English

Autumn 1

This is our first class novel of year 6 , it follows the adventures of Daniel in Glasgow, we are enjoying reading it!

                                The Piano 

The Piano is a flashback narrative based on short animation by Aidan Gibbons.

Studying the film and the themes that run through short clip generates some fantastic speaking and listening opportunities as well as some amazing writing.

The children got a chance to listen to the music to see how it made them feel. tehy linked it to the past and remembered what happened. Then they listened to the music with the lonely man to began to understand his feelings and memories.

Below is an example of the sort of writing the children have been writing.

Whilst thoughts rushed swiftly through his mind, the lonesome man tapped his fingers gently on each key. Soothingly, the music reminded him of his past memories however unfortunately the music only made him remember the sombre, sad and depressing memories. Sorrow ran through him.

                                                      Written by Margi Mc Allister.

The children have been studying the above book. It talk about a young girl travelling 3rd class on board the RMS Titanic with her mother as they plan to start a new life in America.

They have been exploring the two main characters in the story, Daisy and Jimmy. The pair have met on board the ship. Coming from very different backgrounds, we compared the two, looking carefully at their similarities and differences.

This week, the children wiil be looking at setting the scene, mimicingbthe style of writing to create own  and  using a variety of punctuation to create fantastic writing pieces.

 Using pictures of the Interior of the Titanic blog and selected scenes from the 1997 film Titanic,  the children began to develop the settings. They used larger sheets and recorded ideas from differnt rooms on board. The children worked in groups and used descriptive vocabulary which will help them produce some amazing work.

Biographies

We shall be looking at the lifes of Walt Disney and William Shakespeare.

Walter Elias Disney was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry.

William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's greatest dramatist

Talk for Writing:

In groups, pupils have taken responsibility for creating a text map for their allocated section of a Walt Disney Biography,
As a group, children have practised with actions as a group.
The purpose of this is to continually practise the ‘learned’ text regularly throughout the
unit to embed language patterns and vocabulary.

Autumn 2

This term, the children will be looking at The Wizard of Oz.

The children will be focusing on the vocabulary to start with and look at why the author has chosen to use the word below:

Rusty looking cookstove

Lumber

Cellar

Cyclone

Whirlwinds arose

Kansas prairies

Garret

Midst.

The children have been enjoying small clips of the film as well as reading extarct from the book to gain a better understanding of the choice of vocabualry the autor has used. The children have then wrote up a setting description using photos and own vocabulary.

              The Cyclone scene ( Plese click on the picture below to watch the twister scene)

Spring 1

The term, the children will be studying Goodnight Mister Tom.

The novel teaches the reader that an act of kindness can change someone's life or make one's day. Mr. Tom's kindness greatly influences Willie's life because he becomes healthy and transforms into a joyful boy.

Please click on the picture below to watch the film to get a better understanding of the story. It will help you to support your child.

Below is a small extract from the story.

Chapter 1

Good Night, Mr. Tom
Michelle Magorian
Meeting
"Yes," said Tom bluntly, on opening the front door. "What d'you want?"
A harassed middle-aged woman in a green coat and felt hat stood on his step. He glanced at
the armband on her sleeve. She gave him an awkward smile.
"I'm the Billeting Officer for this area," she began.
"Oh yes, and what's that got to do wi' me?"
She flushed slightly. "Well, Mr., Mr. . . ."
"Oakley. Thomas Oakley."
"Ah, thank you, Mr. Oakley." She paused and took a deep breath. "Mr. Oakley, with the
declaration of war imminent . . ."
Tom waved his hand. "I knows all that. Git to the point. What d'you want?" He noticed a
small boy at her side.
"It's him I've come about," she said. "I'm on my way to your village hall with the others."
"What others?"
She stepped to one side. Behind the large iron gate that stood at the end of the graveyard was
a small group of children. Many of them were filthy and very poorly clad. Only a handful had
a blazer or coat. They all looked bewildered and exhausted.
The woman touched the boy at her side and pushed him forward.
"There's no need to tell me," said Tom. "It's obligatory and it's for the war effort."
"You are entitled to choose your child, I know," began the woman apologetically.
Tom gave a snort. 

Spring 2

This term, the children will be looking at William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

Characters: