The Silver Sword

It's been a while, but here's the latest summary of our class story...

Once reunited, the family and Jan travelled in a packed freight train to Berlin, telling stories and sharing their experiences.

Whilst in Berlin, Jan had an adventure with a chimpanzee that had escaped from the zoo, and the children were treated to dinner by a British officer.

Now they are travelling away from Berlin in a ragged collection of horse drawn carts, following a huge convoy of Russian troops and armoured vehicles.

Mahna Mahna

You had to be there...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N_tupPBtWQ

and next week, you will be!

International blog visitors.

Good evening folks - our Year 5 Trillions blog has been visited by people from 20 countries around the world! I don't know about you, but that really surprises me, and it's more than any of the other Walkley blogs!

Click on the Flag Counter link on the page, and see if you can do some research and answer these questions...

What is the capital city of each country?
What is the currency (money) used in each country?
Which continent is each country on?
What is the official language of each country?
Which capital city is the furthest away from London?
Which country has the hottest summer?
Which country has the coldest winter?
Which country has the longest coastline?
What is the name of the leader of each country?


PRIZES are available to the three children who bring the most correct answers to me by Monday 3rd December 2012 - good luck! Please also answer this tie-break question - which of the countries you would most like to visit, and why?

Beowulf

Our learning journey with our very good friend Beowulf is drawing to a close...

As we now know, the story is ancient and began life as a poem.

The British Library has the only surviving written version of the poem and it can be seen here: http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/englit/beowulf/ along with some more information about the story and particularly about this manuscript.

The whole of the poem, in its original language, can be found here:http://www8.georgetown.edu/departments/medieval/labyrinth/library/oe/texts/a4.1.html What do you think of it?

I am certainly glad we have some modern retellings of the story that we can use!

The Silver Sword

We have some catching up to do...

Ivan, the friendly Russian soldier, gave Ruth, Bronia and Jan new boots so that they could begin their journey to find Edek in Posen, a journey of 200 miles or so.

Off they went, walking or finding lifts if they could, along with many thousands of other displaced families.

When they arrived in Posen they found that Edek had been taken ill with TB but had absconded from hospital and was now missing. Ruth, Bronia and Jan were shattered after their arduous journey and distraught that Edek was not where they expected him to be. They did not want to continue their journey to Switzerland without him.

Feeling crushed, they walked to a relief camp in a nearby village, seeking rest and nourishment.

At the camp they were given soup and bread. Jan dropped his bowl, spilling his soup, which caused a small riot as desperate people scrambled for the pieces of vegetable on the floor.

In the crush Jimpy (Jan's cockerel), who he had carried all the way from Warsaw), was killed. Bronia was saved by a cook who pulled her away from the crowd just in time but Ruth was at the bottom of the pile. She grasped a hand...

...and found Edek!

Science - Earth, Sun and Moon

In Science we have been continuing to learn about the Earth, Sun and Moon and about our solar system.

Here is a link to a great part of the BBC website that has a whole host of links to short resources to enhance your learning. Have a look and please report back on this blog about any that you found particularly interesting.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/apps/ifl/learningzone/clips/queryengine?config=results_within&viewpage=1&SuppressCaching=1&ContentType=text%2Fhtml%3B+charset%3Dutf-8&oper_1=eq&attrib_1=SCHOOL_LEVEL_NAME&attrib_2=SUBJECT_NAME&oper_2=eq&attrib_3=TOPIC&oper_3=eq&page=1&format=list&val_1_1=primary&val_2_1=science&val_3_1=&existingSearchText=&pagesize=12&clipsSearch.x=0&clipsSearch.y=0&additionalSearchText=earth+sun+and+moon

I am looking forward to hearing what you think! 

Bonfire lunch

Good morning everyone! I hope you have had a restful half term break and are ready to get going again on Monday.

Have you remembered that there is a special 'Bonfire Lunch' at school on Monday to celebrate Bonfire Night? There will be sausages, wedges and beans, followed by Sticky Toffee Pudding...So leave the sarnies at home and enjoy some proper cold weather food!

I am looking forward to seeing you all again on Monday and to another half term of learning together.

If you are celebrating with fireworks this weekend, please stay safe...http://www.syfire.gov.uk/Fireworksbonfires.asp

Beowulf comes to life!

Well done to AQ, LT, CW and IA, who brought the characters of Beowulf (the hero of the story), Hrothgar (the King of the Danes), Grendel (the terrorising monster of the night) and Grendel's mother (the hideous sea-hag) to life with such enthusiasm and commitment - very impressive!

Well done also to the remainder of the class who interviewed the characters, asking meaningful and insightful questions.


I am very proud of you all!

Beowulf

Grendel's Mum

King Hrothgar

Grendel

Silver Sword update...

In this afternoon's instalment, we witnessed Jan's first meeting with Ruth and Bronia and their discovery of the Silver Sword in Jan's box.

We also found out from the Russian soldier that Edek has been taken to a transit camp in Posen.

How long before the girls begin their journey to find Edek and meet their parents in Switzerland? 

Maths Champs

Check out this brilliant website that will help you to remember your maths facts by playing games like Bop a Bot or Brick Blaster!

http://www.mathschamps.co.uk/index.php

Find a level that suits you - try Age 7-9 and Age 9-11. Can you get on to the Leader Board?

Beowulf

Good afternoon!

In literacy this week we have begun to read together the epic tale of Beowulf (in modern English prose, rather than the original ancient English poem!)

We will be using the Michael Morpurgo retelling as the basis for our work which will include some drama and freeze-frame techniques.

Beowulf is a brave warrior prince who travels across the sea to Denmark to rid the kingdom of the terrible monster, Grendel, who has terrorised their nights for 12 years.

It is a powerful story of good and evil, retold in an action-packed, exciting way.

Parents evenings

Good afternoon,

I am very much looking forward to meeting parents on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings next week to discuss your child's experiences at school.

If Tuesday or Wednesday are not convenient for you, then please get in touch and we can arrange a more convenient time to meet.

Have a great weekend,

Mr. Gamage.

Books by Colin Thompson

In Literacy we have been exploring books by Colin Thompson, comparing two of his distinct ways of story telling - traditional short stories and richly illustrated picture books. Here are two of them...can you remember which is which?

                                                 

For more information about Colin Thompson and his writing and illustrating go to http://www.colinthompson.com/index.html

Exploring NASA

As part of our Science work on Earth, Sun and Moon we spent some time this afternoon exploring the NASA website. We looked at pictures of the planets in our solar system and watched a video about the robot on Mars.

Here's the link to the site - explore it some more yourself!

http://www.nasa.gov/

What can you find out about the International Space Station? 

Silver Sword latest!

We last heard of Joseph chasing after a train in the dark, wet, Warsaw railway yard - did he get aboard safely?

The story then flashed back to the night Joseph's wife was taken by the Nazis.  Edek, Joseph's son shot a German soldier in the arm and damaged the truck they were travelling in. In response, the soldiers returned and blew up the house. Ruth, Edek and Bronia escaped across the snow covered rooftops and are now sheltering in the cellar of a bombed building.

What do you think will happen next?

Harvest collection

Good evening everyone! Hope you've had a brilliant weekend and enjoyed the sunshine.

We are entering the season of Harvest and I hope you remember the assembly we had last week with Kinder when he told us all about the kind of things that we can collect to give away to people who are really in need in our community.

If you can, please bring in to class tinned foods, jars of sauce, unopened bags of rice and dried pasta, tooth brushes and tooth paste, etc. (more details in the leaflet) so that we can bless people who are in need.

And here's a challenge to everyone in Trillion - whatever you bring, I will match, so that we can really make a difference!

The Silver Sword

Joseph has met a young lad living in the ruins of Warsaw, who has a cat and a wooden box, but, as yet, no name...

He tells the boy of his children and wife and his plan to travel to Switzerland where they had agreed to meet. Joseph gives the boy the Silver Sword on the understanding that if he should meet Joseph's children he will tell them to also make their way to Switzerland.

We left Joseph and the boy dodging the Nazi patrols on a dark, wet, night in a Warsaw railway yard, trying to find a train that he can jump on to to begin his journey west.

Will there be one? Will Joseph manage to jump aboard safely? Will the boy find Joseph's children?

Photographs

Hi!

We would love to include photographs on our blog of the children in Class Trillion. In order to do this we need to have consent. Many children have already returned their green consent forms, but some haven't, which means that there are lots of lovely photographs that we cannot share at the moment.

Sooo, please take time to dig to the bottom of your book bag and look for any forms or letters which might be mixed up with your homework or buried under your reading book and that should have been given to parents or carers. If you cannot find the consent form, don't worry - you can get a new one from school.

Remember, our blog is a great way of sharing your school life with family and friends across the world and photographs help to tell your story!

Thanks,
Mr. Gamage.

A message from the children of Class Trillion

Good afternoon!

This is a special day - some of the Trillion children are writing this blog...

This morning we enjoyed a Philosophy for Children session where we decided that STEALING IS NOT GOOD. But, we thought hard about what we would do if we were hungry and had no money...

We have painted some fantastic pictures of our Solar System. Here are some!

Please tell us what you think!

Thanks for looking. 

Lunchtime languages - Walkley Culture Week

This lunchtime we were privileged to have Emma, a former PGCE student, and two of her colleagues with us to explore activities based on languages and cultures from around the world.

Children from both Trillion and Kensuke wrote using Russian and Japanese scripts, used chopsticks to pick up Maltesers, dressed in Japanese clothing, painted masks and played musical instruments!

From what I saw, everyone who attended had a lot of fun.

Photos to follow...

And here they are!

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Olympic Gymnastics - a visit from Harry Owen

On Tuesday 25th September we were very excited to host a visit to the school by a Team GB gymnast - Harry Owen. All the children in the school,took part in a sponsored event in the hall - here is a photograph...

Flying kites!

Last Friday morning we flew the kites that we had made as part of our Instructions work in our Literacy lessons. The sun shone and there was just enough wind to get them airborne (with a little running around to help them on their way!) The kites were simple to make, needing only thin card, an art straw, masking tape, ribbon and string.

In the first two installments of our class story book The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier, Jospeh has escaped from the Nazi prison camp disguised as a prison guard and has sneaked across the valley hidden in a cable car. 

What's waiting for him on the other side? Will he be discovered?

Look out for further updates!

The Trillion's first Class Assembly

Hello!
This morning the stars of Trillion's presented a fantastic Class Assembly to Key stage 2 and parents. They told about what they have learned this year so far about REDUCING, REUSING and RECYCLING our waste.

The contrast between what happens here in Sheffield and in some developing countries was highlighted and proved very thought provoking.

The class will continue to learn about reducing, reusing and recycling throughout the term, with me and with Mr. Bowmer.

This is our first blog post - more will be added regularly, and we are really keen to hear your comments and thoughts, so please comment!

Thanks!
Mr. Gamage.

This will be the blog for Walkley's Year 5 Class.

They are the Trillions!