Ancient Civilisations

Ancient Civilisation is our topic for the Summer Term!

In this project, the children will be learning about the history of three of the world’s first ancient civilisations: ancient Sumer, ancient Egypt and the Indus Valley civilisation. Children will learn about the rise, life, achievements and eventual end of each civilisation from 4500BC to 30BC. There is a range of key vocabulary which will be taught and applied throughout the learning journey and help the children to immerse themselves into an ancient culture.

Maths

The children will carry on their journey into Decimals by consolidating their knowledge of tenths and hundredths before learning to order, compare and round numbers to 2 decimal places.  This will be followed by measurement which will firstly involve money, including ordering, estimating and converting pounds into pence and vice versa.  The class will explore time in a lot of detail and be given plenty of opportunities to tell the time by using analogue and digital clocks and using both the 12 hour and 24 hour format.

After half term, once we have covered time, the class will look at geometry and in particular, properties of shape and angles.

Reading and Writing

Throughout the topic we will be looking at different texts to focus on in our reading and writing journeys. Here's a look at some of these texts...

Within our English lessons we will be looking at ‘A Mummy ate my homework.’  Throughout the term we will also refer to ‘Cinderella of the Nile’ and ‘The Story of Tutankhamun.’  The children will be working towards different writing outcomes which will help apply skills learnt. These outcomes are:

• Free verse poem
• Recount of Egyptian Day
• Instructions for Mummification
• Newspaper Report
• Diary Entry
• Character/Setting Descriptions
• Playscript
• Discussion Text
• Non-Chronological Report

Our Guided Reading journey will focus on our chosen texts that coincide with our topic and skills such as reading and decoding a text, using a dictionary to check the meaning of words, predicting what will happen based on details that they have read, summarising what has happened and take part in discussions around the book. 

Foundation Subjects

As well as the core subject areas, we will also be focusing on key foundation subjects. These foundation subjects provide further breadth into topics surrounding history, geography, science, art etc. The focus will be on the skills which link to our topic. 

Geography

In Geography we will look closely at the regions where Ancient Sumer was founded (modern-day Iraq) and Ancient Egypt and the reasons why these places were chosen to build a civilisation.

History

Ancient Civilisations is a History based topic and looks at the world’s first recorded civilisation and empire, Ancient Sumer.  It then moves onto the Ancient Egyptians before finishing the topic with the Indus Valley. During this topic, the children will look at artefacts and sources, timelines, understanding and using complex historical terms to explain information, answering and asking historical questions and profiling significant leaders.

Science

This project teaches children about electrical appliances and safety. They will construct simple series circuits and name their parts and functions, including switches, wires and cells. They will investigate electrical conductors and insulators and identify common features of conductors. It also teaches children about programmable devices.

Art

The children will explore the features of Islamic art. They will make geometric patterns and motifs on paper, with fabric and in clay. They use their learning to create a high relief clay tile, decorated with geometric patterns.

Design and Technology

The children will learn about the 3-D representation of the human form, including statues, statuettes and figurines. They will study examples from ancient civilisations, and use their clay skills to create a Sumer-style figurine.

Computing

The class will make use of software such as Purple Mash to learn about how to use search engines effectively and safely.  The children will get to grips with the terminology of hardware and understand the meaning of the words.  They will also have the opportunity to make music using a laptop which will link in with their music lessons.

PSHE

The three subjects that we will cover are Physical Health and Mental Wellbeing, Growing and Changing and Keeping Safe which explores medicines and household products. 

Religious Education

This term will focus on 'How do different people describe God?' and ask the children to look at how other beliefs describe and view God within their own religion and culture as well as affording the children the opportunity to reflect on their own responses and views towards God.

Physical Education

During the first half term, the class will have the opportunity to practise their tennis skills and movements associated with this sport.  They will also get to take part in Tag Rugby which will be non-contact but will focus primarily on their ball handling skills and the specific movements needed for the sport. The final half term will focus on Athletics with a build up towards sports day.  There will also be a chance to take part in Strike and field games such as Cricket and Rounders.