English

This half term we have been thrown into the unusual life of Liam Digby. The opening chapter revealed that 13 year old Liam had found himself lost in space and no one in his family knows that he isn’t in the Lake District as he had told them! We began our novel study by making predictions using the front cover, blurb and the first chapter. Following this we completed a character study of Liam who we concluded was neurodivegent, his characteristics could lead to him being misunderstood by the community. We had some conversations about what this means and this linked into our learning about differences and emotion regulation. We created a role on the wall of Liam from our point of view and from the point of view of his dad. We talked about how Liam makes some choices that are unsafe but ultimately he has no ill intent. Moving on from this, we looked at key events that happened within the story and the other characters we were introduced to. We talked about how Liam’s parents are concerned and how we could empathise with other people; how do our emotions and reactions affect others. From here, we were introduced to other characters invited on a special mission by Dr Drax. We made connections to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the characters we recognised – and their personalities. We have also written a persuasive argument, using a range of conjunctions as well as technical vocabulary and rhetorical questions. Finally, we have written an action scene to describe the moment the Drax Space Rocket takes off into space. We have used a range of tools to develop our vocabulary to include figurative language, synonyms etc. Next half term we will be moving on to ghost stories!

History

This half term we have been investigating a death that happened 3000 years ago! We began our enquiry with a discovery that happened 10p years ago – a discovery made by Howard Carter. The children had no idea what this could’ve been and so the skills used were carried and developed fantastically over the course of the first two sessions, learning more, we discovered that Howard had found the tomb of Tutankhamun, pharaoh in Ancient Egypt. From here, we discussed the reliability of sources linked to what egyptologists believed around death rituals in ancient Egyptian times. We learnt about the mummification process and the final judgement, creating posters to demonstrate our understanding of this. We also learnt about hieroglyphics and wrote our names using these symbols! Next, we wrote a discursive piece analysing the sources and how these artefacts have helped egyptologists to develop the theory of death in Ancient Egypt. Our final question was how did Tutankhamun die? We learnt that he died young from serious infection following g impact injury on the left. There were four clear ideas around how and why this happened – including, a chariot accident in the desert, a hunting accident, he died in battle or he was murdered by his advisors! The children used sources of information to chose which they felt was the most likely and why.

Art

This half term we have studied the work of Edvard Munch, famous for The Scream. We have been developing our painting skills, including how to hold our brushes, how we can use a brush to create different texture, patterns and shape and how to mix different colours. We have created an observational piece and we will continue next half term to create our own piece in the style of Munch.

Science

We have studied earth and space this half term, learning all about our solar system, the moon and the sun. We began by learning about the solar system and the planets the are part of it, including their characteristics, how far they are from the sun and the difference between the gas giants and the rocky planets. We also learnt about why earth is the only planet to sustain life. We have defined lots of new vocabulary throughout the half term including atmosphere, orbit and axis. From here, we learnt about the phases of the moon, completing a diagram of one as well as how there are other moons for other planets. We also learnt about how the sun stays still and it is the earth that orbits the sun, using a globe and a torch to describe what was happening. Finally we learnt about the space race, using the chrome books to research some key events and dates to out on a timeline.

Maths

Following our last set of assessments, we have focused on the 4 operations this half term to build our confidence in arithmetic so that we are able to approach problem solving effectively. After half term, we will continue to strengthen our foundations for arithmetic including decimals, fractions and percentages. We have also learnt about area and perimeter as our starters to ensure we are applying our skills as we go!

Music

The Hobbits have been looking at the history of music.

We have looked at the musical history timeline. https://mocomi.com/history-of-music/ We listened to Jubilate Deo by Gabrieli from the renaissance period, The Four Seasons by Vivaldi from the baroque period and Symphony No.5 by Beethoven from the Classical period. We looked at how music was passed down by ear, then was written down to how we listen to music today via cd’s and downloading music.

Mrs. Lingard brought in her record player. We saw how the record sits on the turntable and which speed setting is needed for the LP and the 45. We watched how the needle is gently placed on the record.

Mr. Garrett wrote a song and the lyrics helped us remember facts about the classical composers.

RE