Autumn 2
The children have settled so well into Key Stage 2, and have amazed us with how inspired they have been with the topics we have covered.
Please do keep posting to Seesaw anything your child does at home – we love to see the links they have made within their learning.
History and Geography (Opening Worlds): Cradles of Civilisation and Mountains
This term, we will use the Opening Worlds curriculum to explore the topics of Cradles of Civilisation and Mountains.
Cradles of Civilisation, children will learn all about how the Mesopotamian people learned how to use rivers to support farming, creating and building waterways to water plants and utilise river water. They will discover how their civilisation grew, and as their skills with farming developed, the Mesopotamians were able to become self-sufficient, and were able to trade their produce. Children will extend to learning about how other ancient civilisations developed around rivers, and how they learned to communicate using writing.
Mountains, children will learn what mountains are, as well as the mountain ranges in the United Kingdom. They will think about why people live on mountains and what it is like to live in that kind of region.
Vocabulary -
Cradles of Civilisation – tablets, summer, Tigris, Euphrates, Mesopotamia, fertile crescent, trade, weaving, herding, ziggurat, cuneiform, Gilgamesh, epic, Assyria, Indus Valley, Shang, nomadic, cradle, bronze, altar, sacrifices, decipher, sculptures, mythical, decorative
Mountains – hill, mountain, Ben Nevis, mountainous regions. Himalayas, Mount Everest, peak, slopes, terraces, summit, Alps, Andes, terraced farming, Cairngorms, trek, valleys, Lake District, Pennines, Yorkshire Dales, Brecon Beacons, Snowdonia, above sea level, temperature
English: Narrative and Non-chronological report
Narrative – Stone Trolls
Non-chronological report – Diary of a fossil hunter
Children will be working this half-term towards writing 2 independent pieces.
The first piece will be a narrative piece. Children will read a version of ‘Stone Trolls’. Together will read a great story about Icelandic trolls. Children will develop their narrative story writing and vocabulary to create their own version of a story based on ‘Stone Trolls’. Children will learn to use prepositions and prepositional phrases to start a sentence. They will develop their extended noun phrases to describe their setting in their story.
Vocabulary – innovate, volcano, crater, magma, eruption, mischievous, shielded, stricken, bubbled, foamed, towering, soaring, giant, colossal, prepositions
The second piece will be a non-chronological report. The children will read an imagined diary entry from the famous fossil hunter, Mary Anning. They will have an opportunity to learn technical vocabulary related to fossil hunting. It will culminate in them writing their own version of an extract from Mary Anning’s diary.
Vocabulary – discover, magnificent, ammonite, belemnite, excavate, fossil, geological, limestone
Bedrock will continue to be used in school to improve children’s vocabulary knowledge. Children will be given opportunities in class to complete sessions with the opportunity for them to complete additional lessons at home.
Maths: Addition and Subtraction and Geometry (shape)
We will be continuing to compare objects and numbers and also ordering numbers. We will be developing our addition and subtraction through problem-solving and reasoning skills. We will be developing our understanding of both 2D and 3D shapes using pattern.
We will continue to do weekly number and lightening where children will be recording their scores independently enabling them to track and be proud of their own progress.
Vocabulary - ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, place value, digit, value, amount, compare, more than, less than, equal, ascending, descending, rounding, nearest, total, method, trial, error, systematic, pattern, shape, cuboid, cone, cylinder, pyramid, sphere, cube
Science: Rocks and Fossils
In this term’s science learning, we will be learning about how rocks and fossils are formed. The children will compare different rocks, and organise and group them together based on their appearance and physical properties. We will learn how fossils form and try to create our own in simple terms, and also that soils are made from rocks and organic matter.
Vocabulary - extinction, igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary, palaeontologist, weathering, molten rock, crust, tectonic plates, scavengers, fossil
Other Curriculum Areas
Computing – Programming: Scratch
Children will be exploring the programme ‘scratch’. Over the term the children will be storytelling using the programme using repetition (a loop) and animation. Finally they will programme a game explaining the action and algorithm behind it.
Vocabulary – scratch, algorithm, animation, application, code, coding, debug, decompose, interface, game, loop, predict, program, remixing code, repetition code, review, sprite, tinker.
French – French adjectives of colour, size and shape
Children will show understanding by correctly identifying a described shape, drawing it in the air or pointing on the board. They will describe some shapes in their work using language of colour, size or shape. They will recognise cognates (a cognate is a word that is the same in both French and English). Children will learn to use please and thank you in French and listen carefully to instructions. They will listen and then select the correct decoration according to its colour. They will use software to produce artwork in the style of Matisse.
Vocabulary - c’est de quelle couleur ? (what colour is it?), les couleurs (the colours), vrai ou faux (true or false), petit (small), grand (big).
PSHE / RSE – Health and Wellbeing
This term we will be focusing on ‘Health and Wellbeing’ by looking at the understanding of a healthy lifestyle, dental health and ways we can plan a healthy lifestyle through food and exercise. We will be learning a range of relaxation exercises and the positive impacts these have on our bodies. We will be looking at our own identities and personal strengths and writing Kenning style poems based on ourselves. We will be building our resilience by identifying problems and breaking them into smaller goals to overcome them.
Vocabulary - exercise, energy, balance, intake, diet, balanced, food group, teeth, healthy, feeling, balance, relax, group, identity, belonging, alone, lonely, hero, power, strengths, stretch, barriers, strategy.
Physical Education – Hockey and Dance
Hockey (outdoors) – We will be focussing on how to use a hockey stick and ball, learning skills such as control of the ball and correct technique, as well as basic passing, attack and defence skills
Dance (indoors) – we will be creating movements and linking these together to perform a dance at a SOKE competition
Vocabulary – pass, attack, defend, movement, link, sequence, Timing, control, dribble, cross over, reverse stick, long barrier, push pass
Design Technology – Levers and Linkages
Children will explore and use mechanisms such as flaps, sliders and levers to support making their own Christmas card. They will gain experience of basic cutting, joining and finishing techniques with paper and card. They will generate realistic ideas and their own design criteria through discussion. They will use annotated sketches and prototypes to develop, model and communicate their ideas. They will select from and use appropriate tools with some accuracy to cut, shape and join paper and card. And will use finishing techniques suitable for the Christmas card they are creating. Finally, they will evaluate their Christmas card against criteria and user needs.
Vocabulary - mechanism, lever, linkage, pivot, slot, bridge, guide system, input, process, output linear, rotary, oscillating, reciprocating user, purpose, function prototype, design criteria, innovative, appealing, design brief
Religious Education – Understanding Christianity – Incarnation
What is the Trinity? We will learn to identify the difference between a ‘Gospel’, which tells the story of the life and teaching of Jesus, and a letter. We will think about what texts about baptism and Trinity might mean, especially to Christians today. We will learn how to describe how Christians show their beliefs about God the Trinity in worship (in baptism and prayer, for example) and in the way they live. We will make links between some Bible texts studied and the idea of God in Christianity.
Vocabulary – Trinity, Gospel, Jesus, Baptism
Music – Creating compositions in response to an animation (Theme: Mountains)
Children will verbalise how music makes them feel. They will create actions or movements appropriate to different pieces of music. They will create a range of sounds and compose and notate a short melody to accompany a story.
Vocabulary – influence, listen, dynamics, timbre, pitch, repeated rhythm, pattern, notation, ensemble, compose.
Links to Learning sites
Bedrock - https://app.bedrocklearning.org/
TT Rockstars - https://ttrockstars.com/
History - 'world history' http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/forkids/
Useful Dates:
Monday 31st October – Halloween disco
Wednesday 9th November – Cross Country
Monday 14th - Friday 18th November - Mental Health Awareness Week with the theme Reach Out.
Friday 18th November – Children in Need day
Thursday 8th December - Christmas jumper day
Tuesday 20th December - Christmas lunch
Wednesday 21st December – End of term