Class 5

Welcome to Year Five

Dear Parents,
Welcome back to a new school year! I am looking forward to a good year and the children have already shown that they are settling in well to new routines. They have been keen to take on the responsibilities of Upper Key Stage 2 and show a positive attitude to learning.

Our value this term is love and the children have definitely shown plenty of that to each-other in the first week back. We have also been examining togetherness and what it means to be part of our Year Five family. This year the class are lucky enough to be supported by a teacher-in-training called Miss Bibby. She wanted me to include this message in our letter.

Miss Bibby
It is such a pleasure to be here at Clatford, working with the lovely Year 5 children, who have been so welcoming in this first week. Previously, I have worked as a Performing Arts teacher in and around Andover and it is wonderful to see so many familiar faces around school. The children have already wowed me with their dance skills in this week’s PE lesson and I can’t wait to get to know everyone a little better. I can already tell we are going to have a wonderful year and I feel very grateful to be training with such a brilliant Team.

Literacy and Numeracy
In Literacy this term we will be studying different text types including poems and novels. We will be writing poems mainly linked to our topic of Rivers and looking at figurative language. Our key narrative text before half term is Harry Potter and so I will be looking forward to exploring some magical language and delving into the dark arts of complex sentences. Numeracy will cover the four main operations, plus aspects of shape and space, place value, data handling and fractions. Our first area of study will be place
value, looking at comparing large numbers between 10,000 and 1,000,000. We will also be aiming to improve our problem solving skills in each of these areas. I recognise that some children have been missing their times tables practice in school and so we will also be making sure that developing our speed and accuracy of these remains a focus, particularly this term. In Year 5 we also work particularly hard at developing our understanding of formal written methods of calculating and are practicing our
use of the bar model to support our understanding of worded and contextual problems.

Mrs. Isaac
We will be working on two main science areas this term. The first is ‘Materials and how they can be changed.’ In this unit of work, children will revise properties of materials and their suitability for particular purposes; heating and cooling materials and understanding how this causes them to change. New learning will include separating materials and dissolving and how this relates to everyday life; understanding reversible and irreversible changes. The second unit is ‘Life cycles including interdependence and adaptation’ In this unit, we will be learning about life cycles for different animal groups including mammals, fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles and insects, and for flowering and non-flowering groups. We will be focussing on how animals and plants are adapted at different stages of their life cycle to survive. We will be considering life cycles in terms of evolution and adaptation.
Our music work this term will continue to include improving our musical vocabulary and notation. We will be linking our music learning to our ‘Rivers’ theme and will be learning some songs to improve our scientific and geographical knowledge of how rivers are formed and where in the world a variety of rivers exist. We will also be creating instrumental accompaniments to one of the songs and using harmonies and parts for the other song.

French this term will initially include revision of what we have learnt in Y3 and 4. The units to be studied will be
 Je me presente (all about myself)
 En famille (all about my family)
 En classe (items in the classroom)
 As-tu un animal? (all about our pets)
 Les vetements (all about our clothes)

Our new learning will include
 Quelle est la date? (all about days, months, dates)
 Quell temps (all about weather conditions)
This Term’s Themes

Our main cross-curricular Geography and History theme this year will be “Go With the Flow.” This will run throughout the whole term and will involve the study of geographical aspects of rivers and valleys. We will be trying to develop children’s investigation skills whilst broadening their vocabulary and showing them what it means to be a real geographer. The theme includes studying the life of a river, how the water is used, map work and applying this all to local, national and world rivers. In geography we may be water focused but in DT we will be studying how to get over it by designing and building a selection of bridges. During this unit the children will be learning to safely use saws to test and build different structures with the goal of making them safe, stable and attractive. Later this term, in history, we will be looking at ‘Crime and Punishment’ through the ages as we delve into the grim side of history and see how different cultures wildly different versions of what was meant by justice. We go as far back as the Romans and go all the way to modern times.

Homework + PE
As you already know, PE will be taking place on a Tuesday and a Thursday! We have allocated slots of time inside and outside in order to make sure this takes place whatever the weather. As Miss Bibby has a lot of experience teaching dance to different groups of children, alongside our other types of games and skills development, we will definitely be making the most of her expertise. I will be writing to you about homework and spellings in a separate letter next week as this year we aim to be using the online platform Google Classrooms more to support these areas.

I hope that this gives you an insight into the term ahead which will be an exciting and rewarding one for the children. I look forward to seeing you all as the year progresses but if you have any questions or need help with anything the Year Five team are here to help where we can. We are excited to make this a rewarding, enriching and exciting year for the children and, if the first day or so is anything to go by, I think they are going to make it a pretty fantastic year for us as well.

Thanking you for all of your continued support.

Yours sincerely,
Mr. M. Kirk and the team.

Learning from Home - Summer Term 19/20

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Thanks for all your support this year. It is now time for us all to have a well deserved Summer rest. See you in September for, what will be, an amazing Year 6. You are amazing and I'll definitely miss being your teacher!

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Google Classrooms is Live - 19th June 2020

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Next week (and beyond as long as it all goes well) I will  be using Google Classrooms to set our weekly activities. You should be able to register today (Friday) but if you haven't received an invite please email me on clatfordhomelearning@gmail.com and I will get one out to you as soon as possible. 

The main 'feed' of information on Google Classrooms is called the Stream. You should see any activities I post on there initially. Today I set an activity and posted a question about it. Underneath the activity I linked a video that shows you what to do in order to answer the question. 

If you look at the top set of tabs, 'stream' will always take you to the stream and 'classwork' will show you which classwork you have had assigned to you. 

Thank you! 

Mr. Kirk

******** 16th June Update to the update *******

I've had a look closely at all of your haiku verses today and I must say that as a poem, they fit together really well. I am struggling for art to go with them. I could do with pictures or drawings that show some of the following things:

- Quiet streets in lockdown

- Covid haircuts

- Playing online

- Lockdown birthdays

- Cycling

- Facetimes with friends and families

- Home schooling

- Exercising

If you would like to do some art, then great, but photos are equally fine. Please send them to clatfordhomelearning@gmail.com along with any other verses you have. This is shaping up well and I just need the finishing touches!

Mr. Kirk

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A couple of updates on the 16th June:

1. You have a few more days on the Haikus. I have a lot but would love to include as many of you as I can! I would also love any more lockdown art that I can shrink down and include between the verses.

2. I have had some people do the Nrich work and I have posted my solutions to them. Thank you so much for that. I cross my fingers that one of us gets published. 

3. I have an actual physical minibook on my computer where I am working now. Thank you for this Shaylee. It has now been in quarantine for 72 hours and I am allowed to give it a thorough read. It told me all about what the Greeks did for us! 

Week Beginning 15th June - "A Dark and Stormy Girl"

Good morning class. Lots going on with home learning this week. I did see a whole range of microbooks last week but I would still love to see more. Please continue them, and any that you finish please send in or post on the padlet. That would be amazing. The other work that I set last work that will be ongoing is your Haiku. I would love it if you could finish these by Friday at the absolute latest. Any that are not in by Friday may not make the final cut. In addition to this, it would be lovely to have a final version with some pictures. Chloe sent me her verses decorated beautifully in rainbow colours (to represent the NHS) which was stunning, but if I could have some separate pictures (without words or verses) to go between the stanzas when I create the final document that would look great. Use the pictures to exemplify your time in lockdown. I am hoping it will become a nice memory for you all of what has been a strange time.

Mathletics honourable mentions this week to Mia and Finley who both managed to get their Silver Certificates. Orson, Bessie, Ellie, Noah, Will F, Will T, Chloe, Evelyn, Finley, Mia and Luke also achieved their bronze. Fantastic job! Keep up all the hard work and the good practice!

I also had some Nrich solutions in the end, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and particularly liked where people had used their articulate sentences to explain their mathematical thinking! Keep it up with this week's challenge!

https://nrich.maths.org/1044

They will post the solution next week so I will share some answers with you then. 

I will now be including weekly grammar-specific activities in your resources in the file section, along with your other bits and pieces to do. I have included more infrormation about it below. Also this week I have included White Rose Maths, added activities to your Purple Mash and checked to make sure you have Mathletics activities on your lists. 

Did you know that some people last week told me that they were missing my bad jokes. Let me rectify that immediately!

Grammar

This week we are looking at verb-noun sentences. You will need to look at the grammar sheets in the resources section below. Read the sheet that tells you about their function first as it gives you some examples. Then watch this video about cats.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YH7uhgPD0gY

The music is great, the video is great, just watch and enjoy!

Task 1 (see sheet 1): Asks you to come up with exciting verbs to describe how a cat moves. I wonder if you could use a thesaurus to help you come up with some unusual ones?

https://www.thesaurus.com/

Task 2 (see sheet 2): Try writing four verb,noun sentences using your verbs. There are some other Year 5 spelling list words you could try to apply. 

A Dark and Stormy Girl

https://padlet.com/matthewkirk1979/8g5pwqv6po0y7vp6

I was keen to move on from Greeks this week because I wanted us to look at a new text for literacy. It is not a text I have used in Year 5 before but I think it is an exciting one and when I read it, it reminded me of  the dramatic style of writing that some of you use when you post on the blog. So I had to share it. I want you to avoid 'spoilers' this week so please just open the documents related to the task you are currently on. 

This is a text where you will need to use your 'inference and deduction' skills to read between the lines, looking at key words and phrases to see if we can ascertain the meaning that the author has buried for us within its pages. 

If you open the files for Literacy Day 1-4 in the resource section, the tasks should be contained in the files and the Padlet will be a working space where you can use to share your work and ideas. If you prefer you can print off the presentations and annotate them then that is totally up to you. I hope you enjoy the texts as much as I did. 

Open the Book
I have posted these on the home learning site before, but I know that there is so much on there now that things can be missed. Pleased find the first three worships from open the book with their stories. You could watch one a day or save one till next week and the week after. We have been watching them in school as well. I hope you enjoy them.

Jesus and the marvellous picnic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58SlKdl1Hb8&t=2s

Jesus parable of the big party

https://youtu.be/_VoWYPMSXyI

Jesus and the children

https://youtu.be/NSVwTV7q5cM

And finally ...

Somebody posted a Maths problem on my social media this week that I thought was rather good. I would love to share it with you and see some of your answers and explanations. Send them to clatfordhomelearning@gmail.com if you work out. This isn't one to panic about finishing, but one to try if you think you'd enjoy the challenge of explaining it. 

Remember: The perimeter is the length of all of the sides added together. 

Tip: You do not need a ruler or printer to solve this.

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Video Meetup Update

This morning was exceptionally emotional and very exciting. I loved seeing everyone and hearing about how they had got on during the lockdown. Whether you managed to attend or not yourself, there is a presentation below for you to look at with details of our Haiku challenge. Feel free to send multiple entries. If there is space I will use them all and if not, I will choose the best bits. Deadline for entries is next Friday (the 19th of June).

Thank you again for joining in so well and making it feel special for everyone!

Mr. Kirk

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***IMPORTANT NEWSFLASH***

Good morning everyone! Just to let you know, that when I checked Mathletics this morning I noticed it was yhour busiest week on there yet with more people gaining certificates than in other week, so I wanted to say thank you and well done! It also dawned on me that, since I was shouting about it today, there were a couple of people who have achieved a golden certificate during lockdown that I hadn't even mentioned yet on the page. One of which was back in March and somehow I missed it! This is a terrible oversight on my part for which I apologise but I would like to make sure that we celebrate today with the following people for all their hard work:

Without further ado:

Bronze certfiicates this week: Ella, Ella, Noah, Will F, Bailey, Chloe, Ava, Milly, Ander, Evelyn, Anatolij, Lilly, Finley, Luke, Billy, Lola and Molly!

Silver certificates this week: Bailey, Anatolij, Billy and Lola. 

And finally. 

GOLDEN LOCKDOWN MATHLETICS CERTIFICATES 

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Finley and Shaylee

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(with special mention to Ander as well, as he earned his earlier in the year. It doesn't tell me how close he is but it wouldn't suprise me to hear that he is closing down on a second!)

Absolutely incredible result everyone. Just another moment this year when Year 5 have made me say wow!

Mr. Kirk

Meetup Week – Class Five are Back! - 8th June 2020

I am excited about several things as we start this week. Firstly, I am excited about out Ancient Greek topic. There is lots more we can be doing with Ancient Greece as the subject is vast, but this will be our last week with that is our main focus. I think the task this week will provide a different challenge to the ones we’ve had this week so I look forward to seeing what you come up with. I am incredibly excited about Tuesday and seeing lots of you. I have had emails from lots of the class already and I am hoping it is a really great catch up. As a school we’re still learning, but If it goes well, it definitely won’t be the last time!

So a couple of the usual things to mention:

Maths: Nobody has mentioned that they’ve tried the Nrich task from last week but if you have, let me know by Tuesday to say you had a go, or whether you enjoyed it, and I’ll be sure to show you the next one you can be doing. In the meantime, please continue with Mathletics, Purple Mash and White Rose. Mr. Bennet has also provided spellings this week which are in the files section below. I know the class page is becoming very long, but I have left all the previous weeks up in case anyone is working through the previous learning in retrospect. However, as of next week, I will start removing old content from the bottom of the page.

 Final Greek Week – A Microchallenge

We could go on studying the Greeks till Christmas and still be enjoying it I think, but as this is our last week with having them as our main focus I thought it would be good to finish off with a mini-project. I would like you to help me create a library of Greek books about the topics that we haven’t had time to learn about yet in Ancient Greece. The trouble is that we don’t have a lot of space in school to keep a whole library of books and so I think we need to create something a little smaller.

The British library has set a challenge this week to create some mini books and the following link has a guide on how to do that. I would like you to create your own tiny project book about one of the topics we haven’t covered yet in Ancient Greece.

You can choose one of your own, but here are some of the things you might like to choose in order to get you started:

• The Battle of Marathon
• The Olympic Games
• The Twelve Tasks of Hercules
• The Birth of Democracy
• Greek Mathematicians and Philosophers
• Greek Theatre
• The Iliad and the Odyssey
• What did the Greeks leave behind we can still see today?

Stage One – The Research

I can’t give you one website to look at for this, as there are many topics you could have chosen, but I highly recommend starting with the BBC website for the main points. From there you could ask questions to drill down into the stories and find out more. You could also use Youtube Kids (with an adult’s permission) to watch some of the videos explaining these ideas. Again, feel free to share what you find out on the Padlet.

https://padlet.com/matthewkirk1979/xdtpja2juap8te70

Stage Two – Making the Book

This is where I will refer to the experts who explain it much better than I ever could.

https://www.bl.uk/childrens-books/activities/make-a-miniature-book?utm_campaign=68309_SCHOOLS_ChildrensBooksPrimarySchool_20200602&utm_medium=email&utm_source=The%20British%20Library&dm_i=5JXV,1GPH,11HNO0,5ERY,1

There are plenty of pictures and examples on there for you to enjoy and see what’s what, as well as detailed instructions about how to make one yourself.

Stage Three – Sharing the Book

Several options here. However, I suggest we all use the Padlet for this as it seems to be working well.

https://padlet.com/matthewkirk1979/xdtpja2juap8te70

One way you could share is by using the Padlet to share pictures or descriptions of the book you have made, or maybe an evaluation of which parts were successful. However, you could make a video and upload it the Padlet, showing your book and explaining how it was made as well as sharing some of the information you have included in it. This part is wholly up to you but I would love it if as many of us as possible could all share something, no matter how small.

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UPDATE 1/6/20

I have had a great morning catching up with emails and pieces of work that have been sent in. I had a lovely myth from Ander (see the files section below)and an amazing project from Gabriella amongst others. I also had some truly incredible news from Luke.

"Luke recently entered the south west of England TAGB championships. In the absence of competitors being allowed to travel to an arena to take part, Competitors were asked to submit a video of themselves performing there patterns appropriate  to the grade they are at. Luke entered under the red belt section and we found out yesterday that he came 3rd! This is the first top 3 ranking Luke has ever achieved and means that when it is safe to travel, he will receive a medal for his achievements.  There were 236 competitors entered over 12 divisions."

To compete at such a high level for any sport is nothing short of amazing to me, but to hear that he managed to attain such a high rank absolutely blows me away! Well done Luke, everyone at school was incredibly excited by your news and recognise this as being a superb achievement that is testament to all of your hard work and practice. Well done!

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We’re back! - 1^st June 2020.

I hope everyone had a fantastic break last week. I have really enjoyed reading all of your myths. If you haven’t finished your myth yet then please spend some time doing it this week and sent it on or post it on the padlet. I have really loved seeing them and, by flexing our author muscles, we can keep our brains in shape ready for starting Year 6 in September.

As usual, I have included this weeks White Rose Maths in the file section. Some people have commented that the format of these can be a bit boring, which I totally understand. However, the program is very good at making sure we’re all on track if we follow it well and has a fab mix of Maths skills for you to practice. With that in mind though I have included an extra investigation for you to do from NRich this week. I’m looking forward to seeing how you get on with it. Here it is:

https://nrich.maths.org/1150

You will need to use your knowledge of what a square number is and what a prime number is. If you can’t remember those well then I expect you are sat there wishing there was a song to remind you. You know what? There is!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qAc22WxsWA

Purple Mash will also be as usual this week with a range of activities including some daily reading and comprehension work. I also continue to top up your Mathletics activities (which I’m sure you’ve noticed) so you should have plenty to do there as well.

Day One and Two

Continuing with our Ancient Greece theme this week, we are going to be exploring two of it’s city states. These ‘states’ were like miniature kingdoms all within the area of Greece. Sometimes these Kingdoms got on and sometimes they didn’t. Some of them were wildly different from each other. As usual I have created a padlet so you can get the benefit of reading things that other people have discovered about them.

You can find it here:

https://padlet.com/matthewkirk1979/xdtpja2juap8te70

You can go either order here but the goal is the same. I need you to find out all about the Greek states of Athens and Sparta. They were wildly different, massively interesting and both left a lasting legacy that can still be felt across the world today. I wonder which state was more successful?

I would like you to do some reading, watching or both. I would like you to take some notes please and post them on Padlet to say what you have found out. There are some questions on the padlet to prompt you but please don’t let them stop you finding out even more. The more you can discover and share, the easier your task on Day Three will be.

Athens

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar8S6virCwM

https://www.dkfindout.com/uk/history/ancient-greece/athens/

Sparta

http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/staff/resources/background/bg1/home.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7V1a1I5BL0

Day Three – Letters from Athens

I want you to imagine you are a from a family in ancient Athens. You can choose whether you are writing as a boy or a girl, as I know they led very different lives. I would like you to write a letter to your cousin in Sparta telling them just what life is like in Athens. You could say what you wear, what jobs your family has, what you like to do and also anything you want to complain about … particular anything that you think is fair or unfair.

If anyone gets time this week it would also be fun to write a reply from your Spartan cousin, saying what life was like there. Even if you don’t manage this, is definitely a good idea to think about how the Spartan cousin reacts to reading this letter you have written.

Day Four – Sparta Needs You

I want you to design a poster today, to try and convince people to come and live in Sparta. What are the benefits of living there? How could you hint at the things that might not be so good but turn them around to sound fun. Isn’t it great to live in a place where the children are never hungry because they can eat all the food they can manage to steal?

Day Five – Athens vs Sparta

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-aKfaPRw0Q

This is it! I want you to pick a side and write a persuasive paragraph on the padlet to explain why you would rather live in Athens or Sparta if you could choose. Once you have written your ideas, then check back later. It may be that you can add some counter-arguments to what other people have written. Every year that I do this, a different city state is the winner. I wonder who it will be this year! Enjoy!

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BANK HOLIDAY UPDATE

Have a fantastic week everyone. Thanks for all the myths and music last week ... a lovely range of creative pieces that showed me you're definitely still working and learning well. Well done to Lola for her charity work last week. I'm back in school from June 1st but don't worry, even though the teachers are back at school, we'll still be setting plenty of bits on Purple Mash and Mathletics as well as sharing the White Rose resources. Don't forget to check on the Year 5 page on Monday for next week's learning. 

In the meantime, I have had a message from Mrs. B this week which she asked me to pass on. I had shared the lovely myths that people sent me and she had this to say:

"I'm missing Year 5 , hoping everyone is ok, I saw some beautiful, interesting creative written work of Y5 . Keep up the good work!"

Missing you all very much and sending you positive thoughts and prayers. 

Mr. Kirk

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Good Morning Class – Monsters and Myths Week

(Learning for May 18th 2020 - Summer 5)

Somehow we are approaching half term fast and it is time to bring our myths and legends writing to an end. We are going to be making monsters and myths and hopefully having a lot of fun doing it. All the teachers at school have started to get excited that it might be safe to see some classes back in a few weeks, and I’m just as excited that the Year 5 family are still carrying on with their activities and working hard together with our learning like we always do. I will be saying prayers this week for all those adults and children who have continued to be in school during this unusual and challenging time. As the weeks go on, it becomes more and more important to remember all the different parts of our school family until we find a way to come back to school safely. 

Please remember over the next few weeks to take some time to look after your body and mind. I know lots of you have been doing daily exercise which is fantastic and more important than ever but don't forget to look after your emotional wellbeing too. Take some time to draw a picture, look at the clouds, meditate, sing, dance or whatever it is you prefer to do to make you feel happy inside and out. There are plenty of ideas on our Clatford wellbeing page. I am sure you have been already but just in case you haven't .... don't forget! 

Maths: I think it was our busiest week on Mathletics yet last week. Ava and Ander get massive congratulations for earning their Silver Certificates which made me absolutely beam when I checked in. Amazing work. I know that to do that involes a lot of hard work and dedication. The just as amazing thing was that we had 18 bronze certificates in the class last week. I was BLOWN AWAY! Well done Shaylee, Mia, Ella, Ella, Charlie, Noah, Will, Chloe, Ava, Sophie, Ander, Evie, Harry, Anatolij, Finley, Will, Lola and Molly! You all make me feel incredibly proud!

https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/year-5/
As usual please continue following the White Rose Maths home learning, which runs alongside the BBC program as well. In the documents section this week I have left all of the worksheets to go with the lessons each day. Sorry for getting confused and putting the wrong ones on last week! We’re still on fractions and this week it gets more brain-stretching. With that in mind I will repeat my important message from last week …. Which Ella may smile when she reads as it is the key message on the cover of one of her favourite books.

DON’T

PANIC

Some of Year 5 Maths can be a challenge and for some people and that is totally ok. Just do what you can and remember that when we get back to school your teachers will go through this again if you need it. Never panic and remember that, just by practicing something every day, you are doing an amazing job and your teachers are very proud of you! Every bit of practice helps, whatever it is. Here is a song about adding fractions which I am sure you'll enjoy singing along to as much as I did! If you get too stuck there are plenty of tables you can practice and number facts ready to smash those certificates when we get back to school. You’re doing an amazing job!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjmHXxqzSVA

Spellings: The spellings are in the document section and this week have been set by Mr. Bennet for you. He misses you all lots and is excited for all your practice.

Purple Mash: As usual I will be setting Purple Mash activities every day next week. There should be reading to do, multiple choice questions about the text and extra writing opportunities. When you finish your Todos feel free to have a go at any other activity you wish though!
 

*****************UPDATED 10:15 18th May**************************************************

Just in this morning: Purple Mash currently have a computer game design competition. This looks like really good fun for a project. Check it out in the documents section. Totally optional but seems like it might be interesting.

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A quick note about the blog. I didn't check it much last week and, as a result, found it full to the brim this morning with lovely comments and pieces of work. A great place to share your writing and offer feedback to friends. Well done everyone.

This week, in our themed work, we will continue our focus on Myths and Legends. 

Part One 

Monday, Tuesday,

Monster Making

https://padlet.com/matthewkirk1979/xynvl89s6syctzwh

https://padlet.com/matthewkirk1979/64c3lmll8glwc4gx

I have linked your Padlets because this week is where your research is going to really pay off. Last week you all designed Greek heroes (if you didn’t, you may wish to do that now as you’ll need one for this week’s activities) and now we need to design some monsters. Later on this week we will be writing our own myths and your hero will need a horrific problem to solve. However, I thought we’d have a little fun with this. I have created an extra column on the second Padlet for you to work on.

First of all I’d like you to create your Monster and draw a fun picture of it. You could have different types of heads, tails, legs … whatever you like really. Think about what it likes, what it eats, how it acts and (most importantly) what an unusual weakness might be. Write a few sentences underneath describing your monster to remind you of these things later, or you could label it which would work just as well. If you can, take a picture for the Padlet. I love seeing them.

Next, I want you to write a letter to Hades. Hades has put out an advertisement for a new monster to guard the gates of hell and he is looking for someone to sell him. How can you persuade Hades that your monster is the best in the letter? Could you talk about his guarding abilities? How disgustingly he likes to maim attackers? His unusual strength, features or ferocity? I wonder which of you is the best monster salesperson. Good luck.

Part Two 
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday

Myth Moulding

There are lots of ways that you could plan your myth. When I plan myths I like to use the following prompts:

Hero:

Sent on a quest because:

Gods who like my hero:

God who might oppose my hero:

Where my hero starts their quest:

What is their first challenge:

How do they resolve their final problem:

What happens at the end:

Is there a clever or tricky twist?

Does your myth contain tragedy?

Is there a moral or message?

You might add some more categories that make sense to you or just choose the ones that are important. Sometimes I think I will add some categories about the monsters or villains my hero might face. Some people prefer to start in the middle of a blank sheet of paper like a mind map and spiral out their ideas. This works really well too. I have left you some more examples of myths in our documents section this week to remind you of what some good ones look like.

Word choices are really important in our myths and I really want us to challenge ourselves with our writing this week. I have left some word mats for you to use in the document section that might help you come up with ideas. Maybe add some of the words you choose to your plan, or particular metaphors you wish to use, in order to make it easier when you come to writing. I am also looking tor you to use your best possible punctuation.

Then … write your myths!

As it is half term next week, you have till June the 1^st to actually finish planning and writing your myth. How far you go is up to you but you could add chapters, pictures, a cover or just make it as exciting or as impressive as you like. You can share it with me on the blog, on the padlet, on Purple Mash (I will create a document for you to write in that should appear this week) or just email them to me on: clatfordhomelearning@gmail.com.

I am excited to read them all and I hope you enjoy writing them. 

Have a fantastic week!

Mr. Kirk

Message from Mrs. Haynes!

Hello Class 5,

I hope you are all well and finding things at home to keep you busy!

I am missing you all at school and hope that we will be back together soon .

Keep smiling ! 

Mrs Haynes

Good Morning Class - Trojan War Part 2 

(Learning for May 11th 2020 - Summer 4)

What a fab week last weel! Thank you so much for everyone who got to the end and completed their Paris diaries. I really enjoyed reading them. I tried leaving people some audio comments last week on Purple Mash so I hope that they worked if you got one of those! It was all new to me and I shall continue to do my best with them, leaving them whenever I can find a quiet time to do so!

Maths: Please continue following the White Rose Maths home learning, which runs alongside the BBC program as well. In the documents section this week I have left all of the worksheets to go with the lessons each day. We have a big focus on fractions this week again. As this is the case, I will also be setting fractions work on Mathletics this week, so you may get an activity you have done before but it should come up as a fractions activity when you login. Good luck and don't forget to draw pictures to show your fractions to help you understand them. Watch the videos here. 

https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/year-5/

Also remember:

Some of Year 5 maths can be a challenge and for some people, I know that fractions can be a brain-stretch. Do what you can and remember that when we get back to school yout teachers will go through this again if you need it. Never panic and remember that, just by practicing something every day, you are doing an amazing job and your teachers are very proud of you! Every bit of practice helps, whatever it is. Here is a song about adding fractions which I am sure you'll enjoy singing along to as much as I did!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjmHXxqzSVA

Spellings: The spellings are in the document section and on Thursday a quiz should appear on Purple Mash for you to test them. Have fun and bring on the challenge!

Purple Mash: As usual I will be setting Purple Mash activities every day next week. There should be reading to do, multiple choice questions about the text and extra writing opportunities. I have cleared your todo lists as some of them had gotten very busy, so it should be easier to see the bits to focus on. When you finish your Todos feel free to have a go at any other activity you wish though!

This week, in our themed work, we will continue our focus on Myths and Legends. 

Part One 

Monday, Tuesday

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/ks2-primary-history-ancient-greece-odysseus-and-the-trojan-horse/z6v78xs

The link above has a story and a recording of the tale of the Trojan war from the point of Hermes. Read the story and have a listen to it as well. 

I would like you to think about the following things and add to our Padlet this week. 

https://padlet.com/matthewkirk1979/64c3lmll8glwc4gx

1). If there was a main hero of the story ... who would it be? What are the qualities that make this person the hero?

2). What do we learn about Hermes from listening to his version of events? Try and use the evidence to create phrases that tell us things about him from the story. 

"We think that Hermes was kind because....:"

"I think Hermes may have been brave because he says ...."

Once you have had a go at that, maybe you could find some facts about Hermes from some other sources to tell us more. 

3). The story, whatever its origins, has certainly survived for the best part of 3000 years. What, if anthing, do people learn from it? What do you think makes it such an exciting story that people still enjoy it 3000 years later?

Part Two 
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday

Theseus and The Minotaur

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/ks2-primary-history-ancient-greece-theseus/zkvqkmn

Here is another great tale from Greek mythology. If we were in school we would definitely have had a go at creating some plays and dances to go with this, but sadly that cannot be. Now we have had a listen to a few stories I want you to try and write a list of qualities you think go into making a truly great mythical hero/heroine. What should a Greek hero/heroine do? What shoul their skills be? What qualities should they possess. I will leave you a checklist on PM to see what you think. 

Now, have a go at designing your own Greek hero ready for writing your own myth next week! See if you can find some Greek names and choose a good one for your hero/heroine. We will be using your new character next week when we begin to write your own Greek myths so I think it would help you if, along with your hero description you also draw or find a picture to represent what your hero or heroine looks like. Try and write a clear description in paragrahs. The more detail you have, the better your story will be. 

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Update 12th May

It was pointed out that yesterday I uploaded the wrong week of White Rose hub resources to link to the videos on their home learning website. Many apologies for being out of synch. Please find both sets of sheets in the documents section below. If you have already started the weke 5 materials you will have a head start for next week! 

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Update: 7th of May 2020

I know I originally set work for Friday this week. Please only do it if you want to, and instead focus on enjoying the bank holiday and VE day celebrations! That seems far more important. Well done for the hard work on Purple Mash this week. Also well done to Lola, Finley, Luke, Ella and Sophie for earning their Mathletics certificate this week. Good job everyone and keep on learning. I will update the page again on Monday with next week's learning!

Mr. Kirk

Good Morning Class and Happy May!

(Learning for May 4th 2020 - Summer 3)

May the 4th be with you! 

(Now we aren't in the classroom you won't need to listen to me making that joke all day!)

Well done for your top trumps! I have added the completed document with ALL of the cards i recieved to the documents section below this message. Some people have used slightly different categoried to others, which is fine, but with a few home-modifcations you will have a working set. I would love to see a picture. Just upload it to our gallery padlet so we can all see! Good work Year 5!

https://padlet.com/clatfordhomelearning/vr211m1n64dvfo76

note: I think I have them all, but if you've sent it to me and I have missed it from the pdf please accept me apologies and let me know on clatfordhomelearning@gmail.com

Maths: Please continue following the White Rose Maths home learning, which runs alongside the BBC program as well. Next week this service will become premium based, but the school have subscribed to this and I will post the activities from it onto our class page here. 

https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/year-5/

It was also great to have a Silver Certificate in the class from Mathletics this week! Well done Will T! Always good to get some extra practice there as well! Keep up the good work. 

Spellings: Mr. Bennet has kindly sent me the spellings for this week. Please find them in the documents section and ask an adult to test you on the Friday. 

Purple Mash: Topic and Literacy are linked this week as we investigate myths and legends. I will also be setting daily reading and comprehension challenges on purple mash, alongside other tasks, as always. Make sure you look at notifications to see what is new. Chloe and Ella were Purple Maths champions last week completing lots of activities on there and Sophie and a few others weren't far behind. Well done everyone!

This week, in our themed work, we will begin our focus on Myths and Legends. 

Day One - Investigating Myths and Legends

What are legends?

A legend is a semi-true story, which has been passed on from person-to-person and has important meaning or symbolism for the culture in which it originates. A legend usually includes an element of truth, or is based on historic facts, but with 'mythical qualities'. Legends usually involve heroic characters or fantastic places and often encompass the spiritual beliefs of the culture in which they originate.

What are myths?

A myth is a story based on tradition or legend, which has a deep symbolic meaning. A myth 'conveys a truth' to those who tell it and hear it, rather than necessarily recording a true event. Although some myths can be accounts of actual events, they have become transformed by symbolic meaning or shifted in time or place. Myths are often used to explain universal and local beginnings and involve supernatural beings. The great power of the meaning of these stories, to the culture in which they developed, is a major reason why they survive as long as they do - sometimes for thousands of years.

I have set up a padlet for you to see how many stories you can find that are myths and legends. See if you can find one of each and put them in the correct column.

https://padlet.com/matthewkirk1979/64c3lmll8glwc4gx

Day Two

https://www.storynory.com/helen-of-troy/

Read the story about Helen of Troy. Which category do you think this fits into? Can you explain why you think it is a myth or why you think it is a legend? Whaty features does it have? On purple Mash you should have a blank checklist appear in your task list so you can record which you think it is and why. Also record any questions you have after reading the story.

Day Three and Four

Diary entry. I wonder how Paris felt about being put under pressure by all the goddesses? Could you write a diary for Paris about how he saw the events in our story? Try and imagine you are him and include examples that tell a reader how he is feeling. What exciting words could you use that will make sure a reader wants to read more. I would love to feel some real emotion coming through as he makes his choice of what to do with the apple. Don't worry if you don't finish the whole story, I would rather have an amazing segment full of rich language than have a long diary with no emotion. You should have a task appear in Purple Mash but if you prefer to write on paper or on the blog then that is fine as well. 

Day Five

Review the piece of writing we have been reading this week about Helen. Did it grip you? Was it confusing in parts? Which words and phrases were effective? If you had written it, what do you think you would have changed? 

Also

What clues were there in the myth about how the greeks lived and what was important to them?

Summer Term - Week 2 - 27th April 2020

I was overwhelmed by some of the lovely work I had sent in last week! You have really outdone yourselves. I had stunning Greek Brochures, I had Mathletics champions and I had people completing lots of activities on Purple Mash. I put some of them up onto the home learning gallery for you all to enjoy! I want to welcome our new member of the class this week who has already completed lots of her learning and said hello on the blog. She has definitely started her Clatford journey well! 

One of the things I have enjoyed doing during isolation is playing games. Maybe you have too. I had an idea where Class 5 might be able to collaberate and make a game together. This might work and it might not but either way I hope we manage to do some learning on the way. 

Task: Greek Gods Top Trumps

Part1  : Research (Monday and Tuesday)

Now we have looked at modern Greece, it is time we stepped back a long time in the past. The Ancient Greeks lived nearly 3000 years ago and are still fascinating to historians like us today. Their mythology and religion were colourful, characterised and exciting, containing many stories and an in depth family tree. We are going to focus in on some of those stories over the next few weeks, but this week we are going to find out about some the names you are likely to hear in those stories! 

For today, I would like you to find out some basic details about as many of these characters from Greek Mythology as you can and  just write one or two sentences about them. You could also add a picture to go with each one. See if you can share it on the padlet (noticeboard) below so everyone can see what you have found and build on each others ideas. The padlet is moderated which means until I see the post, it won't appear, so don't panice it it doesn't come up straight away. I am hoping it will be a useful way for us to work together. 

I have organised the padlet into columns. I wonder if you can share facts about your characters in the correct place? You could start by finding out about the Gods and heroes mentioned in the links below. 

Here is the padlet to share your ideas:

https://padlet.com/matthewkirk1979/xynvl89s6syctzwh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJCm8W5RZes&t=24s

Here is a youtube video with many of the Greek Gods. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z87tn39/articles/zgt7mp3

Here is the BBC page about Greek mythology. Beware, the clip at the bottom of this has violent scenes. 

Part 2: (Wednesday)

I would like you to do a deep dive research into one of the characters from yesterday. You could choose anyone you like including monsters, gods or heroes. See if you can find some stories about them to read and discover some of the things they have done. You could add the information to the padlet too. 

Part 3: (Thursday and Friday)

Your task is to design a top trump card featuring your chosen character. The card can be A4 size but needs to have all writing and pictures big enough to see when we shrink it down later. It should have an exciting picture in the middle. It should have it's name, largely written and clearly at the top. It should have number values for Strength, Magic and Intelligence, rated betweem 1 and 10. 

Here is an example of Athena. You can see she has some number values, a large name, a colourful picture and some extra information. Except that the three areas I want you to use to rate your card are Strength, Magic and Intelligence. You could copy the design if you like. On the padlet there is a place to upload your completed cards, which is the column on the far right!

Now my plan will be that, as soon as I get enough emailed back in, or posted on the padlet, I can create a group file with lots of them to send out and you can have your very own set of informational Greek top trumps made by your friends. Doing two each would be even better and make the deck more exciting. I can't promise we'll have enough for a full game, but even if we don't we'll still have some fun this week finding things out and creating our cards I hope!

Good Luck!

As always I have refreshed the activities on Purple Mash and Mathletics for this week so please check those out if you get a chance as well as all of the videos on our youtube channel. There is a whole heap of things to have a go at on the Clatford Home Learning part of our website too.

For maths this week could you please use the White Rose resources for decimals and fractions, Summer 2. 

https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/year-5/

Also, if you get a chance, have a go at this est-mystery from Steve Wyborney!

https://stevewyborney.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Esti-Mysteries-01-The-First-Mystery.pptx

Have a brilliant week and I look forward to seeing all of your Top Trumps. 

Happy Easter - 6th April 2020

I can't believe that it has been two weeks already since I was last sat at the front of Year 5. I miss everyone lots and look forward to learning with you all again soon, whatever that looks like and whenever that is. It feels strange to think that it is the Easter holidays already, but that is where we are. On the learning from home page on our school website I have put up some activities you might like to try over the break. I hope you enjoy them. 

As we lead up to Easter I would normally be talking to you all about the concept of Sacrifice as part of our RE. The Easter story tells us all about the sacrifice that Jesus made to save everyone. Sacrifice is when we make a choice to give something up to help other people. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wnbo2AmS3OI

The following video shows the middle part of a story called "the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," where one of the main characters makes a sacrficie and gives his life to save one of the children. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ6VAGyhWXM

When I watch that video, there are parts of it that make me feel sad. I wonder if that means the sacrifice that the lion makes is not a good idea? Or is it still important even though it makes people feel unhappy?

Here are some of the questions about sacrifice we might have been thinking about if we had been at school:

- When is it the right thing to make a sacrifice?

- What day-to-day sacrifices do people make for each other?

- Who makes sacrifices for you? What sacrifice do you make for others?

- What examples of sacrifice can you find in stories and in history? What about the bible?

- Why is the sacrifice that Jesus makes in the Easter story so important to Christians?

Maybe over Easter you could reflect on the answers to these questions and either talk to your families about then or share them on the blog?

Wishing you a happy and healthy Easter. Remember that by the end of the Easter break we will be two weeks closer than now to things being back to normal!

Mr. Kirk 

Home Learning Week 2:

Hello everyone! 

I have set extra actiivites on Purple Mash this week. I particularly enjoyed reading people's branching databses and seeing children's online safety work.  Well done to everone who has managed to get some of those finished from last week. I have also really enjoyed reading your blog posts, they are truly fantastic and however much you do it really helps you keep practicing your writing. Well done. 

I would love it if lots of children in Year 5 could have a go at the 'Love challenge' on this week's home learning for the school. It would be great to see some examples of love that everyone has seen on the noticeboard for me to talk about in next week's worship!

https://padlet.com/matthewkirk1979/ac918b28sg1y

In Maths this week I would love it if you could pratice your division. It would be really exciting if everyone came back to school feeling confident with the bus stop method. I have added practice sheets at the bottom of the page with all the other documents. 

I have a new blogging challenge for you this week as well:

I want you to choose and share a favourite poem. It could be funny, happy, sad, long or short. I even quite like silly poems. However ... undermeath your poem I want you to try and write a paragrapg explaining why you have chosen to share it or what it means to you. You could talk about particular lines or metaphors. You could write about the structure of the stanzas in the poem. You could choose to talk about the theme and how it had an impact on you as a reader. Good luck!

General activities:

(and previous weeks)

https://schools.fairtrade.org.uk/resources/type/activities-and-games/#page-1 This has a lot of resources related to fair trade, which links to our current geography work. Children have been learning where our food comes from and about places where it is grown.

https://nrich.maths.org/search/?search=equivalent&tab=1&fs=111110000000111 In Maths one of our big challenges is to become more familiar with equivalent fractions. The Nrich website has some great games, problems and puzzles for children to play.

I also highly recommend https://whiterosemaths.com/resources/classroom-resources/barvember/ for a range of challenges problem solving activities, where the visual modelling is explained clearly to support parents and children.

Your child will also have their individual logins for Mathletics and Purple Mash on which I will be setting learning tasks across a range of subjects. Please note that Purple Mash logins will only work once your child has selected Clatford School from the list of options on the Purple Mash homepage. Or just follow the link https://www.purplemash.com/sch/clatford to take you directly to our school portal.

The blog is up and running and I will be checking this often!  My first challenge to you all is to write me a story that begins with the following opening:

Keeping watch at the side of the ship, George was tiring; his eyes weary from constantly searching the horizon, were they also playing tricks on him?  What was that waving from the rocks? 

I hope you all stay healthy and happy. Remember that although some of us may be ill, isolated or feeling sad. We are still a big Clatford family! We'll all be back to school together before you know it!

Mr. Kirk

Year 5 

Year 5 is an important year during which we look to develop the whole child with regards to self-esteem, leadership, teamwork, independence and maturity. In Year 5 we have responsibilities for some whole school jobs and need to remember that now we are in Upper Key Stage 2 there are a lot of younger children looking to us for guidance in the school. In Year 5 we work hard to build a class charter that embodies the Christian values of Clatford School, and stick to it.

Literacy development is a key area in year 5. Children will need to develop the complexity of their sentences, using wide ranges of conjunctions, as well as by developing the fluency and range of their punctuation. We also strive to develop our writing to make it the best it can be, through drafting, revising and editing before producing a final piece. It is important as well that over the year the children continue developing their love of books and choose more challenging literature both inside and outside of the classroom.

In Numeracy we try to use and apply our mathematical strategies and calculations independently when solving mathematical word problems. We consolidate our existing knowledge in different areas and build on these blocks to develop our understanding to the next level. This should include children working towards their bronze and silver times tables badges; a deepening understanding of decimal numbers (including tenths, hundredths and thousandths) and a developing security with the more formal calculation methods for the basic operations.

Our main topics this year include The Ancient Greeks, Rivers, Egypt and Fair-Trade. We visit the river Selbourne and also go away on our Year 5 residential in September. The residential is certainly a highlight to Year 5 and it is there that the children make the biggest leaps in independence and maturity (as well as leaping between high ropes!) The children work with their peers through a series of exciting and physically demanding activities that will test them and help develop their confidence and self-esteem, as well as giving them opportunities for developing their responsibility.

Year 5 is about learning and through every day, with the help of all of our Clatford Learning Friends, we know that by the time children leave they are ready to be the oldest in the school.

This Half Term!

Currently, at the end of this half term we are enjoying our study of Beetle Boy, a text about a mysterious disappearance. The children have been writing news articles about the facts, producing narratives about what may have happened and even writing encylopedia entries about different species they have found. Why not check out our blog to learn more!