This week we are going to consider the stereotypical views of Vikings many people have and whether these ideas are accurate or not.  How To Train Your Dragon presents some of these stereotypes – for example, horns on Viking helmets and the impression that all Vikings were ‘mindless thugs’ capable of ‘mindless violence’ (to quote Snotlout!) – but also challenges it in the portrayal of Hiccup as a different kind of Viking leader.

School History Books

Find the attachment below called Extracts from History Books for Children which includes Sources A and B.  These are taken from history books written for children and show how views have changed as archaeology has revealed more about Viking way of life.

Source A: Consider how this extract portrays the Vikings.  Highlight any of the language which presents the Vikings as simply violent invaders.  Does it suggest any other motive for coming to Britain?

Source B: This extract was written some years later after historians had started to view the Vikings in a different way.  How does this text present the Vikings in a more balanced way, acknowledging that they did more than attack, kill and steal?

Art

Make a collage of images which show Vikings in stereotypical ways.  This could be made from images printed from your computer or from your own drawings.  Many of Cressida Cowell’s drawings reflect these stereotypes as do Jeremy Strong’s series e.g. “Viking at School” so you could continue to practise drawing in the style of these professional illustrators.  This is a blog articles by Jeremy strong about his visit to the Jorvik Centre in York:

https://www.jeremystrong.co.uk/the-vikings-are-coming/

Longboats

First watch one or both of these video clips about the Vikings ships:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yB4s3nQtZqE

or

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

Now read the article about how the Vikings made their ships (Viking Ships)  which were “as revolutionary in design and a technological miracle.”  You will need to read this text several times to understand it because the author uses many technical terms.

Draw a ship: here is a really helpful tutorial which shows you how to draw the ship but also refers to some of the technical terms you have read about:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEQn3vMD05g

and label it showing the information you have understood from the article.

How To Train Your Dragon

Using the attachment below called My Notes about Dragons, listen to or read chapters 2 and 3 and start adding notes about the dragons we meet in the story (you can find Chapter 3 below).  You could add illustrations as well, for example, in the drawings section of ‘Dragons in General’ you could draw your impression of White Dragon Cliff where the sleeping baby dragons are gathered in their nursery cave.

Writing

This week we will start writing our own story set in Viking times.  Imagine you are a Saxon boy or girl who is sent to watch the sea surrounding Lindisfarne because the monks suspect that an attack could be imminent.  You will start your story describing the sea and the sounds you can hear from the dunes.  Collect ideas and vocabulary by listening to the sounds on videos or soundscapes referred to in the document called “Lindisfarne Story”.  We will be writing in the same way that we do our Super Sentence Stackers lessons.  You will complete three paragraphs this week; in the document they are referred to as 3 Plot Points.  Remember how important the planning and thinking stage is – this is when you might draw a story map, do some thesaurus thinking or just collect words and ideas.  Send us your writing as we love to see it.

Super Sentence Stackers – One Man Band

This week’s lesson is called One Man Band. As in previous weeks, you need to watch the You Tube lesson with Mrs C then choose one (and only one!) part of the story to tell and write nine sentences about that plot point.  Your sentences should be the very best that you can do and must address three key challenges:

• Metaphor
• Oxymoron for purpose
• Precise spellings using prefixes and suffixes

We are looking at some very high level writing skills this week so be sure to listen very carefully to the lesson as it will really help you to produce your best work; do what you are asked – no more, no less.

Send your nine sentences to us at schooloffice@bgpschool.kent.sch.uk remembering to include your name, your class and the plot point you have written about. We can then weave all your work together and share our combined story. 

Lesson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eO6WPG1wGc

Animation: https://www.metatube.com/en/videos/134375/Disney-Pixar-One-Man-Band-Animations/

Spellings

Make sure you check Spelling Frame every week and complete the set tests as well as playing the games regularly to improve your spelling generally.  Can you include any of this week’s words in your sentence stacking task?

Lex is currently head of the Year 5/6 leaderboard overall and Maisie scored the most points last week.