Things to think about over the holidays.....

We will not be printing a formal homework letter over the holidays as we know that it is a busy time for a lot of you. However, mathletics has been set and we also ask that you find out as much as you can about the Stone Age as this will be our topic when we come back to school in January. You may wish to prepare a poster or a powerpoint presentation to show to the class.

 

Have a very happy and restful holiday and see you in 2015!

Homework due 12th December

Homework: Week beginning 8th December 2014

This homework is all due by Friday, 12^th December.

 

Spellings

Mathletics

Please let us know if your child cannot access Mathletics.

Literacy

Please continue learning the words for our Christmas carol performance.

Science

Choose an animal and research their life cycle. Draw a labelled diagram to demonstrate their life cycle to present to the class. Try to include scientific language where possible. 

Topic- to be done on the blog.

 

The Ancient Greeks made huge achievements in terms of their architecture. Can you find three examples and describe their features? You might like to sketch these.

Homework

Homework: Week beginning 1^st December 2014

This homework is all due by Friday, 5^th December.

Spellings

Mathletics

Please let us know if your child cannot access Mathletics.

Literacy

Please could you start learning the words of our Christmas songs.

Science

As part of our ‘Living Things’ unit, we will be looking at the work of animal behaviourists and natural scientists such as Charles Darwin, Jane Goodall, David Attenborough and Steve Backshall. Please research an animal behaviourist or natural scientist and write a short biography of them. Where have they worked and what have they found out?

Topic- to be done on the blog.

 

Choose two characters from an Ancient Greek myth and write a descriptive passage for each. One of your characters should be a mythical beast. You may want to sketch the characters too.

Topic homework

This week we will be learning about democracy, which was invented by the Ancient Greeks.

 

What does 'democracy' mean? Which other forms of government were there in Ancient Greece and what can you find out about them?

Homework due Fri 21st November

Homework: Week beginning 17^th November 2014

This homework is all due by Friday, 21st November.

Spellings

 

Mathletics

Please let us know if your child cannot access Mathletics.

Literacy

This week we are continuing to develop our persuasive writing skills. Your task this week is to write a persuasive response to this question:

Is it a good thing to ever try and persuade somebody to do something?

Science

Our science topic this half term is ‘living things’. This week we will be focusing on birds and migration. Can you find out which birds migrate? Where do they go from and where do they go to? Write a factfile for one of these birds to present to the class.

Topic- to be done on the blog.

This week we will be learning about Pythagoras, one of the first Greek mathematical thinkers. His famous Pythagorean Theorem  (Pythagoras theorem) found out something amazing to do with right angled triangles. Can you find out what it was? Write it on the blog!

 

Homework

Homework: Week beginning 10^th November 2014

This homework is all due by Friday, 14^th November.

Spellings

 Mathletics

Please let us know if your child cannot access Mathletics.

Literacy

This week we are developing our persuasive writing skills. Choose one of the following to write a short persuasive text to the government to:

-ban smoking in public parks

-ban the use of animals in circuses

-ban homework from teachers

Remember to use the persuasive features of writing ( e.g imperatives, patterns of 3, repetition, alliteration, rhyme, boastful language and personal appeal.

Science

Our new science topic this half term is ‘living things’. Can you look around your local area and see what types of non-flowering plants you can identify. Make a sketch of one to show to the class and try to find out the name of the plant.

Topic- to be done on the blog.

This week we will be learning about the Trojan war. Please research and prepare some interesting facts that you find to present to the class next week.

Homework letter

Homework: Week beginning 13^th October 2014

This homework is all due by Friday, 17th October.

Spellings

 

Mathletics

Please let us know if your child cannot access Mathletics.

Literacy

This week in Literacy we will be writing our very own mystery or suspense story based on all the work we have been doing with Zelda Claw. To help you prepare to write your story, make a word bank full of wow words you would like to use this week. Use a thesaurus to help you improve your vocabulary choices.

Science

We will be investigating rockets this week in Science. How do rockets work? Write an explanation. You can draw diagrams to help you explain how they work too.

Topic- to be done on the blog.

 

We have been looking at lots of important people from Ancient Egypt and we have been discussing what they achieved in their lifetime. What do you think is the greatest achievement of the Ancient Egyptians?

 

Poetry week!

5MD have had a very enjoyable poetry week! We have read, written and listened to a variety of inspirational poems which has resulted in some amazing work from the children. They have worked extremely hard and have used various poetic techniques and a huge heap of creativity to produce some wonderful writing- well done to EVERYONE!

Benjamin Zephaniah

We watched the award winning poet and author Benjamin Zephaniah performing his poetry in order to pick up tips on how to perform our own poems and discussed how he was inspired to write. The class have a book signed by the author which I hope will inspire them to keep writing!

Homework letter

Homework: Week beginning 6^th October 2014

This homework is all due by Friday, 10th October.

Spellings

 

 

Mathletics

Please let us know if your child cannot access Mathletics.

Literacy

This week in Literacy we will be rewriting a familiar story in our own way. Please choose a short story or fairy tale that you know well and rewrite it, changing some of the elements such as setting, main character or ending.  Can you create some suspense in your story? Remember to try to include tools from the suspense toolkit you created, such as:

-      Some short, punchy sentences.

-      Unsettling noises and sound effects.

-      Rhetorical questions.

-      Use the senses to describe setting and the character’s feelings.

Science

We will be investigating the gravity levels in our solar system this week. Draw a parachute descending to Earth and label it with the forces that are being applied. It may help to use arrows. What else can you find out about gravity on Earth, the Moon or any of the planets?

Topic- to be done on the blog.

 

What do you know about the pyramids in Egypt? Where are they located? Who built them? When and how were they built? What were they used for? Let us know on the blog!

 

Homework

Homework: Week beginning 29^th September 2014

This homework is all due by Friday, 3^rd October.

Spellings

Spellings will be tested on Friday

 

Mathletics

Please let us know if your child cannot access Mathletics.

Literacy

This week is poetry week! Can you write out and illustrate your favourite poem ready to bring into class next week to share. Write a paragraph about why it is your favourite poem too, refer to how the poem makes you feel and the poet’s use of language.

Science

Take a journey into the depths of our Solar System and discover 2 of the planets in more detail. How far will you travel? Where will you go? Your task this week is to choose 2 of the planets from our Solar System and to write a fact file about each one. Remember you can choose any of the planets, including Pluto as a Dwarf Planet. You will need to draw and label the planets. Remember, if you want to do this on the computer, or any other way, you can. Happy Travels!

Topic- to be done on the blog.

Next week, as part of our Ancient Egyptian topic, we will be learning about Ramses II. Please carry out some research answering the following questions:

-Who was Ramses II and why is he still so famous today?

-From your research, why do you think he is so often called ‘Ramses the Great’?

Homework letter

Homework: Week beginning 22nd September 2014

This homework is all due by Friday, 26^th September.

Spellings

Spellings will be tested on Friday

Mathletics

Please let us know if your child cannot access Mathletics.

Literacy

Next week we are beginning a new Literacy topic. Read this extract from a story and try to answer the questions below:

A door banged. Claire jumped. What was that? It wasn’t Mr Jakes because she could hear him whistling at the other end of the playground. Out of the silence, she heard steps. Somebody was coming closer. Somebody or something was coming down the corridor. Nearer. She stood still, so still that even the tables and chairs froze with her. Carefully, she peered round the edge of the door. A shadow slipped, quick as a knife, into the next room. Claire clenched her fist around the pen, her heart racing.

1)      What type of genre do you think this story is?

2)      What makes you think that?

3)      What adjectives can you spot that make this story exciting?

4)      What do you think will happen next?

 

Science

Does the length and direction of your shadow change throughout the day? We will be doing an experiment next week, testing the length and position of our shadows during different times in the day. Write a prediction for what you think will happen and explain why you think that.

Topic- to be done on the blog.

We are game developers in ICT this term. On the blog write about a computer games that you like. How do you play it? What is the aim of the game? How do you think the creators made the game?

This week's homework

Homework: Week beginning 15^th September 2014

This homework is all due by Thursday, 18^th September.

Spellings

Spellings will be tested on Thursday

Mathletics

Please let us know if your child cannot access Mathletics.

Literacy

Imagine you are Elizabeth I on the day you have been locked in the Tower of London. Write a diary entry as Elizabeth I, remembering to describe thoughts and feelings. Can you include some interesting adverbs?

Science

Why and how do we experience day and night? Draw a diagram and explain in your own words what is happening to the Sun and Earth during day and night.

Topic- to be done on the blog.

Did you know that Elizabeth I passed a law stating that everyone had to wear woolly hats on Sundays? How many fascinating facts can you find out about the terrible Tudors?

Homework letter

Homework: Week beginning 8^th September 2014

This homework is all due by Friday, 12^th September.

Spellings

Spellings will be tested every Friday.

 

 

Mathletics

If your child cannot access Mathletics at home, please let us know. Thank you!

Literacy

Choose any person (famous person/friend/family member) you admire to write a biography on.

Include the features of biographies (past tense, 3^rd person, introduction, chronological order).

Science

Keep a ‘moon diary’ this week. Watch the moon each evening and record your observations (size, shape, time of day it can be seen).

Blog topic homework

Please visit your class blog to complete this homework if you have access to the internet. Leonardo da Vinci was a famous artist around the time of the Tudors. What can you find out about him and his most famous pieces of work. Share your most interesting facts with the class on the class blog.

Welcome back 5MD!

Welcome to the new school year! I hope you all had a great summer holiday and are rested and revived, ready for the year ahead.

I will add to the blog throughout the year. Children and parents are encouraged to contribute to the blog and to share their work, views and ideas. At least one homework per week will be completed on the blog for this purpose.

This year you will receive a homework letter on Fridays, which will contain details of all homework tasks for the week, all of which will be due in on the following Friday. This gives you the opportunity to complete tasks at a time which is convenient for you and which fits around any commitments you might have outside of school. The first of these letters will be distributed on Friday, 5th September, with the homework due in on Friday, 12th September. You will not receive a homework diary this year and instead will receive a Reading Record diary which should be completed every day with details of reading that has taken place at home. Messages to the teacher can also be passed on this way if required.

I am very much looking forward to the year ahead and hope that you are too!