We have been discussing the fact that we will see adults around school wearing a face-covering whenever they are not in class and that this is to keep us all safe and not something to be scared of.

I will also pop on a face-covering whenever I talk to grown-ups around school or parents as they are not in our class bubble.

Well, Wolfie must have heard us as he decided to cover up too!

Task 1: Art skill focus

Choose a superhero.  We are going to trace a picture of them into the middle of your sheet of paper BUT  you cannot use black or pencil, you have to trace in the colour you can see.  So if your hero’s hair is blonde, trace their hair in yellow.  If their cape is red, trace their cape in red…of course, if you trace something black, use your black pencil!  Once you are done, shade in the colours.

Now, label the features and powers your superhero possesses.

Task 2:

Repeat the activity for someone in real life who you consider a hero.  It could be a family member, someone in the community, an emergency worker or even someone you see in the newspaper!

Label their heroic qualities, such as hard work or kindness onto the sheet.

As you are aware, Martin Luther King, Jr. played a key role in the American civil rights movement.

This was not easy for Martin Luther King, Jr. as he was arrested and even his house was bombed! Pretty severe for a bloke wanting to change the world for the better.

In 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. helped to organise the famous “March on Washington”. Over 250,000 people attended this march in an effort to show the importance of civil rights legislation. Some of the issues the march hoped to accomplish included an end to segregation in public schools, protection from police abuse, and to get laws passed that would prevent discrimination in employment.

It was at this march where Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. This speech has become one of the most famous speeches in history. The March on Washington was a great success. The Civil Rights Act was passed a year later in 1964.

Below is a video of the famous speech.

Here are a few questions to think about. You could discuss them with an adult in your home.

• What did you notice about the way he spoke?
• Discuss the message – What was he talking about?
• What was his vision for the future?
• Has this happened?
• Was this fair for Martin Luther King, Jr. to want as a right?

Martin Luther King, Jr. played a key role in the American civil rights movement from the mid 1950s until his assassination in 1968. Martin Luther King, Jr. is considered one of the greatest public speakers of modern times and his speeches still inspire many to this day.

I would like you to present as much information on Martin Luther King, Jr. as you can. You could record yourself speaking, create a PowerPoint or Word document, you could also present it as a word-map or fact file, it is your choice!

Below are some helpful resources to get you started on Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Click this link to open a Martin Luther King, Jr. biography

Tomorrow, we will be looking at the famous – I have a dream! 

In this unit we are going to learn about people who wanted to change the world for the better, through their strong beliefs.

Now, you would like to think that you would be forgiven for thinking that trying to change the world for the better would make you very popular! No, these people had to endure violence, threats and even prison to make the changes they believed in!

In America (1960s), unprivileged or uneducated people had to pass a test in order to vote. The tests were mainly administered to black voters. The tests were almost impossible to pass and had the intent to disenfranchise black voters.

Below is an example of a test, The Louisiana Literacy Test and to be honest, it doesn’t test your literacy skills at all! Have a go at the test and see how you get on…

You have 10 minutes to complete it!

Once you have completed the test, you could test an adult, brother or sister.

You could also create your own test and upload it to the blog for your classmates to have a go at or you could administer it on an adult at home.

Click the download link to download the Louisiana Literacy Test.

Remember to let us know how you get on and what you think to the Louisiana Literacy Test. Do you think it’s a fair test? How did you feel sitting the test?

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear3.edublogs.org/files/2020/07/The-State-of-Louisiana-test-1.pdf” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

Here are the possible answers for the Louisiana test.

Choose your favourite conqueror from the ones you researched. Write a detailed biography of them, include as much information about them as you can.

Why have you chosen them as your favourite conqueror?

Were they a hero or a villain & why do you think this?

Use your best writing skills including interesting vocabulary and a range of punctuation.

Here is a writing checklist to use to check you have included all the necessary writing elements and an example of a biography so you can see what you are aiming for:

Features of a biography

jacqueline_wilson_bio

Using your research about conquerors, can you create fact files to show each conqueror’s greatest and worst achievements in History?

The categories could include:

1) Years they were alive, age they were conquerors, how long they lived.

2) Number of countries they conquered.

3) How many people they killed.

4) Greatest achievement.

5) Worst thing they did. Etc…

You could add or draw a picture of the different conquerors to each fact file.

Here’s an example of a fact file to give you an idea of how to present your work, but you can come up with your own way of presenting if you want to.

Now you know all about the history of these great conquerors, can you use your geography skills and mark the countries where your researched conquerors lived on a map? Use an atlas or device to help you locate the countries.

Colour in the countries that they conquered. Use different colours for different conquerors and create a key to show who/what the colours represent.

Can you also mark on any significant physical land marks in the area e.g. mountains, rivers, deserts etc…

Here is a link to a blank map to print off:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.freeusandworldmaps.com%2Fhtml%2FWorld_Projections%2FWorldPrint.html&psig=AOvVaw3au1D2am1gfoDv3KGoCCQ_&ust=1593347190918000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCLC6mIT_oeoCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAE

Timeline task!

Now you have found out about some of the most famous conquerors, can you create a timeline?

What is a timeline?

One method used in KS2 to help understand history is the timeline. Timelines are a listing of events, such as historical periods, which can make history much easier to understand.

Lesson 1 – Research.

What is a conqueror?

Have you heard of any of these people?

Genghis Khan

Alexander the Great

Boudicca

These are a few of the world’s most famous conquerors!

What is a conqueror?

• Find out about some famous conquerors – include: who they were, when they lived, where they lived and where they conquered.
• What were they famous for achieving?
• How many countries did they conquer?
• Were they a hero or a villain? Why?

Here are a few resources to help you:

https://www.ducksters.com/biography/world_leaders/genghis_khan.php

https://www.ducksters.com/biography/alexander_the_great.php#:~:text=He%20reigned%20as%20king%20from%20336%2D323%20BC.&text=Alexander’s%20father%20was%20King%20Philip,how%20to%20play%20the%20lyre.

https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/Boudicca/442493

Today, we have been working on scribble art, we have drawn an image of Robin Hood. However, there’s some interesting choice of colour for the face!

We are going to bring the forest to life for our readers. What matters, in descriptive writing, is capturing the details and sensations of being in a place.  Presenting your reader with sights, sounds, smells and feelings that they have felt themselves so they can place themselves in the situation you are describing.

What we do not want to do is TELL the reader how they are feeling, instead GIVE THEM CLUES and make them interpret them, themselves!

For example:

You are in a dark, dank forest with huge, mossy trees. It is raining hard and only the fact that you are hidden amongst the trees is stopping you getting soaked.  (It’s not bad but you don’t feel as if you are there!

Instead, try:

As your eyes begin to adjust to the gloom, you begin to pick out some of the sounds and smells around you.  The deep, occasional creak of think, heavy branches.  The quick, sharp rattle of twigs clattering lazily together and the soft, rising & falling rustle of a million leaves in the trees above you.  The earth smells rich and mossy in contrast to the fresh scent of pine in the air.  You turn up your lincoln green collar and duck further back into the hollow in which you are hidden just in time to avoid the pitter-patter of raindrops falling all around you.    (These are all smells and sounds your reader will have experienced before so they will easily be able to picture the scene)

Your challenge:

Go and visit a wooded area.  You are soaking up the sounds and smells around you.  What can you hear, see and feel?  You could take photos and write notes around them.  You could record video or record your ideas on book creator.  What can you compare the sounds to? Get your family to join in, the more ideas, the better.  Do adults have clever vocabulary you can learn?  Do they know little sayings that help paint a picture?  What we want is for you to have a rich selection of vocabulary and ideas from which you can select from in your writing task tomorrow.

Design yourself a set of Top Trumps cards for the heroes and villains from Robin Hood!

You can:

• Choose the style of art you would like to use, Disney, realistic, serious, silly?
• Choose the categories, are you going to score the characters on strength, speed, height, cunning, goodness/evilness?  What other categories can you think of?
• Score, will you give them points out of 5, 10 or even 100?  The choice is yours.

Here is a version of the Robin Hood legend that you read along with…

[embeddoc url=”http://myths.e2bn.org/mythsandlegends/playstory13478-the-legend-of-robin-hood.html” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

Here are a few comprehension activities to further develop your knowledge of the story and the characters.

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/06/robin_hood_and_little_john.docx” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

Answers:

Vocabulary Focus

1. delicate and light in a way that seems to be otherworldly.
2. to wrap up, cover or surround completely.
3. inhabited
4. Outside of the law – someone who has broken the law, especially one who has escaped.
5. That they are walking slowly because they are tired.
6. lurking

R – a few steps

V – flurry, erupted

E – They are carrying bows, they are walking long distances, they fight with a staff, there is a bridge tax

I – he is resigned to his fate – he feels like he will have to fight him now.

S – He stops people crossing the bridge unless they pay him.  If they do not pay then he robs them.

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/06/Comprehension_Lower_KS2_sample-converted.docx” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

Answers:

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/06/ANSWERS.docx” width=”20%” height=”100px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

At home this weekend, Grace and I worked on a big scribble picture.  To begin with, we drew a VERY simple and very light pencil outline of Robin Hood on a big piece of paper.  You can make loads of mistakes and redo bits without rubbing out as no one will ever see them! (You don’t have to be a good drawer)

The only bit we put a lot of effort into was the face, especially the eye area.

Add black felt tip carefully to show details such as pupils, eyebrows and even some eye lashes.  We added a beard and moustache as we though it fitted the scribble style we were going to use.

Then comes the fun bit!  Scribble!!!  Keep going over your sketch lines, use different shades of the same colour.  You don’t need to be too careful but try to make your scribbles for parts of the picture go in the same direction…we did the shade lines on the face the same direction, we kept going over the hood with different greens.

Finally, add a background by drawing 100s of scribble leaves. Scribble them in light green and scribble in the gaps in dark green. Do really thick scribble when you get close to your character to make him stand out. You can even add secret words and messages into the leaves…

There you have it, a scribble picture…they look best when you do them really big and then view them from far away or take a photo.  Share yours with us so we can see your skills!

The Disney version of Robin Hood has some lovely and very catchy tunes.  here is a link to a video of just the songs.  have a listen and a sing along.  Maybe we could do some kind of video mash up of you lot singing along at home?

Robin Hood Fact or Fiction Worksheet

We would like you to design a wanted poster for at least one of Robin’s Merry Men.

Your poster should, of course,  include a sketch of the character but the main part of the poster should be:

• a physical description of the character
• some reasons that they are “wanted”.  What have they done?  How have they helped Robin?
• appropriate vocabulary, your poster should sound ‘ye olde’ (old) through the old fashioned vocabulary you use

Remember!  This is a wanted poster for a criminal!  You are not on their side, you want them to be caught and arrested for their crimes so make them sound bad!

Here are some illustrations (by Charles Keeping) from the Highwayman book that the Year 5/6 blog will be covering over the next couple of weeks.We shall use these as inspiration for today’s art lesson at 1:30

Yesterday we made our own ink during an online Zoom lesson.  All you have to do is crush up some berries with a splash of vinegar and a pinch of salt.  I had a go at a quick portrait last night using some of the ink I made in the lesson…

Wednesday 1:30 portrait drawing

Zoom Meeting ID: 990 7137 5354

Password:  art

You will need:  paper (preferably a3 art paper but whatever you have will work!) your home-made ink from yesterday, either a stick of charcoal or some ash (you can just have an adult light a few matches and let them burn out, they work just as well)

Birdwell Highwayman

This afternoon, we will use some very common household ingredients to make our own ink and quill.

We shall use our ink to draw a portrait of one of the characters from the highwayman on Wednesday.

The ink making and the art lesson will be both be online lessons through Zoom.  I will start the connection from 1:15 both days for you to log in.

Tuesday 1:30pm ink making lesson

Zoom Meeting ID: 951 3096 3816

Password:  ink

You will need:  salt, vinegar, a few handfulls of dark berries such as blueberries or blackberries.  (You can make other coloured ink with the appropriate color berry or veg!)  You will also need either a fine sieve, muslim cloth or old babric to strain them through.

If you would also like to make a quill, you will need a feather or a thin straw and some scraps of paper & glue.

Wednesday 1:30 portrait drawing

Meeting ID: 990 7137 5354

Password:  art

You will need:  paper (preferably a3 art paper but whatever you have will work!) your home-made ink, either a stick of charcoal or some ash (you can just have an adult light a few matches and let them burn out, they work just as well)

Dick Turpin – Hero or Villain Recording Sheet

Sources of Evidence

We are going to begin our new topic ‘Hero or Villain?’ by researching who Dick Turpin was.

Watch the following music video: Stand and Deliver by Adam and the Ants.  What impression do you get of highwaymen from this video?

The following websites will be useful:

Dick Turpin: Facts and Information About the Famous Highwayman

https://academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Dick_Turpin

Our final topic for this year is named: 

Hero or Villain?

Just like with our Space topic, we are going to run this topic across all of Key Stage 2.  As we do not know what will happen with schooling in the coming weeks and months yet, we have designed this topic to run all of the way through the Summer holiday.

We are going to cover 8 Units, each with a different curricular focus.  Some units will be history heavy, some literacy and some sport or music!

Our units are:

• Stealing (our hearts!)
• Conquer and Divide
• World-Changers!
• Everyday Heroes
• Un-popular music
• History Hero ZERO!
• Champ to Cheat
• Be the Hero of Your Own Story…

The work that you add to the blog and the work that pupils who are in school contribute will be added to displays and boards all around school, ready for you to see in September.

Let’s get started with Unit 1:  Stealing (our hearts!)  We investigate 2 stories where the hero of the story is a thief!  Someone who should be a bad guy!  We are going to build up towards being able to control viewpoint in our writing, with plenty of reading comprehension, art and practical tasks along the way!

You can choose, on Thursday, which text you wish to work on.  “The Highwayman” by Alfred Noyes will be covered on the Year 5&6 blogs whilst Robin Hood will be the focus of the Year 3&4 blogs.  YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO THE TEXT ON YOUR BLOG, you can choose to do the work on either but bear in mind the Highwayman is a more difficult text.

Can you get fat in space?

[embeddoc url=”https://www.st-stephens-school.org.uk/docs/Homework_Sheets/The_Great_British_Space_Dinner_Competition.pdf” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]