Month: October 2014

The Victorian age was only 150 years ago but things were very different in those times to how they are today. It was a time of great change and excitement across Britain but it was also a time of great contrast between rich people and poor people. Rich Victorians lived a life utterly unimaginable to poor Victorians and this difference was a source of inspiration to one of Britain’s finest ever authors – Charles Dickens.

During the next half term, Class 5 will be studying life in Victorian Britain during their history sessions as well as basing their literacy work around one of Dickens’ (and Britain’s) most famous books – Oliver Twist. During November, the class will be completing a mini-project based on life in Victorian Britain and Charles Dickens. As such, any additional research students can complete on these subjects will be fantastically helpful in ensuring a successful unit of work.

In particular, when researching try to focus:

1) the life of Charles Dickens (another helpful link and another and another);

2) the difference in lifestyles for rich people and poor people (another helpful link); and

3) what life was like in a workhouse.

As we will be studying the story of Oliver Twist, try to research this in depth (this links to a very detailed overview of the story – as this webpage has a target audience of adults, only use it as an extension activity).

In Class 5, we need to work on the presentation of our work to ensure that it is of the highest standard.

How we present our work is the first thing we are judged on; poor presentation will immeadiately detract from the quality of the writing. Therefore, it is important that our work always be presented to the highest standard. Look at these four examples of well presented work – what improvements could you immeadiately make to your work to ensure that it is as well presented as possible?

Spelling, punctuation and grammar are the building blocks of good writing. It is essential that we can spell words accurately, use a wide range of punctuation with precision and that our sentences have the correct grammatical structure. Use the links below to improve your understanding, and usage, of key spag skills.

Punctuation

For help understanding and using commas click here

For help understanding and using apostrophes click here

For help understanding and using colons click here and semi colons click here

For help understanding and using dashes click here and hyphens click here

For help understanding and using speech marks and quotation marks click here

For help understanding and using parentheses (brackets) click here

Grammar – Different classifications of words

For help understanding and using nouns click here and pronouns click here

For help understanding and using verbs click here and adverbs click here

For help understanding and using adjectives click here

For help understanding and using conjunctions click here

For help understanding and using interjections click here

For help understanding and using prepositions click here

Spelling

The biggest aid to our spelling would be to learn all the words in the Year 5 Spelling List (see earlier blog entry) as soon as possible.

For help understanding and using common tricky spellings click here

Glossary of Spag terms

Some of the vocabulary used when talking about Spag can be confusing (correlative conjunction anyone!) click here to look up a term that you don’t understand

Click on the following link to find a wide range of multiplication and division questions that will help you improve your calculation skills. Remember to work with an efficient method (a method that enables you to consistently get the correct answer in the quickest time).

Class 5 enjoyed a very informative trip to The British Museum on Monday 13th October 2014. They tried to link the trip to as many different parts of their curriculum as possible. They learnt about traditional sculpture and artwork in Latin America. They learnt about how clock making and telling the time is linked to our knowledge of the planets and the Solar System. They learnt about the usage of Roman Numerals in Ancient Roman times and why still learn to read Roman Numerals today. They learnt about different currencies and money systems, and how different currencies can be exchanged with each other. They also extended their existing learning about Islamic artwork and Islamic beliefs. View the photos below to see images of the things they were learning about.

If you took part in the trip, write a message in the Comments Section below detailing all the things you learnt on the visit.

Extending our work on book reviews, Class 5 are going to learn and recite some of Roald Dahl’s poems. Now that we have read, discussed, analysed and reviewed some of his classic books we are going to look at some of his poems in more detail.  Click here to find lots of examples his poems. Your task is to choose one poem (you may recognise some of the poems, like ‘Pure Imagination’, as songs in film adaptations of the books) and learn it before Thursday’s and Friday’s lessons. You will need to think about the meaning of the poem, as well as it’s theme (is it humourous or frightening for example). Refer to the target audience as well, just like we did with our book reviews.

During the lessons, we will focus on ‘Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf’ as an example. Make sure you choose a different poem to learn and recite, as you will be writing your own poem review (on Thursday) and reciting your own poem to an audience (on Friday).

Before you choose your own poem to focus on, practice reciting the poem below, thinking about the theme of the poem and how that should influence your performance – for example if it’s humourous then it needs to be performed in a humourous manner. Try out your recital on someone at home!

Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf

As soon as Wolf began to feel
That he would like a decent meal,
He went and knocked on Grandma’s door.
When Grandma opened it, she saw
The sharp white teeth, the horrid grin,
And Wolfie said, ‘May I come in?’
Poor Grandmamma was terrified,
‘He’s going to eat me up!’ she cried.
And she was absolutely right.
He ate her up in one big bite.
But Grandmamma was small and tough,
And Wolfie wailed, ‘That’s not enough!
I haven’t yet begun to feel
That I have had a decent meal!’
He ran around the kitchen yelping,
‘I’ve got to have a second helping!’

Work through these activities below to improve your multiplication and division skills:

1. Factors

A factor is any number that can be multiplied to another number to make a total. If you know the times tables calculations then you can use this knowledge to work out factors. The easiest way to understand factors is to work through some examples:

1 x 10 = 10 so the numbers 1 and 10 are factors of 10

2 x 5 = 10 so the numbers 2 and 5 are factors of 10

So all the factors of 10 are 1, 2, 5, 10 (it is common to write the factors out in size order from smallest to largest).

Task: Write out all the factors of 12, 18, 20, 24, 30, 36, 42 (tip – don’t forget that 1 and the number itself are both factors as well).

2. Prime Numbers

Prime numbers have only two factors – itself and the number 1. For example, 7 is a prime number but 6 is not because the factors of 6 are 1, 2, 3, 6 whereas the only factors of 7 are 1, 7.

Question: 2 and 3 are  prime numbers but 4 is not – why is this statement true?

Task: Write out all the numbers from 1 to 50. Circle the prime numbers, explain why they are prime numbers.

3. Square numbers and cubed numbers

A square number is a number that is multiplied by itself – for example 3 x 3 = 9 so 3 squared is 9 you may see it written like this as well – the square of 3 is 9.

Task: Write the square of every number from 1 to 12.

A cubed number is a number multiplied by itself three times. For example 3 cubed is 3 x 3 x 3 = 27. 3 x 3 = 9 then multiply this by 3 to get the answer 27.

Task: Write the cube of every number from 1 to 10.

Extension question: answer these questions (the first one has been completed by way of an example):

1. 2 squared add 2 cubed – first calculate 2 squared (2 x 2 = 4) then calculate 2 cubed (2 x 2 x 2 = 16) then add the two totals together, so 4 + 16 = 20

2. 3 squared add 3 cubed

3. 4 squared add 4 cubed

4. 5 squared add 5 cubed

4. Multiplication Shortcuts

A short cut for when you’re multiplying by 2-digit multiples of 10 (i.e. 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90)

24 x 60 can be calculated by multiplying 24 by 6 (which equals 144) and then multiplying that total by 10 (144 x 10 = 1440).

We can use this shortcut because we know that 60 is comprised of 10 x 6 so any number multiplied by 60 can be multiplied by 6 and then by 10.

37 x 80 = (37 x 8 = 296) then multiply by 10 (296 x 10 = 2960) so the total is 2960

Task: use this short cut to calculate:

56 x 20 =

78 x 30 =

38 x 40 =

59 x 50 =

60 x 68 =

70 x 59 =

80 x 48 =

59 x 90 =

Below is the presentation used during the Class 5 Curriculum Evening on 9.10.14. The presentation details some of the key focus areas that the children in Class 5 are currently working on:

By the end of the year, it is expected that everyone in Year 5 can spell and understand the meaning of all the words in this document – Year 5 Spelling list.

Break the list of words down into manageable chunks (perhaps 5 words per session) and then look up the meaning of any words you don’t understand. After that, practice spelling the words by writing it out three times. Now use the word in a sentence that shows you understand the meaning of that word (don’t forget to include advanced punctuation like speech punctuation or commas to show subordinate clauses).

Understanding the meaning of the texts we are reading is vital to becoming a successful learner – this is why we practice reading comprehension activities frequently. Reading comprehension questions check that we understand what we have just read. Work through these comprehension worksheets to improve your reading skills.

Click here for the first activity.

Click here if you found the first activity too challenging.

Click here if you would like a further extension challenge.

Click here if you enjoy reading poetry and would like to learn more about understanding poems.