5 + 5 Activity Resource (No. 13) – 5 Independent & 5 Cooperative Learning Activities to Try

Welcome to this week’s 5+5 Activity Guide. Week 13 is here – let’s hope it’s not an unlucky one! Once again I have found some excellent teaching and learning activities and resources to supplement the work set by your child’s teacher.

 

Several awareness days and celebrations fall this week. 

• June 20th marks Refugee Awareness Day (with the entire week beforehand devoted to raising awareness of refugees).

• On June 20th/21st (21.43 UTC), the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere/winter solstice in the southern hemisphere falls, meaning that will be the longest day for some and the shortest day for others.

• On June 21st, we celebrate International Yoga Day. 

• June 21st is also Father’s Day in many parts of the world.

I include some resources and ideas for these below. I will also post a separate resource post on the theme of refugees tomorrow.

 

 

Cooperative Learning Activities

I am basing all of this week’s cooperative activity suggestions on the theme of solstice.

 

Solstice

In the northern hemisphere, the June solstice marks the astronomical end of spring and the beginning of summer for the northern hemisphere. In the southern hemisphere, the winter solstice occurs on this day, marking the end of autumn and the beginning of winter.

We generally learn that solstice occurs on June/December 21st. In fact, the precise time of the solstice varies each year, falling between the 20th and 22nd. With this being a leap year, the solstice will fall on June 20th/21st at 21.43 UTC. Here in Malaysia, the solstice will occur at 5:43 am on Sunday 21st.

Because Earth is tilted at about 23.5 degrees, for half the year each hemisphere is either tilted towards the sun or away from it. During the solstice, one of the Earth’s poles is in its maximum tilt towards the sun while the other is tilted away from the sun, creating the longest and shortest days of the year.

 

 

Geography

• Watch this National Geographic video to learn what a solstice is.

• Demonstrate the solstice with this activity from teacher.org:

  • Use a lamp with the shade removed so that the bulb is visible. This will represent the sun. 

  • Use a globe to represent the Earth.

  • Place the picture of the child in summer and in winter on the different hemispheres of the Earth.

  • Tilt the hemisphere with the child in summer towards the sun (bulb) and explain that because of the Earth’s tilt sometimes we are closer to the sun. It is summer during this time.

  • When we are tilted farther away from the sun, it is winter.

• Can your child repeat the demonstration explaining what a solstice is?

• What is the difference between astronomical seasons and meteorological seasons?

• Use TimeandDate.com to find out what time the solstice will occur in different cities/countries around the world. 

 

English 

• Weather folklore is an interesting topic to explore with your child. Can (s)he think of any proverbs/sayings related to weather?

• Get more detail on weather lore.

 

 

STEM

• The solstice is a good time for your child to learn more about the sun. What questions does (s)he have about the sun? Encourage him/her to create a list of ‘wonderings’ on this topic and see if (s)he can find answers to them. Here are some from in a lesson plan from TeachEngineering.org.

  • What tools do engineers and scientists use to view and learn about the Sun? (Possible answers: telescopes, high-powered imaging systems, satellites)

  • How big is the Sun? (Answer: Large enough for a million Earths to fit inside it.)

  • How far away is the Sun from the Earth? (Answer: 92 million miles)

• Find others in this ScienceNetLinks lesson.

 

 

History

Can your child find out any of the traditions associated with the solstice?

• History.com – Winter Solstice and 8 Winter Solstice Celebrations Around the World

• History.com – Summer Solstice and How the Ancients Celebrated the Longest Day of the Year

• Timeanddate.com – Winter Solstice Customs and Summer Solstice Customs

• Britanica – 7 Winter Solstice Celebrations From Around the World 

• BBC – Investigate the Pagan celebration of Winter Solstice

You may also wish to read these blogs:

• The Summer Solstice and its Celtic Traditions

• Winter Solstice

 

Cookery

• One of the traditions associated with solstice across many cultures and traditions was feasting. Can your child help in preparing a feast this week? With fire so central in many of the traditions, could you cook on a barbecue or fire-pit?

• Are there particular foods associated with solstice where you live? In China, noodles are linked to the summer solstice as wheat ripens around this time. Find out more here.

Independent 

**You may have to support your child with the activities below depending on their age.

 

P.E.

As mentioned, International Yoga Day is celebrated on June 21st. The practice of yoga offers many benefits including developing flexibility, balance and co-ordination, aiding concentration, and teaching breathing techniques that can support children with managing their emotions as it promotes calming and mindfulness. In persevering to learn new moves, children are taught the power of sticking at a task until they have accomplished it. The accomplishment of a previously impossible move is great for boosting their confidence. If you are interested in learning more, here are some resources to use. The videos in the first 2 links are great for your child to use independently. 

• 5 Fun Kids Yoga Videos on Youtube

• Sesame Street is Teaching Kids Belly Breathing and Other Calming Techniques

• 58 Fun and Easy Yoga Poses for Kids (Printable Posters)

• 5 Kid-Friendly Animal Poses to Introduce Children to Yoga

• 7 Fun Breathing Exercises for Kids That Actually Work!

 

 

English

• Yet more booklets have been added to Pie Corbett’s Talk for Writing home-school units so I am recommending this resource once again.

• The UK DfE has commenced a new initiative called Read to Write. On their Literacy Counts site are 2 free unit samples (Year 3: Egyptology and Year 6: Rose Blanche) if these are topics of interest to your child and they fall within this age/stage.

 

Father’s Day Arts and Crafts

Linked are 2 sites with lots of art and craft ideas to celebrate dads on Father’s Day. Can your child choose one to make? 

• 17 Easy Peasy Father’s Day Crafts for Kids That Will Make Sweet Gifts

• 25 Handmade Father’s Day Gifts from Kids

 

CardEd

• Throughout the week, I will be uploading a CardEd Daily challenge. Access those here.

 

Refugee Awareness 

As mentioned, I will share a separate post with resources linked to Refugee Awareness Week. A useful starting point is this video to introduce your child to Who is a Refugee?

 

I’m sneaking in an additional recommendation this week for parents of year 6/7 children. 

Maths

#CalculatorCrunch is a maths challenge for children in years 6 and & that will run from June 15th – 25th. Each weekday MEI will share an engaging question on Twitter that requires pupils to use a calculator to solve it. Support materials are to be found here. I have looked at these and can recommend them. 

 

 

I hope this post is helpful in signposting you to some new and interesting resources and topics you may wish to explore with your child/ren. Let me know if you try any of the activities mentioned. I love receiving feedback and hearing all about how children are learning at home. As always, I will continue to post additional teaching and learning tips, ideas and resources throughout the week. Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and subscribe up to our blog to ensure you don’t miss any.

Take care and stay safe!