Year 5 English Overview 2020

Autumn 1Year 5 start the year in a world of pure imagination! As we absorb ourselves in Charlie Bucket’s well known story, we think carefully about the key skills we will need in Year 5, including engaging expanded noun phrases, clear grouping of ideas within paragraphs as well as thinking carefully about the positioning of clauses for effect. Towards the end of the unit, children are given the opportunity to apply these skills within a range of genres, including newspaper articles and arguments for and against the closure of the factory, in which children debate the case and put forward persuasive biased arguments to persuade a reader to their point of view.

Complementary texts for the autumn 1:

There are of course lots of other books by Dahl which children may enjoy reading or revisiting during this term:

Additionally, they may enjoy looking at other similar authors as well, such as:

The World's Worst Teachers by David Walliams

Millions of young listeners have loved the World's Worst Children tales. Now they will revel in this delightfully dreadful collection of the most gruesome grown-ups ever: The World's Worst Teachers.

The Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Q Rauf

Told with heart and humour, The Boy at the Back of the Class is a child's perspective on the refugee crisis, highlighting the importance of friendship and kindness in a world that doesn't always make sense.

Iguana Boy Saves the World with a Triple Cheese Pizza: Iguana Boy by James Bishop

One boy. One disappointing superpower. Can Dylan tame a bunch of hyper iguanas and come up with a masterful plan to save the world? Yeah, probably...but he's going to need a massive cheese pizza. Perfect for fans of Tom Gates, Future Ratboy and My Brother Is a Superhero.

Non-fiction books on the Ancient Maya:

Ancient Maya by Barbara A Somerville

This book details the history of the Mayan people, from the settlement of their earliest villages and farms to their demise at the hands of the Spanish in the 16th century. Readers (Grades 6-9) will discover how Mayan culture grew and developed over time and how these remarkable people continue to influence the world today.

Autumn 2As the seasons shift and winter starts to take hold we venture into the wintery forests of Narnia. In this classic text, children experience an adventure like no other as they meet talking animals and the dreaded White Witch but salvation comes in the form of the mighty Aslan, the magnificent lion. This imaginative and poetic text provides an excellent opportunity for children to develop their figurative writing skills, using similes, metaphors, personification and onomatopoeia. We will explore clause structures in more detail and experiment with relative clauses and parenthesis to embellish our writing with vivid detail.

Complementary texts for the autumn 2:

Explore the whole Narnia series by C.S.Lewis

The Lost Magician by Piers Torday

1945. They have survived the Blitz, but when Simon, Patricia, Evelyn and Larry step through a mysterious library door, it is the beginning of their most dangerous adventure yet. They discover the magical world of Folio, where an enchanted kingdom of fairy knights, bears and tree gods is under threat from a sinister robot

army.Alice in Wonderland by Lewis CarrollTweedledum and Tweedledee, the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat, the Red Queen and the White Rabbit all make their appearances, and are now familiar figures in writing, conversation and idiom. So too are Carroll's delightful verses such as The Walrus and the Carpenter and the inspired jargon of that masterly Wordsworthian parody, The Jabberwocky.

Twelve Nights by Andrew ZurcherFor keen readers looking for new worlds to immerse themselves in, Twelve Nights by debut novelist Andrew Zurcher tells the fantasy-rich tale of Kay and the mysterious Removers who have stolen her father away as if he never existed.

Spring 1

‘Where had he come from? Nobody knows. What did he want? Nobody knows. Who had created him? Nobody knows.’ Imagine his astonishment when Hogarth, a young boy, sees the huge Iron Man standing on the brink of a cliff! Within this unit we explore the answers to these

rhetorical questions whilst identifying and replicating the techniques used by Ted Hughes to create our own end to the Iron Mans adventure. The text is wonderfully matched to explore and develop some of the skills which we started to learn in the autumn term such as figurative language and parenthesis. We finish this half term by questioning a well-known fairy tale, The Three Little Pigs and focus on what the true story might be. We work on developing language skills, oral debate and bias language to persuade the reader that in fact the Wolf may not be as mischievous as we first thought. We challenge the children to become journalists and ask them to persuade the reader to identify with their point of view utilising direct quotes and reported speech from credible sources.

Complementary texts for the spring 1:

The War of the Worlds (Young Reading Series) By Russell Punter (based on the novel by H.G.Wells)Mysterious explosions on the surface of Mars signal the beginning of an alien invasion. Soon the ruthless creatures are terrorizing Earth with their unstoppable death rays. Can nothing prevent these merciless Martians from taking over the world? H.G. Wells' classic story of Martian invasion, vividly retold for newly independent readers.

Earth, space and forces:

Dr Maggie's Grand Tour of the Solar System

Along the way, children can discover how we could live on Mars, learn about the hunt for a mysterious super-Earth, have a snowball fight on Mercury, climb the tallest mountain in the Solar System and much, much more. From spotting solar flares on the Sun to exploring objects at the edge of the icy Oort Cloud, this fun, action-packed title leaves no question unanswered and no meteorite unturned.

A Galaxy of Her Own: Amazing Stories of Women in Space by Libby Jackson

From small steps to giant leaps, A Galaxy of Her Own tells fifty stories of inspirational women who have been fundamental to the story of humans in space, from scientists to astronauts to some surprising roles in between.

Our Planet: The official children’s companion to the documentary series with special foreword by David Attenborough

This glorious visual celebration of the natural world combines extraordinary photography from the series with stunning illustrations from acclaimed artist, Richard Jones. Lose yourself in icy landscapes, dense jungles and endless oceans. Learn how our fascinating habitats,

and the plants and creatures living there, interconnect to create the one place we all call home – Our Planet.

Spring 2When a shooting star crashes to earth, it lands Eliot smack bang in the path of Virgo - a young Zodiac goddess on a mission. But when the pair accidentally release Thanatos, a wicked death daemon imprisoned beneath Stonehenge, they've got nowhere to turn for help but to the old Olympian gods.

In this wonderful text we encounter a different style of voice in the author Maz Evans; Evans uses hilarious humour throughout the book but also uses detail and language very cleverly to develop her characters and the narrative, at times developing a contrasting sadness to engage her readers. Children will use their inference skills to explore some of the challenging language in the book and predict meaning before checking in dictionaries – this is an important skill to support children in tackling more advanced reading material independently.

As the children experiment with their own ideas they will adopt the style of the author. We will explore the use of speech in more detail and children will include precise narrative detail in addition to unique language and speech styles for their characters. We will also use the diary format to explore the thoughts and feelings of characters to develop emotion in our writing.

Complementary texts for the spring 2:

Enjoyed the journey?Why not read the other books in the ‘Who Let the Gods Out?’ series by Maz Evans?

Books on Ancient Greece:

Tales of the Greek Heroes by Roger Lancelyn Green

Tales of the Greek Heroes contains the mysterious and exciting legends of the gods and heroes in Ancient Greece, from the adventures of Perseus, the labours of Heracles, the voyage of Jason and the Argonauts, to Odysseus and the Trojan wars.

Ancient Greece non-fiction:A Visitor’s Guide to Ancient Greece, UsborneThis is a handy guide for would-be time-travellers planning a trip back to Ancient Greece. It is full of fascinating historical information about interesting tourist attractions, important festivals and the fashions and customs of ancient Greece. It is written in an amusing style with a guide to the best villas, hotels and markets, and internet links which help readers to access the best online resources about Ancient Greece.

Summer 1 and 2‘When given the choice between being right and being kind, choose kind.’

August (Auggie) Pullman was born with a facial deformity that prevented him from going to a mainstream school - until now. He's about to start 5th grade at Beecher Prep, and if you've ever been the new kid then you know how hard that can be. The thing is Auggie's just an ordinary kid, with an extraordinary face.This modern classic will grip children and engage them in thoughtful consideration of other’s feelings and the consequences of our actions. The text provides endless scope for constructive debate and rich opportunities to deploy key stage 2 writing skills to create maximum effect with the reader. As the text analyses situations from different character

perspectives the children will also use their writing skills to explore and convey these perspectives. We will also explore levels of formality: from text chat and informal conversation or diary writing, to formal letters to the head teacher. Children will also consolidate their understanding of sentence structure so that they can distinguish between the use and effect of different sentence types for different purposes.

Complementary texts for the summer term:

Auggie and Me by R.J.PalacioAuggie & Me is a new side to the Wonder story: three new chapters from three different characters - bully Julian, oldest friend Christopher and classmate Charlotte - giving an insight into how Auggie has touched their own lives. Thought-provoking, surprising, infuriating, heartbreaking and heart-warming, Auggie & Me is a must-read for the thousands of readers who loved Wonder.

White Bird by R.J.PalacioTo the millions of readers who fell in love with R J Palacio's Wonder, Julian is best-known as Auggie Pullman's classroom bully. White Bird reveals a new side to Julian's story, as Julian discovers the moving and powerful tale of his grandmother, who was hidden from the Nazis as a young Jewish girl in occupied France during the Second World War.