Learn By Heart - Angles

The latest Learn By Heart maths task is all about angles. We covered angles for a week earlier in the term so this revision exercise is perfect to keep those skills ticking over.

You'll need to be able to do the following;

• Measure angles with a protractor
• Calculate missing angles using your addition and subtraction skills
• Know about the 4 different types of angles
• Look at a mystery angle and be able to say what type of angle it is
• Know that triangles all add up to 180 degrees on the inside
• Know that 4 sided shapes always add up to 360 degrees on the inside
• Draw angles of exact sizes using a protractor.

There are a fair few skills there but we've covered tem all before and if you find 10 minutes a day for the 3 weeks of the topic that's over 3 hours of practice. There are no short cuts i'm afraid, but the sense of achievement is priceless when we nail these tasks!

If you're looking for some help then try these sites...

http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/shapes/angles.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/keyskills/flash/kfa/kfa.shtml

http://www.ixl.com/math/grade-4/acute-right-obtuse-and-straight-angles

Children in Need - from Big Write to persuasive speeches!

To celebrate and raise awareness of Children In Need, Year 6 decided to take their Big Writes to a whole new level. I can’t begin to describe how pleased and proud I was as a teacher of the effort every single person made with out speeches.

It worked like this…

• We researched using our ICT time all about Children in Need in a great deal of detail; we discovered who they are, who they help, how they help, the history and the numbers involved (Children in Need have raised over £600,000,000 so far and long may it continue)
• We then studied the features of speech writing and looked at openings, engagement with an audience, closings, mixing in humour with key facts and details and we paid extra attention to using emotive language to persuade people to donate.
• We wrote the speeches as Big Write projects but we did it on a Thursday.
• We delivered the speeches to a live audience on Children in Need day and the quality of both the written and oral speeches was spectacular!

If you want to donate to Children in Need you still can, try this link…

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008dk4b/features/cin-donate

Davey's speech was maybe his best ever Big Write, Chloe's certainly was!

Ela just preparing her notes for her turn as Alyssa takes to the floor!

An audience gripped - Josh was the master of the spoken word!

Year 6 PE - this time it's basketball...

Our latest PE topic is basketball and I have been blown away by how much the class have taken on board so far. We started with the basics of dribbling with a ball (bouncing it, not actually dribbling on it) and we have progressed very well to moving at speed, shooting and passing, as well as losing our markers and putting ourselves into space (the hardest skill of all). Here’s how we have done so far – could there be any future NBA stars in the class? Who knows…

Philosophy 4 Children - it's about to take off!

Philosophy 4 Children has been around for a little while now and at Fieldhead Carr it’s about to exploded onto the scene. Year 6 have taken the opportunity to be the first group to try it officially this year and it works in the following way…

Pick a theme

Ask some questions and make some comments

Choose the best question idea to debate

Chat away!

There are no right or wrong answers, all we ask is that we listen respectfully, react to the last person’s comments and explain clearly why you have a particular opinion. Speaking and Listening has never been so relaxed or fascinating!

If you want to explore this wonderful speaking and listening activity for yourselves then visit the website below - this lesson is the best kept secret in Leeds and believe me, in a year's time it will be MASSIVE...

http://www.thephilosophyman.com/stuff?gclid=CI_q9tz9jrsCFWgUwwod5yAAaA

Decoration morning!

This Friday we did not do a Big Write... because we got it out of the way on Wednesday!

This left Friday morning free to indulge in a bit of creativity and what better way to let our hair down than to get incolved in some Christmas decoration making...

Bailey's pantomime alter ego had not made a public appearance yet... which is probably for the best! I don't think Mr Edensor knew what had hit him!

Hard at work making Christmas dinner place cards

Alex displaying his trademark artistic flair and design sharpness and Josh getting his layered tree stuck together.

Completed Roman gladiator arenas!

Well it has taken us four weeks of meticulous preparation, design, cutting things, ripping bits and transforming Coco Pops boxes and other household junk into the most brutal, scariest, most realistic DT projects Year 6 has ever seen!

Have a look at our final models - I'm sure you will agree they are FAN...TAS...TIC!

Look at the detail in the crowds inside the arena!

Ela is the first to go in there and see if the lions are hungry...

They're playing it cool but this group were made up with their final model

I think Tom is about to push Mia in!

Brilliant team effort right from the start

Year 6 rugby

Our first sports topic this year was rugby out on the field. Most of our class were very new to rugby but we gave it 100% and in particular it was great to see the girls really get stuck into the topic.

We learned how to throw and catch a rugby ball effectively, how to pass whilst on the move, how to organise a defence and how to carry out basic skills such as side stepping, playing the ball and supporting an attacking team mate.

Sadly, the Fish Finger Monster was unable to join in with any of the sessions due to having the following illnesses every single Monday between the hours of 2pm and 3pm;

• Week 1; Bad back.
• Week 2; Arms and legs fell off (but grew back)
• Week 3; Orangitis
• Week 4; Unable to see or hear
• Week 5; Slept in
• Week 6; Detention with Mr Edensor
• Week 7; Forgot his PE kit
• Week 8; Deep in a state of contemplation.

A little bit of self-belief and a lot of mud, rain and wind is all you need to have a great game of rugby, here’s the fearsome Year 6 class in action…

Roman art exhibitions

Our Romans topic has seen us produce some excellent story writing work but we have also had the chance to create some rather fetching art work as well. We have focused only on dry media this term and have learned the delicate skills of charcoal rendering, experimenting with shade and blending contrasting colours using chalk pastels to create some very abstract Roman art.

We began by using the god of war, Mars, as our inspiration but from then on it was up to the pupils to create their own exhibitions and go in their own artistic direction...

Roman Adventure Stories!

The first glimpse you'll see from the great authors of tomorrow - enjoy it.

We have worked incredibly hard in Year 6 this year with our writing and the end result for the first half term was our magnificant Roman books.

The creative curriculum topic really proved useful this half term as we spent four weeks creating epic adventure narrative by following this list of steps...

1. Create character biographies.
2. Create a detailed story plan, or 'synopsis'.
3. Create a prologue to draw our readers in.
4. Write chapter 1 - a whole 'Big Write' in itself!
5. Write chapter 2; the problem.
6. Write chapter 3; the development.
7. Write chapter 4; the solution.
8. Write our 'epilogue' chapters which take place AFTER the end of the story.
9. Back page 'blurb' to entice our audience.
10. Illustrations - such a hard task...
11. Front page decoration.
12. Paired proof reading and peer assessment - essential!

So as you see, this was a little more than merely 'writing a story' - we wrote BOOKS and every last member of Year 6 should feel very proud of the achievements, your parents and carers certainly were!

Editing the final drafts before sticking everything together...

It's a hard life isn't it, girls!

Proof reading and peer marking allowed us to correct our own work as well as offering our friends some helpful editorial advice.

Black history month - story telling workshop

During Black History Month the school was lucky enough to get a very special visit from an African drum teacher. Year 6 were the first class to undertake his fantastic story telling workshop in which we were able to tell the story of a village asking for rain to help their crops grow. This involved following a dance routine, keeping to a complicated rhythm, chanting the rain dance lyrics and spending a lot of energy.

Every single pupils gave 100% to this activity and the rain dance and story telling workshop was enjoyed by all. Let's have a look at how we did...

Persuasion and argument week 1 - Live debates!

Our literacy this week has seen us start the persuasion and arguments half term. This week we have focused on speaking and listening by preparing and undertaking live debates. We debated the following topics;

• Should school meals be free for all children?
• Should the school day be extended by one hour a day?
• Do we really need to come to school.

We started by splitting the class into six teams. The teams were then given a topic to discuss but weren’t told whether they would be arguing in favour of or against their topic question. This allowed us to anticipate what the opposing debate team would probably say so that we had instant responses to their points.

Groups had to also use rebuttal responses to add sophistication to their work and create opening and closing statements for their audience. Once the debates had finished, the class voted and we then got to see which team had been the most persuasive!

The debates were a fantastic exercise in speaking and listening and all pupils gave a fantastic account of themselves. This is an activity we will be repeating regularly in Year 6 this year so watch this space for more excellent debate reports…

Nothing like a bit of speech writing...

Mini debates in preparation for the real thing!

Amber plotting her next move...

Mrs Gray spying on the other team...

And we're off!

The class gave a great account of themselves with their mature, respectful speaking and listening skills.