Year Five 2017-18

Friday 24th November year 5 went to the Black Country Museum

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Dear Parents,

Our new topic is the The Second World War and Moseley. Throughout the half-term, we will learn about how the war impacted on our local community and in Britain as a whole, looking in particular at the experience of children. This will include a workshop delivered by the stupendous Professor McGinty and visit to The Black Country Museum!

In English lessons, we will be reading The Diary of Adolphus Tips by Michael Morpurgo and The Silver Sword by Ian Seraillier. This will inspire us to write descriptive pieces from the point of view of somebody living through the Blitz air raids. We shall also be visiting West Midlands Fire Service Safeside, to learn about safety; the children will then produce leaflets about personal safety, to their own design.

Maths this term will see us learning about written multiplication, shapes and measures, division and fractions. Pupils have been issued with usernames and passwords for the Mathletics website, so be sure to ask your child to show you how it works!

In computing, our unit is We are Cryptographers, and we are going to be looking at secret communications, which fits in well with our Second World War topic. This will include studying semaphore, Morse code and discussing what makes a good password.

In PE lessons, pupils will continue to develop gymnastic and dance skills. Pupils will also develop their tactics for invasion games through basketball. Outdoor PE takes place on Mondays and indoor PE is on Thursdays. Please help your child to remember the appropriate P.E kit on these days. Correct PE kit is: plain white t-shirt or long sleeved top, plain black shorts/leggings/tracksuit bottoms, trainers (outdoor) or pumps (indoor).

Our science topic is Properties of Materials and we will be investigating which materials are best for keeping warm; perfect as the weather gets colder! The children will learn about the history of music from classical to contemporary styles this half term. In our RE lessons, we will be learning about Being Loyal and Steadfast and exploring how different faiths see hope for the future.

There is no doubt that children who read at home increase their ability to read fluently and with increased understanding and so we are keen to see children bringing completed reading diaries to school – there are prizes for those who read 10 and 20 books! Reading Eggs is also something children can access at home.

We will be continuing with the PATHS programme to develop emotional, behavioural and problem solving skills and learning further words and phrases in Spanish.

We look forward to your continuing support this half term.

The Year 5 Team

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Year 5 Recommended Reading List

Parents often ask us for suggested books for their children to read so we have put together a list of books which are recommended for children in Year 5. It is by no means an exhaustive list but represents a cross section of books suitable for your child. Please do take your child to borrow books from their local library. (They can take TEN books out at a time for free!) Please also encourage your child to read as often as possible as it will impact hugely on their writing ability and general learning.

Fiction

Anything by Louis Sachar as this is Year 5’s special author; eg Holes, Wayside School is Falling Down, Small Steps, Dogs Don’t Tell Jokes (The only book we would ask you not to read at this stage is ‘The Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom’ as we do a lot of work on this later in the year.)

Indian in the Cupboard Lynne Reid Banks

The Peppermint Pig Nina Bawden

Cloud Busting Mallorie Blackman

Famous Five and Secret Seven series Enid Blyton

War Dog Martin Booth

The Midnight Fox/The Eighteenth Emergency Betsy Byars

Artemis Fowl Eoin Colfer

King of Shadows Susan Cooper

Lion Boy Zizou Corder

How to Seize a Dragon’s Jewell/How to be a pirate Cressida Cowell

Moondial/The Pie Makers Helen Cresswell

New World Gillian Cross

Storm Kevin Crossley-Holland

The Green Children The Green Children

The Village by the Sea Anita Desai

Spiderwick Chronicles Tony Diterlizzi

My Family and Other Natural Disasters Josephine Feeney

Madame Doubtfire Anne Fine

A Rag, A Bone and a Hank of Hair Nicholas Fisk

War Boy Michael Foreman

The Kick Off Dan Freedman

Elidor, The Owl Service Alan Garner

Grandpa Chatterij, I want to be an Angel Jamila Gavin

Cleopatra, A Candle in the Dark Adele Geras

Toad Heaven, Stickybeak Morris Gleitzman

The Diddakoi Rumer Godden

I am David Anne Holm

Storm Breaker Anthony Horowitz

Hero on a Bicycle Shirley Hughes

The Iron Man Ted Hughes

Journey to the River Sea Eva Ibbotson

Seasons of Splendour Madhur Jaffrey

The Phantom Tolbooth Norton Juster

Stig of the Dump Clive King

Lost Riders Elizabeth Laird

The Ghost of Thomas Kempe Penelope Lively

Theseus/Hercules Geraldine McCaughrean

The Daydreamer Ian McEwan

Stories from India Anna Milbourne

The Wreck of Zanzibar Michael Morpurgo

Journey to Jo’burg Beverley Naidoo

The Snow Spider Trilogy Jenny Nimmo

The Borrowers Mary Norton

Mister Monday Garth Nix

A Dog So Small Philippa Pearce

I was a Rat Philip Pullman

Krindlekrax Philip Ridley

Percy Jackson Rick Riordan

A Daughter Like Me Jacqueline Roy

Time Riders Alex Scarrow

A Cricket in Times Square George Selden

A Series of Unfortunate Events Lemony Snicket

Heidi Johanna Spyri

Black Ships before Troy: Story of the Iliad Rosemary Sutcliffe

The Go-Ahead Gang Robert Swindells

Goosebumps R L Stine

The Hobbit J R R Tolkein

A Traveller in Time Alison Uttley

Blitz Cat Robert Westall

Stanley Bagshaw Bob Wilson

Dogsbody, A Tale of Time City Diana Wynne Jones

Poetry and Rhymes

A Caribbean Dozen John Agard, Grace Nicolls

Poetry Anthology Pie Corbett

Collected Poems for Children Ted Hughes

The Owl and the Pussycat Edward Lear

Talking about the Tigers Brian Moses

Football Poems David Orme

Thawing Frozen Peas Brian Patten

100 Best Poems Puffin

Book of Very Silly Poems Michael Rosen

I like this poem Kaye Webb

Or any book connected with a topic which is being studied in school or which interests your child. What is most important is that your child is reading and developing a love for reading.