Home Learning Letter
Summer Term – Week 2
Dear parents/carers, 
We want to say a big thank you for the pictures and messages we have received. We hope you have enjoyed the beginning of your Maya research project. Remember to build your scrapbook or PowerPoint as you go, filling it with the pieces of work you are proud of, and photos too. We will continue to give you ideas to explore each week. As mentioned in last week’s letter, the activities we include are a guideline of how your day might be structured. We appreciate that this may need to be adjusted for different families accordingly. We know that this is a busy time for many families and that it can be difficult to work from home as well as support children with their home learning packs. Please be assured that there is no minimum expectation regarding the learning outlined below; we are simply trying to provide enough material for those that want it. If your child is unable to complete all the tasks, we understand.
Below is an outline for the week with details of each of the tasks to be completed. If you are viewing this document on the school website, simply click each file name to download that document. If viewing this as an e-mail, please go to the Year 6 page of the school website to find each of the links mentioned.
PE THROUGHOUT THE WEEK:
These days when we’re in school, we start off every morning with a Joe Wicks session, Just Dance, KIDZ BOP dance along videos, or some other fun movement activity just to warm up our bodies and to make us feel energised. It’s a great way to get you started and into a positive mindset. Keep yourself fit and active. One hour of daily activity is recommended for all children. So go in your garden and kick a football, skip, play hopscotch, jump on a trampoline, have a race, do some laps (changing direction every so often). Go for a walk, go for a run, get on your bike – the roads are really quiet now! Get active! There are also a range of ways to get your 60mins of activity using the following websites:
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/supermovers/ks2-collection/zr4ky9q
- https://www.afpe.org.uk/physical-education/thisispe-supporting-parents-to-teach-pe-at-home/
SCIENCE THROUGHOUT THE WEEK:
This week, look at the ‘What are fungi?’ section of the website we started looking at last week.
If you have time or are interested in finding out more, explore the next three sections: the structure of a mushroom, the life cycle of mushrooms, and how spores are distributed.
MATHS EXTENSION QUESTIONS
We will continue to follow the lessons on the White Rose Website. If your child would like the option of more maths questions to work through, there are a number of options:
- BBC Bitesize have a page of challenges for each week.
- Classroom Secrets have created a revision document design for home learning(Here are the answers to the learning pack)
- We will post additional questions below the maths link for each day. Please be aware that in Year 6 we have covered the entire maths curriculum and so your child may have seen some of these questions in lessons. That said, there should be enough other questions on each document that your child could answer.
MONDAY
Task 1 – What do you think life was like for a child during the Ancient Maya civilization? What do you think they did each day? Imagine a daily schedule for a child. Do you think they would go to school? What jobs do you think their parents would do? What might their house look like? Jot down some notes about what you think it would be like. Use these links to find out if you were right.
Task 2 – Today we are going to focus on Maya buildings. Last week we looked at the Chichen Itza and saw how grand and large it was. Do you think people lived in buildings like these? Watch this video to understand what buildings would have been like. Can you find out what houses in Britain (during the Iron Age) were like?
Task 3 – Draw your own design for a Maya house based on what you have learnt. Label and annotate this drawing. On the theme of buildings, why not build a den to read your own book in. It could be a den outside or inside!
Task 4 – Let’s imagine that we are a child living in this house. What might we see, hear, smell or touch? Split an A4 piece of paper into 4 sections for these 4 senses. List your ideas for each sense, trying to use creative adjectives and description. This will help with your piece of writing this week!
MATHS – https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/year-6/ Summer Term Week 1 Lesson 1 Vertically Opposite Angles. Complete the ‘Get the Activity’ sheet. If your child appears confident with the areas set, then you can find numerous challenges and puzzles on the ‘Nrich’ website (https://nrich.maths.org) to extend their learning or focus on other areas.
For optional Maths extension questions, please click here.(The answers are included)
TUESDAY
Task 5– What did the Maya do for fun? Watch the video and explore the images on this link. The ballgame is known by a wide variety of names. In English, it is often called pok-ta-pok (or pok-a-tok). In Classical Maya, it was known as pitz. If safe to do so, try and play the game shown in the video. It’s tricky! Can you think of any tactics for the game? You will probably have to play the game with fewer players!
Task 6– Design or create your own headdresses for your own and your rival team to wear when playing. Think about what colours may have been used and what style might have been worn. What materials do you think they would have worn? For inspiration, look at ‘Pok Ta Pok headdresses’. What animals are used on the headdresses? Do you think the headdresses were important for the game? Why?
Task 7 – Read ‘The Hero Twins’. Re-tell the story by creating a comic strip. Choose the important and key parts of the story.
Task 8 – Create your own Maya-inspired ball game. Choose your own set of rules and write instructions on how to play.
MATHS – https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/year-6/ Summer Term Week 1 Lesson 2 Angles in a triangle. Complete the ‘Get the Activity’ sheet.
For optional Maths extension questions please click here. (The answers are included)
WEDNESDAY
Task 9 – Read ‘Battle of Tikal‘ Complete the questions.
Task 10– What other jobs did the Maya people have? Use this link to explore the different jobs. Choose which job you think you would want to do the most. Why have you chosen it? What would make you well-suited for the job?
Task 11 – Maya warriors often used body paint and jewellery/clothing to make themselves look fierce. Explore and research different styles that they used, using the booklet called ‘Warriors’. Are there any similarities between them? What animals might they have tried to look like? What colours did they use, and why? If you have any face paint, transform yourself or a family member into a fearsome warrior! Alternatively, you could draw what you would wear or look like as a Maya warrior.
Task 12 – Choose a selection of the Year 5/6 spelling words (in the back of the reading diary). Create a crossword for these words.
MATHS – https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/year-6/ Summer Term Week 1 Lesson 3 Angles in a Triangle (special cases)
For optional Maths extension questions answer page one of this document. (The answers are included)
THURSDAY
Task 13 – How did the Maya get their food? What did they eat? Use this link to find out what types of foods the Maya would gather and farm.
Task 14 – If you are able to, plant some seeds of your own. Or, spend some time in your garden watering plants or removing weeds.
Task 15 – For one of your meals or snacks today, try and think of where each ingredient came from. Are any of the ingredients similar to those that the Maya ate? Make a list of the items that you ate, where in the world they came from, and, for fruit, vegetables or grains, how they were grown.
Task 16 – Tomorrow, you are going to write a diary entry for a child who lived during the Maya civilization. To start, we are going to make a plan. You can lay this out however you wish, but try to think about the following: how they might start their day – what chores might they need to do? Then, think about what they might eat. Is there a ball game that they might go and watch? You should aim to include lots of description about the activities that the child may do or the places that they might visit. Your plan could be a mind map, a comic strip or a list of bullet points.
MATHS – https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/year-6/ Summer Term Week 1 Angles in a Triangle Missing Angles
For optional Maths extension questions answer page two of this document (the answers are included)
FRIDAY
Task 17 – Write your diary entry as a child living in the ancient Maya civilization. Remember to include lots of detail and description as you retell your day. You may want to include how the child feels about the different parts of their day. As with any piece of writing, try and vary your punctuation and sentence types.
Task 18 – Different Maya adults wore different clothing. Read ‘Mayan Clothing’ and complete the tasks mentioned as you read. If you want, you could try and dress up as a royal yourself! Be creative – use any colourful bedsheets, blankets or colourful clothing you may have. Don’t forget to snap a photograph for your research project and/or to share on the website!
MATHS – It’s time for another Quick Fire Friday where we focus on rapid recall of number facts. Use the websites below to do this, or alternatively you can complete the questions on this week’s worksheet ‘Quick Fire Friday 2′
Times Tables Rockstars: https://play.ttrockstars.com/
Hit the Button: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button
Daily 10: https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/year-6/
Children should use the top left drop down menus to select Level 6 and the relevant areas of maths they want to practice. They can then select their own time intervals. Answers will appear at the end.
Quickulations: https://www.transum.org/Software/SW/Quickulations/
We know how challenging it is to manage your own work and that of your children. We appreciate your support and help during this time. If you have any questions or concerns about this learning pack, please do not hesitate to email the school office (office@abbeyroad.notts.sch.uk) or the headteacher (head@abbeyroad.notts.sch.uk) and they will forward your message to us.
We look forward to seeing photographs of the work the children produce!
Miss Wroe and Mr Good
