Year 6 Closure Resources
During the time that the school is closed we will be using this page to offer ideas for home learning and other ways of keeping in touch with school staff.
Activities
July sees the United Nations' International Day of Friendship. Celebrated on the 30th July each year, it is a day to appreciate friendships across the world.
It seemed like the ideal subject as we near the end of our school year. Friendships are so incredibly important throughout our lives and many of those are made during our school days. By building friendships with people with different backgrounds to ours, be they race, religion, gender, culture or otherwise, we educate ourselves, grow in empathy and help to build towards a more peaceful, kinder world.
You and your friends can make a true difference.
Here are some ideas to celebrate Friendship Day:
- get in touch with a friend you haven't spoken to in a while
- tell people something you appreciate about them
- think about things which unite us rather than divide us
- make a friendship bracelet
- write an acrostic poem for the word "friendship"
- speak to someone new - you might make a new friend for life
- read a book about friendship - it is a common theme in many of our favourite books
- learn a few words in a new language - it is a quick and easy way to show someone that you care
- design a friendship card for someone - it will make their day
- make a friendship book - fill it with photos, memories, drawings, poems... anything you like. It will be a special object to keep and cherish
Web links
Online lessons
Showbie - http://www.showbie.com
Activities and tasks will be posted here every day. Children can write or type onto the uploaded documents, or upload their own documents or photos.
BBC Bitesize - https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/tags/zncsscw/year-6-lessons/1.
Daily lessons for all year groups across a range of subjects.
If you need help finding your way around BBC Bitesize, here's an explanatory PowerPoint - thanks to Florrie.
Oak National Academy - https://www.thenational.academy/
A brand new initiative, with 3 hours of daily lessons for primary aged children.
English
We've been completing a series of tasks about doors on Showbie. Find all of the tasks in one place here.
Pobble 365 - http://www.pobble365.com/
A new picture prompt each day, with comprehension questions, grammar tasks and a story starter.
We'll share our favourite task each week. This week, we've chosen "Wild Horses" - the slightly blurred photo really gives the impression of speed and movement.
We also really like the idea of looking at collective nouns. There are some really interesting and unusual ones. Did you know that the collective noun for a group of crows is a "murder"? The term apparently orginated in the 15th century. Crows and other corvids (the family of birds which include ravens, rooks, jackdaws and magpies) are scavengers and one theory is that were often found at battlegrounds where there may be dead bodies. Other collective nouns include an ostentation of peacocks, a parliament of owls, a knot of frogs, and a skulk of foxes. Can you find some others?
Spell Well - https://www.idlsgroup.com/
All children have their own login and should aim to complete two lessons each day.
Sir Linkalot - https://www.sirlinkalot.org/spellathome/
A fabulous and fun spelling app, which is currently available free of charge. Either download the app (iOS and Android) or go to http://app.sirlinkalot.org. Choose a bundle to download and click login. Username: FREE Code: FREE
Reading Journal
Our usual expectations apply - you should read for at least 15 minutes a day and complete one Reading Journal task each week. If you do not have your journal at home, a copy of the tasks is below.
Maths
White Rose Maths - https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/year-6/
This week, we are revising percentages. Today's BBC Bitesize daily lesson might help with our task - available on Showbie and here.
Times Table Rockstars - https://ttrockstars.com/
All children have their own login and should aim to complete 10 garage lessons a week.
Maths Factor by Carol Vorderman - https://www.themathsfactor.com/
This free-to-join resource has activities, challenges and games for all areas of the maths curriculum.
STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Maths)
Encounter Edu - https://encounteredu.com/
Enjoy free live lessons. Parents can register for a free account.
Our current science project is light. Learn more about this subject here:
BBC Bitesize - https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zbssgk7
How the eye works - https://www.ducksters.com/science/sight_and_the_eye.php
Learn how to make your own liquid rainbow with the scientists of the Centre for Life.
Project
As a starting point, children may wish to do a little background reading. Here are some suggested websites:
DK Find Out - https://www.dkfindout.com/uk/history/incas/
Ducksters - https://www.ducksters.com/history/aztec_maya_inca.php
Kiddle - https://kids.kiddle.co/Inca_Empire
National Geographic - https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/discover/geography/countries/country-fact-file-peru/
The Rise and Fall Of The Incan Empire is a short fact-filled animation and a great introduction to this topic.
Lessons and tasks will be uploaded onto Showbie every week. This week we're looking at an animal closely associated with Peru, which was partly responsible for making it into such a successful empire - for a short time at least.
Learn more about Peru with Florrie's slideshow below.
Llamas were vitally important to the Incans and scientists have discovered that, without llamas - and more specifically their dung - the Incan Empire may not have expanded so rapidly.
Here is some of your work inspired by llamas.
PE
Visit the Hotspur Healthy Active Lifestyle page, which includes the Weekly Wake Up With Mr Luke.
Go Noodle - Visit their website here to find songs, dances and games.
Art & Design
We have wonderful cultural institutions in the north-east, providing resources for learning at home.
Laing Art Gallery - https://laingartgallery.org.uk/whats-on/the-laing-art-gallery-at-home-little-artists
Carry out a virtual tour here.
Baltic - https://baltic.art/uploads/Themed_Primary_Resource.pdf
Hatton Gallery - https://hattongallery.org.uk/whats-on/home-education-resource-green
Shipley Art Gallery - https://shipleyartgallery.org.uk/whats-on/shipley-art-challenge
We are looking at optical illusions as part of our science topic, so would like to revisit Op Art.
This video shows you how to draw a never-ending Penrose Staircase.
Box Puzzle
Here are two parcels. Which needs the longest piece of tape to seal it?
Watch the video to see if you were right.
Music
Join in with our weekly Singing Assembly - https://www.hotspurprimary.co.uk/closure-time/weekly-singing
Watch some clips from the BBC - https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/ks2-music/zfv96v4
Classics For Kids has some fun activities, including online games - https://www.classicsforkids.com/
Listen to nature's music - https://www.birdsong.fm/
Weekly Updates
Monday 13th July 2020
Hello Year 6 and Hotspur family,
It was wonderful to see so many of you and your families at our reports day last week. We hope the weather will be as pleasant this Thursday, as we will be holding our Leavers' Day. It is hard to believe that this is our last week together, but we are looking forward to our celebrations - including the grand premiere of your film and a picnic on the field. It will be a chance for our year group to reunite before the summer holidays begin.
Details of the day were included with your report and can also be found here, where adults can complete the registration link. You will also be able to take home your hoodies and yearbooks.
We are looking forward to having an unforgettable last week together and making more lasting memories.
Stay safe,
Mrs Cowen and Mr Luke
Year 6 Gallery
Every week, we'll post examples of your amazing at-home work here. So far, we have rainbow displays, poems, your own interpretations of masterpieces and more.
Keep them coming!
First, take a look at some of the amazing optical illusions you've been creating.
Story Time - The Saga Of Erik The Viking by Terry Jones, Illustrated by Michael Foreman
During our last project - Vikings: Vicious or Victorious? - Year 6 were reading about the wonderful, if somewhat disaster-riddled, adventures of Erik and his companions.
Here, Mrs Cowen will read the whole adventure so we can discover whether Erik achieves his goal and becomes the first to find the land where the sun goes at night.
As a fun challenge for herself, she made a trailer using iMovie, which you can also watch. If you have iMovie on one of your devices, why not try and make your own trailer for a different book? On a Microsoft Windows device, you can edit a video using the Photos app or Windows Movie Maker.
Chapter 1 - Erik and the Storm
In Chapter 1, we learn that Erik has a sword called Blueblade. Why do you think Vikings might have named their swords?
Visit the National Museum of Denmark to learn more about Viking swords and other weaponry.
As Erik and his men try to outrow the storm, the look-out cries, "Rocks to port!", then "Rocks to starboard!" Use the picture to work out what the look-out was telling them.
The sea is described as "boiling". What do you think the author meant?
Chapter 2 - Erik and the Enchantress of the Fjord
Chapter 3 - Erik and the Sea Dragon
Thrive
Engaging and fun tasks for all the family. A full selection is available on our School Closure page. Here is the current daily plan for 7 - 11 year olds.
Our Thrive task last week was to create a hybrid Deadly 60 creature. Thanks to everyone for their quite frankly terrifying creatures.
Let's Get Quizzy
We're sharing quizzes on Kahoot for you to try. They're a fun way of learning new facts and checking what you already know.
Download the app or go to kahoot.it, then enter the pin number.
- Year 5/6 spellings beginning with A: 06620079
- The Rise and Fall of the Incas: 05924339
- Year 6 Words of the Week: 04942381
Year 6 Cookalong
The Year 6 teachers are going to spend some time together by cooking from our own kitchens - and we'd like you to join in. Mr Luke chose the first recipe - a stir fry. Mrs Cowen's choice was a sweet (but healthy-ish) one - banana pancakes.
The great thing about both of these recipes is that they are easily adapted depending on which ingredients you have in the house and what your own tastes are. Don't like bananas? Use another fruit. Don't have any onions? Throw a different vegetable in instead. The main thing is to make something tasty which everyone at home can enjoy and to have fun doing it.
Here are two basic recipes to get you started:
Vegetarian: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/easy-banana-pancakes
Vegan: https://realfood.tesco.com/recipes/vegan-banana-pancakes.html
Remember to wash your hands first and get an adult to help when using hot pans and dishes.
Other ideas
Here, you will find all of the suggested activities and ideas from previous weeks.