Happy New Year Everyone

Wishing you all health and happiness for 2013!

Mrs T,

Reading List

I am compiling a reading list for Year 6; if you have any recommendations that you would like me to include in the list, please contact me.  Also, if you would like to submit a book review, I can publish it on the blog.  I have just finished reading  'Journey of 1000 Miles' and I hope to finish 'Warrior Girl' today... Mrs T.

The Merchant of Venice - Plot Summary

Antonio, the merchant of Venice, lends three thousand ducats to his friend Bassanio in order to assist him in his wooing of the wealthy and beautiful Portia of Belmont, an estate some distance from Venice. But Antonio's own money is tied up in business ventures that depend on the safe return of his ships from sea, so he borrows the money from Shylock, a Jewish moneylender whom he has previously insulted for his high rates of interest. Shylock lends the money against a bond whereby failure to repay the loan on the agreed date will entitle Shylock to a pound of Antonio's flesh. Portia's father has decreed that she will marry whichever suitor makes the correct choice when presented with three caskets, made of gold, silver and lead. Where wealthy suitors from Morocco and Aragon fail, Bassanio succeeds by choosing lead. His friend Gratiano marries Portia's lady-in-waiting Nerissa at the same time. News arrives that Antonio's ships have been lost; he is unable to pay his debt. Shylock's claim to his pound of flesh is heard in the law court before the duke. Unknown to their husbands, Portia disguises herself as a young male lawyer acting on behalf of Antonio, Nerissa as a clerk. Portia's ingenious defence is that Shylock is entitled to his pound of flesh but not to spill any of Antonio's blood; she argues that the Jew should forfeit his life for having conspired against the life of a Venetian. The duke pardons Shylock on condition that he gives half his wealth to Antonio and half to the state. Antonio surrenders his claim on condition that Shylock converts to Christianity and leaves his property to his daughter Jessica, whom he has disinherited for running away with her Christian lover Lorenzo. Portia and Nerissa then assert their power over Bassanio and Gratiano by means of a trick involving rings that the men have promised never to part with. Finally there is good news about Antonio's ships.

Reading for the holiday...

Don't forget to read every day...

Boys:  Journey of 1000 miles - Ian Strachan
Girls:  Warrior Girl - Pauline Chandler

Mrs T

The Story of Carmen

That’s love comes from an opera called Carmen.  An opera is a play set to music where the words are sung rather than spoken. Carmen is a very famous opera by a French composer named Georges Bizet. It is based on a story by the French writer Prosper Merimée. Carmen is a Spanish gypsy girl who is working in a factory when the story opens. She sees the soldier Don José one lunchtime and decides to make him fall in love with her even though he already has a girlfriend. At first he isn’t interested, but Carmen has a way with her and soon she captures his heart. Don José deserts the army and leaves his girlfriend Micaela to be with Carmen, but Carmen soon gets tired of him and instead takes up with Escamillo, the hunky bullfighter who she thinks is much more glamorous than Don José. José is desperately unhappy at this and tries very hard to persuade Carmen to come back to him. She refuses and instead goes to watch Escamillo in a major bullfight. José waits for Carmen outside the ring and gives her one last chance to come back to him, but she only laughs at him. Then José says that if he can’t have her, no one will. He takes out a knife and stabs her. Carmen dies as José is arrested and led away, while inside the ring the crowd cheers as Escamillo wins the bullfight.

That’s love  is  sung  by  Carmen when she first appears on stage. The words tell the audience about her character, that she is fickle and faithless and just out for what she can get. Carmen is one of the most popular and famous operas in the world. It is performed many times each year. If you are able to listen to it, you will probably find that you already know several of the tunes because they are played so often.




Answer Questions
1.  What is an opera?    2.  Who composed Carmen?
3.  Who are Carmen and Don Jose?  4.  Why does Don Jose leave the army?
5.  Who does Carmen fall in love with? 6.  Why is the bullfight important?
7.  Create a cartoon photo story of Carmen.
© 2000, L. Shannon
www.MusicatSchool.co.uk

A day in the life of Mrs Chippy - Congratulations!

I would like to thank all the pupils for their hard work in preparing for' Big Writing Day';  the diary entries show that ALL pupils have achieved their individual targets.  Fantastic!  I am so proud of you all.

A day in the life of Mrs Chippy by...IN

A day in the life of Mrs Chippy by...IC

A day in the life of Mrs Chippy by...ZQ

A day in the life of Mrs Chippy by...KM

A day in the life of Mrs Chippy by...MH

A day in the life of Mrs Chippy by...RD

A day in the life of Mrs Chippy...by EK

A day in the life of Mrs Chippy...by RM

A day in the life of Mrs Chippy...by IT

A day in the life of Mrs Chippy...by DG

A day in the life of Mrs Chippy...by FD

A day in the life of Mrs Chippy... by TB

Big Writing Day - Monday!

Dear Parents,

What a moving and polished performance by the year 6 pupils yesterday. Each time that they rehearsed this, I, both as a mother and a teacher, winced at many of the statements of ‘your child’s requests’; I wonder why?  We enjoyed many discussions concerning these requests; easily finding examples for all the statements; hopefully, reflecting on the children’s performance and Janusz Korczak will remind us all to consider the importance of our words and actions.

Obviously, this week has been dominated by rehearsals; however, we still found time to discuss the level descriptors to be included in the next piece of writing on ‘Big Writing Day’ next Monday.  The subject is ‘A day in the life of Mrs Chippy’, written from her/his point of view.  This will be the final piece of levelled work this term.

The children have been given their maths revision tasks for the Christmas Holiday; there are two groups; the secret six and the famous five; I will put their detailed plans on the blog.

Next week is our outing to Bruges, all the details are on the blog; please make sure that your child wears warm clothing as we shall be outside all day and early evening. Any parent helpers should arrive at school for 0900.

I have booked seats for the Brussels Shakespeare Society's performance of ‘The Merchant of Venice’ on Thursday, 7 February 2013 at 8pm. Please check my blog for further details.

You will find class photographs on the blog links, however, to keep access limited, your email address must be added to the access list.  I have added a selection of email addresses from the school directory; if you are unable to view the photographs, please contact me with an email address, preferably a gmail one, so that I can update my records. 

I think that we shall have a quiet day today, after all the excitement of this week!

Wishing a peaceful weekend.

Best wishes,

Mrs T

Christmas Homework

Famous Five: http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mepres/book7/bk7i2/bk7_2i1.htm Year 7: Unit 2 - all, Unit 3.3, Unit 4 - all, Unit:5.2,5.3,5.4, Unit 6 - all, Unit 8 - all, Unit 10 - all, Unit 12.1, Unit 14 - all, Unit 17 - all

Secret Six: http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mepres/book7/bk7i2/bk7_2i1.htm Year 8: Unit 2 - all, Unit 3 - all, Unit 4 - all, Unit 5.2, Unit 6 - all, Unit 8 - all, Unit 11: 11.1 and 11.2, Unit 12: 12.1 and 12.2, Unit 13 - all, Unit 14.1 and 14.2, Unit 15 - all, Unit 16 - all, Unit 17 - all, Unit 18.1 and 18.2

Carmen

A date for your diary - Carmen, Thursday 10th January 2013.  Years 5 and 6 will be going to see this production together; more details will follow.

http://www.theatremontagnemagique.be/?cat=22

Mrs T

The Merchant of Venice

Just to let you know that I have reserved seats for the Brussels Shakespeare Society 's performance of 'The Merchant of Venice'  on  Thursday 7th  February 2013 at 20.00.  More details next year...

http://www.shaksoc.com/production.html
http://www.scarabaeus.net/

Please email me if you are able to help out with this trip, thank you.

Mrs T

Dear Parents,

The festive season has arrived!  The children fought over which shoe to choose from my ‘emergency’ shoe collection, to place under the Christmas tree in anticipation of a visit from St Nicklaus. The school is filled with the sound of the pupils rehearsing for the end of year concert and the snow has arrived… Magical!

In mathematics, the children constructed triangles using a variety of methods: SSS (side, side, side); SAS - not Special Armed Stoats, but (side, angle, side); ASA (angle, side, angle).  Armed with protractors and pairs of compasses they proceeded to construct a range of triangles using the information that was provided.  By the end of the week, arcs were drawn with precision and angle measurements were accurate.

In grammar, the children studied the use of: colons, semicolons, hyphens, dashes and ellipses; part of their homework will be based on these topics.  We continued to read about the adventures of Mrs Chippy; the children are producing a portrait of her (him).  In preparation for the Year 6 annual reading of’ A Christmas Carol’, the spelling and meanings have a Dickensian frosty air.

Swimming proved somewhat of a challenge.  The Castle Club was having a new water heater system installed, consequently the water was cooler than usual, but this didn't seem to stop the children wanting to stay in the pool when the lesson had ended.

This week, the opportunity arose to focus on internet safety. It is hoped that all pupils are now acutely aware that chat pages and emails are not the correct forum to express emotional opinions: once posted to the web, there they remain, available to be viewed by anyone who has access to them and anyone who is determined enough to try to find them. I shall add the following link to my blog, which I hope, all pupils will look at: http://www.kidsmart.org.uk/
Enjoy the snow!
With kind regards,
Mrs T

Homework for week ending 7th December 2012

Dickensian spellings and meanings for Monday
Spelling and Vocabulary for Monday
Latin phrases and vocabulary for Tuesdsay
Maths for Wednesday:
Quadrilaterals
Angle facts
Angle properties of polygons
Symmetry
Grammar: colons, semicolons, hyphens, dashes, ellipses and hyperbole for Thursday
Comprehension for Thursday
Maths Challenge for Friday

Spellings and Meanings for Monday 10th December 2012

A Christmas Carol Vocabulary

1. apparition: ghost; mere appearance, opposed to reality

2. ballustrades: a row of balusters topped by a rail: baluster - an upright support for a rail (stair case or porch rail)

3. benevolence: the disposition to do good; goodness; kindness

4. brazier: a pan for holding hot coals

5. caustic: capable of destroying the texture of anything or eating away by chemical reaction; OR severe; sharp; satirical, as a caustic remark

6. congenial: kindred; agreeable to the nature of

7. dirge: a song or tune intended to express grief, sorrow, remorse; as in a funeral dirge

8. entreaty: urgent prayer; earnest petition; pressing solicitation; supplication

9. facetious: witty; jocular; sprightly with wit and good humor; full of pleasantry

10. garret: a turret or watchtower; that part of the house which is immediately under the roof; an attic

11. homage: respect or reverential regard; deference; especially, respect shown by external actions

12. impropriety: that which is improper; an unsuitable or improper act; an inaccurate use of language

13. intimation: hint; an indirect or obscure suggestion or notice

14. ironmonger: a dealer in iron or hardware

15. irresolution: want of a resolution; want of a decision in purpose; a fluctuation of mind, as in doubt

16. misanthropic: hating or disliking mankind

17. morose: of a sour temper; severe; sullen and austere

18. ominous: foreboding; indicating a future evil event; inauspicious

19. phenomenon: that which strikes one as strange, unusual or unaccountable

20. ramparts: that which fortifies and defends from assault

21. remorse: anguish like a gnawing pain excited by a sense of guilt

22. residuary: pertaining to the residue or part remaining

23. resolute: having a fixed purpose; determined

Class Outing to Bruges - Tuesday 18th December

• Tuesday 18th December
• Normal arrival at school
• Travel by public transport to Gare Centrale
• 10.21 train to Bruges
• Visit Ice Magic and the Christmas Market
• 16.00 train to Brussels
• 17.00 arrive in Brussels
• 17.30 ice-skating at Place St Catherine
• 18.30 - optional pick-up time for parents (please let me know if you are planning to collect your child from the ice-rink, thank you)
• 19.15-1930 arrive at BISB 

Children may wear home-clothes - wrap up warmly. Each child will require a small back pack with enough food and drink to last the whole day!

http://visitbrussels.be/bitc/BE_fr/minisite_winterwonders/content/7565/les-attractions.do

http://www.icesculpture.be/

Home School Book Number 11

Home School Book – Year 6

   
Dear Parents,

I hope that you have all received your permission letters for our outing to Bruges; I shall be posting the itinerary on the blog, should any of the information be missing from your letter. I appreciate that this is an expensive trip, and once again, I thank you for your support.

In literacy, we have been making comparisons between two poems. The children were tasked with writing up their comparisons, stating which poem they found the most effective in describing atmosphere and setting, making sure that they used quotations from the texts to support their views. In addition to this, the children completed a comprehension assessment which focused on Assessment Focus (AF) 4- identifying and commenting on the structure, organisation and key features of persuasive texts, and AF6 – identifying the writer’s purpose and commenting on the persuasive effect of the text on the reader.  The children performed well in the test, however, as always, it is the in-depth discussion afterwards that is of vital importance, as pupils are given the opportunity to discuss their answers as well as being shown examples of higher-level answers to aim for next time.

The pupils completed a range of revision tests on factors and progressed on to being able to write algebraic expressions so that they include brackets – factorisation.  Despite this being a challenging activity, I was thrilled, when together, they managed to factorise:  4pq² - 20pq + 8p²q


The girls are currently working on an art project based on the novel ‘King Matt the First’ for the Polish Embassy, which is proving to be a true test of teamwork; the plan appears to change every morning!  Hopefully, they will be able to negotiate their way through this task.

Mrs Chippy continues ‘his’ (she is really a he!) round of sleeping and eating on board the ‘Endurance’.  The dogs have been moved to ‘dogloos’ on the ice, and there is now little hope of the ice melting…

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend,

Kind regards,

Mrs  T