What we are doing this week in Lilac Class

WB: 7.6.21

In Maths this week in Lilac Class, we are continuing with our work about multiplying fractions.  This week we are multiplying an integer by a fraction where the denominator is more than 1. As well as using a formal written method and repeated addition, we are also using bar models and number lines to help us solve our calculations.  We will then start to find a fraction of an amount and explore fractions as operators, using pictorial representations.

For English this week, we are now ready (after a great deal of preparation, planning and research) to draft our newspaper articles about the sinking of the Titanic in 1912.  We are carefully referring to our success criteria ‘The Features of a Newspaper Article’ to ensure that we include all the correct content. These features, for example, include the use of the third person, using formal language and direct and indirect speech, information in chronological order and a last paragraph that sums up events and says what is going to happen next. 

This week for our Whole Class Guided Reading of ‘Shackleton’s Journey’ by William Grill, we are making predictions using our inference skills and looking carefully beyond what is written in the text, exploring characters and events in more depth.  Two questions for example are ‘Why was the crew’s condition deteriorating?’ and ‘Why couldn’t they wait for help at Elephant Island?’

In RE, we are learning in more depth what the Second Pillar of Islam ‘Salah’ means and why it is important to Muslims.  Lilac Class will be finding out how and why Muslim people pray and making connections by exploring what the similarities and differences are between prayer in Islam and in other religions. 

In Science this week, we are continuing with designing our own food chains using our key scientific vocabulary we learnt last week.  We will also be learning about some of the food chains that can be found in the tropical rainforests of South America.   In Topic, Lilac Class are now starting to learn about their ‘country of study’.  Our country in Year 5 is India.  We are looking carefully at a map of India and where it is in the world and will be learning about the climate in different regions.  In Music, we are refining our graphic scores to show the instruments and dynamics that we hear when listening to Grace Williams’s ‘Sea Sketches’’ for String Orchestra. We are also comparing this with Claude Debussy’s orchestral piece ‘La Mer’ and Benjamin Britten’s Sea Interludes.  What instruments and dynamics have the composers used? Which piece best describe the sea and why? Lilac Class will also be singing songs about the sea and nature.  For example ‘To The Sky’ by Carl Strommen and I Can See Clearly Now’ By Johnny Nash.