English:

LO: To improve setting descriptions using senses.

Today we’re going to be looking at improving your ability to incorporate senses into your writing and how they can help set a reader into a scene.

Firstly, we’re going to work on your own senses and how you feel them.

You will need to get someone to blindfold you and guide you to different places round your house. At each place you visit please say what you can:

Smell

Hear

Touch

Have your partner write down all the descriptions you write for your senses.

Once you have run out of things to describe take the blindfold off and together what can you now see, what were your senses picking up?

Part 2:

Now try to up level your descriptions, for example if you touched something and it felt ‘cold’ you might replace it with ‘chilly’ or ‘freezing’.   

Use a digital thesaurus if you don’t have one at home.

Part 3:

close your eyes again and have your to read out these descriptions and for each one imagine what you might

Smell

Hear

Touch/Feeling

And what would cause those senses?

Afterwards write 2 descriptive Sensory Sentence for each setting where you describe the scene using senses focusing.

-A lofty old castle high upon a mountain.

(Example: The rotting door creaked open, as a rush of freezing air howled through.)

-A forest left for years and patrolled by giant spiders

-A peaceful lake where birds come to drink each morning.

Topic:

1. To enquire about an historical civilisation, using primary resources and artefacts

Key question: Why do we study the Mayan civilisation today?

Key vocabulary: Mayan, Maya, civilisation, pyramid, artefact, ruin

There are many Mayan ruins across the continent of Central America, including in countries like Mexico, Guatemala and Belize. The architecture (design and construction of the cities) can teach us a lot about the ancient civilisation including how they lived, what they believed and who they were.

Use the video links below to take a tour of some of the Mayan ruin sites.  Make sure you use full screen and use the arrow buttons in the top left of the videos to move 360 degrees, as the video is playing!

National Geographic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJCrrTk-dLQ

Tourist videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNsgC2Jsza8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjP-ieYXEug

As you explore, pause the video at parts that interest you and rotate to see around the image.

Make notes about what you observe and what you can infer from the way the cities look.

Key questions to answer:

• Why are the canopies/ shelters over some parts of the ruins important?
• Why did they build their pyramids so high? Why did they design them with so many steps?
• What were the buildings that you can see used for? How do they differ in design to suit their purpose?

Now, watch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsxWUUTPPbk

• This historical site is different to the others. How?
• At 2 mins 10 secs, the guide mentions an observatory complex used for astronomical observations. What does this tell you about the Maya?

Many of the pillars or columns have carvings. What were their purpose? Why did they carve these things into stone and not on paper?

English

LO: To practice and improve usage of adjectives

Start by saying what an adjective is and what it is used for to a partner.

Using this:

Random picture generator

https://randomwordgenerator.com/picture.php

Use the randomiser button to get up different pictures find a good picture featuring an object.

For that object think of 5 good adjectives.

Now using those 5 words:

MILD

Write an Expanded Noun Phrase

If you need a reminder how to use these what this.

HOT

Write a Sensory Sentence

Remind yourself from yesterday, where you describe an object using senses apart from sight.

Spicy

Write a Simile

Pick an adjective and think of something to compare it to.

Find 3 more images to practice upon!

Example:

Mild

The comfortable, sleepy kitten lay upon the sofa.

Hot

The warm kitten purred softly.

           Touch                          Sound

Spicy

The soft kitten lay comfortably across the sofa like it had been part of the family for years.

Topic:

1. To enquire and research about the Mayan civilisation

Key question: What was life like at the height of the Mayan civilisation?

Key vocabulary: civilisation, hierarchy, society, religion, lifestyle, culture

Start by watching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTCSTUfRTMA

List 5 facts you learn about the Maya.

Today, you are going to research and write about the Mayan lifestyle. Remember to use structural features to organise your writing, including subheadings and bullet points.

You could find out:

• When did the Mayans exist?
• Where did they live?
• How were they so successful? (They were around for a long time!)
• How was society organised and what was their hierarchy like? (Kings, laws, job roles)
• What did Mayan children do?
• What are the Maya famous for?
• What did they believe? (Religion, Gods)

Use the websites below to find research. If you can’t find all the answers to the questions above, then find some different information that you think is important or interesting!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zq6svcw

https://www.dkfindout.com/uk/history/mayans/

https://kidskonnect.com/history/ancient-mayan/

Try looking for videos on Youtube to also aid your research. Search ‘Mayan facts for children’. There is also a timeline Powerpoint available in resources called ‘Week 3- Topic- Tuesday- Timeline’

Make sure an adult supervises you whilst on the internet.

Week 3-Topic- Tuesday- Mayan Timeline

English:

LO: To practice and use Speech Verbs effectively.

With a partner go onto this random Speech Verb generator.

https://perchance.org/speech-verb

Take in turns to perform a speech verb, making sure your partner can’t see the screen.

Use the sentence

“It’s my Birthday!”

Or

“Where are you going?”

To perform the Speech Verb with.

Have your partner to guess the verb you’re trying to perform.

See who is the best performer!

After 6 turns each, pick your favourite 5 speech verbs.

Write a sentence for each of those verbs making sure to use them accurately and using the correct speech punctuation.

Topic:

1. To make comparisons between Maya life and our lives now.

Key question: How can we know and empathise with how life was like for the Maya, over 1000 years ago?

Today, we will focus on the Mayan lifestyle. You can use your notes from yesterday to help you.

Make a table of similarities and differences between the Mayan lifestyle and ours.

You could focus on the comparisons between:

• The way their society was organised (Kings, Queens etc.)
• Available jobs
• Religious beliefs and practices
• Expectations for children
• Buildings and architecture

Greater Depth Challenges:

1) Explore why these comparisons exist.

2) Compare both Mayan and British civilisation to another society e.g. ancient Egyptians, the Vikings or the Ancient Greeks.

English:

LO: To improve sentences and a text using the skills.

Look back over the types of descriptive sentences you’ve been using this week.

On the document for today edit and improve the sentences, using a variety of the descriptive sentence types we have been practicing this week.

Thursday- English- Editing Writing

Topic:

1. To observe and analyse Mayan art and culture

Go through the Powerpoint from the resources:

• ‘Week 3- Topic- Thursday- Mayan Masks’

If you are unable to access the Powerpoint, read this instead: http://the-maya.eu/MayaForKids/mayan-masks-for-kids

As you go through, makes notes:

• Why were masks important?
• What inspired the design of the masks?
• What did their masks represent?
• What did they use to create their masks? Why?

What was the purpose of the masks?

Week 3- Topic-Thursday- Mayan Masks

English

LO: To utilise the skill used this week and write from a prompt.

Today we’re going to bring together the skills and practice we’ve put in this week and you’re going to write a short paragraph making sure you are able to bring all these skills together into your writing, for both speech and description.

I would like you to write a short interaction between Thor and Loki. They are both in an ancient forest untouched by man for centuries, they are both arguing over who has upset the local wizard.

Remember to a mixture of descriptive techniques.  Each one is worth different amount of points.

Great Speech Verbs (1 point)

Sensory Sentences (2 points)

Expanded noun phrases

(3 points)

Simile (4 points)

I would like you to try to score as close to 10 points as possible in your paragraph.

Think about the characters of Thor and Loki and how they would say things.

What things might you describe and sense in an old forest.

Topic:

1. To create a Mayan mask, in the style of the ancient civilisation.

Today, you will be designing and making your own Maya mask!

Think back to yesterday. When designing your mask, you need to consider the facts you learnt:

• What animal will inspire your design and why?
• What colours will you use?
• What shape will your mask be?
• What occasion would your mask have been used for?
• Who would your mask be for? (A king, a warrior, a death mask?)

You can use the template resource (Week 3- Topic- Friday- Mask Template), or draw around a plate, and look at the imagery below for some inspiration! Can you guess which animals inspired them, who would have worn them or what occasion they were for?

Be creative when making your own mask. You can use all or part of an animal and, depending on resources at home, you could use felt tips, paints, collage or even link to Art Fortnight and use recycled materials!

Make sure you take a photo and e-mail it to your teacher if you can!

Week 3- Topic- Friday- Mask template