Unit 4 (Year 5 and 6) Spring 1 2020 Newsletter
'Does My Vote Count?'
Learning Experience Rationale
Last month saw a general election bring in a new government. This event brought about many questions from the children in Unit 4 regarding the campaigning, build up and outcome of this event. This Learning Experience hopes to answer many of those questions and give the children a better understanding of the country they live in and how the government works for them. This Learning Experience will build on learning from: their Ancient Civilisation work both in Unit 3 and 4 (Vikings, Romans, Mayans); their understanding of the school council, and will build on their knowledge of the difference between democracy and autocracy (life in Nazi Germany).
Learning Experience Hook and Outcome
Hook – Trip to the Houses of Parliament (22.01.2020)
Outcome – A Political Broadcast (Why you should vote). Children will create an Adobe Spark Video to persuade people to vote and engage in politics.
To develop an understanding of maths mastery, it is important to explore different ways to show understanding. This develops a more resilient mathematician. This half term, we will focus on using imagery to better show our understanding of Multiplication, Division and Fractions.
This half term, the children will be writing to persuade. Following our hook, children will understand the importance of Democracy and how our Parliament system works. This will enable them to speak with confidence on the subject of why it is important to vote and engage in politics.
From this, children will then write to persuade the teachers to choose the cause Unit 4 campaign for in Spring 2.
Here is a range of vocabulary we will be using this half term, from the everyday words that link to the Learning Experience, to the more subject specific terminology:
Tier 2: System, Party, Speaker, House, Opposition, Cabinet
Tier 3: Democracy, Electorate, Candidate, Campaign, Government, Prime Minister, Election, Lobby
Science – Living things and their habitats
ICT – Coding (What are algorithms? How do they differ from codes?)
Spanish – How do I order in a restaurant?
RE – What is Islam?
This half term, in our Class Assemblies, we are learning about the British Value of Democracy and how it links with teamwork.
In Assemblies we are learning why Independence is important.
Reading at Home
Here are some suggestions of books which link in with this Learning Experience:
The Accidental Prime Minister - Tom McLaughlin
Vote for Me! – By Ben Clanton
The Election – By Elanor Levenson and Marek Jagucki
It is important to share and discuss books with your child at home, even if they are a confident reader.
Music, art, poetry and film as part of this Learning Experience
-The art of Banksy – research examples online.
-A useful video about parliament to explore at home ‘An Introduction to Parliament’:
A creative piece of homework with the subject of Parliament. This could be:
- Fun facts about parliament
Dates to remember
*Friday 17th January – Lego League Trip
*Tuesday 21st January – Spanish Group Trip to Churston Grammar School
*Wednesday 22nd January – Houses of Parliament Trip
*Friday 7th February – Homework to be shared in class
Welcome back and Happy New Year!
This term, we welcome Mr Collins who will be joining Eagles this term as part of his Teacher Training with Plymouth MarJon University.