Have a look at what we’ve been learning…
As part of our English lesson we have been looking at the Highwayman. Today the class recited and presented the poem in front of the class. Have a watch of our performance below!
Year 5 have been enjoying their animation lessons at Wolsingham Secondary school. They have been using PowerPoint to make their own comical characters which the will later animate.
This week we have been reading and understanding the Highway Man by Alfred Noyes. Today, with our student teacher Miss Merryweather, the children worked in groups to identify the features of the poem including metaphors, repetition and rhyming patterns.
Science – Separating Materials
As part of the unit, we looked at how we could use our understanding of the properties of materials which we have learnt to separate mixtures. We were given four mixtures to sort: rice and paper clips, dried pasta and salt, salt and water and sand and water. We looked at the theory of distillation and filtration as well as sieving and using magnets to help us separate the materials.
Science – Testing Solubility
In Science, we tested the solubility of materials. We had four different substances to try out in our test tubes: sand, salt, hot chocolate and caster sugar. We then investigated whether they would dissolve by putting them in cold temperatures and observing. We then thought about how we could extend our investigations later and will put this into practic
e at the end of our unit.
Over the last few weeks, Year 5 have been focusing on the horror genre. They have been watching Alma in class and building up their descriptive and suspense writing. To end their writing, they recorded their final stories to create an audio book. They then added sound effects and pictures to go alongside their story using the iMovie app. Have a listen to their stories here.
Science – Testing Conductivity
As part of our materials unit, we looked at which materials have electric conductivity. This means whether they would allow electricity to flow through them when part of a working electrical circuit. We learnt that this is important information to know when dealing with electricity to keep ourselves safe. We also experimented with thermal insulators. We tested different materials to see which one’s would keep their heat the longest. After measuring the temperature every five minutes, we found that foil was the best insulator.
On Wednesday we showcased our dance that we have worked hard to choreograph as part of our Dance unit in PE over the last half term. The children did a fantastic job of showing their dance based on a circus theme which included miming, mirroring of pairs, group performances and solo dancing. Well done Year 5!
Design and Technology
Over the half term, we have been investigating biscuits. We have done a whole school survey on what our favourite type of biscuit is and we have tasted a selection from the supermarkets. We were given a brief to match and we used the internet to come up with a design for a biscuit to match our customer’s needs. Today, we used our mathematical knowledge to calculate what ingredients we need to make 12 biscuits to create our masterpieces. We were only given a basic recipe and had to work out when to add in flavourings, how much of it and what equipment we would need to bake them successfully. Afterwards, we decorated them. They were all delicious!
We have been looking at opposing forces in Science. Last lesson, we looked at air resistance and designs of parachutes. This lesson, we looked at water resistance and how different shapes can affect how much water resistance there is and therefore how quickly something travels through water. We predicted that a cone shape would have the least water resistance and would travel the quickest due to its streamlined shape. Some of us found different shapes but we wondered if it was because of the weight of the shape!
Over the last few weeks, Year 5 have been looking at Vincent Van Gogh’s painting ‘Starry Night’. They have been looking at how Van Gogh creates texture and detail in his paintings. Today, they had one of the strangest lessons ever! They used tools such as knives, toothbrushes, forks, sticks and spoons to see what textures they could create. They will then use the successful ones in their art when they recreate the painting.
In Science, we have been looking at forces this half term. One of our investigations was into the factors which affect air resistance.
Each group chose a factor to investigate and made three different parachutes based on that factor e.g. different shapes and sizes. They then launched them from the top of the climbing frame to see which one traveled the slowest and, most importantly, the safest! We found that the larger ones and those that covered more area created the greatest air resistance to provide a safe journey down.
Science – Weight v Mass
In Science, we have been looking at forces. In today’s lesson, we read about Isaac Newton and how he discovered gravity. We then investigated the idea that weight and mass may be two different things. We weighed different objects using measuring scales and a Newton meter. We discovered that mass is our weight regardless of where we are. However, our weight depends on the gravitational pull we are experiencing. Therefore we would weigh a lot lighter if we lived on the moon as there is less gravity compared to Earth. If we lived on Jupiter, we would have a greater weight as the planet has a greater gravitational pull!
Our Solar System Assembly
Well done to Year 5 for their fantastic assembly based on the solar system. All of the children spoke clearly.
Kensuke’s Kingdom – The Final Chapter
Our work in English has been leading to us writing our own last chapters which are packed full of description and emotion with correctly punctuated dialogue. To get us started today, we became Michael and Kensuke and acted out the scene when Michael spots the Peggy Sue coming to rescue him. We will then plan our last chapters based on this and write them up using DADWAVERS to make sure we have everything we need in our writing!
Same But Different
This week we have been celebrating diversity with our Same But Different week. We read lots of books and had lots of discussions about what makes us different from one another and how different families can be. We also talked about how we can respect other people’s differences and about the different types of bullying. The children completed a range of activities over the week and finally dressed up in all different colours to celebrate diversity on Friday. We thought we’d gather together to create a colourful heart to show our respect for all types of people.
In English, we have been enjoying reading Kensuke’s Kingdom as a class text. We have been developing our understanding of character and describing, not just appearance, but mannerisms and personality. To help us get into two of the characters’ shoes, we acted out an imagined scene from the book and created a freeze frame! Have a look to see what emotions we might be showing!
This week, we had a visit from British Judo. All the children from Reception – Y6 took part in taster sessions on Monday and Tuesday morning. The children thoroughly enjoyed the sessions and it gave the children a chance to try a different sport. Keep an eye out for photographs of the sessions appearing on the website.
If your child would like to take part in more Judo sessions, there is a new Judo club opening in Willington and all the information is on the flyers that were given to the children after their taster session.
A big thank you to Ian from British Judo for running the sessions.
Over this half term, Year 5 will be going to Wolsingham School to learn Photography as part of their transition into Secondary School. This week, the children researched different types of perspective using their ICT skills and then had a chance to go out around the grounds to take some pictures thinking about height, linear and focused perspective.
Newcastle Reform Synagogue and the Planetarium at the Centre for Life
Year 5 thoroughly enjoyed their trip to Newcastle. They spent their morning in a real synagogue, dressing up in worship outfits and reading from a genuine Torah which was more than 200 years old! Our hosts were very impressed by the level of questioning from the children.
In the afternoon, the class then went to the planetarium where they learnt about the different star constellations and more about the planets.
Today, to help us practise some of the skills we have been finding difficult, we did a carousel of activities based on spelling, grammar and punctuation. It included expanding our sentences with prepositions and adverbials in Stretch a Sentence, practising our Year 5/6 Common Exception Words, a Dictionary Corner to expand our vocabulary and writing sentences using the correct homophone.
This afternoon, Year 5 used their historical investigation skills to investigate five primary sources from the Aztecs. They explored the artefacts and came up with their own ideas about how they think the objects would have been used and by whom. Most managed to guess the ocarina, which we found out was a wind instrument from the time and some even tried to play it! Can you spot which one you think may be the ocarina?
Today, whilst the sun was shining, we decided to seize the opportunity to investigate the question ‘How can we tell that the Earth is moving?”. Throughout the day, we tracked the sun’s movements. We measured the length of the shadow, measured the angle of it and recorded our observations of where the sun is in the sky using a compass. We will be using these results to explain how the Earth rotates in our Science lesson!
Year 5 have been working on multiplication and division in Maths this week. They looked at finding the lowest common multiples of numbers and then today factors of numbers. To help us work out all the factors of given multiples, we played a game where we had to seek out the hidden factor in the cones. It was good fun!
As part of our Science topic, we learnt about the scale of the solar system. We started off selecting an appropriately sized ball after we had researched the diameter of the planets. Next we had a competition to see which group could answer questions about the characteristics of the planet the quickest. Afterwards, we looked at each planet’s distance from the sun and used toilet roll to help us develop a scale. Working out a scale of one sheet to 50 million km, we had to use 90 sheets to create our own scaled solar system!
Year 5 & 6 Bottle Festoon – Lumiere Durham 2019
Fifteen of our Year 5 and 6 pupils worked with a local artist at Wolsingham Library to make icicle-like chandeliers for Bottle Festoon – an exhibit that will be featured at the Lumiere Festival. The plastic waste was carefully shaped into a spiral, coloured and joined to make a chandelier. Our pupils managed to produce two complete chandeliers, which was an impressive achievement.
Just So Stories
Year 5 have spent the first few weeks of term becoming familiar with Rudyard Kipling’s work as an author. We have read the Jungle Book and now his Just So Stories. We have been practising our subordinate and embedded relative clauses by using the latter and have produced our very own version of ‘How the giraffe got his long neck’. To finish our unit, we then did lots of story telling practise with each other before creating our own narrated animations using Puppet Pals. We then shared our work with Reception and Year 1. To watch our videos, please click here.
Problem Solving Challenges
We’ve had a fun filled first day back to get into the swing of things again today. We started off writing speeches for the school council and electing the members. On the afternoon, we did some team building and played lots of different games such as communicating silently to order ourselves in different ways; leading our blindfolded partner through an obstacle course; carefully emptying ‘radioactive isotopes’ into a bucket as a team and working together to flood a ball from a drainpipe! We discussed what skills we needed to be successful in these challenges and will hopefully use these in the future to work as a team in other school activities.
Welcome Back Year 5!