Drop Down Morning
On Friday, it was Topic Drop Down Morning. Year 5 and 6 joined together for these sessions: History, Geography and Art.
In History, we recapped our knowledge about the Stone Age to Iron Age and Ancient Egypt. The children had to match the significant element to the time period.
To finish off the lesson, Year 5 and 6 needed to decide which civilisation was the most advanced and why.
Help at home: Which time period do you think was the most advanced? Give 3 reasons why.
In Geography, we looked back at out climate change unit. The children needed to match key vocabulary to their definitions.
We then read a kids guide to climate change. The children had to create retrieval questions for their partner to answer.
In our final session of the morning, Year 5 and 6 revisited their art learning – looking specifically at visual and tactile elements. Small groups were given an element each and they had to draw or write something to represent their given word.
Help at home: Can you name all 9 elements?
They then had to match significant artists to their artwork. To finish the lesson, they described the artwork using the visual and tactile elements.
Living & Learning: Body Image
In our L&L sessions in Year 4, we’ve been looking at and discussing body image.
We began by thinking about the word ‘beauty’ and what it can mean. It’s important to realise that…
Everyone’s idea of beauty is different.
We talked about how media and advertising can make us think that beauty is to look one way or another.
However, some of these images may have been edited or changed to look a certain way. So, it is important that we do not compare ourselves to the images that we see online. Not everything we see online is real! We looked at two images and identified the edits that had been made between them.
We then thought about ourselves and how we are all beautiful in our own ways.
Help at home: watch this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpM499XhMJQ ) and have a discussion about it. Reinforce the idea that not everything we see online is real.
Summer 2: Week 5
Nell Bank
We had a fantastic day on Wednesday learning about the importance of recycling, hunting for bugs and making houses for the baby badgers. The children’s behaviour was impeccable and their enthusiasm and knowledge was amazing.
Library books
Please return all library books for the end of the school year.
Health week
Next week, is our second themed week of the year. We’ll be taking part in various healthy activities. Your child can come to school in their PE kit all week.
Living & Learning: body image
Our latest Living and Learning sessions have been focussed on body image and we started this learning by thinking about what is special about our own identity and how we can describe our own identity in terms of our physical appearance.
Our self portraits show just how unique we all are.
We also thought of other ways we might be different, on the inside as well as the outside. For example, we don’t all have the same personality and characteristics and we have different interests and hobbies.
We agreed that being different is a good thing and it should be celebrated as it would be boring if we were all the same!
In our circle time, we thought about good things about ourselves…
I am alive.
I can be on stage confidently.
I have a good imagination.
I care about the environment.
I care for others and help my friends.
I am funny.
…and what we like about our bodies.
I am flexible.
I like my long hair.
I am unique.
I can see and hear.
I like my eye colour.
My brain helps me think.
Help at home: discuss this learning with your child. Encourage them to think about their strengths and what they like about who they are.
Living and Learning: body image
During the last two Living and Learning sessions, Year 3 have been discussing body image.
We started off by discussing the word ‘beauty‘ and what that means to different people. We realised that…
Everyone’s idea of beauty is different.
We talked about how media and advertising can make us think that beauty is to look one way or another.
However, some of these images may have been edited or changed to look a certain way. So, it is important that we do not compare ourselves to the images that we see online. Not everything we see online is real!
We thought about ourselves and how we are all beautiful in our own ways. Help at home: Reinforce the idea that not everything we see online is real. Can you think of something you love about yourself?
It can be on the outside or inside.
“I am beautiful because…”
Now try it with someone else at home.
“You are beautiful because…”
Science: We are biologists!
In our next science unit, we are biologists. Biology is the study of living things.
In this week’s lesson, we dissected a flower called Alstroemeria. We labelled the different parts and discussed which of them make up the male and female reproductive systems. Have a look at our work:
Help at home: Label the different parts of the flower.
Science: an EGGcellent experiment
In Science, Y4 have been looking at teeth. It’s really important that we look after our teeth because if we don’t, they can decay.
Sugar creates a sticky substance, called plaque, which can build on your teeth and become a home for bacteria. This bacteria can lead to tooth decay. The protective layer of the teeth (the enamel) can wear away.
Certain food or drinks that are high in sugar or acid can damage our teeth and we must have them in moderation. To explore the effects of different liquids on our teeth, we conducted an EGGciting experiment.
We used the following drinks in our experiment:
Coke, vinegar, orange juice and water.
We conducted an observation over time to see the effects of these drinks on our teeth. However, instead of using real teeth for this experiment, we used eggs! An egg shell contains calcium – the same mineral that is found in our enamel (the protective layer on our teeth).
After leaving our eggs for 3 days, we removed them from their liquid and observed the changes.
The effects of these drinks were clear to see!
- The coke stained the eggshell brown.
- The orange juice decayed the outer layer of the egg shell.
- The vinegar caused the egg to grow in size and become bouncy and translucent.
What we can take away from this learning is that sugary or acidic food and drink can be harmful to our enamel. We should always brush our teeth twice a day, visit the dentist regularly and cut down on the amount of sugar we have to protect our teeth.
Help at home: try this experiment again at home but use different liquids to see their effect!
Trip to Temple Newsam
Year 2 have had a wonderful day today visiting Temple Newsam Farm! We started off the day with a look around the farm and a visit to the playground.
Before lunch, we had a lovely walk around the park and saw some ducklings on the pond.
After lunch we headed back to the farm to see some teeny tiny piglets, some were just 2 days old! We learnt that despite their stereotype, pigs are one of the cleanest farmyard animals. This introduced our Design and Technology workshop about the Three Little Pigs. Pigs make nests to live in, so we decided to make some structures, much like the houses in the Three Little Pigs. We had to construct our own structure out of sticks (just like one of the three little pigs!). We tried really hard and we were really impressed with their structures.
We were very impressed with the children’s behaviour, engagement and attitude all day. They represented Moortown Primary impeccably.
WE HAD AN AWESOME DAY!!
Living and Learning: relationships
For the last few weeks, our Living and Learning lessons and circle times have been all about happy and healthy relationships between our friends, peers and families.
When thinking about our families, we thought about how we show we care for each other. We read some texts about how not all families are the same and that is ok. The children enjoyed sharing special members of their family.
The Great big book of families by Mary Hoffman
We have already learnt about consent in terms of permission seeking when online but here we thought about it when we are with others. We practised showing how we give and don’t give consent and how we can also change our mind if we want to.
Finally, you will have seen the children have brought home the NSPCC Pants Underwear rule. We revisit this important learning every year.
Help at home: read the NSPCC pants underwear rule with your child/children and think about how this keeps you safe. This parent guide is available too.
D&T: making a prototype go-kart!
Design brief:
To design and build a prototype go-kart.
Design criteria:
- must move freely
- must be able to hold a model figure
- must use an electrical circuit for motor
Challenge:
To use a steering mechanism.
The children designed their go karts using annotated sketches. These included dimensions and components. This week, they began building and they made a fantastic start.
They each had a role within their team:
- an organiser of the components
- a builder
- a design checker
They worked very well in their groups too. Help at home by listing three skills someone needs in order to be a great team mate.