Luther King Class
Welcome back! We can't quite believe that we are already in Summer 1. We are looking forward to more exciting lessons with the sun shining and everyone back together in the classroom. Please do get in touch with us via email or give the office a call if you have any questions. Below are some reminders for our routines for the week:
Start time: 8:40 am
PE is on a Monday afternoon so please ensure the children come to school wearing their PE uniform (including trainers).
Please make sure the children all bring a water bottle to school.
Homework
Daily: 30 minutes reading, spelling practice, times table practice
We have just ordered new reading books, recommended by the children, so there are many exciting books to borrow from our class library!
The children will receive new spellings on a Monday.
Monday: Grammar homework
Tuesday: Mathletics homework
Wednesday: Grammar homework
Thursday: Mathletics homework
Friday: Research homework
Our Learning - Summer 1
We are have reached Summer 1 and are feeling optimistic with more sunshine exciting lessons for this half term. After learning all about World War II last half term, we are now moving on in time to look at Britain after the war and will specifically be looking at the contributions to society by the Empire Windrush generation and some key individuals (Sam Beaver King and Claudia Jones). This will lead us into different subjects where we will be looking at the importance of equality and the different civil rights movements across the globe. This ties in with our Literacy topic of persuasive speeches. We will be studying Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’ speech as well Barack Obama’s inauguration speech. From this we will write about our vision for the future. Our 3pm read will be Floella Benjamin’s Coming to England.
Our first RE topic is about Pentecost where we will be looking at being a witness as well as modern witnesses. In science, we will be looking at electricity – completing circuits, knowing the symbols and creating our own fair tests to discover what happens when we increase the amounts of batteries or bulbs in a circuit. During our computing lessons, we will be learning how to code by learning all about algorithms as well as using repletion commands, if and if/else statements as well as using variables. For art, we are learning all about Sonia Boyce and art activism in our artist study. Our focus in Maths will be a continued emphasis on our reasoning skills which is built on our solid foundation of our four operations. We are also looking at using statistics to learn about different topics as well as and being able to explain the maths we use to solve problems. In PSHE we are continuing to use our worry box, circle time and as well as our lessons on emotional changes and growing up.
Our Learning - Spring 2
And so another half term is upon us. and we we are studying the children's long-awaited World War 2 topic: A Child at War. We will be learning about World War 2 in History, focussing on the Battle of Britain, the Blitz and Evacuees. We are linking this to literacy; our Talk for Writing books are A Candle in the Dark by Adele Geras as well as Fireweed by Jill Paton Walsh. Our 3pm read is Once by Morris Gleitzman. In DT, we will be learning about air raid shelters and design or own using a range of materials, evaluating our success when finished. We will be creating text based adventure games in our computing, setting them in WW2.
In other subjects, our current RE topic is learning about the Eucharist (and the unity of our community) followed be our topic on Lent. During Science we will be learning all about Light, how it travels and creating our own periscopes. Our focus in Maths will be a continued emphasis on reasoning skills and being able to explain the maths we use to solve problems.
Our Learning - Spring 1
Our topic for this half term is Blood Heart where we will be learning all about the heart and circulatory system. In Science, we will explore the heart and circulatory system, the function of blood, blood groups and measuring our heart rates. Armed with this knowledge, we will investigate how heart rate is affected by exercise. Our History lessons will see us going back in time to see how medicine has changed through the ages and continents. During DT we will test materials before making a stethoscope.
During Literacy, our Talk for Writing text is Clockwork by Philip Pullman, which we will use as a basis for writing suspense stories. The children have their own personalised targets that they are working towards.
In Maths will are learning about decimals and percentages and then moving on to learn all about algebra. We will be solving reasoning problems to practise applying our knowledge and show that we are able to explain our mathematical thinking.
In RE we are learning all about the Bible and will share our knowledge by creating collective worship for all year groups. Afterwards, we will be learning about the Eucharist.
In Computing, we will be learning about spreadsheets: using formulas and modelling with 2Calculate in Purple Mash.
If you have any questions or any concerns, please get in touch with us.
Our Learning - Autumn 2
Our topic for this half term is Frozen Kingdom where we will be exploring the planet’s coldest lands, which are incredibly beautiful, yet often deadly. We will start by observing icebergs. In Geography using globes and maps, we’ll identify the Polar Regions, comparing the Arctic and Antarctic. We’ll also think about how we can protect the polar environment and why it is so important. In Science we will learn all about how to classify living things, comparing ones found in Southwark to those in the Polar Regions. We will continue by learning about how these living things are adapted to survive in their habitats. We will look at food chains and webs as well as what can happen of a link in the chain goes missing. Linking our Science and Geography, we will look at the effects of climate change on the Polar Regions. In Art we will study artwork by the Inuit people, especially that of Kenojuak Ashevak. We will use these to inspire our own lino print artwork. In Computing we will be looking at blogs, and write our own on topics about the Arctic and Antarctic.
During Literacy, our Talk for Writing text is North Child by Edith Pattou, which we will use as a basis for writing monster stories, followed by letters. The children will have their own personalised targets that they will be working towards.
In Maths we are continuing to focus on fluency in the first half an hour. We will be studying fractions (equivalence, mixed and improper fractions, ordering and comparing fractions as well as problem solving). We will have an increased focus on reasoning skills and being able to explain the maths we use to solve problems.
In RE we will start off by will then learn about important holidays in Judaism before starting our topic on Advent.
Our Learning - Autumn 1
Our topic this half term is called Darwin’s Delights and we will be learning all about Charles Darwin and the theory of evolution in Science. To start with, we have extracted DNA from strawberries – very successfully! We will investigate why birds have different beak shapes and apply our learning to the finches of the Galapagos Islands. In Geography we will look at the journey Charles Darwin made in the HMS Beagle and some of the amazing wildlife he discovered. After learning all about the Galapagos Islands, we will plan our own expedition using maps. We will also compare the Galapagos Islands to Madagascar as well as Great Britain.
At the end of the unit, we’ll think about why the Galapagos Islands developed such diverse animal life, and why they might be under threat.
In Art, we will be using our observational and sketching techniques and applying these just like Charles Darwin.
During Literacy, we will be writing a range of Non-Chronological reports on animals.
Our focus in Maths is to consolidate our knowledge of place value up to ten million as well as our four operations. We will be working on our fluency as well as looking at reasoning and problem solving.
We are currently learning about God’s unconditional love in RE through the Parable of the Prodigal Son. After this we will move on to and will be learning about Vocation, the priesthood and religious life and hope to interview Father Graham (online of course) with all of our questions!
Computing this half term is focused on how to keep safe online and during PSHE we are working on wellbeing,
In French we will be learning vocabulary and building sentences about the weekend.
In our PE lessons we will be practising our basketball skills.