You can find all the weekly news from Year 6 linked below.
After learning about everyday life for the Maya, the children were set the challenge of designing then building at least one, if not two, structures to be included as part of a whole-class Maya village. They will be creating this on Tuesday next week, so they need to bring in the cardboard boxed tec that they have planned to use.
As part of 'Round the World' week, each Year 6 class has focused on a different country. We have looked at map skills, found out about the country, surrounding countries, nearest oceans, population, language, currency, history, culture, physical geography, food, music, art and a whole wealth of other information too. We are very keen to share this on Monday 24th November at 3.15pm with families, as part of the Round the World Showcase. Do come along and visit each classroom across the school.
Food eaten by the Maya has occupied our thoughts in History this week. The children experienced Bartering as a means of acquiring the food they needed for a Maya family to eat, which proved by good fun and showed us some potential candidates for The Apprentice! Their negotiation skills were impressive! We also looked at the importance of chocolate to the Maya. The children were able to try some hot chocolate with chilli if they wished – with predictably mixed reactions. They also sampled some plain chocolate which was more similar to the chocolate eaten by the Maya. Again, this split opinions in the group.
As part of our new History topic about The Maya, we have begun to explore the significance of their religious beliefs and the effects on everyday life. The children were fascinated and shocked in equal measure by the amount of blood that was spilled as part of regular worship. They enjoyed researching some of the different gods and finding out about the areas of life over which the Maya believed each one had power.
Our visit to Junior Citizens was a great way to end the first half term of Year 6. Taking place at Sutton Libary, representatives from Sutton Police, Transport for London, Southern Railways, London Ambulance Servce and London Fire Brigade, spoke to the children about being safe. As the children become more independent, it is vital that they know what to do in various situations and they interacted well with the representatives.
We have had an amazing day at RHS Wisley, where the children in Year 6 explored many different types of plants linked to our Science and Geography topics. The autumnal colours were truly glorious. They found out more about how plants adapt to their environment, which has been our Science topic this half term. They also began learning about Classification, which is our topic after half term. Visiting the glass house inspired some very detailed sketching to take place and all of the children enjoyed drawing a variety of different plants from different biomes all over the world. Of course, the tropical zone allowed the children to experience a little of what the rainforest is like, which forms a large part of our Geography topic about Brazil. Each child also was able to take a cutting from a rainforest plant, plant it then take it home, as an added bonus. A great day!
As part of our exploration of the topic of Evolution in Science, this week Year 6 carried out an experiment using different equipment to simulate the shape of birds' beaks. They had a range of 'bird food' and saw how much of which type of food each 'beak' could pick up in a minute. Then they used the results to write their own conclusions.
As part of our Geography topic about Brazil, we have been considering deforestation and the many reasons why it happens. We have looked at the global impact and the need for sustainability. The children are working hard to present their findings in creative ways, as they discuss and consider how important rainforests are.
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This week, children in Year 6 had their second lesson with Tom, our specialist Music Tech teacher from Sutton Music Service. These continue from their Music Tech lessons in Year 5, still using Sound Trap to create their own tracks, mixing various sounds and rhythms. We were very impressed with just how much they could remember from their Year 5 learning and soon put it into practice, as they quickly began confidently composing their own music.
This week, children have planned their first Star Writing in Year 6 – a narrative based on our book The Great Kapok Tree. They were asked to include a few of the many animals' opinions in the book, about which they felt the most strongly. Deforestation is a key topic of our discussions currently. Over the last few weeks, they have been practising expanded noun phrases, subordinate clauses, speech and show-not-tell techniques to use in their independent writing next week. We are looking forward to the results!
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We began our Geography topic about Brazil in earnest this week and used maps, aerial photographs and globes to find out a lot about the country. We looked at the location of the rainforest and considered why almost all major cities are not situated in that part of Brazil. We revised knowledge from Year 5 about rivers through discussions about the Amazon River.
The children have made a great start to Year 6 and have settled quickly. We have begun our Geography topic about Brazil by reading the book, 'The Great Kapok Tree'. This explores some of the reasons for and against deforestation – a subject we will be discussing in detail throughout this topic. They have been writing creatively about the story too, and we have been exploring 'Show not tell' techniques.