In computing this half term, Year 5 have been film makers. Having produced their storyboards, they spent this morning using different filming techniques to shoot their video, from close ups to long shots, zooming in and filming from different heights. We are really looking forwards to seeing the finished results once their film clips have been edited together.
To increase our knowledge of the type of information that goes into biographies, Year 5 have been exploring the (sometimes subtle) differences between fact and opinion using a range of beautiful non-fiction books.
We even found facts about opinions, such as Albert Einstein really didn’t like school, while Abraham Lincoln loved animals.
Year 5 are looking at traditional tales in English, and have been exploring an Ancient Egyptian version of Cinderella called Cinderella Of The Nile by Beverly Naidoo, illustrated by Marjan Vafaeian.
Having looked at similarities and differences between this version and the Brother’s Grimm version, we are now looking at the story in more detail.
We acted out the whole story, and then a roving reporter dropped in to see what the women in the crowd waiting to try the slipper on might have said, and to find out why Rhodopis was hiding in the bushes. We will use this experience to make our speech writing more exciting for the reader.
Today, Year 5 experienced what life was like in a Victorian School. They practised their times tables and handwriting, the capital cities of Europe, and completed drill, which was the Victorian equivalent of PE. Not all of the children adjusted quickly to the extremely strict rules and found themselves wearing the Dunce Hat, and one or two even faced the cane. We even had a go at some Victorian playground games.
Here’s what the children thought:
Year 5 have learned about the devastating effects earthquakes can have, and different design ideas that architects use to try and make buildings in earthquake zones safe. We have used spaghetti and marshmallows, K’nex and Magnetix to see where we could find weaknesses in different structural designs, and how to make the strongest joins. Finally, we used everything we had learned to create replica earthquake proof buildings using art straws, playdoh and masking tape which were tested on our wobble board.
Year 5 have been discovering more about how Victorians lived through exploring artefacts from that era.
We recognised the yo-yo, diablo and spinning top, but couldn’t make that work. The spinning monkey was simple but great fun. It helped us to think about how differently rich and poor people lived. Poor children wouldn’t have been able to afford extravagant toys like rocking horses, tea sets, china dolls or even marbles!
None of us knew what the warming pan was for – we thought it would have been used for cooking on a large fire – or the match lighter, and we thought the whip for the spinning top was linked to the ink well.
Thank you to Mrs Aston’s Mum for lending us the artefacts and bringing history to life!
Year 5 was full of groans, sighs, and triumphant cheers as they put all of their knowledge of forces to the test to create rollercoasters in Science. They had tracks with loop the loops, curved sides and hills. It was wonderful to see their teamwork, discipline, resilience and enjoyment as they problem-solved issues along the way to ensure they got just the right amount of momentum from gravity, before friction and air resistance stopped their marble from completing their track.
Huge thanks to Mr and Mrs Barrow for donating the insulation pipes which made this lesson possible.
Year 5 and 6 enjoyed a virtual visit with best selling author of Diary Of A Wimpy Kid, Jeff Kinney this morning. He showed us how he plans his stories, sharing extracts from his own diaries, and led us in a draw-a-long of Greg.
Here are some of the children’s thoughts on the virtual visit:
Year 3, 4, and 5 were all enthralled by Coventry Inspiration Book Awards winning author-illustrator, Alex T. Smith, and his helper Coco, when they zoomed into our classrooms this morning. Before the event had even started, Year 3 were blown away to see their Winston illustrations on the pre-event slide show!
Alex talked to us about how he writes and illustrates his books, showed us how to draw Winston and read the first chapters of How Winston Delivered Christmas and How Winston Came Home For Christmas. He also told us all about the stories his Grandad used to tell him and some of the ways he and his family celebrate Christmas.
Here’s what some of the children thought:
Year 5 have been investigating Archimedes’ principle, and exploring water resistance and buoyancy.
We each had modelling clay with the same mass and had to find the shape that would float using what we know about about the forces, up-thrust and buoyancy. There were quite a few “Eureka!” moments!
