Rowan
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Rowan Class 2022 - 2023
We are all looking forward to children returning to school for the Autumn Term. We will welcome everyone in Rowan back with a creative week to introduce our topic of The Marvellous Mayans and also a PSHE based booked called 'The Barnabus Project' by The Fan Brothers.
In Rowan class Mr Greenham will remain as the class teacher with Ms Harris as our HLTA.
Parent guidance for online maths resources
Summer Term 2023
Spring Term 2023
WB 23.01.23
This week, Rowan class have worked very hard to plan, write and edit their explanation texts in English. They practised writing in a formal, technical style and using complex sentence structures such as subordinate clauses, parenthesis and the passive voice.
In maths, Year 6 have been tackling the subject of algebra by substituting numbers for other symbols such as shapes and letters, forming equations and solving 1 or 2 step calculations. Year 5 have been investigating using fractions in multiplication, such as multiplying fractions by whole numbers and finding fractions of amounts.
In science and topic, Rowan have been exploring natural disasters by researching examples of extreme weather in the UK and formulating a plan to keep the people of Kimbolton safe; by learning about tectonic plates and how these link to earthquakes and volcanoes and by explaining the forces involved in these events. Both year groups also took part in a live lesson hosted by the STEM hub, in which real research scientists talked to the children about measuring things that are really really big and really really small.
Week Beginning 9th January.
In this week Rowan class continued their learning about poetry in English. The children worked collaboratively to write Tanka poems, alternating describing a scene in different seasons. We finished off the unit by writing Cinquains, an American style inspired by haikus. The children were inspired by the different environments on Earth, such as deserts, rainforests or city streets.
In Maths, the children learned about using data in formats such as line graphs, tables and timetables. They worked hard to solve problems using the information provided.
In Science, Rowan class started learning about the Earth in space by researching and ordering the planets in the solar system.
Finally this week KPA visited Grafham Water Centre to take part in a range of exciting activities. The children challenged themselves to get outside of their comfort zone and take part in new experiences.
Week Beginning 16th January.
This week has been a busy one for Year 6! On Monday Year 6 went to Great Staughton to take part in SATS boosters. They showed great resilience and determination when working on skills in Maths, reading comprehension and writing vocabulary.
In English this week Rowan class began reading ‘Until I met Dudley – How everyday things really work’ by Roger McGough. They explained how a toaster works in their own words, before identifying the features of an explanation text. Finally, they researched how a volcanic eruption works ready to write their own explanation next week.
In Maths, Year 5 learned about multiplying and dividing using formal methods, while Year 6 began working on Ratios in addition to their SATS prep.
In Science, Rowan class continued their learning about the Earth by examining how day and night occur due to the rotation of the Earth, and how Summer and Winter are caused by the tilt of the Earth’s axis as it orbits the Sun. They created informative videos to explain how it all works.
Lastly, on Tuesday Year 6 travelled to the O2 Arena to perform in the Young Voices concert. They sang and danced beautifully and were a credit to the school- Bravo!
Week Beginning 2nd January.
This week Rowan class have dived into their new topic- Extreme earth. Over this term the children will be learning about the effects of extreme weather events such as tornadoes, hurricanes and floods, geological events such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes and features of the Earth’s physical geography.
In English, the children began a unit of poetry writing by examining poems with strong structure: kennings and haikus. They described the force of nature in their writing.
In topic and DT, the class investigated structures for earthquake proof buildings by attempting to build the strongest and tallest towers out of spaghetti and marshmallows. They found that a strong foundation and diagonal supports were the key to success.
IN maths learning Year 5 refreshed their knowledge of addition, subtraction and multiplication while Year 6 consolidated their knowledge of all four number operations completing SATs- style questions.
In art the children created an independent piece of work for a competition on the theme of sunrise/ sunset.
Autumn Term 2022
Creative Week and WB 12.09.22
In creative week, we dived into our topic of the Maya by taking part in a range of creative activities, including playing the ancient Maya game Pok-a-tok, painting life size Maya priests and warriors and constructing a Mayan city. We also read 'The Barnabus Project' by the Fan Brothers and discussed the themes of the book and invented our own failed projects.
In the week beginning 12.09.22, we commenced our topic of 'Classification' by creating a system to classify sweets. Year 6 completed baseline SATS assessments and Year 5 began work on place value. Rowan took part in writing and topic activities to remember the life of Queen Elizabeth II.
WB 19.09.22
This week Rowan class have been hard at work on their new topics! In Maths, Year 5 have been comparing, ordering and sequencing numbers up to 10 million, while Year 6 have analysed their baseline assessments to identify gaps in their mathematical knowledge.
In English, we have begun Rain Player by David Wisniewski. Young Pok-a-tok player Pik has managed to anger the rain god, Chac. Can he play his way to victory against a god? Rowan have written instructional guides to the game, a dialogue for a missing scene and used the subjunctive mood: 'If I were the Ah kin mai...'
In Topic, the class have compared the Mayans to their contemporaries, the Anglo Saxons and begun to research famous Mayan cities such as Chichen Itza. In Science, the class built on their work from last week by designing classification keys to determine which animals belong in a particular group.
WB 26.09.22
In maths, Rowan class have been consolidating their knowledge of place value by rounding, ordering and comparing numbers up to 1,000,000. They also completed problem solving activities on this topic. In English, we finished our story of Rain Player by writing narratives and a news report. We focussed on using the features of direct speech and ordering sentences using the passive voice.
In Science, we continued to work on classification by examining and classifying creatures from the Indian Ocean, and in Topic we investigated the everyday lives of ancient Maya through music, clothing and the jobs that people might do.
Finally, on Monday we celebrated European day of languages, where we learned about the languages of different European countries.
WB 03.10.22
Quite the busy week in Rowan Class. In English, we have been diving into our new text, Middleworld by Jon and Pamela Voelkel. We completed an inference task about the main character, Max, and made predictions about what we thought would happen as the story developed. Next, the children wrote a setting description of the town of Puerto Muerto, using techniques such as alliteration and metaphor identified in the text. Finally, the class have been researching examples of travel brochures to find vocabulary for next weeks work.
In Maths, Year 5 have been working on mental methods of addition and working their way up to formal written methods. Year 6 have been consolidating their work on place value up to 1 million and working with negative numbers.
In our topic work, the class learned about Maya gods and religion and created a fact file on some of the more important Maya deities. Did you know that the ancient Maya would appease the gods with blood sacrifices? In Science, we began learning about microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses and fungi. We started an experiment to investigate which factors affect the growth of mould on bread.
This week we also celebrated world poetry day by taking part in an assembly in which the children wrote a poem in mixed year groups. Rowan class took part in a BBC live lesson from children’s laureate Joseph Coelho and composed an acrostic poem on the theme of nature. Finally, we welcomed a visitor from Wood Green who taught us all about dog communication and safety.
