It has been a cold and very busy week at UCPS as we get into the second half of the term.
This week in English, children focused on revising their information texts, adding in specific skills like expanded noun phrases and subordinate conjunctions, as well as any other skills they wanted to try out. We will spend some time next week giving our writing a final proof-read, before planning how we will present our work for publishing.
In Maths, we focused on the essential mental skill of multiplying and dividing numbers by 10, 100 and 1,000. We expanded this to related number facts – for example, if we can multiply by 100, we can multiply by 300, splitting the calculation into x 3 then x 100. Being able to apply this skill to all multiples of 10, 100 and 1000 really expands which calculations we can complete mentally. Au2 week4 sheets
It was also time to start making our final pieces in art. We used the lovely textured and patterned paper we made last week (using watercolour and wax resist) to create collages of the sky in our artwork. Some children made grey, gloomy skies, whereas others created technicolour sunsets, and all were equally wonderful. Next week, we will begin to create the foreground of our artwork – a dramatic volcano scene.
We explored the effects of tsunamis in another geography lesson, as well as discussing how tectonic activity can trigger them. We then focused on the case study of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. Children worked in trios, discussing various sources of information about the disaster to decide where they believed the epicentre was. Most of them were right in the end!
In STEM, continued our learning about energy, power and electricity. Children explored the impact of the industrial revolution, both positive and negative, and how changes to more sustainable sources of energy are benefitting our planet. We then explored a news article about plastic pollution in the oceans and wrote an emotive response to it.
Additionally, we concluded our PRE topic about Christianity with an assessment, focusing on the holy trinity. In RSE, we explored the changes that may occur during puberty, learning that we will revisit and deepen next week.
Have a lovely weekend, and see you all in December!
The Year 5 Team