Welcome to Year 5
Class Teacher: Mrs O’Donovan
Teaching Assistant: Miss Colquhoun (PPA Cover Thursday)
Please check out our class page to see what we have been doing over each half term
Year 5 Long Term Plan
Autumn 2
English- This half term our topic in Science is Earth and Space and our written work in English will use this as a stimulus. Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly, is a the true story about four black women and the space race which we will be basing our written work on.
Science - Earth and Space - We started off our new topic in Science, by discussing the question - How do we know that the Earth is Spherical? First, we went into the playground to look around us to decide if we could see anything which would tell us that Earth was flat or spherical. We then worked in small groups to look at evidence which could prove what shape the Earth is and why people in the past may have thought differently.
Science - Our last lesson this term, in Science, was to research and create an Oreo diagram showing the different phases of the moon.
In RE, we have just completed our unit about different religious pilgrimages. As part of our end of unit assessment, we created imovies to show the three religions for which the city of Jerusalem is a special place to journey to.
Design and Technology- Our first unit this half term was, Digital World: Monitoring Devices. We applied computing skills to program a Micro:bit animal monitor and using 3D CAD tools in Tinkercard to design a case, housing or stand.
Design and Technology- Electrical Systems - Doodlers. Our second DT unit this half term helped us to understand electrical systems and motors. We investigated an existing product before constructing and designing our own.
Our finished designs. We think they are amazing. We hope you do too.
Geography- Marvellous Maps - our topic this term has allowed us to further explore the range of maps available to geographers and to develop our understanding of the key features of maps. We learnt how to use the eight-digit compass to give directions and give grid references to locate places on a map. We also learnt about map symbols and how places have changed overtime.
Computing - This half term, we have looked at online communication so that we can be aware of the positive and negative aspects of being online. Here is the rap that we learnt to help us remember the potential dangers.
Music - We started the new half term by being introduced to the bows. We have all been waiting for this day! Mr Jackson showed us how to look after the bow before we we able to have a go with playing the violas with the bows.
Music - Today as part of our viola lessons, we have been learning Jazzy Jingle Bells and Silent Night.
PE - This half term, we are learning more about basketball. We are enjoying learning the skills and playing games to embed these skills.
Autumn 1
English - We started the year back by recapping the importance of 'Grammar and Punctuation'. We played games and worked in pairs to work out what makes a single clause sentence and how we can recognise one as well as write our own.
English - We are really enjoying reading, 'The Odyssey' so far and after hearing all about Odysseus and his men becoming trapped in the cave with the Cyclops, we use the drama technique - hot seating - to question Odysseus himself and ask him how he and his men were going to escape!
Maths - In Maths we stared the year by recalling our multiplication facts up to x12. We enjoyed getting into the fresher completing a timetable treasure hunt in the playground.
Art - Typography and Maps - WE have really enjoyed our unit in art this half term which has been based on typography - the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. At the end of our unit, we produced some amazing maps based on our English book, 'The Odyssey'.
RE - Our unit this term in RE is 'What journeys are special? '. This week we looked at what and how Muslims do and feel when they visit Makkah.
History - Our topic this half term is the Ancient Greeks. This week we have learnt all about the modern and ancient olympics. We worked in teams to find information about both Olympic Games and sorted the information before answering our Big Debate question - What are the similarities and differences between the Modern and Ancient Olympics?
Music - In Year 5, we are all very excited to learn the viola. Our first week began with an introduction to the instrument, how to hold it and care for it. We then played for the first time.
PE - In PE this half term, our unit is ‘Fitness’. We have been practicing our skipping techniques and showing how we demonstrate some of the five C’s - challenge, care, confidence and character.
French - We are loving having our French lessons again with Madame Bex. So far this half term we have revisited our learning from Year 4, learnt more of our phonics singing songs and even had a European Day of Language lesson!
Computing - Our unit in computing this half term is, ‘Search Engines’. In this uni, we will understand how search engines work and develop searching skills to find relevant and accurate information online.
Year 5 Information
Class Councillors
Democracy: Our class councillors are part of our whole school council and attend regular meetings throughout the year to help decide on areas of development and ideas brought up by the children. The children completed a manifesto in class and presented them to their peers. A vote then took place in class and the children with the most votes have become our class councillors for the year. I'm sure they will do an amazing job!
Autumn 2
Christmas Activities
After completing all our work at the beginning of the week and completing our amazing DT project we had a day of Christmas activities which included making Christmas cards with water colours and decorating our own tree decorations using paint pens.
Christmas Party Time
Leodis Brass Band
After lunch, we were treated to a performance by Leodis Brass Band. They were amazing and made us feel very christmassy! It was lovely to hear the children telling each other how much they had enjoyed it.
Christmas Jumper and Reindeer Run Day
Today, Year 5 looked super Christmassy in their Christmas jumpers and loved being reindeers, who chased Santa round the play!ground! This was all in aid of Wakefield Hospice.Thank you so much for everyone’s donations.
Chrismon Service
On the first Sunday of Advent, the KS2 choir took part in the Chrismon service at Westerton Road Methodist Church. They had a great time singing and decorating the tree.
Children in Need Day
Reading for Writing
To start this half term in our writing lessons, we will be be reading the book. Hidden Figures'. This is a true story of four black women and the space race.
Katherine, Dorothy, Mary and Christine were all good at Maths. Really good. They lived during a time when being black and being a woman meant that they weren't given equal opportunities. However, the work they did would change not only their own lives but the face of air and space travel forever.
Reading for Pleasure
As our topic this half term is 'Earth and Space', our class book will also mirror this and will be, 'The Jamie Drake Equation'.
Reading for Comprehension
Our first text in Autumn 2 to study in more detail, is 'A Poem for Every Night of the Year'. We will be looking at several poems from this text and discussing what makes them poem, answering questions about what the author wants the reader to understand and summarising these poems.
Poetry
Autumn 1
All Around the World Day
For our All Around the World Day in Year 5, we looked at India. We started the day by creating non chronological reports all about India including religion, food, clothing, special places, education and geography.
Next, we tested some traditional Indian foods including mango - the national fruit of India, poppadom and naan.
Finally, we created some very impressive artwork based on the Elephant Festival in Jaipur which falls around the time of the Holiday festival.
Reading in PSHE
In PSHE one of our books this half term is, "Talk like a River'. This is a stunning picture book which conveys both the challenge of speech difficulties but also the beauty of connecting with nature. The book provoked lots of discussion about how we might feel if we sometimes couldn't express our words and we thought about times that we might find speaking aloud difficult.
Reading for Writing
This term our writing is based on Myths and we will be reading the book, 'The Odyssey' by Gillian Cross which has been illustrated by Neil Packer.
The Odyssey is a triumph of storytelling that has moved and fascinated people for over three thousand years.
Odysseus, its hero, faces storm and shipwreck, terrifying monsters and the fur of the gods as he journeys home after the Trojan war. Will he ever get there - and what will he find if he does?
English - We read the first chapter of, The Odyssey' and talked about how in Ancient Greek times stories were told orally and that performers often told epic tales that glorified the gods and brought terrible monsters to life. We then wrote our own proclamation to the story using the future tense and expanded noun phrases.
Reading for Pleasure
Our class book this half term is, 'Who Let the Gods Out'.
When a shooting star crashes to Earth, it lands Elliot smack bang in the path of Virgo - a young Zodiac goddess on a mission. But when the pair accidentally release Thanatos, a wicked death daemon imprisoned beneath Stonehenge, they've got nowhere to turn for help but to the old Olympian gods.
Reading for Comprehension
In our Reading lessons, we study books in more depth by looking at the front and back covers, layouts, vocabulary and genres. We work together to answer questions about the text and use inference to understand what an author might mean and predict what might happen next.
Our first text this term, is linked to our science topic - Space - and is, 'Eyewitness Planets'.
In Art - This term our art lessons are focused on Typography and Maps. In this unit we will be exploring how we can create typography through drawing and design, and using our skills to create personal and highly visual maps. During our first two lessons we have looked at the artist Louise Fili and created our own cut out letters.
DT - Our unit in DT this half term is, ‘ Digital World: Monitoring Devices’. This unit will apply computing knowledge and understanding to program a Micro:bit animal monitoring device. Develop 3D CAD skills by learning how to navigate the Tinkercad interface and essential tools to combine multiple objects.