Class Eagles
EAGLES 20/21
Hello new Eagles!!
I am really looking forward to September and getting to know you all better. We have an exciting year ahead with some brilliant topics to study.
I have read all your letters and will try and answer some of the most common questions (see below) but first some boring practical stuff:
- Your parents have had a letter which explains all the arrangements for the new term. Things are still a bit different because of COVID-19.
- We will be based in what was the Kingfishers’ classroom.
- In the mornings, you will need to enter at your allotted time (your parents will know when this is) through the door into the classroom from the playground. Mrs Welch and I will be there to meet you.
- You need to bring all your stuff into the classroom. We are going to use the cloakroom in the classroom although only one person is allowed in there at any one time. You can put your bags and coats in there and if you have a packed lunch place it on the trolley.
- You will then need to wash your hands and go to your desk, Mrs Godbold will tell you where to sit, and get on with the task on the board.
- You need to remember to bring back any reading books you have taken home over the summer and put them in the returns box.
- You also need to remember to bring in a pencil case containing: a pencil, a pencil sharpener, a blue writing pen, a red writing pen, a rubber, a ruler, some coloured pencils and/or felt-tips and a couple of high-lighters of different colours. If you can’t get some or all of this, don’t worry we can give you it. You need to keep this in you tray and not share it with anyone else.
- On Fridays, you need to remember to come in in your PE kit, so you don’t have to get changed.
- Here is the Autumn timetable
Your questions:
- Where will I sit? Beacuse of the COVID-19 restrictions we have arranged all the desks facing the front. We will have to stay in the same seats for most of our activities. I will try and arrange it so you are sitting next to or near a friend.
- What is our topic? Our topic this year is ‘Strangers’. It is a fascinating topic and will be mostly based around Henry VIII and the Tudors. We will look at immigration, Norwich through the ages and at Kett’s Rebellion later in the term, and the Church of England. We will look at portraits and what they mean in Art. In science we will be looking at light and sound.
- Will the work be hard? There is lots to learn in the Year 6 curriculum but most of it is just adding to what you know already. We work really hard in Eagles but Mrs Godbold and I try to make it really fun and if there is something you don’t understand the first time (which happens a lot) we will go over it again to make sure you do. We always check to see if everyone is happy with what we are doing and if you are not, we will give you some extra help. We do an extra check at the end of the lesson too, so if anyone needs more help, we can do that in the next lesson or take you out on your own or as part of a small group.
- Is there a lot of homework? There will be more homework than you had in Owls. The reason for this is to make sure you have really good skills in place for high school and also to get you used to a bit more homework as you will have more in Year 7. You will have weekly spelling and mental maths tests, reading and comprehension work and often a bit of maths work. You will have plenty of time in class to work on it and when the Covid -19 restrictions change, you can work during some lunchtimes too, if you want. If you have any problems with what you have been set, Mrs Godbold and I are always there to help you.
- How will the COVID-19 outbreak affect what we do? Most of you were back in school at the end of last term and in September things will not be that different to then. Our class will be a ‘pod’ and we will stay together in our pod all of the time. We won’t mix with other pods (classes) and will have break and lunch times on our own. There will still be plenty of handwashing and desk cleaning and we will make sure we do everything we can to prevent the spread of infection. We will have our own designated toilets and use the sinks in our room and in the room off ‘The Nest’ to wash our hands. We will also have lunch in the classroom. We won’t have whole school assemblies together, but will do them using Teams as we did last term. We are allowed to have other teachers in now, so you will have PE with Mr Colbeck, French with Madam Brown and music with Mr Cooper. We aren’t allowed to have choir at the moment as that would mean mixing pods. Hopefully, when the COVID-19 situation improves, things will return more to normal! Whatever happens, it won’t stop us learning and having fun!
- Do I have to do work over the holidays? It is a really good idea to make sure you read as often as you can. It doesn’t matter what you read although it is a lovely thing to have a good fiction book on the go. You can share your reading with an adult or sibling if you want. It is also a good idea if you spend just a little time practising your mental maths – those of you who had maths with me last year can work on the last targets you had, everyone else needs to make sure they know their times-tables as accurately as possible (multiplication and division facts) – they are really important for maths in Year 6!! If you want to, you can also do some research/reading on the Tudors, especially Henry VIII!
- And finally: Is Mr Stowers the best-looking, coolest, funniest and cleverest teacher ever? Yes!
As I have already said: I am really looking forward to getting to know you all. Miss Betts has said what an amazing group you are and I know we will have a fantastic time. Year 6 is always great fun and although things are a bit different at the moment, it will not stop us doing loads of great learning and having a laugh!!
See you soon!!
Mr S
Week beginning 1.6.20
We are so pleased to welcome all Year 6 children back to school this week.
Please see our return to school letter about re-opening Eagles class within the current social distancing guidelines.
Week beginning 18.5.20
Hopefully we have all had a chance to catch-up over the past week! It was lovely to speak to you all and your parents. It was great to hear what you had all been up to.
Kensuke’s Kingdom
Task 8 – at the beginning of Chapter 5 (pages 69-71), Michael meets Kensuke for the first time. Re-read this section and then have a go at re-writing this epidsode but from Kensuke’s perspective. Try to make it as personal as possible, in the first person and use what you have learnt about Kensuke to engage your reader. If you can, type it up in Word. Make sure you check your spellings and grammar and remember all the work we have done throughout the year such as: varying your sentence structures, chosing a variety of sentence openers and using what you have read, to improve your writing (this should be easy as you can copy Michael Morpurgo’s style).
Then read Chapter 8
Remember to keep looking for wildlife in your garden or when you are out for a walk. I have posted the butterflies people have reported seeing on the Eagles in Action page. We should be able to add a few more this week. Also keep an eye (and ear) out for birds. Some of you may have birds nesting in your garden and might see young birds (fledglings) around. Please email with your sightings so I can add them to the website!
I have been keeping a close eye out and have seen and heard loads of interesting stuff including:
Task 6 – we have looked at the cuckoo in the last couple of weeks and most of you have tracked Carlton II on his journey back from Africa! This weeks task is to make a poster about bird migration. You should include examples of birds which migrate and those which don’t. Try to explain why some species choose to migrate and others don’t. You could explain different types of migration. the risks and benefits involved, the routes that some birds choose and how birds manage to navigate over sometimes vast distances. There is a lot of information on line but the RSPB migration pages are really good – read them here: RSPB
BBC Bitesize – have a look at the BBC Bitesize site. There are daily lessons which you could have a go at. They look really good and have links with the Twinkl site.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize
Mental Maths – Here are this weeks mental maths tests and last weeks answers
Last weeks answers:
This weeks tests:
Arithmetic – here are the answers to last week’s arithmetic problems
Here are some new ones for you to have a go at. I’d like you to give me an alternative method for as many of these as you can – use that maths sense!! I’ve only given you 3 in each category so you can concentrate on impressing me with you massive maths brains!!
Maths – have a look at the Whiterose maths https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/year-6/Watch the on-line explanations and then have a go at the activities. Work through the questions but if you can’t do the later ones don’t worry, just move on to the next section!
Spellings – remember to practise your spellings and test on Friday 22nd this week. Remember you should be able to spell these words and know what they mean. If you don’t – ask an adult.
Get creative – something a bit different this week! Although the cover for Kensuke’s Kingdom is fantastic, I thought you could have a go at designing your own. You could use ideas from the work we have done on Mondrian, Matisse or Hokusai or you could do something completely original! Make sure you include the title and the author (maybe try some different font styles) but don’t worry about a blurb or reviews unless you really want to! Have fun!
Week beginning 11.5.20
Phone calls – As Mrs Welch mentioned in the latest Newsletter, I will be phoning you all this week to see how you are getting on!! I’m really looking forward to speaking to you and hearing about everything you’ve been up to.
Catch-up Week – I am aware that we are all at different points with British Wildlife, the Kensuke’s Kingdom tasks and the art work, so I thought it would make sense to have a catch-up week where you all have a chance to get up-to-date. If you have finished everything – you could try a Powerpoint on something to do with British Wildlife. Surprise me!!
Kensuke’s Kingdom – Read chapter 7
Remember to keep looking for wildlife in your garden or when you are out for a walk. I have posted the butterflies people have reported seeing on the Eagles in Action page. We should be able to add a few more this week. Also keep an eye (and ear) out for birds. You may have heard a cuckoo, if you are lucky, as they are beginning to arrive about now (Mrs Godbold heard one in Beccles a couple of weeks ago but I haven’t heard on yet) so are swallows, house martins and swifts. Don’t forget you can follow Carlton II here Carlton II. You may also see blackcaps, whitethoats and willow warblers in you garden. If you live or walk near a lake you may also see terns. Please email with your sightings so I can add them to the website!
I have been keeping a close eye out and have seen and heard loads of interesting stuff including:
BBC Bitesize – have a look at the BBC Bitesize site. There are daily lessons which you could have a go at. They look really good and have links with the Twinkl site.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize
Mental Maths – Here are this weeks mental maths tests – I’ll post the answers on Wednesday.
Arithmetic – here are the answers to last week’s arithmetic problems
Here are some new ones for you to have a go at. I’d like you to give me an alternative method for as many of these as you can – use that maths sense!! I’ve only given you 3 in each category this time so you can concentrate on impressing me with you massive maths brains!!
Maths – have a look at the https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/year-6/.Watch the on-line explanations and then have a go at the activities. Work through the questions but if you can’t do the later ones don’t worry, just move on to the next section!
Spellings – remember to practise your spellings and test on Friday 15th this week. Remember you should be able to spell these words and know what they mean. If you don’t – ask an adult.
Be active – Try and walk or cycle every day and why not try the Joe Wicks exercise videos on youtube at 9am every weekday morning.
Week beginning 4.5.20
New Kensuke’s Kingdom task (Task 7) posted today (Wed 6th).
Special Kensuke update!! After years of wondering, I have finally discovered the correct pronunciation of Kensuke! It’s not ‘Kensook’ or ‘Kensooky’ . It is actually pronounced more like ‘Kenskay’ . Listen here:
How to pronounce Kensuke in Japanese
Remember to keep looking for wildlife in your garden or when you are out for a walk. I have posted the butterflies people have reported seeing on the Eagles in Action page. We should be able to add a few more this week. Also keep an eye (and ear) out for birds. You may have heard a cuckoo, if you are lucky, as they are beginning to arrive about now (Mrs Godbold heard one in Beccles a few days ago). So are swallows, house martins and swifts. You may also see blackcaps, whitethoats and willow warblers in you garden. If you live or walk near a lake you may also see terns. Please email with your sightings so I can add them to the website!
I have been keeping a close eye out and have seen and heard loads of interesting stuff including:
BBC Bitesize – have a look at the BBC Bitesize site. There are daily lessons which you could have a go at. They look really good and have links with the Twinkl site.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize
French – Madam Brown has sent me this Powerpoint for you to have a go at:
Kensuke’s Kingdom – You should have all have read up to and including Chapter 4. Some of you haven’t had a chance to do the first 5 tasks yet, so please have a go at them. They are set out in Week Beginning 27.4.20.
Task 6 – This is a bit of a different one! In Chapter 3, Michael Morpurgo explains the route Michael’s family take. Can you work out how far they travelled from Southampton to the Coral Sea, following the route he sets out in the book? There are maps in the book to help you. You will need to find a world map with a scale to try and calculate how far they went!! You may need some adult help to get this done!
Task 7 – On page 53 Michael describes the island – The island looked two or three miles in length … It is an excellent example of a description of a setting and Michael Morpurgo also manages to explain how Michael is feeling as well. At the front of the book is a map of the island. Why don’t you ‘design’ your own island (you could design its own uniques features: mountains, beaches, waterfalls, forests etc, wildlife and whatever else you want?) You could then write a paragraph or two imagining you are looking down on your island from a hill top. Don’t forget to use accurate and engaging description and explain how you are feeling!
Now read Chapter 6 for Monday.
British Wildlife – remember to send me you sightings I am desperate to add to our list of butterflies and birds.
Task 5 – Summer migrant birds are arriving in the UK at the moment. One of the most unusual is the cuckoo. You may be familar with its distinctive call. Your task is to find out about the migration of the cuckoo and it’s unusual life-cycle!! There are lots of resources available on line. You could do this in the form of a poster or Powerpoint or an explanation text.
Here is one video – the first 3 minutes or so are about the cuckoo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Mb0GOITRUU
Cuckoo’s migrate from Africa. The BTO (a charity that studies birds) has put minute tracking devices on three cuckoos that were born in Suffolk and has tracked their journey. The first one back is called Carlton II (as he was fledged on Carlton Marshes near Oulton Broad). You can see his journey using the link below and continue to track him as he moves around! You can zoom in and out on the map in the bottom right hand corner and switch from satelitte to map to see where he has been.
https://www.bto.org/our-science/projects/cuckoo-tracking-project/carlton_ii
Spellings – remember to practise your spellings and test on Wednesday 6th May. Remember you should be able to spell these words and know what they mean. If you don’t – ask an adult.
Mental Maths – Here are this weeks mental maths answers – use these tests for practise for next week which I will set on Friday.
Arithmetic – here are the answers to last week’s arithmetic problems
Here are some new ones for you to have a go at. I’d like you to give me an alternative method for as many of these as you can – use that maths sense!! I’ve only given you 3 in each category this time so you can concentrate on impressing me with you massive maths brains!!
Maths – have a look at the Whiterose homelearning page for this week. Watch the on-line explanations and then have a go at the activities. Work through the questions but if you can’t do the later ones don’t worry, just move on to the next section!
Be active – Try and walk or cycle every day and why not try the Joe Wicks exercise videos on youtube at 9am every weekday morning.
Get creative – some of you haven’t completed your Great Wave collages yet, so please have a go at getting that piece finished. If you want to have a go at something new, look at Hokusai’s other work. He painted in many different styles; his line drawings are really interesting as are his studies of Mt Fuji (he did 36 of them from different locations at different times of year). See them here (there are actually 46!)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty-six_Views_of_Mount_Fuji
Week beginning 27.4.20
Some fantastic news from the Aldis family – they are expecting a new addition in November!!
I’m sure everyone will join me in congratulating them!!
Remember to keep looking for wildlife in your garden or when you are out for a walk. I have posted the butterflies people have reported seeing on the Eagles in Action page. We should be able to add a few more this week. Also keep an eye (and ear) out for birds. You may have heard a cuckoo, if you are lucky, as they are beginning to arrive about now (Mrs Godbold heard one in Beccles a few days ago). So are swallows, house martins and swifts. You may also see blackcaps, whitethoats and willow warblers in you garden. If you live or walk near a lake you may also see terns. Please email with your sightings so I can add them to the website!
I have been keeping a close eye out and have seen and heard loads of interesting stuff including:
BBC Bitesize – have a look at the BBC Bitesize site. There are daily lessons which you could have a go at. They look really good and have links with the Twinkl site.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize
French Madam Brown has sent me this Powerpoint for you to have a go at:
Kensukes Kingdom – hopefully everyone has had a chance to read the opening three chapters of Kensuke’s Kingdom. If you haven’t already have a go at the first three tasks; they are set out below.
Task 4 – We have looked at how Michael Morpurgo really engages the reader and ‘hooks’ them in. I thought it would be fun to rewrite the opening to stories we know in a similar way. For example you could have a go at The Three Little Pigs with an opening like:
It has been 2 years since the terrible day our lives changed completely. Our evil adversary has now gone for ever and we can tell our story. Until we were seven we lived with out mum and dad but the house was over crowded and we had to find places of our own to live…
Remember the work we did on story openings. You could try an action opening, speech, questions, speaking directly to your reader etc. You could write in the first or third person.
Have a go at two or three different opening hooks for the same story! They don’t have to be long!
Task 5 – In Chapter 3, Michael Morpurgo cleverly moves the story on quickly with entries from the Ship’s Log. Have a go at writing you own entry in the Ship’s Log. You could base it around something they saw at sea like whales or dolphins or a place they could have visited like New Zealand or The Falkland Islands. Or you could go into more detail about their safari trip or the storm. Just have fun with it and try to remember to describe something of life on board the Peggy Sue too.
Now read Chapter 4 over the weekend
Previous Tasks:
Task 1 – The opening two paragraphs are a fantastic example of how to engage a reader. Can you list three ways Michael Morpurgo gets the reader ‘hooked’ into wanting to read on with examples from the test.
Task 2 – Can you write three questions you may want to ask Michael (the narrator) after reading these first two paragraphs?
Task 3 – Everything changes in Michael’s life when the brickworks closes. Can you give me three things which are different before and after this happens?
Remember if you haven’t got a copy of the book, there is an electronic version here.
https://www.slideshare.net/ArsalAhmed4/kensukes-kingdom-64280180
Moth Trap – You may have seen in ‘Eagles in Action’ that Elliot built a moth trap and identified some exciting species. I think this is a brillant thing to do so here is a link to some instructions to help you trap some moths.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/natureuk/entries/bd7c6a4e-dad9-384a-89a0-1b7a93660d72
If you want to build a more sophisticated one just Google moth traps!
There are about 2000 species of moth in the UK!! They are not always that easy to identify – here is a good guide.
Spellings – remember to practise your spellings and test on Wednesday 6th May. Remember you should be able to spell these words and know what they mean. If you don’t – ask an adult.
Mental Maths – Here are this weeks mental maths tests – test today or over the weekend and I will post answers on Monday
Arithmetic – here are the answers to last week’s arithmetic problems
Have a go at this week’s. Remember they get pretty hard, so just do as many as you can! Remember to check using SEDIA and if you have any clever alternative methods or need a bit of help, email me.
British Wildlife
If you haven’t already, have a go at Tasks 1 and 2 (see last weeks work).
Task 3 – There are seven species of amphibians which live in Britain. Can you find out what they are and then do an illustrated identification guide?
Task 4 – The Common Frog is one of those amphibians – can you find out about its life-cycle and then do a poster to explain? Make sure you include lots of information and detailed illustrations. You should then compare it to the life-cycle you did for the butterfly – how are they the same and how are they different? There are lots of videos on-line. Here is one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJOOxlFs9Is
Be active – Try and walk or cycle every day and why not try the Joe Wicks exercise videos on youtube at 9am every weekday morning.
Get creative – Mrs Godbold was super impressed with all your work last week but especially the Matisse pictures. The cover of Kensuke’s Kingdom (the version we have in school) is based on a very famous painting by the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai (1790 – 1849). Have a look at his work. The book cover is based on probably his most famous painting The Great Wave Off Kanagawa.
Try recreating his picture as a collage! Remember you can use pages from magazines if you haven’t got any coloured paper!
Have fun and remember to keep checking this page as I will add things during the week and the Eagles in Action page!
Week beginning 20.4.20
Spellings – here are the new spellings for testing on Wednesday 29th April
Mental Maths – Here are the mental maths tests for this week. Good luck – I will postthe answers on Monday morning. If you get in a pickle, email me and I will try and help!
Arithmetic – To keep your arithmetic going I have set some problems for this week. Work through them and see how far you can get. They do get rather tricky!! Get an adult to check your answers. Remember your SEDIA and if you come up with a clever alternative method, e-mail me and I will try and share your ideas.
Our new topic for the summer term will be British Wildlife.
We will hope to cover Lifecycles, Ecosystems, Foodwebs and Foodchains and Human Development. We will also revise the work we did on classification and adaptation!
Task 1 – There are hundreds of species of Butterflies and Moths in Britain! See how many you can spot over the course of the next few weeks (keep a list and I will post them on Eagles in Action.) Choose one species (one you have seen in your garden) and make a poster showing its lifecycle. You should illustrate it with accurate drawings of the adult butterfly, cacoon, caterpillar and eggs. You should also add details of what they eat, how long they stay in each stage and their distribution in the UK. There are loads of websites with this information and some good videos on Youtube. Here is one on the Monarch butterfly – this is a North American butterfly, so you won’t find it in your garden!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AUeM8MbaIk
Task 2 – There are 3 speices of snake and 3 species of lizard in the UK. Can you find out what they are. You could produce an identification guide, complete with illustrations to help someone identify the different types. There are also some other types of reptile that occur in the UK, can you find out what they are. They are very rare and some only occur very occasionally.
Remember – keep looking for birds and mammals in the garden and if you are out and about on a walk. If there is anything that particularly interests you, do some research and then tell me all about it. You could find out about animals that are endangered or now extinct in the UK, ones that are being re-introduced or anything which grabs your attention!
Kensuke’s Kingdom – I thought it would be nice if we could read a book together. Kensuke’s Kingdom is an amazing novel by Michael Morpurgo and although some of you may have already read it, it is definitiely worth re-reading. Copies are readily available from Amazon and other internet book-sellers. If you can’t get one there is an electronic addition here:
https://www.slideshare.net/ArsalAhmed4/kensukes-kingdom-64280180
I will give everyone a chance to get a copy this week and we can start reading it after that!! I love this book and reading it together should be really good fun.
Be active – Try and walk or cycle every day and why not try the Joe Wicks exercise videos on youtube at 9am every weekday morning.
Get creative – Ms Godbold is keen for you all to look at the work of Henri Matisse. He was a really successful French artist and sculptor, perhaps you could find out a bit about his life? He was famous for his cut-out collages. Here are are some examples:
Have a look online at his work and then have a go yourself. If you don’t have plain coloured paper, just use pages from magazines or comics, they will look just as good. Don’t forget to email your work to me!
French – Madam Brown has sent me some activities which look fun. I will put them up on here during the week!
Have fun and I look forward to hearing from from you!
Week beginning 30.3.20
Please e-mail pictures and work to eagles@alpington.norfolk.sch.uk. Please don’t send anything you don’t give permission to be posted on the Eagles page of the website.
Harry Potter
For all you Harry Potter fans (and if you’re not maybe this is the time to start reading them), JK Rowling has launced a new website harrypotterathome.com with loads of news, games, quizzes etc. Give it a look!
Key skills to practice
Practise your mental maths and spellings. Get an adult to test you on your spellings on Wednesday.
New Spellings for testing on 8th April
Mental Maths
Answers to last weeks mental maths
How did you do? You can use last weeks tests to practise for this weeks!
Answers Test 88 – Test 88 – 1 answers
Answers Test 89 – Test 89 – 1 answers
Answers Test 90 – Test 90 – 1 answers
Remember – try to read your book for at least 30 mins a day.
This week’s project
If you haven’t already – fisnish your myth. Remember our Success Criteria
When you are finished you could design a book cover for your story and write your own blurb and reviews!
Continue to read up about the Battle of Hastings – look online, there are loads of good videos e.g.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zigjVCFzZ38
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiaCId6pANI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxcIrkSjkeo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FW4RKp23Z4M
Try writing a short explanantion text explaining why the Normans won. There are 3 or 4 clear reasons – try and explain them as clearly as possible in a formal style.
You could also have a go at building a Viking longship – you can do this out of paper and card (old cereal boxes are good) Try and make it as historically accurate as possible.
Look on line – there are lots of good websites; here are a few:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longship
https://www.dkfindout.com/uk/history/vikings/viking-longship/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/clips/zgmxpv4
If you want to have a go at something a bit more serious – have a go at the first text of the reading comprehension in Pack 2 of the CGP tests. You could check you answers with an adult.
Be active
Keep up with your footie skills. Try and walk every day and why not try the Joe Wicks exercise videos on youtube at 9am every weekday morning.
Get creative
If you haven’t had a chance already, finish your Sutton Hoo helmet. https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sutton-hoo
For something a bit different have a look at the paintings of Piet Mondrian. One of his themes was large blocks of primary colours divided by perpendicular and horizontal lines. Here is an example:
You could have a go at one of your own. You could use paint but felt-tips look really good too. You could try your own colour themes if you like!
If you have time….
Remember your garden bird list. Mine is up to 30. It’s amazing what you can see and hear if you spend a little time. If you have bird feeders, keep them topped up. The best time to watch is early in the morning and last thing in the afternoon.
https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/identify-a-bird/
Remember to look out for summer migrants such as Swallows, House Martins, Chiffchaffs and Cuckoos – they will start arriving in the next few weeks.
Keep a list and e-mail it to eagles@alpington.norfolk.sch.uk