Alternative 12 Days of Christmas

We had a go at writing our alternative version of the Twelve Days of Christmas.

Alternative 12 Days of Christmas MP3

New School logo

Nothing much to add really other than a chance for us to show off our fantastic new school logo.

Eleri Maths!

It was Mr Roberts’ first day back today after the birth of his baby daughter Eleri. We did some ‘Eleri’ maths. We knew that Eleri = 3060g when she was born. We chose objects and weighed them. We then used estimation and calculation skills to work out roughly how many objects would be equivalent to one Eleri. We had to learn a new symbol to help us. ≈ is the symbol for approximately.

Here were some of our results.

1 sharpener = 47g           Eleri ≈ 65 sharpeners (3055g)

1 stencil = 38g                 Eleri ≈ 81 stencils (3078g)

1 ruler = 35g                   Eleri ≈ 92 rulers (3070g)

1 board rubber = 26g      Eleri ≈ 118 br (3068g)

1 post it pack = 10g         Eleri = 306 post it packs (3060g)

Homework 16/11/12

Year 5/6 homework has been set:

Year 5 – Reading three way tables

Year 6 – Reading line graphs and pie charts.

Christmas Term Topics

This term Year 5/6’s topic is Technotastic – looking at all of the cool technological techniques we can use to enhance things such as stories and books. We will be using cameras, sound recording and editing devices and animation programmes. We are hoping to use a programme called Photoscape to create animated gifs. Here is a link to the free downloadable programme.

http://www.photoscape.org/ps/main/download.php

Our author focus is Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. We will be focusing on the Prologue and the introduction of the characters involved in the pilgrimage.

A good link for pupils and parent is: http://www.bremesoftware.com/Chaucer/index.htm

In science we will be looking at Changing sounds, which we will link in with the Technotastic topic.

In Welsh we are continuing with our Awyr study, looking at heroes.

Of course, this is Christmas term so we will also be putting lots of effort into our Cinderella Rockafella production.

Half Term Homework

I have set a multitude of tasks for our class to work on over the half term over on our online homework portal www.studyladder.co.uk

Year 6:

Literacy: Commonly misspelled words x2

Maths: Addition problem solving, Subtraction problem solving, Multiplication problem solving, Division problem solving

Science: Forces

Health Safety and Citizenship: Internet Safety

Year 5:

Literacy: Spelling corrections, High frequency words test

Maths: Addition problem solving, Subtraction problem solving, Multiplication problem solving, Division problem solving

Science: Forces

Health Safety and Citizenship: Internet Safety 

Also, we are moving onto a new author focus this forthcoming half term, Chaucer. I would recommend that if pupils have the chance, they should research Chaucer and his Canterbury Tales.

Have a nice half term!

Mr. Roberts

Word Ladder 26/10/12

Shani, Jay, Antoine, Rebecca, Jared and Sophie won the word ladder challenge this morning, reaching 13 letters. Here was their ladder.

 

A

As

Sun

Newt

Tales

Snakes

Shimmer

Rainbows

Subtracts

Shimmering

Gravitation

Notification

Notifications

 

All done without a dictionary and demonstrating good team work and communication skills!

Da iawn pawb!

Homework 22/10/12

This week’s online homework has been added. Identifying fractions is the focus.

PESS Multi-Skills PE project

On Friday (19^th October) we carried out our baseline tests for our PESS PE Multi-skills pilot project in cooperation with the Y Pant Cluster.

Three tests were carried out to find a baseline for our pupils all around three key areas; agility, balance and coordination.

Our agility test was a slalom run 14m in distance with slalom cones put in place to encourage agility whilst running at top speed. Pupils were testing themselves against the clock.

Our balance test was great fun! Our pupils had to stand on one leg on a spot. Mr Roberts was then stood 2 metres away and passed a ball to the pupil in four areas; left, centre, right and above their head. This was repeated for a maximum time of 1 minute. There was laughter and concentration in equal measures and one child got within hundredths of seconds of the maximum one minute mark.

In our final test pupils were faced with a tennis ball, a wall and a 30 second time slot. They had to throw the ball against the wall with their right hand and then catch it with their left and vice versa until the time period run out. This proved incredibly difficult for our pupils.

We now look forward to going ahead with the multi-skills pilot, putting into place activities and opportunities to improve our all-round skills.

Parents evening change

Due to a schedule clash, I will not be able to hold my evening parent’s consultation on Monday (22^nd October). The date has been changed to Thursday 25^th October. Parents who booked appointments for the Monday are welcome for these to be replicated on the Thursday, if they are still available. There are still other places available.

Homework (16/10/12)

New fractions homework has been added to Studyladder.

Homework 05/10/12

New homework has been set for Year 5 and 6 on www.studyladder.co.uk

Homework 28/09/12

Homework has been set for Year 5/6 via Studyladder. Usernames and passwords have been handed out today. Year 5 have been set a multiplication task looking at missing numbers in sums. Year 6 have been set a challenge competing against the computer looking at times tables from 1-12.

http://www.studyladder.co.uk/

Boccia!

We continued our forays into trying different Paralympic sports today. First we tried wheelchair basketball (without the chairs), then sitting volleyball and today we tried Boccia. We all absolutely loved our interpretation of the sport and things got pretty competitive.

Balloon Hovercrafts

We were looking at the powers of up-thrust today in science by looking at videos of hovercrafts on Youtube. We wondered how we could make our own in class when we came across some instructions. We used a cd, push up bottle top and a balloon and, hey presto, we had a balloon hovercraft!

Sitting Basketball!

To continue with my ambition of allowing our pupils the opportunity to try out as many Paralympic sports as possible, we today tried to replicate wheelchair basketball in our PE lesson. Now, obviously we don’t have any wheelchairs so we had to improvise. The best way we thought of was to take the game ‘crab football’ and transpose them into basketball. We had teams of 3 a-side with games lasting 3 minutes. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the games but found resisting the urge to get up and run with the ball almost too hard to resist!

Highwayman Sociograms

We are studying The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes as our author focus this half term. To get to grips with the characters we had a go at making sociograms to plot all of the inter-relationships they all have. Here is Shani’s effort.

Egg parachute!

We have started our science topic of ‘Forces in motion’. We wanted to look at two forces in particular, gravity and air resistance. To do this we decided that we would try to make egg parachutes. We all decided that our materials for our parachutes would need to be sturdy but also light. Some pupils predicted that if they were big and wide then they would work better as they would capture more air resistance. Others thought that they had to be smaller so that they would not be too heavy!

 

We made our parachutes and then inserted our eggs into their containers, polystyrene cups. Mr Roberts then dropped them from a seven foot height and we watched the results. The black bin bag and kitchen roll parachutes carried the hard boiled eggs to the ground safely enough to avoid them cracking. These two had large surface areas and created more air resistance. The cotton cloth, tin foil and sandwich bag were all too small and they plummeted to the ground, cracking their eggs on landing!

The Highwayman video

Hero job description!

We have started our new topic which is 'Heroes and Villains'. We have been thinking about the qualities that a hero or a villain might need. Our final challenge of the afternoon has been to create a whole class, shared-writing job description for a hero. (Please do not apply, this is not a REAL job.)

Job Title: Hero

To be successful in becoming our hero you must be...

Incorruptible, invincible, strong, careful, indestructible, honest, hardworking, courageous, a life saver, kind.

To become our hero you must have...

Code breaking skills, common sense, at least one super-power, many heroic skills, some recent previous experience of being a hero.

No time wasters wanted!

Venus Fly Trap

The Venus Fly trap has been taken home for the Summer and today, finally had the first kill (that we know of)

Stats in Sound presentation

We attended the launch of the Community Music Wales Stats in Sound project today. Here is the Prezi that Lauren and David presented.

Llanharan Primary School - Stats in Sound on Prezi

Welsh Heritage Schools Initiative Awards 2012

Our school won a £200 prize at the Welsh Heritage Schools Initiative awards 2012 held at the Park and Dare theatre in Treorchy. The award was in recognition for our class World War Two project.

Stats in Sound Day 5

We had our last Stats in Sound day yesterday with Community Music Wales.

Our pupils were thrown into a full day’s work going through and editing the photographs taken at the National Botanic Gardens of Wales. The pupils then started to sort them into three categories focusing on three areas within the Gardens; The Ice House, The Tropical House, The Great Dome.

The next task was to edit the photographs using photoshop to ensure that no humans appeared in their shots. They then put their photographs into the most effective order and then created a slideshow.

One group had the opportunity to write a script for a voiceover to go with the slideshows. Again, this focused on the three selected areas. They then had to read their voiceovers into a microphone, which proved to be quite a nerve wrecking experience.

Groups also had a bonus activity in the afternoon as they went into the hall to practice drumming with Matt.

The final activity was to edit their voiceovers, mixing them with the sounds they recorded at the Botanic Gardens, adding effects.

Although it was sad to see the project come to an end we all thoroughly enjoyed themselves and are now looking forward to the launch in a few weeks’ time.

Family is... poems!

We have been writing poems based on the five senses and the topic, 'Family'

Family is...

The taste of cookies baked by my mum,

As tasty as ice cream melting on my tongue,

The scent of my nan’s homemade perfume,

As exquisite as a rose,

The sight of happy faces smiling everyday,

Happy like children playing on a summer’s day,

The sound of mum and dad snoring,

As loud as the siren on a fire engine,

The touch of a piece of bread crumbs,

Crumbling like a mountain top,

Family is... my life!

By Jack Batacan

Family is...

The taste of chocolate,

As tasty as my mum’s home made cake,

The sight of happiness fills my heart with joy,

Like a new puppy on my birthday,

The smell of my nan’s perfume,

Like fresh roses picked from the flower bed,

The feel of my mum’s soft kisses,

As soft as the green green grass,

Hear my sister singing,

Like a blue bird tweeting a calm song,

My family... fills my heart with love.

By Rosie Evans

Family is...

The taste of turkey dinner on Christmas day,

As tasty as a sizzling feast,

The sight of my family and I playing together,

As happy as a puppy playing with a ball,

The sound of my rabbit and my dog fighting,

As loud as a police officer in pursuit,

The teasing touch of my presents on my birthday,

As exciting as having a new pet,

The smell of my mum’s perfume,

As smelly as a farm!

Family is... heaven!

By Benjamin Duggan

Family is...

The smell of my nan’s perfume,

As lovely as bubble bath bubbling,

The taste if mum’s barbecue cooking,

As delicious as a cheeseburger,

Touch the soft new hair cut,

As cute as a new born puppy,

See the crashing waves whilst on holidays,

Smile at your family as they have brought you something new,

Hear dad singing something,

Like birds tweeting in a forest,

Family is... my life!

By Cody Simpson

Family is...

The sight of happiness that fills me with joy,

Like a blue bird swooping through the wind,

The taste of Sunday roast cooked by mum,

As delicious as chocolate cake,

The sound of love from my relatives,

Makes me feel comfortable, warm and safe,

The aroma of my dad’s aftershave,

Fills the air with a fresh smell,

The touch of a kiss,

As soft as a pillow,

Family is... my dream!

By Shani Williams

Family is...

The taste of my mum’s Christmas dinner,

As tasty as a slice of heaven,

The sight of my brother’s flowers,

As beautiful as all the princesses,

The touch of my dad’s silk pillow,

As soft as a fluffy cloud,

Smell the perfume of my nana,

When I see her she smells divine,

Hear the wheels on my bampi’s car,

As noisy as a crazy party,

Family is... my home.

By Tawfiq Junior Ayoub

Family is...

The sight of my mum,

Feeding my sister crunchy carrot cake,

I can tough my sister’s skin,

As soft as a baby lamb’s wool,

I can taste pizza and chips,

As tasty as heavenly cake,

I can smell baby softener,

As sweet as caramel,

I can hear my sister crying,

She is hungry!

Family is... my life!

By Emily Jones

Family is...

The taste of Sunday dinner,

As tasty as my mum’s trifles for dessert,

The smell of scented roses,

Drifting through the room on a fresh summer’s day,

The sight of happiness on everyone’s faces,

As wide as slices of melon,

The touch of my dad’s comfy bed,

As soft as candyfloss clouds,

The sound of mum and dad laughing,

As loud as my cat Bella hissing,

Family is... my life!

By Sophie Bowden

Family is...

The taste of chocolate dancing on my taste buds,

As joyful as a new born puppy,

The sight of my dog chasing her tail,

Like a lion stalking its prey,

The sound of laughter filling the air,

As loud as rock band in concert,

The scent of dinner being cooked by my mum,

As sweet as can be,

Feel Izzy’s back,

As rough as a stony path,

Family is... my life that I don’t want to change!

By Maya Batacan

Stats in Sound Day 4

We had our 4^th Stats in Sound day with Community Music Wales today at the National Botanical Gardens of Wales. We all watched the weather forecast with a sense of doom but, though the skies were grey, the rain held off for us. Nevertheless our pupils were suited and booted with wellingtons and coats just in case.

Our pupils split up into their groups and started to wander around the gardens taking pictures and sound recordings of sources of interest. We pretty much visited every part of the grounds that we could in the time available to us including; the glass dome, tropical house, bee garden, ice house, biomass centre, lakes, Japanese garden, aqua lab etc...

We are now looking forward to our final day next Thursday as we will get the chance to edit our footage and learn about making QR cards!

Here are some of the photos that Mr Roberts took whilst walking around with his group.

Paralympic Art

Our class has been drawing their own interpretations of Paralympians in action. Here are their efforts:

1. Danielle Brown – Archery by Amy

2. David Roberts – Swimming by Jack

3. David Weir – Wheelchair racing by Sophie

4. Jody Cundy – Cycling by Lauren

5. Kylie Grimes – Wheelchair Rugby by Jordan Watts

6. Nathan Stephens – Javelin by Jordan White

Around the world in 80 words

Our class have been writing 80 word stories to enter the Young Writers ‘Around the world in 80 words’.

Here are some of our efforts:

‘I was scared’ by Sophy O’Neill

I was scared. I decided to move and went to China but there was a Chinese Dragon. I was afraid so I went to Egypt but there was a mummy. I was anxious, so I went to Scotland but there was the Loch Ness monster. I was terrified, so I went to France but there was a giant frog. I was petrified, so I went to Antarctica but there was an abominable snowman. I was scared so I went home.

‘The pyramid escape’ by Jay Lock

Carefully Jay put on his Olympic clothes and got ready. Suddenly he found himself in a pyramid. Jay panicked as he tried to escape. He was terrified thinking he would never get out. Jay was so thirsty he could not survive any longer. He had no more strength left but he had to keep looking for the exit. All of a sudden Jay saw a bright light. Could it be the exit?

‘Dancing Squirrels’ by David Jones

There once was a sheep called Shaun who had a problem with dancing squirrels. One day he put his big huge fluffy head into their tree and he shouted, “Turn off this racket!” Angrily the squirrels kicked him to New Zealand where he saw dancing bulls.

“Are you friends with the squirrels?” asked Shaun

“I suppose.”

Suddenly the bulls’ hooves went BANG! Finally Shaun flew through the roof of his own barn back in London.

Animalympics

Zoo Lab UK visited the school today and went into every class to show a selection of animals that all excel in certain aspects identifiable in the Olympics. We had the sprinting cockroach, gymnastic Corn snake and high jumping locust amongst many others!