Can you guess what our new Guided Reading book is all about?
We planned and organised our own party theme, decorations and food in groups and shared Secret Santa presents. Happy Christmas! Secret SantaToday we had a great class assembly all about Vikings after studying it all term. We particularly enjoyed singing songs about Viking life! Afterwards we invited our parents back to our Viking Longhouse to see all the work we have been doing this term. Good Use of these Learning Gems:Today saw the second six children perform their poems to the rest of the class. In Mandela Class we are lucky enough to have Mr Harvey work with us to help a different group (each half term) to learn a poem off by heart and recite it to the rest of the class. This is a skill, which is not only part of the Year 6 expectations for reading, but is also a life skill which prepares the children for High School and beyond. It always amazes me how all different types of children respond to the task and the change which occurs in their confidence and ability in just 6 weeks. This group have an especially difficult task because, not only have they had to recite their poems to the whole class, they also will be performing their poems to the whole school and parents during our Key Stage Two Carol Concert. Well done! Godd use of this Learning Gem:Today we tested and evaluated our boats, against the original design criteria, to decide which one was the best. Everyone had a chance to vote. The winners are.....In Design Technology we have been working in groups to design and make our own viking longships. Mrs Matthews gave us the brief - To make a viking longship which is historically accurate. It needed to be: watertight able to float balance hold 10 playmobil men attractive to look at with a sail, oars and shields. We researched real and model longships and came up with our own designs, considering the tools and materials we had available then as a group we decided on our final design. We spent several days working on our design and now they are finished. All we need to do is see if they meet the original design criteria. Fingers crossed that they float!! Good use of All of the LEARNING Gems:This half term our topic is Staying Alive and we are learning all about the life processes that are internal to the body, including all about the circulatory system. The circulatory system is made up of the heart, the lungs, blood and the vessels it travels through. Its function is to transport nutrients, gases and wastes between the cells of the body and the digestive system, respiratory system and excretory system. It also carries hormones for internal communication and co-ordination, and white blood cells for fighting disease, as well as assisting in maintaining body temperature. Today we were learning about the heart. The heart is a huge muscle that never appears to rest. In fact it does rest – between each heart beat! It beats rhythmically, contracting two sets of chambers to act as a double pump to move blood around the body. It is about the size of a closed fist, and is protected by the ribs. The right side of the heart pumps deoxygenated (‘used’) blood through the pulmonary circuit to the lungs, where it picks up oxygen and where carbon dioxide is released. The blood is then returned to the left side of the heart, which is sufficiently muscular and powerful to pump the blood through the systemic circuit to all tissues of the body, including the kidneys for waste removal, and the liver for blood sugar regulation. Mrs Matthews brought in some pig's hearts for us to examine and try and identify the main parts. It was a really interesting lesson! Good use of these Learning Gems:
Orange GroupBlue GroupYellow GroupRed GroupGood use of these Learning Gems:We are continuing with our Literacy work on Nelson Mandela. Our focus now is recount writing. We are focusing on the time in Mandela's life when he was held prison on the harsh prison island of Robben Island (between 1964 and 1982). We have been putting ourselves into Mandela's shoes, imagining what it was like to be him. We even have a cell marked out in the classroom to give us a visual idea of just how small his cell was! We will be writing diary entires and used role play to rehearse our ideas ready to write some amazing recounts, but firstly we have written poems imagining that we are Mandela in his cell. We all sat in our class cell and read our poems to each other. Here are a few:
Good use of these Learning Gems: |
AuthorsWritten by Mrs Matthews & Mrs Hayter (proud class teachers) and their brilliant pupils (Mandela class). Archives
June 2024
Categories |