Cale Green Primary School
Year 6 – Theme 3 – Samba Special
Samba Special begins on 12th February. We are already looking forward to finding out about South America; its people, places, music, wildlife, art and food.
There will be a homework bingo sheet with tasks that will support your child’s learning. They need to complete a minimum of 4 tasks (out of a possible 12 options) over the nine weeks.
English
At the start of the theme we will be focusing on writing persuasive letters; encouraging the government to do more to protect critically endangered animals. We will focus on four, rare South American animals: the Giant Otter, the Jaguar, the Galapagos Giant Tortoise and The Spider Monkey. Linking into this area we will be learning about how deforestation, pollution, poaching and climate change are playing their part in the decline in numbers of these creatures.
Following his non-fiction unit of work we will be exploring the book ‘The Nowhere Emporium’ to further develop our narrative writing.
In addition to these areas of writing we will be concentrating on reading comprehension skills and grammar recognition as we begin to prepare for the SATs test in May and beyond!
Maths
Maths will focus on understanding decimals, fractions and percentages, understanding simple algebra, converting between measurements of quantities including time and practising mental arithmetic, reasoning and problem solving in all areas of maths. A large part of our learning will be looking at how mathematical problems can be represented in different models such as bar models, part-whole models, tens frames and other pictorial representations.
Cross Curricular Links
In science we will focus on Charles Darwin’s work on evolution and the work that Sir David Attenborough continues to do -raising awareness of different habitats and the creatures that live there. We will study the Galapagos Islands in detail and explore how adaptation can lead to survival. We will be setting up comparative tests, identifying patterns in results and record data in a range of graphs.
In geography we will be understanding how to read a world map using latitude and longitude references, exploring the physical and human geography of South America and learning more about exports and trade routes. We will be listening and responding to to a range of music and dances from South American countries and using traditional South American art as a stimulus for our own paintings.
Physical Education
We will workalongside a PE specialist todevelop rugby and fitness skills. We will also learn dance and yoga over the next theme. Please can full PE kit be in school every day. Children will need a bobble to tie back long hair. Please make sure children are able to remove earrings for these lessons.
Homework
Homework is handed out on a Monday to be handed back in on a Friday. This will include spellings, English and maths and sometimes theme-related tasks. Children will sometimeshave online ‘My Maths’ where the children should aim to get over 90%. In addition Year 6 will have guitar homework on a weekly basis (handed out on a Wednesday).
Please remind your children that the library is open eachlunchtime for homework support with Mrs Beecham. Children often find visiting even just once a week can help free up time in the evenings for other activities.
Reading
Please encourage your child to read a little of their reading book each school evening. If they can read to a grown up as well, this would be an additional bonus. Reading diaries will be checked daily. The children will also have access to ‘Reading Bingo’ books in the classroom – a selection of recommended books for Year 6 children designed to broaden their reading experiences. Prizes will be awarded at the end of the year to any children who complete their ‘Reading Bingo Chart’.
Spellings
Please remind your child to use ‘Look-Cover-Write-Check’ as a strategy for learning their weekly spellings. Spelling tests and number facts tests will be ona Friday.
As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to find me on the playground before or after school.
Kind regards,
Mrs Nicola Lewis and Mrs Michelle Beecham
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