What Year 6 did today, Mum

Sports Week

2010-07-02T10:49:00.001+01:00

We skipped and skipped til we almost dropped...

Sport challenge

2010-06-29T11:47:00.000+01:00

Do it yourself...

2010-06-17T13:32:00.000+01:00

Snakes n ladders is usually boring but great fun if you have made the board yourself from scratch!!

Photo frames sell a bundle

2010-06-08T11:45:00.000+01:00

There was a run on photo frames today so we had to re-order from our suppliers really quickly...

Open for business

2010-06-08T10:58:00.001+01:00

Today we opened our shop - and did very well...

TASC : bookmarks

2010-05-27T14:27:00.003+01:00

Our bookmark factory is in full swing

We are building up a good selection of stock

TASC : production opens on our bracelet line

2010-05-27T10:55:00.000+01:00

It's fiddly threading bracelets

But we soon get to work

And begin to fill our display stand

DT : designing a track game

2010-05-26T11:20:00.000+01:00

We started to make a track game by planning it on squared paper

We used the photocopier to enlarge our work then added colour

TASC : book marks

2010-05-26T10:45:00.000+01:00

Welcome to our bookmark factory...

... on sale soon.

Science : connex challenge

2010-05-25T14:50:00.001+01:00

Winners

Tue, 25 May #2

2010-05-25T14:35:00.000+01:00

The finished product

Science : connex challenge

2010-05-25T14:23:00.000+01:00

5 minutes to go....

Science : connecx challenge

2010-05-25T13:45:00.000+01:00

Nearly there

Science : connex challenge

2010-05-25T13:19:00.000+01:00

We made the sails

And a platform...

Science : connex challenge

2010-05-25T13:17:00.000+01:00

We soon got started...

Science : connex challenge

2010-05-25T13:04:00.000+01:00

Mr Bates came from Sheffield Hallam University to introduce this year's Connex challenge

Today's challenge is to build a windmill.

DT : Finished cross stitch...

2010-05-25T11:31:00.000+01:00

We have our first completed article...

DT : design and make

2010-05-25T09:50:00.000+01:00

We are designing and making bookmarks themed on our favourite TV programmes

DT : embroidery

2010-05-25T09:46:00.000+01:00

You can't make a cake without breaking eggs (more about cake later) and you can't do cross stitch without getting into a tangle now and again...

Time to take stock...

2010-05-24T13:59:00.001+01:00

Whilst long ongoing activities are taking place we are slowly completing the organisation and filing of the gears output
Some are working on items for enterprise project, others sewing

TASC : letter writing

2010-05-24T11:59:00.000+01:00

The final dreaft of the letter asking for the donation of prizes has been completed and is ready to be typed up and reproduced

DT : embroidery

2010-05-24T09:29:00.000+01:00

Cross stich work coming along nicely

TASC : English : letter writing

2010-05-20T10:55:00.000+01:00

Today we reviewed all the group letters that were assembled in yesterdays lesson. Each group looked at all the output and marked and corrected it before giving it a NC level between 3C and 5C.
Finally each group attempted to make a composite from the four selected letters
The best will be typed up for repro and dispatch.

DT : various projects

2010-05-19T15:03:00.000+01:00

Those recently taught to do cross stochastic continued to sew their designs
As others finished paper designs they were taught to sew
Last few finished on paper
Some students attempted a friendship bracelet in string

Others considered naming our enterprise project and creating suitable publicity.

DT : embroidery

2010-05-19T13:50:00.000+01:00

Those who have finished their cross stitch plan continued to transfer their design to bunker and commence to sew
Most others completed their design stage on paper during this session.

Art : drawing : pastels

2010-05-19T12:03:00.000+01:00

The children were introduced to the use of pastels for drawin
They learned how to blend colours by smudging them together
Each pupil created a representation of a tropical fish

TASC : English : letter writing

2010-05-19T10:55:00.000+01:00

We worked in groups.
Each member of the group brought the letter they had written in previous lesson. We read each others letters and selected the best bits of each to assemble into a composite letter which we will present to the whole group tomorrow.

2010-05-18T14:57:00.001+01:00

ICT : graphical modelling

2010-05-18T13:59:00.002+01:00

We used the computers in the ICT suite to create graphical models of our cross stitch plans so that we can try different options easily.

TASC : English : letter writing

2010-05-18T11:10:00.000+01:00

We began to compose a letter to local business explaining our enterprise project
We explained about our annual end of year trip and how expensive it has become so expensive and so we are intending to work hard to earn money to contribute to the cost
We explained how our targets could help by offering free stuff or vouchers

DT : embroidery

2010-05-18T10:13:00.004+01:00

We continued to plan out the positions of the stitches to create our cross stitch piece. We Addad colour.

ICT : databases : TASC

2010-05-17T11:27:00.000+01:00

We took our lists ans spent two sessions in the ICT suite researching the addresses for our target companies as well as trying to determine a contact name.
We created a database from the data that we gathered.

DT : embroidery

2010-05-17T09:29:00.000+01:00

Today we began to plann our annual end of year cross-stitch design
Each student planned out on a piece of paper the position of the stitches to put on to the binker
Each student planned Name, "010 & Bankend as well as including a frame to surround the whole piece

TASC : planning our client list

2010-05-17T09:25:00.001+01:00

We spent the first session of morning brainstorming and listing the businesses that we might target to donate prizes for our forthcoming fund raising event.

SATs : Maths paper B

2010-05-13T10:06:00.001+01:00

Today we did the second part of our SATs maths test.

SATs : Maths paper A

2010-05-12T08:44:00.000+01:00

Today we did the first part of our SATs maths test and our mental
arithmetic test

SATs : English : writing

2010-05-11T10:13:00.001+01:00

This morning we are doing the long writing piece.

This afternoon will be the short writing, handwriting and spelling.

English : revision : text level

2010-05-10T14:33:00.003+01:00

This afternoon we worked through all the possible genres that might crop up in tomorrows writing papers - we listed them and went through their main features.

We created a list of things we need to remember to get right or incluse in our writing in tomorrows tests.

We planned a narrative rriting piece called "Trapped"

After break we wrote the piece and were given times to pace writing

SATS : reading comprehension test

2010-05-10T11:31:00.003+01:00

This morning we did the first of our SATs papers

Maths : Revision

2010-05-07T12:30:00.000+01:00

English : Revision

2010-05-07T10:29:00.001+01:00

More work on complex sentences

English : revision : instruction writing : play scripts

2010-05-05T09:54:00.003+01:00

Attempted short writing task from a real SATs paper - "Joes Boots"
three subheadings given - we bullet pointed instructions on
- how to use
- warnings
- how to care for

Went on to look at a play script long writing exercise from a previous SATs paper "Can I Stay UP?"

English : revision : play scripts

2010-05-04T15:05:00.001+01:00

Students worked in groups to create play scripts for a number of scenarios
- Gang Wars
- Lost and found

ICT : databases

2010-05-04T12:47:00.001+01:00

We continued to research our group of 60 animals and complete our individual databases with a view to merging all the information and learning how to interrogate the data set

Maths : revision : problems in words

2010-05-04T12:05:00.002+01:00

We looked at a variety of two stage word problems from a number of Previous SATs papers and talked about how to extract the sum and a variety of ways of approaching the calculation including sketching it out

English : comprehension

2010-05-04T09:04:00.001+01:00

Finishing off any incomplete and outstanding comprehension work from Key Comp 3

English : complex sentences

2010-04-30T18:15:00.004+01:00

Working with
Although
Despite
In spite of
Because of
Whilst

And similar sentence beginnings

Rhetorical Questions

We completed a number of exercises in which two sentences were brought together as main and sub-ordinate clauses separated with connectives or flipped to be separated with commas

Maths : Problem Solving

2010-04-30T12:18:00.000+01:00

We continued to work our way through a number of increasingly difficult one and two stage problems involving number but set in words.

English : Comprehension

2010-04-26T10:37:00.000+01:00

Unit 31 Key Comp - Road Rage
this is a piece of persuasive writing. Note the sub-headings
We read through this piece as a group then went through a substantial amount of vocabulary
we completed the formal comprehension task

Maths : data handling : mean mode median range

2010-04-23T12:07:00.000+01:00

Today we spent our time completing the practice work in NHM pp 113 - 115.

Those children that completed the work in the text book began to create an exercise of their own in the style of the text book, making sure that the numbers worked...

English : word level : moving adverbs about

2010-04-23T10:35:00.003+01:00

We created a number of sentences in groups of three and moved the adverb about so that it was at the beginning (with a comma), in the middle and at the end.

Students completing this task began a project to create a 15x15 wordsearch using adverbs from a given list

English : complex sentences

2010-04-22T14:55:00.003+01:00

Because of issues raised during this mornings lesson.

Short sentences are great for effect but we also need to do complex sentences.

Work on the position of adverbs and moving them from next to the verb to the beginning of a sentence with a comma.

Science : Adaptation to the environment

2010-04-22T13:45:00.000+01:00

Today we are beginning to look in more detail at the way a number of different creatures are adapted to their particular environments.

The desert rat
Has large ears to keep cool
has thin fur
has long tail and big toes to help moving about in sand
is active at night so has good hearing and eyesight.

The Seal
has a streamloned body
has small ears to reduce heat loss
has layers of fat
has webbed feet
has oily fur

The fish
has sensitive areas to 'smell' food
has a streamlined body
has fins
picks up vibrations from the water
breathes water

The frog
has protruding eyes and nostrils
has a wide mouth and sticky tongue
has areas sensitive to vibration
has lungs for fast breathing but also absorbs oxygen through its skin
has webbed feet for swimming
has powerful back legs for swimming and leaping

The worm
has soil coloured skin
absorbs oxygen through its skin
has bristles on its undersise for grip
has a pointed head
has no need for eyes

The woodlouse
has a flat body to crewl under stones
has antennae to detect vibrations
has protective 'armour' to stop it drying out
can curl into a ball

Maths : data handling : mean

2010-04-22T11:55:00.001+01:00

We recapped terminology from previous lessons - range, mode, median.

We introduced the concept of the mean and learnt that it can also be known as the average.

We learnt how to calculate the mean of a group of numbers by adding them up and dividing by the number of numbers you started with.

We practised this on the whiteboard with examples of pets, goals scored, etc..

We worked the example questions in NHM orally to make sure we all understood.

We completed p 114 of NHM and went on to the work on means o115.

Finishers created questions in the style of NHM questions for others to do.

2010-04-22T10:35:00.002+01:00

Collaboration in progress...

English : revision : narrative writing

2010-04-22T10:35:00.000+01:00

Today we have dissolved into groups.
Each group looked at their pieces of work and compared them to the list we created earlier in the week.
The purpose of the exercise is to learn to recognise errors in the writing and to make suggestions as to how a piece of work could be improved.
we need to learn to use description to expand our narrative; adding in adverbs and adjectives, opportunities for the use of similes... etc.

We dealt with the writing one paragraph at a time and slowly improved the whole piece.

The new piece was re-written for comparison and presentation before moving on to the next student's piece of work

2010-04-21T15:17:00.000+01:00

Science : Adaptation

2010-04-21T13:57:00.002+01:00

Today we learnt that although humans can live in any environment from desert to arctic, plants and animals are uniquely adapted to the environment in which they live.

We looked at the features that a number of plants and animals and the specific traits they have developed to cope within their habitats.

We looked at features of the otter, birds, frogs, squirrels, and cactuses

Students created an eight panel comic style page recording and depicting the information we have been considering

Maths : data Handling : calculating the mean

2010-04-21T11:53:00.000+01:00

We reviewed hoe to calculate the mean of a group of numbers by adding the numbers together and dividing by the number of numbers that there are.

We did several examples together as a class and then went on to complete p 114 of NHM 6 for prectice

English : Revision : Narrative writing

2010-04-21T10:48:00.002+01:00

Yesterday we begun to write a narrative piece about an Easter Adventure.
This morning we have completed that piece.
We tried to take into account all of the skills and techniques that we listed yesterday and use as many of them as appropriate.

DT : research and presentation

2010-04-20T14:56:00.002+01:00

As this Friday is St Georges Day we have researched the story of George and the Dragon, created collaborative images and produced text for display materials with a view to presenting our findings in whole school assembly.

2010-04-20T14:35:00.002+01:00

ICT : researching and making a database in Excel

2010-04-20T13:47:00.000+01:00

Today we began the first stage of creating a searchable/sortable
database in MS Excel.
We created a table detailing a number of the different attributes that
we could consider in animals including name, habitat,weight, colour,
class(reptile, mammal etc),blood,food,young, length, height, skin,
legs, wings and lifespan lifespan
We used the All About Animals by Northumberland NGfL to research the
details of a large group of animals

We found that some of the information we needed was not in AAA so we
used Google to top up our information

We saved and named our work to continue at another Time

Maths : Data Handling : range, mode, median

2010-04-20T11:32:00.000+01:00

We recapped the methods for discovering the range, mode and median of
a group of numbers

We completed the exercises on pp114 of NHM6

English : Revision

2010-04-20T10:30:00.000+01:00

We created a class list and reviewed all of the things we have learnt
about that will help us to improve our weiting including:

Stuff to remember when doing 'long writing'.
Level 2
Capital letters and full stops.

Level 3
Nouns with adjectives separated by commas
Strong verbs and adverbs
Paragraphing
Inverted commas used sometimes correctly
Question marks
Exclamation marks
There , they?re and their
Was and were
Capital letters for proper nouns
Commas
Correct use of tenses and persons

Level 4
Similes
Good paragraphing
Inverted commas used correctly
Apostrophes used correctly
Ellipses
Brackets
Pun

Level 5
Metaphors
Colon
Semi colon
Hyphen

Maths : revision

2010-04-19T14:57:00.000+01:00

We worked through SATs Paper A from 1998 explaining all the tricks
traps and pitfalls and verbalising the ways in which each question
might be tackled.
Emphasis was aced on Reading the question thoroughly and making use of
concrete operations where appropriate.
Reiterated that questions could be read aloud if requested and that
there is time if you don't panic!!

Maths : data handling range, mode, medial

2010-04-19T12:01:00.000+01:00

We learnt that the
Range is the difference between the largest and the smallest number
Mode is the most common number
Median is the middle number

Working on the interactive whiteboard. The students did a survey on
the number of pets they have.
We took the numbers and rewrote them in order,
We looked at the largest number and the smallest number and subtracted
to find the range.
We then looked to see which number appeared most often to find the mode
We then crossed numbers off each end of our list until we were left
with one number in the middle to find the mode.

For practice we did NHM6 pp113

English ; Comprehension

2010-04-19T10:28:00.000+01:00

Key Comp 3 Unit 30 - Sam
We read the passage individuly then re-read it for vocabulary.
We answered all the questions orly and from memory.
We spoke about questions where a simple yes/no answer seems to be
required, but in fact both answers can be right depending upon point
of view - expressing your point of view well is what gets marks awarded
Stus
De ts completed the questions

Work with a thesaurus needed

Hapy Easter

2010-04-01T10:50:00.000+01:00

Heres wishing everyone happy Easter - see you all again on April 19th

2010-03-30T15:14:00.001+01:00

ICT : Grids

2010-03-30T15:10:00.000+01:00

Following up on our work on symmetry and tha making of worksheets we
have decided to produce more sheets but this time with the aid of our
computers...

We used the Drawing tools in MS Word.

We turned on the Grid and adjusted it to 1cm by 1cm
We snapped the objects to the grid

We found that the gridlines did not print so we needed to create the
boxes and grids for the symmetry work.

We used the box tool to create boxes and made grey grids inside them

Made the lines of the shapes bolder to make them stand out on the page.

We learnt how ro recognise and overcome issues on our computers by
thinking about ways to get round the issues using what we know our
computers will do - workrounds

2010-03-30T11:34:00.001+01:00

Maths : Symmetry

2010-03-30T11:28:00.000+01:00

We looked at reflective symmetry and practised identifying lines of symmetry.

Those completing all the set work created symmetry sheets to be
completed by others.

ICT : Completion of Projects

2010-03-30T11:25:00.000+01:00

As our classroom chairs were used for the Easter assembly we took the
opportunity to go to the ICT suite to make sure all of our open
projects were completed and saved

Science : classification : keys

2010-03-29T14:31:00.002+01:00

Science : Classification : Keys

2010-03-29T14:30:00.001+01:00

We looked at the way unknown creatures can be identified by following the yes/no rout through a key.

We completed an example distingushing between a number of vertebrates including a mammal, a fiss, a reptile, a bird and an amphibian.

We completed a second example distingushing between a number of invertebrates

In our final example we used a selection of invented creatures to secure the principle.

Our next step will be to create keys of our own

Maths : Percentages

2010-03-29T11:25:00.000+01:00

We recapped the method for calculating percentages of numbers.

We completed a number of practice sums to secure the method both paper and pencil and with a calculator

English : comprehension

2010-03-29T10:26:00.000+01:00

Students are all now working independently on a variety of the
remaining units in Key Comp 3
All comprehensions marked immediately on completion and immediate
feedback is given

English : Biography

2010-03-24T14:44:00.002Z

From a former SATs paper students attempted to create a fictitious biography for Pip Davenport.

All the features of a biography were discussed.
3rd person
Chronological order

We also discussed needing to

Maths : Problems with words (2)

2010-03-23T12:08:00.002Z

Continuing with the document we created using Test Base which contained all of the Level4 questions from all the old SATs papers.

We brought each question up in turn and completed it on an individual basis

Once we all had an answer we would consider the method used to solve
the problem.

We discovered that the actual maths was quite simple once we had unravelled the problem.

The problems were often in two steps.

We pointed out more of the tricks and traps used by the testers to misdirect pupils.

English : Comprehension

2010-03-23T10:04:00.000Z

Unit 25 - Rosie and the Boredom Eater
Students continure to work collaboratively in their reading groups.

Re-read the passage and reviewed all questions answered to date.

Continued to discus and collaborate to assemble a group response to
each question.

Once complete group answers are submitted then students return to
their places to complete the activity individually

2010-03-22T15:13:00.003Z

Science : Classification : Plants

2010-03-22T14:03:00.002Z

Continuing from last weeks work on animals we considered the world of plants.

We divided plants initially into two categories.

Flowering and non-flowering.

We further sub-divided these categories

Flowering
Grasses
Cereals
Shrubs
Deciduous trees

Non Flowering
Algae
Conifer Trees
Ferns

We discussed the difference between deciduous and evergreen
We linked to deciduous teeth in babies...

Students created an illustrated A4 revision guide as a mmory aid to remind them of these classifications

Maths : Problems in Words

2010-03-22T13:56:00.001Z

This has been identified as being a problem area during recent assessment.

We created a document using Test Base which contained all of the
Level4 questions from all the old SATs papers.

Together we brought each question up in turn and completed it on an
individual basis

Once we all had an answer we would consider the method used to solve
the problem.

We discovered that the actual maths was quite simple once we had
unravelled the problem.

The problems were often in two steps.

We pointed out some of the tricks and traps used by the testers to
misdirect pupils.

English : comprehension

2010-03-22T10:10:00.001Z

Unit 25 - Rosie and the Boredom Eater
Students read this piece collaboratively in their reading groups.
After sufficient reading one student adoped the role of teacher and
led discussion about the question, recording group answers in full
sentences
The role of "teacher" could be rotated.
Once group answers had been completed students returned to individual
desks, each to complete the exercise in his/her own book.

Maths : Probability

2010-03-19T12:04:00.001Z

Completed probability exercises that were worked through and discussed yesterday.

English : Complex Sentences

2010-03-19T09:56:00.002Z

Some examples given of what constitutes a simple sentence and what constitutes a complex sentence

Modelled how to convert a simple sentence into a complex one by
- adding more detail (clauses)
- "flipping"

Using the words listed yesterday construvted a complex sentence for each word.

finishers to consider Key Comp Bk 4 Unit 1 - harder comprehensions

2010-03-18T15:05:00.000Z

Science : Classification : Invertebrates

2010-03-18T14:43:00.003Z

We talked about the way that scientists group living things into groups.

We talked about a number of groups following on from our ICT lesson,
We considered invertebrates

Insects - 6 legs, three body parts
Arachnids - 8 legs, body parts
Molluscs - slimy foot, sometimes have a shell

Students created an A4 revision guide for these classifications

2010-03-18T14:41:00.001Z

Science : Classification : Vertebrates

2010-03-18T14:40:00.003Z

We talked about the way that scientists group living things into groups.

We talked about a number of groups following on from our ICT lesson.

We considered

Fish - breathe with gills, eggs in water, fins and scales, cold blooded
Amphibians - born with gills, develop lungs, eggs in water, damp skin, cold blooded
Repitles - lungs, eggs on land, dry scaly skin, cold blooded
Birds - lungs, feathers, hard shells on eggs, warm blooded
Mammals - fur hair, lungs, live young, warm blood, milk

Students created an A4 revision guide for these classifications

Maths : Probability

2010-03-18T14:34:00.001Z

Reviewed all the information we learnt yesterday about the language of
probability....

Impossible, unlikely, even chance, likely, certain.

We talked through a number of scenarios and discussed them in terms of this vocabulary.

We found that some things that were likely for some people were unlikely for others.

We talked about putting a numerical value to probability.

Examples we used initially were a coin toss, dice, playing cards.

We continued to divine a method based on fractions to express the probability. eg if there are 2 possible outclmes and one actual outcome the probability is 1 in 2 or 1/2 - also expressed as 0.5 or 50%

We applied this method to dice and playing cards

We looked at a variety of different scenarion snd as a class discussed number of word problems including questions on probability

English : complex sentences and the suffix '-ful'

2010-03-18T10:30:00.001Z

We have noted that words ending in - ful are often mis-spelt by the class.

We started off by identifying a list of rootworfs that can take the suffix -ful
We made a ass list on the whiteboard.
Each student chose a root word in turn and added the suffix before verbally placing it in context in a sentence.
We considered the instances where the adding of the suffix altered the spelling of the root word.

We modes the "flipping" of simple sentences to turn them into complex sentences and introduced some useful phrases of relation and causality
Although....
Because ...
Whilst...
So that....

Design Technology : Boxes and Cards

2010-03-17T13:34:00.002Z

Students are finishing off the construction of the hexagonal boxes to be used to hold Easter eggs as a gift.

Students completing their boxes can line them with tissue.

Students completely lining boxes started on the design of a suitable card to give to a loved one.

Maths : Probability

2010-03-17T13:31:00.000Z

Full mental maths test.

Completion of work on probability begun yesterday

NHM P 122

Finishers attempted to create probability questions in the style of the text book for others to do. Pupils worked in pairs and discussed the answers.

English : Narrative writing

2010-03-17T10:25:00.001Z

Before we did any writing we discussed again all the features of
writing that are displayed at a variety of levels 2-5
We discussed paragraphing
Students were given a story beginning and asked to develop it, based
on an Easter theme
Whilst tjestudents were writing they were caled individually in turn
to receive feedback on yesterdays comprehension.

ICT : Creation of a paper database

2010-03-16T15:07:00.001Z

We created and populated a paper database with six fields and 30 records.
Each database has to have
10 mammals
5 birds
2 amphibians
2 snakes
4 fish
6 insects
2 arachnids

Anyone completing this can then list animals in alphabetical order

ICT : Databases

2010-03-16T13:49:00.001Z

We opened Excel and began a list of animals

We are using 6 columns

Each column contained different data:
Animal - Group - Limbs - Skin - Birth - Blood
We did some work on classification identifying the characteristics of each animal group
Mammals - hair/fur milk live young warm blood..
Birds - feathers, eggs, warm blood..
Amphibians... slimey skin, eggs, cold blood...
Snakes... scales eggs no legs...
Fish... scales eggs cold blood
Arachnids... eight legs...

We printed the list for distribution

Maths : Probability

2010-03-16T12:17:00.000Z

We introduced the language of the concept of probability

Impossible -> unlikely -> likely -> certain

We discussed a number of scenarios suggested their probability.

We introduced the concept of even chance

We learnt that probability expressed as a number can be be a
ratio 1:5
fraction 1/5
percentage 20%

NHM Pp 122, 123

In passing we revised the following vocabulary
Prime numbers
Square numbers
Triangular numbers
Factors
Multiples

English : Comprehension

2010-03-16T10:40:00.001Z

Unit 24 : Bad News

Students read the piece in their reading pairs and threes.
They identified any difficulties they were having with vocabulary and
we discussed them.
There are many apostrophes in this piece - we considered each one and
developed strategies for deciding whether each one was an apostrophe
of possession or omission.
We considered each question as a group - questions now contain higher
degrees of inference and deduction - we asked "how do you know..."
whensver appropriate.

Students completed the formal comprehension.