Our Science Learning Challenge this term will be:
Will we ever send another human to the moon? We will look into our Solar System and the different planets within it. We will also be learning to describe the movement of these planets, including the Earth, and the Moon. We will learn that the planets within our solar systems are ‘approximately spherical’ and we will investigate why the Sun seems to move across the sky. Year 5 will learn to read, write, order and compare numbers up to 1,000,000 and to know and understand the value of each digit. From this, we will look at how to round these bigger numbers to the nearest power of 10 (10,100,1000 etc.) and how to count in powers of 10. We will also be recapping our calculation skills this half-term, looking at the different written and mental methods we use for the four operations (+ - × ÷). Building on this, we will be using our knowledge of these methods in real-life scenarios and in word problems. We will be brushing up on our mental skills by looking at our times tables up to 12×12, and using them to mentally multiply and divide known facts. We will also be using our rounding skills to help us calculate estimates to answers.
In P.E., 5L will be building skills in Football and Netball. They will learn the basic rules of both games, building up skills and tactics over the term to put these into practise in a game scenario. They will also be looking at floor work in gymnastics; they will create a variety of fluid sequences of movement, whilst learning to control body movements and tension. In Art, we will look at pop art and the work of Andy Warhol. We will look at his style and techniques then create our own artwork based on his celebrity paintings, such as ’Marylin Diptych’ and ‘Liz’. In music, we will be looking at Holst, one of the great British composers and ‘The Planets’ suite. We will compare and contrast each movement and see how Holst portrayed each of the planets differently. We will also use different tuned and unturned instruments to create alien soundscapes. This half-term, 5L will design their own moon exploration vehicles. They will research materials and other craft before bringing some ideas together. They will then evaluate their ideas before building a prototype using a range of materials that we will test on a ‘mock’ surface.
In Computing, we will be focusing on the use of the Internet and how it works. We will look atways we can use the internet to interact and communicate with each other, and look at ways of collaborating with others using our class blog. We will also be looking at search engines, such as ‘Google’ and talking about how they work. We will be learning how to search more accurately for relevant information. As we will be using the internet, we will also be revising the skills we need to use the internet safely and in a respectful way to each other and the wider world.
Our Geography and History Learning Challenge this term will be:
What’s so special about the USA? We will look at different states and cities in the USA and look at why they are visited from people all over the world. The USA’s climate is so varied, and we will investigate where it is different and why. We will also travel through history to meet some famous Americans and discover who were the original ’Americans’.
What are your gifts from God? This half term, we will learn about the story of Creation; God first sharing his love for us through the creation of the world. We will being to understand that we are all made in the likeness of God and that by showing respect for others, we respect God. We will also have the chance to reflect on the gifts and talents God has given us, and the times we fail to use them in the right way.
No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own... 5L will be studying an adaptation of ‘War of the Worlds’ by H.G .Wells, a book considered to be one of the first ‘sci-fi’ novels. We will be discussing the book in context and looking at the characters and how they are portrayed, as well as looking at other sci-fi texts, including comics. Year 5 will also be looking at different genres of writing, including newspaper reports, diaries and explanation texts. This year a weekly focus will be given to spelling, punctuation and grammar. This half term, we will be focusing on: recognising vocab appropriate for formal writing; using adjectives to expand information concisely about a noun; using prefixes and suffixes and silent letters.