Monthly Archives: September 2016

The Greek art of storytelling

News

This week, the year sixes have started to explore and experience the art of storytelling. We can learn so much about a culture from the stories that they tell; the ancient Greeks are no different.

We started  by learning two Greek stories: the tragic tales of Arachne the weaver and Icarus the ambitious.
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We created the right atmosphere for  telling stories in the classroom by building storytelling dens that the we used to pass on  these poignant tales to each other.

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Next, we will explore why the Greeks told these stories and how they related to some of the key, classical  Greek principles that defined their identity. For a clue, look for the words at   Delphi.

-tial and -cial endings

Spelling

This week (25th September 2016), year 6 will be learning about words ending in -cial and -tial. These endings are generally pronounced as ‘shul’.

What does it mean?

These endings come from the suffix -ial which loosely means ‘of’ or ‘relating to’

E.g. the word residential is built from the word residence and the suffix -ial  (the root word being ‘reside)

so the word residential means relating to residences‘

A ‘residential area’ is an area that has a lot of residences (homes)

Patterns?

There are two different spellings for ‘shul’  and the ending depends on whether the word arrived in English via French or Latin (or both).

Looking at the letter before the ‘shul’ sound can help use identify whether it is -tial or -cial

If the letter before the ‘shul’ sound is a vowel, it is a good bet that the spelling will be -tial. If the letter is a consonant, -cial will be more likely.

Grammar 

Like the -ious  suffix, words ending in -ial are generally adjectives.

Words

 

Green Challenge

 Blue Challenge

Purple Challenge
initial potential substantial
partial essential residential
spatial influential presidential
torrential confidential sequential
social financial judicial
special commercial beneficial
official artificial superficial
facial unofficial sacrificial
glacial antisocial
unsocial multiracial

 

Finding an ideal place to found a Greek city state

News

map of greece for blog

This week in year 6 we have been learning about the place where the ancient Greeks lived – Greece!

We started by making geographical  and historical inferences about the landscape of Greece and considered what this may tell us about how the ancient Greeks lived.

We made historical inferences about the ancient Greeks  simply by looking at maps of where they lived.

pict of pericles for blog

We were then instructed by a disillusioned prince of a Greek city state to explore the landscape and find a location that would be ideal to found his own city.

We used topographical  and satellite maps to find a site that may be a good place to build a new city. We then explored the advantages and disadvantages of the site and began to write a balanced report to the prince outlining the benefits and dangers of building his new city at this location.

Spelling for this week

Spelling

We have  continued to explore words that end with -tious and -cious.

Year 6 have chosen a selection of words that they would like use in their writing and so we have been learning about their meaning:

malice and malicious

ambition and ambitious

judgement and judicious

tenacity and tenacious

fiction and fictitious

We ran into a  little trouble with the word ‘fictitious’. In the sentence, They watched a fictitious film. Does the word ‘fictitious’ tell us that the ‘film’ did not exist or that it was a film full of fiction?

Greece landscape

The Landscape of Greece

Greece has many islands of differing size with low long islands and far and also mountain ranges. It has shallow clear seas which are suitable for children to play in. It is also good for sailing. There are many mountains to clime if you are adventures. One of the most famous mountains is Olympus the home to the Greek gods.Greece has many islands of differing size with low long islands and far and also mountain ranges. It has shallow clear seas which are suitable for children to play in. It is also good for sailing. There are many mountains to clime if you are adventures. One of the most famous mountains is Olympus the home to the Greek gods.

Greece

The Landscape of Greece

Greece has lots of island that are different sizes. It is very beautifully and it has many islands that you can go with your family.  Greece is surrounded by 1400 islands. The cost line is very long and low and it is spectacular the is shallow and fresh  so the children can play have of fun the mountains are  very high and vast like mountains Olympians

Greek landscape

The Landscape of Greece

There are many islands at some differing sizes. Far and wide coastlines with protected waters are surrounding the 1400 islands . Rugged mountains ideal for trekkers and hikers and people who love to walk. Greece is surrounded by 6 islands called : Crete ,Rhodes ,Corfu .Some of the coastlines are shallow and ideal for families who want to have a relaxing  bathe in the sea. There are some mountains such as Mount Olympus for some people who like to walk or to go on long hikes or huge treks.