Year 5 w.b 22/1/24

In English this week the children have done some wonderful creative writing, using expanded noun phrases and metaphors to write poems about the moon and the Earth. We then imagined that we were Neil Armstrong after landing on the moon and considered his thoughts and feelings after this momentous achievement. Next week, we'll be planning our own exploration narratives about landing on Mars. 

 

In Maths, we have started our next Fractions unit which looks at multiplying fractions and mixed numbers by an integer. This involves using what we learnt last term about converting between mixed and improper fractions. The most challenging thing for children has been to convert improper fractions to mixed numbers. Continuing to notice fractions in everday life such as segments in an orange, pieces of pizza or cake etc will help children to understand.

 

In our SCARF lesson, we looked at vaping and discussed whether it was healthy or unhealthy. The children had some good discussions about how they believed it was unhealthy and that vape shops shouldn't be targeting young people with bright colours and fruity flavours. 

 

In history we learnt about every day life in the Shang Dynasty. We learnt about the importance of the Yellow River, the types of foods they ate and about their social classes. At the end of the lesson, we tried some ginger millet porridge which the Shangs might have eaten. Some of the children really enjoyed it, so here is the recipe if you'd like to try it at home: 

 

200g millet grains

200ml milk

200ml water

tsp grated ginger

 

1. Place millet in a saucepan and mix in water.
2. Add ginger and milk and bring to the boil. 
3. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 mins or until the liquid has been absorbed.
4. Add more milk or water if it becomes too thick. 

We had another wonderful Mini Medics lesson with Mr Aspinall on Tuesday. We made a collective 'Christmas dinner'. We noticed that by adding everyones ideas there were some things we didn't like - but that was okay, we could ignore them. We realised it would be unfair to the people who did like them not to have them on the plate. However, if a poo (they loved that part) touched our plate the whole meal would be ruined! We then played games outside trying to put the feelings of others before our own and noticing mince pie and olive behaviours (the ones Mr Aspinall didn't like) and thinking about what to do to ensure no behaviour had the 'poo' effect.

In RE this week we continued working towards answering our big question - Why do Christians think Jesus was a great teacher? We held a debate to discuss the most important thing Jesus taught. The result was we thought the most improtant thing was his greatest commandment - to love God. If Christians love God they will be doing all the other things he taught.