Don Valley 8th July – 10th July 2024
Campsmount and Ridgewood 9th -11th July 2024
Outwood 10th and 11th July 2024
Category : Crew McLoughlin Y6 (23/24)
Crew Hamill, Crew Thompson and Crew Mcloughlin – French
We began a new unit by looking at life in a French school. We watched a video clip to help identify any similarities and differences between school life in France and the UK.
We then looked at new vocabulary related to instructions given in the classroom. We practised our pronunciation and understanding by creating signals to match the French pronunciation. We then worked together to match the symbols to the correct written phrase for each instruction.
To finish, we played a game of Jacques a dit (a French equivalent to Simon Says). We had to listen carefully to the instruction given to us in French before showing either a gesture or doing that action depending on whether it was prefaced with ‘Jacques a dit’ or not.
The Impact of Bees and Honey
On Wednesday, we were fortunate to have a visit from the Doncaster Beekeepers who talked to us about the importance of bees and how amazing honey actually is. We found out the types and numbers of bees we have in this country and which produce honey. We also learnt about the dangers of the Asian hornet. The best part was learning about how amazing honey is and all the benefits of it – and that it doesn’t go off. We even discovered that honey was found in the pyramids when they were opened!
Crew Mcloughlin – Music
Today, we finished our work on ‘Twinkle Variations’. We began by recapping what we had previously discussed around variations and how they can be altered through tempo, rhythm and pitch. We were introduced to passacaglia, which is a repeating bassline and composers often use passacaglia as the basis for their variations. Working with a partner, we chose a short section of ‘Twinkle, twinkle, little star’ to use as the bassline. We spent time perfecting this short section on the glockenspiel.
We then looked at how we could adapt it further. We started by changing the rhythm to make it sound like a happy, dancing passacaglia. We found this quite tricky as it required us to play at a faster tempo and required more notes.
We then looked at adapting the same section, only this time taking away the rhythm and slowing it down to create a more solemn passacaglia. This was easier in terms of the amount of notes, however, it required us to think more carefully about keeping in time and remembering to rest between notes.
Once we had practised different passacaglia options, we split the class into 2 groups. One group played a passacaglia bassline whilst the other group layered an improvised piece. The group who were improvising were allowed to make their own decisions about what they wanted to play, however, they needed to consider fitting in with the bassline, playing at the same speed as the bassline, starting and stopping at the same time, and staying within the correct pitches.
First aid course
Today, we had a very exciting start to the term with a first aid course. We learnt about how to give CPR, check for dangers, call the emergency services, how to use a defibrillator and an epi-pen. We then discussed in detail about what we had learnt. Here are some pictures of us in action.
Crew Hamill, Crew Thompson and Crew Mcloughlin – French
During this lesson, we used our knowledge of French numbers up to 12 to play French outdoor games on the playground! We discussed the French for common phrases such as your turn, my turn, winner, and miss a turn before heading out!
First, in small groups we had to use a diagram to draw out our game area. This game ‘la marelle’ was similar to hopscotch. We used chalk to draw out the game area before taking it in turns to throw the rock to a number. We had to call out the number 1 in French before skipping to the end of the grid ‘le ciel’ (the sky), coming back to ‘la terre’ (the earth) and collecting the rock to pass on to the next person, saying à toi (your turn). The next person then had to throw the rock on to the next number and repeat the same process. If the player did not roll the rock onto the correct number they had to shout ‘manque’ to show they were missing a turn. The winner ‘gagne’ was the first person to accurately throw the rock to number 10 and move along the game area to get to ‘le ciel’.
Crew Hamill, Crew Thompson and Crew Mcloughlin – French
This lesson we were looking at the skill of being able to read numbers 1-12 in French.
We used word cards for the numbers 1-12 to try and put them in the correct order.
We then discussed how to talk about and ask ‘how many?’ in French. We practised our pronunciation and understanding by turning over unknown picture cards and asking ‘Il y a combien?’ after counting in French, our partner then had to find the corresponding written number card to create a pair.
Crew Hamill, Crew Thompson and Crew Mcloughlin – French
In French we have been looking at how to say our ages, as well as ask other people how old they are. We started by becoming language detectives, identifying areas of French that we already knew or could find cognates/near cognates for within a letter. We discussed what we could find out from the letter and key questions that had been asked. This helped us with working out particular phrases useful to our lesson.
We then looked at how to say ‘I am ____ years old’ in French. We added an amount of candles to the image on the board and practised the pronunciation of the phrase ‘J’ai _____ ans’. We then looked at how to ask someone how old they are in French before asking and answering the questions using our new French knowledge.
We then played some games where we had to listen carefully to either our teacher or our crew members to identify what they were telling us.
Crew Mcloughlin – Music
During this lesson, we began looking at performing the Twinkle theme on pitched instruments. We used glockenspiels and worked hard to use the notations to ensure we were playing the correct notes with the correct rhythm.
We then thought about how we could create a new variation based upon the changes we had discussed in our previous lesson as well as some new suggestions. Working with a partner, we created a short variation before sharing these with the rest of our crew. We tried to identify how the performers had created their new variation as well as praising and offering critique for improvement next time.
Crew Mcloughlin – Music
We began our new unit ‘Twinkle Variations’ by looking at a body percussion piece. We had to recognise the actions represented on the diagram before performing as a whole class. We felt like we recognised the rhythm of the piece and the more we practised, we began to realise it was the same tune as ‘Twinkle Twinkle’.
We discussed how composers could take a simple theme, like ‘Twinkle Twinkle’ and make subtle changes here and there to create a completely new variation. They could alter the speed and tempo, the rhythm and the order.
We then listened to some of Mozart’s twinkle variations. Whilst listening, we thought about the changes Mozart had made to create a new variation. Some were trickier than others to appraise!