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