Year 6 News of the Week – 15.9.23

I cannot believe how much we get through in a week Year 6. You have worked so hard and your dedication to my tasks is impressive. Well done to you all.

This week in Maths we have begun by using our fluency skills to solve different calculations. We have discussed our strategies and shared our methods. In our Power Maths lessons we continued to investigate place value. We have used number lines to place numbers up to 10,000,000 correctly on it. We have compared numbers and used the inequality sign to show our knowledge. We assessed our TT Rock Star knowledge today using the Gig platform and then enjoyed time battling each other on TT Rock Stars. Great job Year 6.

In English this week we have focused on synonyms and antonyms in different sentences. We have used Thesaurus books to uplevel our word banks. We have used comparative phrases to create a contrast poem and we have begun to look at our example text, thinking about its tune. We will continue with this text and build our diary writing skills next week. I have set Spagtastic homework which will focus on synonyms and antonyms.

Our spelling focus this week has begun with suffixes. We have looked at different word endings and considered if they change the root of each word. We have talked about vowels and the way a suffix uses them. We will continue with our learning next week.

During Book Club this week we have focused on a DK history book. We have used pages from this book to learn new vocabulary and facts, and to understand the layout of non-fiction text.

We began our new unit in History this week by thinking about the word – chronology. We discussed this term and ordered units of time to get us going. We then used different periods in history to order and match pictures to dates. We added some of our own events to our timelines too. We spent some time understanding why WW2 began and discussed this further using comprehension questions. Our next lesson will introduce us to the term invasion. Super job.

We began our new Science unit this week – Electricity. We enjoyed recapping our Year 4 learning by creating simple and series circuits. We also played a card game to develop our knowledge on electricity over time.

We also began our new computing lesson by thinking about internet addresses, We explored what is necessary for effective communication and the importance of agreed protocols. We applied our understanding to IP addresses and the rules (protocols) that computers have for communicating with one another. We also learnt about Domain Name Servers (DNS) and how to translate web addresses into IP addresses.

We began our DT unit by reviewing our knowledge on poppies. We discussed the poem Flanders Fields and read it as a chorus. We will now design a poppy of our own and think about its properties before we begin making one.

We have enjoyed working on our Big Art planes and will complete their paintwork next week, including their insignia signs.

We began our new RE unit this week. We considered what a journey is and why we would go on one. We then joined Bishop Phillip on his nature journey and made decisions to send him down different paths. Great class discussion took place.

We have also taken part in PSHE considering what makes us special. We watched instruments being made from recyclable materials and thought about what they symbolise.

PE with both Kick and Mrs Whittingham have taken place this week. With Mrs Whittiingham Year 6 started a football unit. Last week we focused on keeping close control, passing and moving into a space. This week we have honed our dribbling skills whilst trying to keep possession. Year 6 have shown great sportsmanship and have thought carefully about what makes a good leader in football. Well done team.

Our music lesson with Miss Holland saw us learn about an American composer called Aaron Copland. He is one of the most important composers of the 20th Century. His song 'Fanfare of the Common Man' is about socialism. Aaron wanted to celebrate everyday people. He wanted music to be accessible to everyone and to express a sense of community between ordinary Americans. We learnt two new instruments – timpani and tam-tam. We had never heard of them until this week. We enjoyed listening to his music as it also included trumpets and trombones!

We ended our week with a French lesson. We recapped modes of transport and used gestures to help with our vocab.

We welcomed Jenson into our class this week and we have really enjoyed getting to know you. We look forward to seeing you next week. We also loved spending time with our buddies today and we will join them next week at St Chads church to welcome them into our Wybunbury family as we lead their New Starters service.

Well, what a busy and productive week we have had. Have a wonderful weekend Year 6, you deserve it.

Your teacher.
Mrs B.