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Class 5 Blog 2016-2017

11th and 12th July 2017 Virtual Middle School at Pudsey Grangefield

We have just had an amazing two days experiencing life at secondary school when we visited Pudsey Grangefield this week. Here's what Class 5 want to tell you about:

"The science show was awesome, the big bang was really spectacular!" - Amy and Jeevan

"I really enjoyed my media lesson, we played around with Photoshop, editing our portraits." - Thomas

"The science lesson was really good, we burned chemicals in bunsen burners to understand how fireworks are made. We learned about atoms, electrons, proton and neutrons and how they release energy which causes the different colours" - Polly and Daisy

"I thought our history lesson was interesting. We learned all about the Titanic, how it was built,and why it sunk. We looked at evidence to try and work out how it sunk." - Oliver B

"In geography we learned about why earthquakes happened and investigated how buildings are made earthquake proof. We made some prototypes out of marshmallows and spaghetti." - Bethan

"We started our experience by getting together with another school for some P.E. activities: basketball, obstacle course, badminton and gymnastics. My favourite was basketball because I haven't had much chance to play this game." - Karla

"I found my art lesson both extremely amusing and funny because we had to draw continuous line drawings in the style of Alexandra Cauld. We had to draw a random face, and then draw the person sat next to us in just 40 seconds - without looking at them!" - Georgia

 

6.7.17 Wildlife Park WAGOLLs

What a fantastic day we had on Wednesday when we visited the Yorkshire Wildlife park. We went on our trip with our little friends in Year 1  and had a great time sharing our learning and amazement at the magnificent, weird and wonderful animals we saw. Enthusiasm was superb, Year 5 proved themselves to be excellent, caring and attentive role models for the younger children, and perfect ambassadors for Swinnow Primary.  We hope you enjoy these photos of some of our favourite creatures.

29.6.17 Viking Longship Project

Today we completed our magnificent Viking long ships - aren't they superb!

 

 

27.6.17 STEM WEEK - THE SQUASHED TOMATO CHALLENGE

We have been scientists and engineers today in Class 5. We looked at pictures of tomato farmers in Nepal, and the steep and rugged terrain that they have to transport their crops down in order to sell them.  Our challenge was to design and build a transportation system which could move large quantities of tomatoes down the hill and across a river. We thought about the forces affecting the load, and how we could reduce the speed of travel and the impact on arrival at the base station.  Here are some of our design prototypes...

     

26.6.17 ANGLO-SAXON DAY

Wow! What an amazing day we had today. Dressed in Anglo-Saxon costumes, we spent the day as peasants on the land of Lord Rolyat. He shouted commands, threw his food and drink around and ordered us about all day. He had us making pottery and jewellery, decorated with runes, that he could sell to increase his wealth, and he smashed up any that were not up to standard. 

We had to till the land ready for planting, make thatches to roof the buildings, and make soup to please the lord. We finished the day with a contest of strength, and entertainments including songs, jokes and folk stories.

 

WAGOLL 23.6.17

This week our Class 5 WAGOLL is...

Georgia

Click below to read her fabulous film review.

Beauty and the Beast film review by Georgia

 

WAGOLL 16.6.17

This week our WAGOLLs are...

Bethany W, Bethany B, Cameron and Charlie

They worked together fantastically well as a team discussing how to spend their budget, compromising on choices and explaining their reasons for the choices they made. They showed a real understanding and maturity when deciding how much of their total income to spend and save, and whether different things were good value. They worked systematically to calculate their expenditure and remaining income, and presented their work beautifully too.

My Money Week 12-16th June 2017

In Class 5 we have been learning about budgets. We discussed what a budget is, and made sure that we understood the terms income, expenses, savings and debt.  We thought about the difference between our needs and wants, and then had to decide how to plan a budget. We were given a job-with a salary, and a whole range of options as to what we could spend our money on. After starting with our basic needs, some of us chose to upgrade the size of our house, or the type of car we had, or to swap a basic phone for a fancy gadget; some of us chose to keep our needs basic, and to spend our money on treats and luxuries; some of us had a balance of both. We learned that we should always try to save a little money in case of emergencies - or towards a bit treat like a holiday.

 

WAGOLL 8.6.17

Our Class 5 WAGOLL this week is...

Oliver L.

Oliver wrote an amazing story, retelling the legend of Beowulf. He used some wonderful imagery and description to show the contrasting atmospheres and emotions as the tale unfolds: Burning with fury and anger, was a murderous monster with an unstoppable urge to ruin joy and happiness. With massive talons, he's a stalker of the night and sends chills down anyone's spine. His hide is enchanted, not even the sharpest sword can pierce it.

Billy Bob Buttons - Author Workshop 8.6.17

Billy Bob Buttons, an award winning author of many fabulous books, visited our class this morning to teach us strateges for planning stories.  He told us that the most important thing, the very first thing that we had to decide was who we were writing for, and what kind of story that reader might enjoy.

We learned that it is essential to 'hook' your reader with interesting or surprising event right from the very first paragraph, so that they want to read on, and that you must develop characters so that the reader likes them and cares about them.  

We were able to buy signed copies of his books, with a personal message to us from the author.

 

 Time2Write 26.5.17

We had a great time this morning, pulling apart a setting description written by Mrs Wyles, and identifying all the different writing 'tools' that appeared. Then we tried to 'beat the teacher' writing our own setting description in teams, and demonstrating how to use an even greater range of writing tools. Thank you to all the families who came today.

 

WAGOLL 26.5.17

This week our class 5 WAGOLL is...

Dillan

Dillan has been an absolute maths wizard this week, finding missing angles in triangles, calculating the area of triangles, and coming up with excellent suggestions about how we could try to solve our 'buses' problem. You worked so hard this week Dillan - keep it up!

 

Myths and Legends - Beowulf

This week we have been working really hard to write the story of Beowulf. We have used all our writing skills to create  images of the characters, their emotions and the events in the story.We have tried to use lots of alliteration in the style of the original poem. Writing has been superb this week Class 5 - Well done.

 

WAGOLL 19.5.17

This week our class 5 WAGOLL is...

Rosie

This week Rosie has shown a fantastic, positive attitude across all her learning. She has approached everything with, "I'll have a go and try my best." She thought about what she could do to improve her work, and then she did! What a star.

 

WAGOLL 12.5.17

This week our class 5 WAGOLL is...

Polly

for her gruesome and gory description of the beast Grendel. Polly worked really hard to include metaphors, alliteration, parenthesis and progressive tenses in her writing, as well as wonderful 'right choice' words to really bring the character to life.

 

ATTENDANCE REWARD 11.5.17

This week, Class 5 were rewarded for their excellent attendance by having a healthy snack, we are making great progress around the 'Attendancopoly' board! We enjoyed carrot sticks, cucumber, peppers and cheese, thank you Chef Lorraine for preparing it so beautifully for us.

IN THE NEWS

This week we have been working in teams to create TV news reports, with studio presenters, on location reporters, and witnesses. We used both our report writing and questioning skills to put together Newsround style bulletins:

WAGOLL 5.5.17

This week our Class 5 WAGOLL is...

Noah

For his fantastic news report about Grendel's attack on the Heorot in a Danish village. Noah worked hard to include alliteration, De:de sentences, 2A sentences, and the progressive tense, as well as being very dramatic!

 

DIGGING UP THE SAXONS

Royal Armouries visit 24.4.17

Today we visited the Royal Armouries in Leeds to take part in an archaeological workshop as part of our Anglo-Saxons topic.

We were introduced to what archaeology is, and how artefacts, and even rubbish, which are unearthed can give us clues as to how people lived in the past.

We explored three different dig pits, finding relics from Anglo-Saxon times. Then we had to deduce who those things may have belonged to; Kings or princesses, villagers or warriors, based on what we know about life in Anglo-Saxon times.

 

 

We learned how archaeologists 'Grid Map' their finds so that they have an accurate record of exactly what was found and where.  We had a go at grid mapping a dig site ourselves.

 

Whilst we were at the Royal Armouries, we took the opportunity to enjoy a presentation about the first day of the Battle of the Somme, revisiting our work from last half term about World War I.

We had  fantastic and interesting day, we learned lots and the children made all of our adults very proud! You were an absolute credit to Swinnow Class 5!

 

WAGOLL 21.4.17

This week in Class 5 our WAGOLLs are...

Bethany S, Bethan and Karla

They have practised and practised until they know and can quickly recall all of their times tables facts from 2x to 12x. Well done girls!

 

NEWS FLASH

Class 5 news reporters have heard that the Emperor appeared at the big parade wearing absolutely nothing! This poor man had been tricked by treacherous tailors who promised him the most marvellous outfit ever seen. Using a wide range of questioning techniques our journalists interviewed some of the witnesses to the scene, making notes and recording quotations. Back in class, we explored how to include spoken information in a written report, both as direct speech, and as summarised or paraphrased as reported speech.

 

CLASS ASSEMBLY 31.3.17

This morning, Class 5 were amazing as they read and performed to the whole school and visiting families in our wonderful class assembly.  The children were proud to share their learning about  World War I. They provided lots of background information about the war, and explained how we had explored his topic through our literacy lessons. The audience were treated to a fantastic performance of the 'War Horse' story, using both puppets and actors, and many were moved to tears by the poignant and emotive war poetry the children had written. Many thanks to everyone who was able to come and watch, I'm sure everyone will agree that all of Class 5 are WAGOLLs.

WAGOLL 23.3.17

This week our class 5 WAGOLLs are

Charlie, Lily, Oliver L, Dillan, Jack and Thomas

for the amazing enthusiasm, and inspired language choices that they demonstrated when working together to team write an emotive war poem. They shared ideas, building on what others suggested and editing and improving continually.  A superb example of what co-operation and a positive attitude can create! 

 

Holi  23.3.17

Our Year 5 classroom was filled with fragrance of a hundred mouthwatering spices today as we chopped and boiled and rolled and folded to make delicious foods to share and enjoy. We made a sweet and oozy carrot halwa, crunchy potato and pea samosas, spicy paneer tikka kebabs and sticky dried fruit laddu, and then of course, we ate them!  

      

 

WAGOLL 17.3.17

This week our Class 5 WAGOLL is

Ellie

After finding bus stop division very difficult at the beginning of the week, Ellie persevered and practised until she could use this strategy with confidence - then she went home and did even more!

 

Moving Words 16.3.17

Together with Class 6, today we enjoyed a performance poetry session with Colin, Julie and Adam from 'Moving Words'. We learned and performed a poem inspired by the novel 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas'. We also had a go at interpreting some playground rhymes that children used to sing during World War II.

 

Time4Maths  15.3.17

In Class 5 we were delighted to invite so many families to join our maths lesson today. We counted in 7s and practised our Learn-its: some of us are learning the halves of odd numbers of 10s and 100s, eg.30,50, 700, 900; whilst others are learning decimal, fraction, percentages,eg. 1/2 = 50% = 0.5. We also used smile multiplication to multiply hundredths, and solved some calculations using bus stop division - PHEW!  

 

 

Separating Materials 10.3.17

In science today we have been working out how we can separate mixtures into their component parts. We investigated different methods of separation, including sieving, using magnets, filtration and evaporation.

 

WAGOLL 10.3.17

This week our class 5 WAGOLL is

Jess

Jess wrote a wonderful, emotive letter from Joey, the war horse, to his friend Albert back at home in Devon. Here is an extract:

Every day my heart is pounding and thumping as I trot, then stumble, into wonderfully quiet peace. The air smells horribly bitter and the bullets from the guns are terrifying. Also, I think the work here is very hard, yet I carry on, thinking about the delicious apples and oats with fresh water to look forward to back in the stables.

 

Book Week 27.2.17

We began our week by finding out all about our focus author, Michael Morpurgo. We went on a scavenger hunt in the library to find as many of his books as we could, played 'Michael Morpurgo facts' bingo, book title charades and the 5 fact challenge. 

 

WAGOLL 24.2.17

This week our Class 5 WAGOLL is

Lily

Lily has worked really hard in maths this week, rising to every challenge and having a positive 'can do' attitude.

 

WAGOLL 10.2.17

This week our Class 5 WAGOLL is

Oliver W

In Outdoor Learning this half term, Oliver has been an absolute star, giving interesting and thoughtful answers, and coming up with great ideas.

 

Colours of Mexico 9.2.17

As part of our 'Amazing Americas' topic, we have been creating art inspired by the colours and scenes of Mexico. We practised our pictures initially as pencil sketches, then experimented with contrasting colours and mixing colours. We explored the various effects we could get by using different amounts of water with our watercolour paints. Here we are in artistic action, watch out for the finished gallery coming soon... 

      

 

Fire Safety

Today we were very lucky to have a visit from three fire officers who are based at Stanningley Fire Station. They talked to us about the importance of having smoke alarms in every home, and checking these regularly. They demonstrated how having a fire safety plan can add life-saving minutes to the time taken to get out of a burning building. They also showed us a video about car safety, and stressed how essential it is to always wear a seat belt, and to be seated in the correct car seat for our ages. You can arrange for a free smoke alarm to be fitted in your home, and find out more information about fire safety at:

http://www.westyorksfire.gov.uk/your-safety/

 

Safer Internet Day Tuesday 7.2.17

We spent the morning thinking about the power of image, and discussing how what we see online may not always be a true reflection of the bigger picture. We talked about social media, and how to use it safely. Children were reminded that most social media has a minimum age recommendation of 13+ for users, and it is essential to be aware that if you use a false date of birth to set up an account, many other people may have done so too, making themselves appear younger than they are, as well as older than they are.

We talked about how people can carefully choose which images of themselves they show online, and usually, will only share the good bits - it is important not to compare our own lives to those we see online - because even famous celebrities have bad hair days, and need to put out the bins!

 

Children's Mental Health Week

Tuesday 7.2.17

Kindness

What a busy day in Class 5 today! We began our day with a family drop in - it was lovely to see so many visitors in our class. We had quiet, focused time where we concentrated on intricate mindful colouring, then did a short, whole class meditation to clear and calm our minds. We had a lovely session sharing kindness, by working together to complete jigsaws, teaching each other and learning from each other how to play card games, make loom bands and to draw in many different styles. 

 

 

Children's Mental Health Week - Monday 6.2.17

We began this week by thinking about emotions, and how the same emotions may be felt in different intensities. We did a little acting to demonstrate how different emotions might be seen on faces, in voices and by actions. We also talked about what an appropriate and inappropriate response may be to experiencing particular emotions, and how we can manage these feelings.

 

 

WAGOLL 3.2.17

This week our Class 5 WAGOLL is...

JASMINE

for her wonderful work with percentages, and her determination to succeed in working out even the most tricky problems, finding the reduced price if items in a sale. What a superstar!

500 Words Competition

 

This week we have begun writing our own, unique stories to enter into the BBC Radio 2 500 Words competition. Everyone has their own ideas, and we are free to choose whatever genre of story we want to write. There are wonderful examples of mystery, adventure, and humorous stories pouring onto our pages! You just might hear our stories read live from the Tower of London in the grand final!

 

WAGOLL 27.1.17

This week our Class 5 WAGOLL is...

LAYTON

In our 'Play in a day' workshop, Layton was amazing at remembering loads of lines and being ready, on cue with his movements every single time. He was excellent at portraying emotion and showed wonderful focus and energy throughout the day - he's a star in the making!

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WAGOLL 20.1.17

This week our Class 5 WAGOLL is...

JEEVAN

After our science investigation into the properties of materials (to determine which material is the best thermal insulator), Jeevan carefully recorded the results on a line graph. He gave a clear explanation of the results and why some of the results were unexpected. He was able to suggest why the unexpected readings may have occurred.

 

Thursday 19th January 2017

Today Jeevan's dad came into school to tell us all about his travels through South America, as part of our 'Amazing Americas' topic. We played a Spanish language game, and looked at lots of photos of places in Peru, Bolivia, Columbia, Ecuador and Argentina. We recognised some of the famous sights and landmarks, and were very excited to look at other places and scenery which are not so well known. We had thoughtful and interesting discussions about these countries, and learned lots of amazing facts. We ended with a quiz about our new knowledge, which was fun and very competitive!  Thank you so much Jeevan's dad - it was a fantastic morning.