks with the children who will be in Yangtze Class from September; it was great to be able to welcome you back to school and see you having so much fun with your friends. I’m looking forward to being your teacher in September and getting together as a whole class at last.

If you are in Year 5 but weren’t able to come into school over the last two weeks, it would be lovely if you were able to complete the hand-print task (see below) as this will form a display in our new classroom in September.

TASKS FOR THE WEEK

As you know, it’s the end of term on Wednesday (Whoop! Whoop!), and things are always a little different during the final few days in school. So, I have made some suggestions which you are free to follow.

ALL ABOUT ME HANDPRINTS

The children in school really enjoyed making these ‘All about me’ handprints this week. Simply use a pencil to draw around your hand and fill it with patterns. Then, use colouring felt tips to colour in your patterns. Once you have finished, use a black felt tip to go back over the lines to (as Lily said), “Make the colours pop.” Do the same with your border. Lastly, fill the empty white space with as much information about yourself as you can think of. You can include pets, favourite foods, targets for next year, things you want to do as an adult, places you have been or want to visit, friends, family, pet hates, etc. etc. etc. Bring it in on the first day in September and we’ll add it to our display. We used A4 paper.

SPORTS DAY

As we weren’t able to hold a sports day this year, why not run your own? Set up an obstacle course, hold a dressing-up race, run a three-legged race, an egg-and-spoon race, a hopping race, a two-legged jumping race, a wheelbarrow race. You could do some sprints, a long-distance race and you could even try a relay.

How many different sports can you compete in over the course of a day?

I’m sending out a Fitness Bingo game to get you started.

WRITE AN OPEN LETTER

The end of year is always an emotional time, with partings and good-byes, and people heading off in different directions. It’s often difficult to say everything you wanted to say to your friends because of the hustle and bustle of the last day. On top of all this, there are many of your classmates you won’t have seen in a great while, and some whom you might not see again. Why not write an open letter to them all to share your thoughts (an open letter is a letter that anyone can read). You could remind them of a favourite memory, share your thoughts about this strange year, and wish them luck for the future. Send me your letters and we’ll publish them on the school website.

COOK UP A STORM

Everyone should know how to cook five favourite meals (at least). These should be the family favourites that everyone enjoys. What would the list be like in your house: spaghetti bolognaise, chicken curry, vegetarian kebabs, pasta splodge? Now would be the perfect time to learn how. Talk to your parents and work out which meal to cook, ensure them that you are responsible enough to be entrusted with the secret family recipe, and get going. Post pictures to me and put them on your blog.

GET CRAFTY

There are millions and billions of crafty websites online, for those who like to make. You can pick up ideas from Pintrest, Youtube and a zillion other places. Why not make something using some of the clothes you’ve grown out of during the lock-down? For example, watch this video for ideas about things you can do with an old pair of jeans https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9204ebsb_o

RUBE GOLDBERG COMPETITION

Remember, there’s always the Rube Goldberg competition to take part in. The idea is to make a cracking contraption that can water a plant. In class we talked about watering cans on zip wires, but what ideas do you have?  See last week’s science slides for the competition details.

SUMMER READING CHALLENGE

The local library service are, once again, running the Summer Reading Challenge which I recommend everyone takes part in. This year it is running online – you can find out more here: https://summerreadingchallenge.org.uk/ There are prizes, certificates and great books to read. And frankly, what could be better than sitting in the sun with a good book to read? So, join the Silly Squad and keep your brain active during the long, hot days of summer.

AND LASTLY

I wish you all a fantastic summer holiday full of rest, fun, activities, family, sunny weather, walks, rides, swims, books, games, play, friends and ice cream. I look forward to seeing some of you in September and I wish the rest of you: “Farewell!”

AND LASTLY, LASTLY

Why do bananas use suncream?

Because they peel!

What do you get when you mix an elephant and a fish?

Swimming trunks!

Why don’t oysters share their pearls?

Because they’re shellfish!

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HOMESCHOOLING DAYS 63-67

STAR OF THE WEEK

The star of the week is Isla. You have been incredibly busy this week Isla: you baked a German flatbread; solved the mystery of the 52 dead bodies found at Maiden Castle (and found a great photo of Sir Mortimer Wheeler); did some super maths; conducted a fantastic investigation into friction; had another live French lesson with Nanny Cleverley in France (which is a very useful resource to have!); and – on top of all that – you’ve been writing thank you letters for all your birthday presents. Well done Isla – you are our star!

TASKS FOR THE WEEK

LITERACY

In September, we will be launching an interactive Book Wall where we can post reviews of books we enjoyed, and comment on each other’s choices. To get us started, I would like you to complete a detailed book review. These will be the first to go on the wall. Use the two powerpoints to find out how to write a good book review, and read some good examples on Spaghetti Book Club.

MATHS

This week there is a mystery to solve on Monday and Tuesday, then a Summer Maths Booklet for the remainder of the term (and the Summer Holidays if you choose!).

SCIENCE
This week you’ll be learning about mechanisms that can change the direction of forces, or make a force bigger. I then want you to design a Cracking Contraption. If you like, you can also enter the Rube Goldberg Summer Video Challenge. Read the ppt to find out more.

ICT – ANIMATION

It’s the end of the unit, so finish your animations and send them in. We’ll find a way to share them all in an online gallery.

HISTORY

It’s the end of the Iron Age and the Romans are thinking about invading Britain. If you were the Emperor Julius Caesar standing on the shores of Kent in AD55, what would you have done?

D&T

It’s the Fressingfield Bready Bake Off! It’s time to bake the delicious designs from last week. Remember to take lots of photos and send them into me. You’ll also need to ask your family to review your efforts – they can even dress up as Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood if they like! I hope we don’t have any soggy bottoms!

FRENCH

This week, you’ll be learning how to talk about things you know and things you don’t know how to do. 

Je sais dancer et patiner, mais je ne sais pas jouer du violon.

AND LASTLY,

Why do bananas use suncream?

Because they peel!

What do you get when you mix an elephant and a fish?

Swimming trunks!

Why don’t oysters share their pearls?

Because they’re shellfish!

NEWS FROM THE HOME FRONT

I think a great many of you would have been extremely hungry if you had to make paper bags for a living. I’m sure it gets faster given practice, but it’s still a fiendishly difficult way to make a living. I was impressed by the children’s answers to the final question in class: How did it make you feel to play this game? They talked about the stress of trying to work quickly, the minimum reward for efforts, how unfair it all seemed, and how lucky they felt not to have to earn their living in this way.

I was very impressed with Eva’s thoughtful, detailed balanced argument that came in last weekend, so I am posting it on the website for you to see. It’s a wonderful piece of writing. Well done Eva.

TASKS FOR THE WEEK

LITERACY

There is a choice of activity for this week’s literacy. You can either choose to follow the Oak National Academy plans – I have recommended a unit for both Year 5 and Year 6 in the weekly overview, or you can work through your purple workbooks. I will leave it to your parents to decide what a reasonable amount of work is in these.

MATHS

This week I have planned work using the workbooks. These are different for Year 5 and Year 6, so read the overview for your year before you start. The overview also includes links to videos that can help you. I have also included an extension task for each day if you are either keen, in need of a greater challenge, or both. Friday’s maths is to solve the mystery of the Festival Camping Chaos.

SCIENCE
This week you will be investigating friction using a bicycle (or scooter or tricycle) wheel. Please be careful not to hurt your fingers. Your task is to find the best material to make a new set of brakes.   

ICT – ANIMATION

Over the next two weeks, I would like you to work on your animations using your storyboard to guide you. I hope you have come up with a short story that can be retold using the character you invented a couple of weeks ago. The finished animations should be about a minute long, if you can manage it.

HISTORY

There’s an iron age mystery to solve this week. When archaeologists dug up the hillfort at Maiden Hill in Dorset, they discovered 52 bodies. Your task is to use the evidence to establish what happened to them. I would like a written crime report to be sent to me that describes what the evidence proves.  

D&T

This week you will be planning your final loaf. Use the ideas you have researched over the previous few weeks to design a bread for a special occasion. Draw it, label it, write the recipe and gather the resources. Next week will be the Great Fressingfield Bake Off, so you need to be prepared!

FRENCH

En francais, you have two short reading comprehensions to complete, focusing on hobbies.

AND LASTLY,

What do you call a fish without eyes?

A fsh.

Why did the scarecrow win an award?

Because he was outstanding in his field.

Two muffins are baking in an oven. One muffin turns to the other and says, “Phew, is it me or is it getting hot in here?”

The other muffin says, “Aaaaaaghhhh! A talking muffin!”

What did the policeman say to his bellybutton?

You’re under a vest!

This is Eva’s fantastic balanced argument that address the issue of whether children should be required to catch up with all the learning lost due to the coronavirus pandemic. She explores the arguments in a balanced, thoughtful and interesting way, elaborating each point and asking questions of her own. Will you agree with her final conclusions? Read to find out.

Weekly-Overview-Yangtze-Class-29-June-3rd-July-2020

Weekly-Overview-Yangtze-Class-22-26-June-2020