Year 6

Welcome everyone and Happy New Year! There are lots of exciting new things to learn over the Spring term, and I cannot wait to be back in class!

• Our PE days will now be Wednesdays and Thursdays. Please, make sure you bring your PE kits back to school as soon as you can. These will stay in the school for the rest of the term.
• Wider Ops is still on Fridays, so instruments need to be back in school every Thursday. Children can take them home with them every Friday to practice.
• Homework challenges are already on this page, and weekly homework will be uploaded every Friday afternoon. Please, email all complete homework to the school office so I can check it.

Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow!

Mrs Bellas

Homework

• Passport to the world - Ethiopia
• Daily reading - at least 30 minutes per day
• Daily spelling and arithmetic (see weekly work attached below)
• Instrument practice

Homework Challenges

Maths

Route Product

There are lots of different routes from A to B in this diagram:

The idea is to work out the product of the numbers on these different routes from A to B. Let's say that in a route you are not allowed to visit a point more than once. For example, we could have 3×0.5 but we couldn't have 3×2×5×4×1×0.1 because that route passes through A twice.

• Which route or routes give the largest product?
• Which route or routes give the smallest product?
• Can you find two different routes that give the same product?
• Do you have any quick ways of working out the products each time
   

Literacy

Here is an extract from the film “Avatar”. In this clip, we are introduced to the planet Pandora. Using the information and images on this video, create a poster with key facts and pictures about the planet, including information about its location, landscapes, minerals and living organisms that you can find in the planet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBGDmin_38E&t=184s

Science

Shadow puppetry is considered the oldest form of puppetry in the world. It began 1,000's of years ago in China and India.  A lamp on the puppeteer's side of the stage provides the light: the audience on the other side sees the moving shadows. Cut-out areas within the figures allow light to shine through, which show facial features like the eyes or mouth, and help define clothing.

Contemporary shadow puppets may be made combining a variety of materials including paper, plastic, wood, coloured theatrical lighting filters, cloth, feathers, dried plants or found objects ranging from silk scarves to kitchen utensils. 

Your challenge is for you to create your own shadow puppet show. Make your own puppets using a range of materials. You could test transparent, translucent and opaque materials when creating your puppets, and write your own script or use a story you like. In the clip below, shadow puppeteer Manju Gregory shows how to make and create a shadow puppet show.
 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/clips/z87jmp3

Religious Education

In the Offertory, we bring our gifts to God. What gifts can you give to God where you are? Think about how you can show love to your family and the people around you, how you use your talents to help others and make the world a better place… Then, represent your gifts in a creative way (a drawing, letter, sculpture, photograph, prayer…). Be mindful of those gifts while you create your project and spend a minute appreciating them when you finish.

Send a picture of your creation to the school office so we can create our own Offertory corner in the classroom to use during our prayer time.

Reading together at home

Evidence suggests that children who read for enjoyment every day not only perform better in reading tests than those who don’t, but also develop a broader vocabulary, increased general knowledge and a better understanding of other cultures. Sharing a book with your child allows you to share adventures and experiences in the safe world of the book. It allows you to ask questions, talk about what has happened and decide what you think together, as well as sharing quality time together. 

For these reasons I will be share here the books we will read in class every half term, so that if you wish you can read them with your child at home. This half term, our Literacy work will be based on these two books:
 

"Greta's Story: The Schoolgirl Who Went On Strike To Save The Planet" by Valentina Camerini - It’s 20 August 2018, late summer in Stockholm, and it feels incredibly hot in the city. The TV news reports rising temperatures, and there have been numerous fires throughout Sweden. Fifteen-year-old Greta Thunberg decides she can’t wait any longer: politicians have to do something to save the environment. Instead of returning to school, Greta takes a placard and goes on strike in front of Sweden’s parliament building. This is her story, but also that of many other girls and boys around the world willing to fight against the indifference of the powerful for a better future

“The Last Wild” by Piers Torday - Kester lives in a land in quarantine. A deadly virus has killed all the animals except pests and it's expected to be equally dangerous to humans. But when Kester realises he can talk to the pests, he finds they have great hope invested in him.

Times Tables Practice at home

It is essential for children to know their times tables fluently in order to access Maths confidently in Year 6, as well as to improve their pace. For this reason, they should practice their times tables at home daily. Not only they need to know their multiplication facts - they must be quick at recalling them in order to succeed. 

The website http://timestables.me.uk/ is a free site where you can set up automatically generated online times tables test, with an option to print them. You can select:

• The amount of questions you want them to do.
• The times tables that you want to test them on.
• Whether you want them to practice multiplication facts, division facts or both.

This is a fantastic resource for children to practice their times tables daily. At the end of the test, you will get a summary of your child's results, including how many questions they got right / wrong, the time they took to complete them and the answers to the questions they answered incorrectly. It is a great tool for children to improve not only their knowledge of the multiplication but the speed at which they recall them. Challenge them to beat their own score / time - they are always willing to improve their results!

The big question for the Spring term is...

How Long Will It Last?

Curriculum - Spring Term

This term, we will be learning about:

• History and Geography: Sustainability
• Science: Light (Spring 1) and Electricity (Spring 2)
• Design and Technology: Design and construct using recycled materials
• Physical Education: Netball and Dance
• Art and Design: Derek Gores and collage (Spring 1) and Sculpture (Spring 2)
• Computing: Computational Thinkers (Spring 1) and Network (Spring 2)
• Passport to the world: Ethiopia (Spring 1) and Ukraine (Spring 2)

Waffle

If you would like to see some of the adventures Waffle has been going on, please go to our 'Waffle' page on the children section of the website where you will find a special message along with some pictures!

Sing Up at Home

If you enjoy singing and would like to learn a new song, follow the link below to visit the Sing Up at Home page. There will be a new song uploaded along with a performance track and backing track each week including pointers and tips on how to sing the song successfully.

Good luck and happy singing!

https://www.singup.org/singupathome/song-of-the-week

Numeracy

Throughout the year, Year 6 will be considering the question below...

We will be focusing on applying their numeracy skills to solve reasoning and real life problems. Children will deepen their understanding of the 4 operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) and how they can be applied to the world around them.

Things to remember!

• Wider opps is on a Friday morning.
• Check Edmodo everyday.
• Spelling test is every Friday .
• Arithmetic test is every Friday.
• Read every day, and remember to get your reading diaries signed!

Don't forget to read every night and have your red books signed!

Try: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/maths/