THIS WEEK IN YEAR 5/6...

Christmas has arrived at Down Hall!  The tree is up and the postbox is already being used.  Christmas jumper day next Friday! Ho ho ho!

Homework pages:

English: Y5 p48-49     Y6 p44-45

Maths: Y5 p50-51       Y6 p50-51

This week in Year 5 and 6...

Most of Year 5 and some Year 6s attended and performed at Rayleigh Lights this week. We were all a bit nervous at first. The songs that we sung were O Little Town of Bethlehem, Auld Lang Syne and The 12 Days of Christmas. The teachers were proud of us just like all of our parents. All of us were full of pride when we stood up there and for our performance. 

By Amy and Josef (Year 5)

The homework pages this week are:

Year 5: Maths page 23 and English page 86

Year 6: Maths page 13 and English page 88

This week in 5/6

This week started off with an assembly by Mr Richards for Anti-Bullying Week which supports Article 39: You have the right to help if you've been hurt, neglected or badly treated.

We have used this stimulus when writing this week in English. The children read a story about a girl called Frankie who was being bullied at school. We discussed the scenario in class and what Frankie should have done. After this, the children have then written the story in their own words focusing on using dialogue to convey character and advance action.

We also had a non-uniform day today for Children in Need.


The homework pages this week are:

Year 5:   Maths page 15 and English pages 62-63
Year 6:   Maths page 25 and English pages 56-57

This week in 5/6 ... 2.11.18

In Maths this week we have been looking at the written methods for addition and subtraction. We will be continuing this next week and then moving on to multiplication and division. 

Our school calculation policy can be found here: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1F37T8TVQJWNXBybkRKWEFZNkE/view

You can support your child at home by following our calculation method and playing a game that the children have been playing in class this week called dicey operations: (More ideas are available on the Nrich website)

Take turns to throw the dice and decide which of your cells to fill.
This can be done in two ways: either fill in each cell as you throw the dice, or collect all your numbers and then decide where to place them.
 

Game 1

Each of you draw an addition grid like this:



Throw the dice nine times each until all the cells are full.

Whoever has the sum closest to 1000 wins.

There are two possible scoring systems:

• A point for a win. The first person to reach 10 wins the game.
• Each player keeps a running total of their "penalty points", the difference between their result and 1000 after each round. First to 5000 loses.

You can vary the target to make it easier or more difficult.

Game 2

Each of you draw a subtraction grid like this:



Throw the dice eight times each until all the cells are full.

Whoever has the difference closest to 1000 wins.

There are two possible scoring systems:

• A point for a win. The first person to reach 10 wins the game.
• Each player keeps a running total of their "penalty points", the difference between their result and 1000 after each round. First to 5000 loses.

You can vary the target to make it easier or more difficult, perhaps including negative numbers as your target.

If you do not have dice at home, there are apps that can generate numbers such as 'Dice Roll' available on apple and android devices.

In English this week we have been looking at information texts and learning about tanks that were first used in WW1. Next week we will be continuing this and the children will be writing their own information text.



Homework this week:
English Y5 26-27   Y6 16-17
Maths   Y5 12-13   Y6 7

Year 5/6 The Shakespeare Company Visit

The Shakespeare Company Play

The Shakespeare company are a group that  come into schools and retell Shakespearean plays for kids.  On Wednesday 16th October we were lucky to be able to see MacBeth in action.              

           

Last year they performed Romeo and Juliet to Year five and six and this year they performed MacBeth.

The whole year group were amazed at how they managed to engage all the children in the play by giving them parts. It was also good to see the ways they had to express how the characters might be feeling because of the decisions they made.

MacBeth is a tragedy play so there were lots sad moments and  happy moments.

We would really like to thank all of the actors and actresses that were involved - it really was a great performance!

                                                     By Ruby Noble and Alex Bowyer

We wish you all a very happy half-term break. Please enjoy and stay safe.

Your homework pages are as follows:

English Y5 p 21         Y6 p 8-10

Maths Y5 p 14        Y6 p 12

This week in Year 5/6...

Leading up to Remembrance Sunday, Year 5/6 have been focusing on World War I and World War II in English lessons.  We have written letters from the point of view of a child evacuee and will be writing wartime poetry next week.

Christmas cards will be coming home on Monday 15th October. These will be available to order online. Details to follow...

Please remember parents evening is next Monday 15th and Tuesday 16th.

Fun with Maths!

Last week in Year 5 and 6 we made the most of the remaining warm weather and completed our Math's lesson outside.
This involved the children going on a "Treasure Hunt" to complete clues relating to our work on Multiplication, Division and Place Value.
We loved the fact that the children were able to learn at their own individual pace, whilst having an element of competition too!
Outdoor Learning is a fantastic approach and adds another dimension to our Math's Curriculum.