Autumn 2

Maths:

We are going to start looking at measures in maths when we return. We will begin measuring accurately to the nearest mm. We will then convert measures (which we have already touched on slightly this year). We will also convert imperial back to metric measures e.g. converting inches to cm!

English:

In English we are going to look at biographies. We will begin spotting the success criteria in biographies that have already been written. This will help us to improve and incorporate these techniques into our own writing. Throughout the first week we are going to read the story of 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory', we will then use this story to write up a biography of Wonka's life!

PE:

As I have already mentioned, our PE slot has changed from Friday afternoon to Thursday mornings. We have a specialised football coach coming in every Thursday morning!

Our New Topic!

Our new topic when we return from half term is 'Chocolate', which unfortunately does not mean we will be eating chocolate all afternoon! This topic will link in with history, geography, art, DT and ICT. We are going to begin looking into the history of chocolate - where it came from and how it has progressed over time! We will make timelines and use maps to present the information we collect.

We are then going to begin creating our own chocolate bars! We will use chocolate bars from the past to spark our ideas. We will collect evidence and data to help us move forward in our plans and designs. It promises to be a very busy half term... so make sure you get plenty of rest!

Our Fairy Tales

In year 6 we have just finished writing up our Fairy Tales about the Elves and the Shoemaker. The children came up with some fantastic ideas about where the elves came from and why they were sent to help! They thought very carefully about the language they used and the flow of their writing. Have a read of just a few of the brilliant stories they wrote!

By Jaekob

 By Tom 

 By Codie 

By Maisy 

Angles!

In maths, we are going to look at angles! Have a look at the image below to remind yourself of the different types of angles!

Have a look on the Maths page to read up about finding the mean, median, mode and range of a set of data. There is also some information about evolution on the Topic page! 

The Elves and the Shoemaker

In English we have moved on to look at Fairy Tales. Today we looked at the story of 'The Elves and the Shoemaker.' We wrote character descriptions for the elves in the story. We are going to use this story to inspire our writing for the rest of the week. Read the story below to remind yourself of the characters and outline of the story.

The Elves and the Shoemaker 

There was once a shoemaker, who worked very hard and was very honest: but still he could not earn enough to live upon; and at last all he had in the world was gone, save just leather enough to make one pair of shoes.

Then he cut his leather out, all ready to make up the next day, meaning to rise early in the morning to his work. His conscience was clear and his heart light amidst all his troubles; so he went peaceably to bed, left all his cares to Heaven, and soon fell asleep. In the morning after he had said his prayers, he sat himself down to his work; when, to his great wonder, there stood the shoes all ready made, upon the table. The good man knew not what to say or think at such an odd thing happening. He looked at the workmanship; there was not one false stitch in the whole job; all was so neat and true, that it was quite a masterpiece.

The same day a customer came in, and the shoes suited him so well that he willingly paid a price higher than usual for them; and the poor shoemaker, with the money, bought leather enough to make two pairs more. In the evening he cut out the work, and went to bed early, that he might get up and begin betimes next day; but he was saved all the trouble, for when he got up in the morning the work was done ready to his hand. Soon in came buyers, who paid him handsomely for his goods, so that he bought leather enough for four pair more. He cut out the work again overnight and found it done in the morning, as before; and so it went on for some time: what was got ready in the evening was always done by daybreak, and the good man soon became thriving and well off again.

One evening, about Christmas-time, as he and his wife were sitting over the fire chatting together, he said to her, ’I should like to sit up and watch tonight, that we may see who it is that comes and does my work for me.’ The wife liked the thought; so they left a light burning, and hid themselves in a corner of the room, behind a curtain that was hung up there, and watched what would happen.

As soon as it was midnight, there came in two little naked dwarfs; and they sat themselves upon the shoemaker’s bench, took up all the work that was cut out, and began to ply with their little fingers, stitching and rapping and tapping away at such a rate, that the shoemaker was all wonder, and could not take his eyes off them. And on they went, till the job was quite done, and the shoes stood ready for use upon the table. This was long before daybreak; and then they bustled away as quick as lightning.

The next day the wife said to the shoemaker. ’These little elves have made us rich, and we ought to be thankful to them, and do them a good turn if we can. I am quite sorry to see them run about as they do; and indeed it is not very decent, for they have nothing upon their backs to keep off the cold. I’ll tell you what, I will make each of them a shirt, and a coat and waistcoat, and a pair of pantaloons into the bargain; and do you make each of them a little pair of shoes.’

The thought pleased the good cobbler very much; and one evening, when all the things were ready, they laid them on the table, instead of the work that they used to cut out, and then went and hid themselves, to watch what the little elves would do.

About midnight in they came, dancing and skipping, hopped round the room, and then went to sit down to their work as usual; but when they saw the clothes lying for them, they laughed and chuckled, and seemed mightily delighted.

Then they dressed themselves in the twinkling of an eye, and danced and capered and sprang about, as merry as could be; till at last they danced out at the door, and away over the green.

The good couple saw them no more; but everything went well with them from that time forward, as long as they lived.

Pizza Fractions...

It's certainly true that fractions can be very tricky to get our heads around... especially when it comes to ordering them with different denominators! So, we decided to use pizza to help us understand what we are actually doing! We chopped the pizzas into quarters, thirds, sixths, and twelfths! This helped to visualise what we are doing when we change a fraction to have the same denominator as another - so we can compare!

A glimpse of our Frozen Planet poems...

The Week Ahead...

Maths:

In maths we are going to continue our work with fractions. We've already thought about equivalent fractions! We are going to use this understanding to simplify fractions. Click here to find out a little more!

English:

In English we are going to go back to our adventure stories and finally plan and write them up! After this, we are going to compare different genres (types of stories) to find out how they are different. We are also going to look at how an author helps us to identify what genre of story we are about to read by the language they choose.

Topic:

We are gong to continue with our topic of 'Frozen Planet' and finish our Antarctica inspired art work. We are then going to focus more on science and geography as we progress through the week - thinking about the animals that live there and how they are adapted to their environment.

PE:

We are very lucky to have a football trainer come in every Thursday morning. So make sure you have your PE kit on Thursday now as our slot has changed! As the weather is getting colder, make sure you have some long trousers to wear!

The poems the children wrote on poetry day last week were fantastic! Keep a look out on the blog to see and read their work...

This is the image we will be using to help spark our imagination for poetry day today! We have, of course, linked it to both our base name and topic of Frozen Planet. I'm looking forward to seeing what you create!