Geraldton (Year 5)
Term 2
Early Morning Work
For the first half-an-hour of the day, Year Five focus on developing key skills in English and maths. The children work through a daily maths task to improve their mental agility and to consolidate and recap key maths skills that they have learnt. They will also have a handwriting task, which usually has a spelling, grammar or punctuation focus. In addition, this is also when we listen to the children read. Every child will be heard once every other week, which may also include reading comprehension tasks. On Fridays, the children will be tested on their times tables.
English
English is taught Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning with the aim of developing reading, writing and speaking and listening skills. English units are usually taught over a two-week period. Where possible, these units will link in a cross-curricular way with the class topic. Guided Reading as a class or in groups occurs twice over each unit. During this term, Geraldton Class will cover the following genres:
- Grammarsaurus (2-week unit): Sentence Building
- Ancient Greece (2-week unit): eBook
- The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (2-week unit): Narrative
Maths
Maths is taught in the mornings on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Maths units vary in length and are split into weekly blocks. The children build on their previous knowledge to extend their understanding of different aspects of mathematics. They also have the opportunity to apply their knowledge when solving mathematical problems and puzzles. Geraldton class will cover the following units in Term 2:
- Multiplication and division
- Fractions
Science
Science is taught once a week, through both practical and theoretical activities. The children will develop their skills as a scientist through investigations, practising their predicting and concluding skills and gaining an understanding of controlling variables. The science topic for the following two terms are related to the properties of materials and how they change. The children will be learning the following in terms one and two:
- To reason about the properties and uses of different materials
- To record data and results using scientific diagrams and labels
- To understand and use key scientific vocabulary
- To understand the different states of matter
- To plan and carry out experiments with different materials
- To understand reversible and irreversible reactions
- To investigate conductors of electricity
- To plan investigations about evaporation and condensation
Music
In Music this term, we are going to be exploring the Djembe Drums. We will be listening to and appreciating some traditional African music as well as creating some of our own. During the drumming sessions, we will be developing our timing and internal rhythm, thinking about the different patterns we can make with the 4 basic tones and then working in unison with a group to produce different pieces of music across the term.
PSHE
PSHE is taught each term and is mostly based on discussion as we often use circle time and scenarios to explore the thoughts and ideas of the class around the given topics. This term, our topic is called ‘Diverse Britain’ and is all about what it means to be a part of a community, celebrating differences, understanding how Britain is ruled and governed and the importance of democracy and justice for all. The children are given the opportunity to empathise with others and their emotions as well as being able to come to terms with and verbalising their own feelings and opinions within a safe space.
Religion and Worldviews
Religion and Worldviews is taught weekly on a Friday and the theme for this term is Incarnation. Our key question for the unit will be ‘Was Jesus the Messiah?’. We will be placing Incarnation and the idea of a Messiah into the ‘big story’ of the Bible, explaining connections between these, using theological terms and showing how Christians put their beliefs about Jesus’ Incarnation into practice. In addition, we will be thinking about what it means to be a Messiah and the importance of this to Christians.
History: Groundbreaking Greeks
During terms one and two, the children will be focussing on the history of Ancient Greece. Our key question for the unit is ‘what impact has Ancient Greece had on our ideas today?’ They will be learning to:
- Draw a timeline which shows different historical periods and key events
- Compare historical periods, explaining some of the things that have changed and stayed the same
- Construct questions about the period
- Think about the reliability and validity of the sources of evidence used
- Understand the difference between primary and secondary sources
- Compare and contrast the ideas and formation of the city states Athens and Sparta
PE
This term, PE will be taught on a Wednesday and a Friday. During Enrichment on a Wednesday afternoon, the children will be completing yoga sessions with Mrs Williams. During these sessions, they will be developing their balance and stability, improving their flexibility and thinking about their own awareness of their body. On Friday mornings, we will be having hockey sessions. Our focus will be on understanding how to pass and receive the ball, developing their ball control and dribbling skills as well as understanding how to work well as a member of a team, thinking tactically about how they may bring their team to success.
Computing
In computing this term, Geraldton Class will be exploring coding through our programming unit. We will be using Probots, Scratch and Micro:bits in order to think about how we code for specific purposes and create specific movements from our characters in order to create simple games and light sensors. In addition to this, we will be creating complex shapes and patterns by controlling the position and movement parameters.