Oak Tree Class Blog
Oak Tree Class Blog
Week 4, ending 17 March
Mrs Amos (a.amos) on: Oak Tree Class Blog
Happy St Patrick's Day to you all!
And a well done to these two pupils this week!
Reader: Sheldon
Special Mention: Oscar
We had a very special visitor in our school this week - Dr Diane, who is the leading archaeologist in Britain on the subject of the Maya. This is the new part of our topic this term and in just one morning the children learned so much about the Maya, from an actual expert. Dr Diane said she was very impressed with how willing the children in Oak Tree class were to ‘have a go’ at deciphering clues about Maya artefacts. Some budding future archaeologists, she said!
In Maths we have continued our learning on decimals (tenths, hundredths, thousandths etc) and we have also spent some time practising our songs and words for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Thank you to everyone for helping put costumes together for the show – they looked fantastic when we tried them on!
We cannot wait for our performances on 22 and 23 March – hope you have booked your tickets already. (A copy of the letter was on Mr Cooke’s newsletter last week.)
Hope you all have a good weekend,
Yours,
Mrs Adrienne Amos
Some Joseph stuff
Mrs Amos (a.amos) on: Oak Tree Class Blog
Here are the lyrics for the three songs we need a bit more practice on! (I am trying to work out how I can attach an audio clip - I may be some time!!)
- Joseph’s Coat
Jacob : Joseph's mother, she was quite my favourite wife
I never really loved another all my life
And Joseph was my joy because
He reminded me of her…
ALL: Through young Joseph, Jacob lived his youth again,
Loved him, praised him, gave him all he could, but then
It made the rest feel second best,
And even if they were
Brothers: Being told we're also-rans
Does not make us Joseph fans
Narrator: But where they had really missed the boat is
Brothers: We're great guys but no-one seems to notice
ALL: Joseph's charm and winning smiles
Failed to slay them in the aisles
And their father couldn't see the danger
He could not imagine any danger
He just saw in Joseph all his dreams come true.
Jacob wanted to show the world he loved his son
To make it clear that Joseph was the special one
So Jacob bought his son a coat
A multi-coloured coat to wear
ALL: Joseph's coat was elegant,
The cut was fine
The tasteful style was the
Ultimate in good design
And this is why it caught the eye
A king would stop and stare
And when Joseph tried it on
He knew his sheepskin days were gone
Such a dazzling coat of many colours
How he loved his coat of many colours
In a class above the rest
It even went well with his vest
Such a stunning coat of many colours
How he loved his coat of many colours
It was red and yellow and green and
brown and blue.
Joseph's brothers weren't
Too pleased with what they saw
Brothers
We have never liked him all that much before
And now this coat has got our goat
We feel life is unfair
ALL: And when Joseph graced the scene
His brothers turned a shade of green
His astounding clothing took the biscuit
Quite the smoothest person in the district
Joseph I look handsome, I look smart
I am walking work of art
Such a dazzling coat of colours
How I love my coat of many colours
All
It was red and yellow and green and brown
And scarlet and black and ochre and peach
And ruby and olive and violet and fawn
And lilac and gold and chocolate and mauve *
And cream and crimson and silver and rose
And azure and lemon and russet and grey
And purple and white and pink and orange
And blue
- Joseph's Dreams
ALL: Joseph's coat annoyed his brothers
Brothers But what makes us mad
Are the things that Joseph tells us of the
Dreams he often had
Joseph: I dreamed that in the fields one day,
At corn collecting time.
Your eleven sheaves of corn
All turned and bowed to mine
And then I saw eleven stars,
The sun the moon and sky
Bowing down before my star,
It made me wonder why
Brothers
The dreams of our dear brother are
The decade's biggest yawn
His talk of stars and goldens sheaves
Is just a load of corn
Not only is he tactless but
He's also rather dim
For there's eleven of us and
There's only one of him
All: The dreams are more than crystal clear,
The writings on the wall
Means that Joseph some day soon
Will rise above them all
The accuracy of the dreams,The brothers did not know
But one thing they were sure about
The dreamer had to go.
- Pharaoh’s Dreams Explained/Stone the Crows
Joseph: Seven years of bumper crops are on their way
Years of plenty, endless wheat and tons of hay
Your farms will boom, there won't be room
To store the surplus food you grow
Joseph: After that, the future doesn't look so bright
Egypt's luck will change completely overnight
And famine's hand will stalk the land
With food an all-time low
ALL Noble king, there is no doubt
What your dreams are all about
All these things you saw in your pyjamas
Are a long-range forecast for your farmers
ALL: And I'm sure it's crossed your mind
What it is you have to find
Find a man to lead you through the famine
With a flair for economic planning
But who this man could be I just don't know
(who this man could be I just don't know)
Who this man could be I just don't know
(who this man could be I just don't know)
Who this man could be
I just don't know.
Week 3, ending 10 March
Mrs Amos (a.amos) on: Oak Tree Class Blog
It’s funny how everything flies out of your head when the words ‘Snow Day’ are uttered? I nearly forgot the blog and I have nearly forgotten all we did this week!
We have just about completed a very tricky unit in English on Balanced Arguments – you may find that your children are now much more able to persuade you to do/buy/have something they would like. And, bonus, we have been discussing the importance of being able to see things from two differing points of view – worthwhile skills for life, I believe.
Maths has been learning about decimals to two places – again, this is a tough area for many, so it would be super-helpful if you could highlight these numbers in areas like money and measurement in real life. It can make a mighty difference.
Our DT models have now been evaluated and the children were so happy to be bringing them home – I hope you have been suitably impressed by the workings of their models.
Rehearsals for Joseph will dominate much of next week – really hope you are not too bored by the song words yet…although I know many of you already knew them from your own Joseph performances, back in the day! But we are all very excited about our performances on 22 and 23 March.
Have a great weekend – including a snow day.
Yours,
Mrs Adrienne Amos
Week 2, ending 3 March
Mrs Amos (a.amos) on: Oak Tree Class Blog
Well done to these two this week!
Reader: Ethan
Special Mention: Olivia
So much fabulous effort has gone in to Reading and other related activities, due to World Book Day, so it was v tricky choosing just two children this week.
It has been a super week and we have had a lot of fun designing and creating our WBD t-shirts. Lots of creativity – many thanks to all those parents who helped to inspire your child with this task; it was lovely to see so many ‘home’ reading books come into school and they certainly helped the process.
‘Joseph’ rehearsals continue and more information should be coming your way soon, with key timings and dates. Also, many of you have been costume-seeking too – thank you. The production will look fantastic!
In science, we have just finished a unit on Animals and their Habitats, culminating in a session where we compared life cycles of two different animals and we have started our new French unit, too: all about the Seasons.
As the French say, bienvenue au printemps!
Enjoy your weekend,
Yours,
Mrs Adrienne Amos
Week 1, ending 24 February
Mrs Amos (a.amos) on: Oak Tree Class Blog
I have decided that each week from now, I will include the winners of the weekly certificates in my blog.
Reader of the week – Lillian
Special Mention – Violet
Well done, girls! Keep up the fab work! Come on boys – raise your game!
In this first week back, we have been welcomed into class each morning by the sounds of K-Pop. Mixed opinions about that genre of music, I can assure you!
In Maths, we have finally completed the second unit on fractions, but I am certain we will keep recapping this important aspect of arithmetic as the year progresses. In English, we have been getting really stuck in to researching for our new text type: balanced arguments. One learning objective in Y5 is to create questions to aid understanding, so homework this week is for the children to research (internet) answers to their self-created questions. It would be very helpful if you could ensure they have some access to a device to be able to find this information. The children know that this work is needed in school on Monday, as we start to plan our writing then.
In RE, we have nearly finished our learning on Values and we have made some really thoughtful bunting to decorate our classroom on the theme of ‘peace’. An activity that seemed especially poignant this week as we mark the one year anniversary of the troubles in Ukraine.
I hope you have a lovely weekend – remember, it’s World Book Day on Thursday and I would love it if the children could bring in their favourite book on Weds/Thursday to help us with the t-shirt decorating.
Yours,
Mrs Amos