Year Five

Autumn Term 2023

Welcome back to all our brand-new Year 5s!

We have begun the school year by looking at growth mindset and our core values for this term: influence, truth and belief. Using two wonderful key texts, The Koala Who Could by Rachel Bright and Can I Build Another Me? by Shinsuke Yoshitake, the children have been encouraged to explore the people, ideas and things that influence them, as well as identifying and trying out learning behaviours that allow us to grow and learn. This will culminate in the creating of a class book - Can We Build Another Us?

The Maya

Beginning with the beautiful picture book The Rain Player by David Wisniewski and moving on to Great Civilisations: The Maya by Tracey Kelly, we will be exploring all things Maya. Given the value that the Maya placed upon belief and the grisly consequences their beliefs could have for citizens, we will be drawing links to modern times by asking How might our beliefs hurt others? Is this okay? This will allow us to explore tolerance and respect for others' opinions.

Having previously studied contemporary civilisations in the shape of the Romans, Vikings and the Ancient Egyptians, our learning builds on the children's history learning from year 4. Using mini questions to build the children's knowledge (both about the time period and how we find out about the past), we will draw comparisons between different civilisations and explore how and why they decline.

Mini questions:

Who were the Maya? This includes finding out where they were located and where they fit in world history and how their societies were structured and ruled.

How do we know about the Maya? Exploring the architecture and art.

What was Maya religion like? Learning about the different gods and spirits the Maya believed in and the children's favourite - sacrifices!

What did the Maya achieve? Calendar, numerical system and chocolate!

Why was there a decline in the Maya civilisation? We will explore the different theories as to why the cities suddenly appeared to vanish.

How did the Maya compare with other ancient civilisations?

Homework

Please support your children at home with the homework provided weekly.

-Reading (5x a week and bring in your signed Reading Record to get your raffle ticket)

-Times Tables Rockstar (12 mins)

-Spelling Shed (set lists following spelling patterns looked at in school)

- My maths task (set weekly)

Homework will be set on a Thursday and will be checked on the following Wednesday. Homework club will be on Fridays after school - contact the school office if your child would like to join. Please let us know as soon as possible if you are having trouble with any logins.