Year 5&6
This week, we are going to learn about VE Day and then celebrate on Friday with a party!
On Monday - Thursday you should try to complete:
1 activity which is writing based each day
(History, English, RE or PHSE)
1 or 2 creative activities each day
(art, cookery, music, PE)
You are only working for 4 days this week so you won't complete every activity here.
Choose the ones which interest you the most.
Make sure that on Friday you take some time to party and celebrate VE Day!
History
Research: Carry out some of your own research into VE Day.
In Year 5, you studied WW2 and learnt a lot about the war. What can you remember about VE Day and how it was celebrated?
You can present your research in any way you like. It could be a poster, a leaflet, a PowerPoint presentation – up to you!
Need a reminder - these links may help you:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/48201749
https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/watch/horrible-histories-songs-ve-day-song
Now>Press>Play
You can also take part in the WW2 Now>Press>Play audio experience at home.
There is an information page all about it, you can link to it here. It works brilliantly with wireless headphones if you have them, or you can just play it over a speaker. Why not get your parents to join in too? When you log into the site you will need to use the password:nowpressplay
English
Diary Entry:
- Write a diary entry as if you are celebrating VE Day with your family.
- How are you feeling?
- Why is today so special to you?
- What do you get up to?
- Remember to think about emotions, opinions, and facts.
Formal Letter:
- Write a letter of thanks to either Winston Churchill, a soldier or another key member of the war effort, congratulating them on winning the war and thanking them for everything they did.
- Think carefully about how to format your letter.
Drama:
- Have a go at acting out Winston Churchill’s iconic speech.
- You can find the transcript at the link below: https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/s peeches/1941-1945-war-leader/to-v-ecrowds/
- This video of Winston Churchill's speech was made to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of VE Day.
RE
Peace Prayer:
- Although we are lucky enough to live in peace today, not everyone in the world is as fortunate as us.
- Write a prayer about peace.
Thankful prayer:
- Many soldiers gave their lives during the war and we wouldn’t have been able to celebrate VE Day if it weren’t for them.
- Write a prayer of thanks for these people.
PHSE
Emotions:
- Can you imagine how everyone must have been feeling on that day when war ended?
- How does this compare to how they were feeling during the war?
- Create a poster that compares emotions during war and during peace.
- Today, try to share some of those positive emotions with your family.
Art & Craft
Decorations:
Of course, all parties need decorations and on VE Day lots of these would have been homemade. Have a go at some of the ideas below:
- Paint, draw or colour-in the Union Jack (British flag) and put in in your party space, or in your windows for everyone to see.
- Create a banner that says VE Day 75th Anniversary for your window.
- Make paper chains from strips of newspaper or old magazines glued together and hang them in your party space. This is really what they would have done in 1945!
- Make your party table look extra fancy with some homemade tablemats. Just decorate an A4 piece of paper per person. You could use red white and blue like the Union Jack? Want to go the extra mile? You could laminate your placemats to make them last longer.
- Make paper hats to wear for your party. Have a look online for some instructions (https://www.origamiway.com/origami-hat.shtml) or have a go at coming up with one of your own. Newspaper/magazines might come in handy here too!
- Design your own 75th VE Day cup. Think carefully about what you think is important to have on the cup to help people remember why this day is celebrated. Use the worksheet to help you with this.
- Design your own VE Day medal to give to the men and women who helped during WW2. Think about what you think is important to have on the medal when you are creating your design. What colours will you use?
Cookery
Biscuits:
- If you’re lucky enough to have all the ingredients, try this easy iced biscuits recipe. You could even colour the icing red, white and blue to make them particularly patriotic. https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/icedbiscuits_3054
- If you can’t bake, you could decorate some biscuits from a packet to make them even more special.
Cupcakes:
- Everyone’s favourite thing at a party – cake! Quite a few good recipes can be found at the link below: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/kids-cupcake
Not what you fancied? How about some of the recipes from the ‘VE Day at Home’ pack? You could have a go at making lemonade, ginger ‘beer’ or something more challenging.
PE
Get Dancing - have a look at this video:
Some tricky dance moves from WW2!
Can you follow some of the steps? Could you make up some moves of your own?
Here are some simpler, step-by-step dance moves:
Perhaps you could teach someone else the moves too?
Music
Sing Along:
One of the most famous songs from WW2 is ‘White Cliffs of Dover’. The lyrics can be found in the ‘VE Day at Home’ pack.
Sing along here:
Challenge: Many of the words have a meaning relating to the Second World War. Can you find out what some of these are?
YouTube Live:
Click on this link to get practicing and on Thursday there will be a live sing-along! https://www.carradinescockneysingalon g.co.uk/ve-day
Languages
Lots of Languages:
In WW2, lots of different countries were involved including England (Britain) , Germany, France and Russia.
Fortunately, we all live in peace today, ever since VE Day. Can you find out how ‘peace’ is said in each of these different languages? How about ‘friendship’ or ‘love’? You could look up some other words that are relevant to the spirit of VE Day too.
Friday 8th May - VE Day
Happy VE Day - Enjoy your celebrations!
Make sure that you take lots of pictures and share them with us by email or Google Classroom.