Leaders is an exciting time for the children at Sleights as they are the oldest children in school. Leaders class includes children from Year 6. They are taught by Mrs Porter and supported by Mr Everall in their own building on the school playground.
In Leaders, children are taught maths and English daily and they also gather together with the rest of the school in collective worship.
Children in Leaders class love to read. The children are very lucky to have an amazing school and class library, filled with a diverse range of books that they can enjoy reading for pleasure. Children also enjoy listening to the class story at the end of each school day. In addition to reading for pleasure, Leaders also enjoy sharing a range of texts during whole class reading sessions, where they have the opportunity to read fiction, non-fiction and poetry texts as well as a whole class reading book. Reading at home is also incredibly important. Please record the reading that your child does at home in their reading record and ensure that this, alongside their individual reading book, is in school every day.
Children in Leaders class are very lucky to be taught by specialist teachers throughout the week. On a Tuesday, children will have swimming lessons at the Leisure Centre in Whitby. Children will continue to bring home their instruments to practice throughout the week and these will need to be returned on a Thursday morning ready for music with Ralph. Computing with Mrs Gurney will also take place on a Wednesday afernoon,
Each week, homework will be set on Sumdog on a Thursday. Children will also receive spellings every two weeks; these will be sent home on a Thursday. Spellings tests will happen on the second Wednesday.
Our class blog will be updated each week so keep an eye on this for exciting updates throughout the term.
Wednesday 20th May 2020
Good Morning Leaders.
The weather was a little brighter here yesterday but let’s keep our fingers crossed for some sunshine today. Have you managed to spot any animals on your daily exercise? If so, you might like to use one of those today or you could go outside and find a different insect if you’d like to.
Happy spotting!
English
To help with our letter tomorrow, I’d like you to write a diary for your day today. This should give you valuable information for the letter we are going to write tomorrow.
Maths
Fraction Puzzles
Today you will need to use your knowledge of multiplying fractions. Remember to only multiply the numerator as the denominator stays the same.
Pencil Drawing – Art
Today, we are going to use our pencil skills to draw a pencil drawing of an insect or animal.
You could find an insect or animal in your garden to draw or find a picture to copy online.
If you’d like to, you can follow this video showing you how to draw a butterfly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CS1UdGc-LQ
Leave your animal just in pencil for today, we are going to look at adding colour tomorrow.
Tuesday 19th May 2020
Good Morning Leaders.
I was hoping for sunshine yesterday, but it seemed to spend most of the day hiding behind clouds, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for today.
You may have seen on the news that animals are making their way into places that they wouldn’t normally be, the animals in the park and the ducks and ducklings on the road in London. A perfect time to continue are work on habitats. Keep your eyes open on your daily exercise and see what animals you spot as you go.
English
Letters can be fantastic way to record lots from things from events to feelings. With this in mind, I’d like you to choose a friend to write a letter to today.
You might want to tell them about things you have been doing and feeling during lockdown and maybe what you are looking forward to or missing.
If you are writing to someone from the class and would like it sending on to them, upload it and I will do that for you.
Maths
Fraction Puzzles
Using your knowledge of fractions and the digits 1-4 complete the investigation.
Habitats – Science
How did your micro-organisms grow? Which slice of bread produced the most and why?
We are going to start looking at animals and their habitat so this week we are going to investigate life cycles, something that you will have covered before.
You will need sellotape, scissors, an empty clear 2l bottle, stones or sand, some soil and some leaves or frozen peas.
Watch the video below. Remember you can watch it multiple times if needed or save the activity until you have the resources required.
Monday 18th May 2020
Good Morning Leaders.
Welcome back to Monday. I hope you had a fantastic weekend with your families and managed to get out and enjoy the sunshine. There are so many people growing things, I think there are going to be some busy households potting up seedlings very shortly, followed by some very colourful gardens.
English
This week we are going to think about writing letters. Today I’d like you to mind map or list all the different types and reasons you may need to write a letter.
For example, make a complaint
Maths
Fractions
It’s Monday, let’s wake ourselves up for the week with Supermovers, linking fractions to decimals.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/supermovers/ks2-maths-decimals-fractions-with-naomi-wilkinson/zf2gt39
Have a go at converting the fractions to decimals.
Staying Safe at Home
You may remember the sessions we did at school with our local PCSO about staying safe online.
Now that you are spending more time at home, with possibly more time online I think it would be good to remind ourselves how to stay safe. Follow the link to an online activity pack. Read the instructions carefully, making sure you ask your parents’ permission first.
Friday 15th May 2020
Good Morning Leaders.
Friday again already – I just don’t know where the week disappears. The weather forecast says we are going back to some warmer weather, so we’ll think about taking learning outside in the sunshine next week. Have a fantastic weekend spending time with your families – stay safe.
English
Today is the time to put your poem together. Using your ideas from yesterday see how many verses you can put together.
Remember it doesn’t necessarily have to rhyme or have a rhythm but, if you choose to, see if you can follow a pattern.
I can’t wait to read your completed poems.
Maths
Fractions
I thought I’d do some baking, but I need help with the ingredients. Using the given fractions of the items, write the list of how much of the ingredients I will need for my recipe.
1/5 of the eggs
3/10 of the flour
1/4 of the sugar
2/25 of the cocoa
3/8 of the chocolate
1/16 of the margarine
Once you have the ingredients, I have decided to make cakes for all me neighbours and will need to make 3 times the recipe – write a new list to tell me how much of each item I will need.
I Have a Dream – Art
To end our week on dreams, I’d like you to be creative and make a poster based around ‘I have a dream …’, displaying one of your dreams for the future.
Posters should be bold and eye-catching, so think about this in your design.
Thursday 13th May 2020
Good Morning Leaders.
What a high scoring game last night – I think I’ll need to make things harder!
Today, I’d like to encourage you to take part in the activities and get members of your household involved too – maths can be a multi-player game and I’m sure you will welcome the extra eyes spotting the colours for your rainbow. Many eyes make light work.
English
We are going to have a go at writing out own poem using Paul Cookson’s as a base. We are going to ‘magpie’ the line ‘Let no one steal your dreams…’
Today I want you to make a list or mind map of all the dreams that you have (I know that some of you have already been thinking about this). They can be as small or as big as you like e.g. getting muddy playing football with friends to living in a castle.
You could then start to think about how you want to group your ideas together to make verses for your poem. It does not have to rhyme – remember you can also use syllables, assonance and consonance to give your writing rhythm
Maths
Fractions
Using your knowledge from yesterday have a go at the memory game to match the fractions, decimals and percentages.
There are lots of levels to choose from and you can even play against someone in your family if you would like, choose the number of players at the bottom of the yellow score box.
https://claritymaths.uk/games/memory/fractions-decimals-percentages.html
Rainbows – Art/ICT
It’s Thursday again and I’m sure many of you will be out clapping for key workers this evening. Lots of people have been painting and drawing rainbows and this has become quite a symbol in lots of windows. I’d like you to use this theme today and, when you are out on your daily exercise, take something with you to take pictures. See if you can spot all the colours of the rainbow and put them together to make a rainbow picture. Have a look at the example.
I am also going to see how many I can spot on my walk with Rolo and let’s see how many of us manage to get a complete rainbow.
Happy hunting.
Wednesday 13th May 2020
Good Morning Leaders.
It’s game day today so it would be great to see some more of you get involved this evening and some more names on our leader board. Remember – you can only give one answer per reply and each correct answer (that hasn’t already been given) will score a point.
It is so nice to see so many of you get involved with the science investigation about micro-organisms. Perhaps you could keep sending photographs and then we could share our results between those people who have taken part. I wonder whether there will be any other factors that might affect your results – what do you think?
English
Today, we are going to look a little deeper into some of the sections of yesterday’s poem.
- Look at the line: ‘that fires the drive inside your heart’. How does this metaphor show that Cookson feels dreams are more than just ideas?
- Read over the poem and select any phrases which use commands and imperatives. How does the author create a sense of hope in his repetition of these phrases?
- Look at the final line: ‘your only limit is the sky’. How has another metaphor been used here to show that anyone can achieve anything they set their mind to?
If you’d like help to form your ideas use the following sentences starters.
The opening line shows Cookson feels dreams are… because…
Commands are used in the phrases ‘________’ and ‘_________’. These phrases show that he feels… This allows us to understand/feel…
In the final stanza, Cookson uses the metaphor to show that…
Maths
Fractions
Today, you have a choice of one or both activities.
- I would like you to make a fraction, decimal and percentage display or table, showing equivalents of each. You can present this how you wish. You might want to make a table or make something more visual, the choice is yours.
- Have a go at the Tarsia puzzle. If you have a printer, you can print out the triangles and cut them out. If not, you could make your own triangles, copying the ones on the picture.
Then put your triangles together with the joining sides being equivalent.
Happy puzzling!
History – I have a Dream
A is for Activist led us to a list of names for us to investigate including Martin Luther King. He delivered a famous speech in which he uses the words, ‘I have a dream’.
Who was Martin Luther King and what was this speech about?
You can choose how you would like to display your information.
Tuesday 12th May 2020
Good Morning Leaders.
Lovely to speak to so many of your families yesterday and hear how you are all getting on. There were some amazing dream catchers made from all sorts of things – you are all very inventive. When you are out on your daily exercise you might want to start looking at all the different colours that you see. If you are able, take a photograph of them – you will need these later in the week.
English
Let No One Steal Your Dreams – Paul Cookson
Read the poem and then think about the answers to these questions;
What is the poem about?
What message do you think he is trying to tell people?
How does he tell the message through his writing?
Does the poem rhyme and is there are pattern?
Make a list of the features you can see.
Maths
Fractions
Have a go at this fraction matching game using both fractions and visual representations Remember that an improper fractions means that the top number is bigger than the bottom number (which means there is more than 1 whole) and that a mixed fraction tells us how many whole ones and how many pieces (which also means there is more than 1 whole).
There are lots of different levels – see how far you can get.
https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/fraction-matcher/latest/fraction-matcher_en.html
Science – Micro-organisms
What is a micro-organism? Watch this short clip to explain what mirco-organisms are.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zfxxsbk/articles/zsgtrwx
Now for the investigation – how can we grow our own?
You will need some bread, some resealable bags and some oil. Please ask a parent first.
Watch the video below, you can stop it at any time and it also stops and asks you to re-start when you are ready. You can watch multiple times if needed.
Monday 11th May 2020
Good Morning Leaders.
If we were at school this week it would be SATS week and our class would be split with the Year 6 children sitting 2 papers today. Instead, we are all ‘together’, even though that may be virtually at present, and we are going to be basing our tasks this week on dreams. “For those who dare to dream, there is a whole world to win.” – Dhirubhai Ambani
English
This week we are going to be looking at poetry around the theme of dreams. First, I’d like you to listen to the song – please feel free to sing along – come on Leaders, you know you want to!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rxgAh1bnHU
- What is a dream? Explore as many possible meanings as you can.
- Why is it important to have dreams and goals in your life?
- What are your dreams for your future?
Maths
Fraction
In the first part of this investigation you will be adding fractions together to make a whole, before moving on to making more than a whole, followed be more than one whole.
There are 3 steps to this investigation – challenge yourself as much as you can.
Dream Catcher
To link with our work on dreams, have a go at making a dream catcher. You can make these in all sorts of different ways. First, you need to find or make a hoop. This could be a readymade hoop shape or you could make your own from; a bendy twig, an old metal coat hanger or anything you can mould into a circle shape.
https://www.easy-crafts-for-kids.com/simple-dream-catcher-craft-for-kids.html
See what you can find out about dreamcatchers. Where did they originate?
Thursday 7th May 2020
Good Morning Leaders.
A bank holiday weekend – fingers crossed for sunshine.
If you are celebrating VE day, have a lovely time, if not enjoy spending some time with your family – maybe set up your dining room as a café or restaurant and surprise the adults in your household.
Also, a final call for your hello videos or message photos. If you haven’t already, please make sure I have them for Monday and then I will put them together and send them out to everyone who has contributed.
English
Time to start thinking about getting to the end of your project. How did you plan your workload? Have you got lots left to do?
I’m looking forward to seeing your comics and animations after the weekend. There has been some amazing work completed so far.
Maths
Problem Solving
Have a go at using the clues to solve the problem. Remember to read the clues carefully – you many not need all of them!
History – VE Day
I’m sure you have seen the activities that Mrs Burton has been posting and I know that many of you have been making decorations and bunting ready for the occasion but, what does it all mean?
Find out all you can about what VE Day is – https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/48201749 – this might be a good place to start.
Wednesday 6th May 2020
Good Morning Leaders.
Another beautiful day with sunshine to warm our hearts. As you will know, it is VE Day on Friday and I know that Mrs Burton has been posting lots of VE ideas for you. I was wondering whether you were planning to do anything with your families, and I would love to hear. Send me a message, video or photos to let me know your plans – can’t wait to hear.
English
Have a look at the clips to give you some more ideas for your comic strip or animation. If you are animating, you will need some patience to capture the movements – if you do too much at once it won’t necessarily work.
https://tinkerlab.com/easy-stop-motion-animation-kids/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=173&v=_nKmvEzxcKc&feature=emb_logo
Remember not to rush, you have the rest of the week to finish your project.
Maths
Diagonal Addition Investigation.
Look at the green square which contains the numbers 2,3,12 and 13.
Do you notice anything about the sum of the numbers that are diagonally opposite each other?
Look at the pink square.
What happens this time when you look at the numbers diagonally opposite each other?
What about the yellow square?
You could try with other squares which have four numbers in them.
Can you find a reason why what you notice, happens?
Look at the squares shaded red. They form the corners of a large 3 by 3 square.
If you add the numbers diagonally opposite each other, what do you notice with this larger square?
Can you find a reason why what you notice, happens?
What happens for squares of different sizes?
Geography – What is a Biome?
Today I would like you to investigate biomes. You can use the clip below to help you.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z849q6f/articles/zvsp92p
Once you have found out, choose one type of biome and carry out some further investigation. You can present this information however you wish.