Zircon (Year 5)

Mrs James

Welcome to Zircon’s class page 

Reminders : PE is Monday – children should come to school in appropriate outdoor kit. 

Please encourage children to read at home at least 3 times a week and also practice their times tables using Times Tables Rock Stars. 

AUTUMN TERM 1    – STARGAZERS

This half term we took a journey through space.  We investigated each planet in our solar system, explored why we have day and night and seasons and looked at the phases of the moon.  We watched video footage of astronauts on the International Space Station and  Neil Armstrong’s moon walk to get a feeling of what it might be like in space.   We also listened to various space songs and discussed what the lyrics meant with reference to the Space Race.  In addition we used our I-pads to create animated presentations about the solar system and created mini videos about the Apollo 11 mission.

Some of us were inspired by our space topic and got creative at home.

READING

In class we have been reading ‘The Jamie Drake Equation’ 

‘How amazing would it be to have a dad who’s an astronaut? Rocket launches, zero gravity, and flying through space like a superhero! Jamie Drake’s dad is orbiting the Earth in the International Space Station and Jamie ought to think it’s cool but he just really misses him… Hanging out at his local observatory, Jamie picks up a strange signal on his phone. It looks like alien life is getting closer to home. But space is a dangerous place and when his dad’s mission goes wrong, can Jamie prove that he’s a hero too?’

We can’t wait to find out  how it all ends! 

LITERACY

We have written descriptive sentences about the moon, created our own moon myths and took on the role of  a  member of the Apollo 11 mission to write a diary entry from the day the first man stepped on the moon.  We have even tried to create our own space related rap. 

‘The blue moon was descending slowly and gracefully, making the beauty of the silver path fade away.’

‘The moon started to descend out of the gloomy clouds onto the soft seas, where it rested, bringing a  path of sparkling moon dust.’

‘Around the moon, you could see a light globe of glow surrounding the sphere shaped moon, playing hide and seek with the clouds, cloaking itself behind the clouds then appearing again.’

 

Evie wrote:

A long time ago, a spaceman walked up on the moon to see if life may have formed there. He started harvesting some of the moons glittering stone. Suddenly he felt something behind him…’

Click the link to read the rest and see images.  Moon myth example by Evie

Sabia’s opening:

‘The moon started to descend out of the dispirited clouds onto the soft seas, where it rested bringing a path of sparkling moon dust. The astronauts were signalled that it was time to blast off to the moon…’ 

Click the link to read what happens next!    Moon Myth Sabia

Adam wrote:

The bright, glossy moon is always shining. No one knew why, but I believed, a bright, golden dragon roamed the moon making it shine like a million golden coins. The dragon was black and gold.

A few years later, astronauts blasted off into space to see if the myth was true. That astronaut was me!

After what seemed like a life time I arrived, but there was nothing but a gigantic strange rock, probably the size of a fully grown adult!  So, I  definitely decided to research it!

Two years later I saw a crack in the gigantic strange rock! I  waited for almost a day and pop! A dragon came out. It was purple at the bottom and gold at the top. I  learned she was a girl and breathed golden fire that almost set the forest on fire. Her claws are on her wings and feet. I called her Violet.  I did the right thing by helping her to fly. In 1 year Violet finally learned how to fly, she flew up in to the shiny moon I hope she comes back. Violet will always be in the moonlight in my heart.’ 

MATHS

In maths, we have been busy recapping our addition and subtraction skills and practicing, our times table using Time table rock stars. We have extended our skills and used various strategies to explore numbers to a million. We have also explored negative numbers and roman numerals.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH 

As part of Black History month, we have learnt about the achievements of black men and women in the past and today including Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela, Katherine Johnson and Martin Luther King.

     

 

AUTUMN 2

Our topic for Autumn 2 will be Pharaohs

During the half term we are going to  travel back 5000 years, to the dusty realms of ancient Egypt. Cruise along the Nile, entering a world of  mysteries and curses, mummies and kings. We will find out about life on the river’s fertile banks, discovering Egypt and its fascinating culture. Unravel the secrets of ancient tombs, using historical sources and ancient artefacts and find out about powerful pharaohs and grandiose gods. We will become an    apprentice and work for Ramose, the chief embalmer at the Beautiful House and help him prepare a body for its journey into the afterlife.