Class 5's Blog

In our literacy work we painted storm pictures which have helped us think of some descriptive writing about an approaching storm. We added silhouettes to them of the town using different layers - we have been learning about foreground and bakground layers recently.

Here is the whole gallery of paintings from the class as I think the children have all worked really hard on them.

A BIG thankyou to everyone who commented on our storm writing post - you all helped us so much with our own writing!

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storm-paintings-ktGAqdwoxojheBadngzz.zip (2.82 MB)

Please let us know what you make of our stormy artwork!

We would like your help! In our extended writing this week we are going to be doing some descriptive writing of a storm scene we have painted today. We are reading Wreck of the Zanzibar and their home town is badly damaged by a storm .

So how can you help?

Please leave a comment with a few descriptive sentences about an impending storm. The images below might help you. We will then read them at the beginning of our writing session and pinch your ideas!

It would great if anyone could add a real life account of seeing a heavy storm approaching - that would be great to read. 

impending storms by paul (dex)
Attribution License

the winds of skagit. by heanster
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License

We learned to sing a sea shanty on Thursday with Mrs Heeley called Launch the Gig. We have been reading Wreck of the Zanzibar by Michael Morpurgo.

Padstow_Z10820 by Ennor
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License

sailing_song_girls_then_boys.MP3

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sailing_song_girls_then_boys.MP3 (1.46 MB)

sailing_song_girls.MP3

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sailing_song_girls.MP3 (1.44 MB)

sailing_song.MP3

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sailing_song.MP3 (1.47 MB)

saling_song_boy.MP3

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saling_song_boy.MP3 (1.48 MB)

In our writing work today we have been discussing the ideas and techniques needed to create a really good story opening. Below we have chosen a random character, a setting and a problem and we have written something together as a class.

• Mr Bowler (our Headteacher)
• A shipwreck deep under the ocean
• Lost something valuable

He stared below him into the depths of the dark ocean. It was gone. What was he going to do? He felt his heart beginning to race as surely he wouldn't be able to retrieve it. Where could it be? He spotted a glint of gold plummetting towards the sandy seabed. He felt a paralysis and his eyes were glued to it. It meant so much to him.

What do you think of our story opening? Does it make you want to read more?

Today we took part in World Maths Day - we had lots of fun and enjoyed some different maths activities throughout the day. We did Addition Baseball using Wii Sports - which was 3 digit addition of more than 2 numbers. We hit lots of home runs and added the total distance the baseballs travelled.

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class-5-took-part-in-world-maths-day-kaFdlFwxjchmxgDIHvBA.zip (2.36 MB)

We also tried Subtraction Golf - again using the Wii Sports game - in which we subtracted from the total hole length the remaining distance, to calculate how far we had hit the ball.

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class-5-took-part-in-world-maths-day-ycftrgIqwFrIcoyevJHc.zip (2.73 MB)

During the day we took part in the Mathletics World Maths Day activities too and we did really well. There was even a lunchtime club in the ICT suite which was really busy! We had some prizes in Class 5 for the Best Overall Score, the Biggest Improvement and the Most Accurate.

Well done to everyone in Class 5 for all of your efforts today!

In the comments...

>> What did you get up to during World Maths Day?

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making-our-own-seed-dispersal-design-wHviHdxkrzjqCupboGCi.zip (27.59 MB)

Even though it is really windy outside, it is a bit tricky to use the natural wind for a fair test. We will be measuring two different things.

1. How long the carrier stays in the air for.
2. How far it travels away from the drop zone.

We know that the last one is especially important to help disperse seeds widely from their parent plant. We looked at a couple of example videos of Sycamore and Dandellion seeds floating and spinning away.

We hope you like our designs in progress pictures - we will post our results when we have completed the tests.

In the comments...

• Which designs do you think will be the most successful?
• What elements of the investigation do we need to keep the same?
• Why is it important to do this?

Water washed over my wetsuit, cold and chilling,

Our boat bobbed and bobbed on the swell.

The ocean felt peaceful yet dangerous,

Soft seaweed slowly circled me like spaghetti strands.

Below me there lay a vast expanse of deep, black ocean.