Witham Oaks Academy Growing Minds…Unlocking Potential
Year 5 Book List
Year 5 Autumn Term
Dynamic Dynasties
In Dynamic Dynasties, your child will learn about periods of ancient Chinese history. They will explore a timeline of the first five Chinese dynasties and learn about the legends surrounding the beginning of Chinese civilisation. They will take a deep dive into the history of the Bronze Age Shang Dynasty and explore evidence found in the ancient city of Yin. They will study oracle bones, learn about religious beliefs and explore bronze artefacts that set the Shang Dynasty apart from other civilisations. They will also study the hierarchy of the Shang Dynasty and discover who was powerful and who was powerless. They will look at warfare and find out how bronze technology gave the Shang Dynasty an advantage over their enemies. They will learn about the life of the great military leader, Fu Hao. The children will then look at significant aspects of life after the Shang Dynasty, including the work of Confucius in the Zhou Dynasty, the short but significant reign of Emperor Qin Shi Huang of the Qin Dynasty and the importance of the Silk Road created by the Han Dynasty. To end the project, your child will find out how ancient China’s lasting legacy can be seen in the world today.
�� Recommended text | �� Novel study text
Non-fiction | Waterstones | Amazon | Author | ISBN |
The Shang Dynasty (Facts and Artefacts) | Tim Cooke | 9781445161914 | ||
Why Did the Shang write on turtles? (A Question of History) | Tim Cooke | 9781526315366 | ||
The Shang Dynasty of Ancient China (The History Detective Investigates) | Geoff Barker | 9780750294195 | ||
Daily Life in Shang Dynasty China | Lori Hile | 9781406298482 | ||
The Shang Dynasty (Collins Big Cat) | Anna Claybourne | 9780008127909 | ||
Shang Dynasty China (Great Civilisations) | Tracey Kelly | 9781445134062 | ||
The Shang Dynasty | Alex Woolf | 9781784640682 | ||
The Shang Dynasty: Unlocking Ancient Civilisations | George Cottrell | 9781786370877 | ||
The Shang Dynasty? (Whatever Happened To…) | Kirsty Holmes | 9781786378866 | ||
China & The Shang Dynasty (Discover Through Craft) | Jillian Powell | 9781445150826 | ||
Ancient China: Dig up the Secrets of the Dead (History Hunters) | Louise Spilsbury | 9781474726887 | ||
Ancient China (Horrors from History) | Louise Spilsbury | 9781474777810 | ||
Ancient China (Civilizations of the World) | Samantha S Bell | 9781641858212 | ||
Ancient China (An Interactive History Adventure) | Terry Collins | 9781474706452 | ||
Why Should I Care About the Ancient Chinese? | Claire Throp | 9781474794169 | ||
Fiction | Waterstones | Amazon | Author | ISBN |
�� �� Bronze and Sunflower | Cao Wenxuan | 9781406348460 | ||
Chinese Children's Favourite Stories: Fables, Myths and Fairy Tales | Mingmei Yip | 9780804851497 | ||
Usborne Illustrated Stories from China | Various | 9781474947077 | ||
Multicultural Stories from China | Saviour Pirotta | 9781526303721 | ||
Mulan and other Legendary Stories from China (Rising Stars Reading Planet) | Barbara Laban | 9781510445390 | ||
Chinese Fairy Tales and Legends | Richard Wilhelm and Frederick H Martens | 9781912392155 |
Year 5 Spring Term
Sow, Grow and Farm
In the Sow, Grow and Farm project, your child will learn about allotments in the United Kingdom and how the government encouraged people to have them to support food rationing during the Second World War. They will learn about food webs and animal life cycles, including how living things are dependent on one another within a habitat. They will investigate the different ways that plants reproduce and will dissect flowering plants to identify the different structures. They will have the opportunity to learn about farming in the United Kingdom and the techniques used in modern farming, including the challenges that farmers face. They will learn about the benefits of eating seasonally and about the pros and cons of importing food. They will also learn about world farming and how the different climate zones affect where different foods can be grown.
�� Recommended text | �� Novel study text
Non-fiction | Waterstones | Amazon | Author | ISBN |
RHS Let's Get Gardening | DK | 9780241382639 | ||
A little course in Growing Veg & Fruit | DK | 9781409365228 | ||
RHS Step-by-Step Veg Patch (DK) | Lucy Halsall | 9781405394437 | ||
Allotment Month By Month: Grow your Own Fruit and Vegetables (DK) | Alan Buckingham | 9780241360002 | ||
Why Do Plants Have Flowers? (Wildlife Wonders) | Pat Jacobs | 9781445150871 | ||
Plants: Science in Infographics | Jon Richards | 9781526303882 | ||
Food Chains: Who eats what? | Sam Hutchinson | 9781911509929 | ||
Life Cycles (Straight Forward with Science) | Peter Riley | 9781445135526 | ||
Life Cycles (Collins Big Cat) | Sally Morgan | 9780007336401 | ||
The Wonderful World of Food (Engage Literacy) | Wiley Blevins | 9781474746571 | ||
Fiction | Waterstones | Amazon | Author | ISBN |
�� �� The Secret Garden (Vintage Children's Classics) | Frances Hodgson Burnett | 9780099572954 | ||
Return to the Secret Garden | Holly Webb | 9781407163499 | ||
Charlotte's Web (A Puffin Book) | E. B. White | 9780141354828 | ||
Farm Boy | Michael Morpurgo | 9780007450657 |
Year 5 Summer Term
Groundbreaking Greeks
In the Groundbreaking Greeks project, your child will learn about different periods of Greek history, exploring the earliest civilisations, the devastation of the Dark Age and the breakthroughs and developments of the Archaic and Classical periods. They will understand how the geography of Greece affected the development of city states and explore Athens, learning about the structure of the government and society. They will get to know some of the most significant Athenians and understand why Greek art, culture, architecture, philosophy, medicine and mathematics were so significant. Your child will learn about the leadership of Alexander the Great and discover how ancient Greece became part of the Roman Empire after the Hellenistic period. They will explore how the Romans respected and developed Greek ideas, making them their own and spreading them throughout the Roman Empire. To end the project, your child will decide which was the ancient Greeks' greatest idea, and explore how the legacy of ancient Greece affects their lives today.
�� Recommended text | �� Novel study text
Non-fiction | Waterstones | Amazon | Author | ISBN |
Ancient Greece (DK Eyewitness) | DK | 9781409343653 | ||
Ancient Greece (DK Eyewitness Workbooks) | DK | 9780241485897 | ||
The Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece | Jane Chisholm, Lisa Miles and Struan Reid | 9781409549451 | ||
Ancient Greece (The History Detective Investigates) | Rachel Minay | 9780750294171 | ||
Ancient Greece (Facts and Artefacts) | Tim Cooke | 9781445161662 | ||
Ancient Greeks (Explore!) | Jane Bingham | 9780750288989 | ||
Ancient Greece in 30 Seconds | Cath Senker | 9781782405863 | ||
Geography Matters in Ancient Greece | Melanie Waldron | 9781406291261 | ||
Daily Life in Ancient Greece | Don Nardo | 9781406288087 | ||
A Visitor’s Guide to Ancient Greece (Usborne) | Lesley Sims | 9781409566168 | ||
See Inside Ancient Greece (An Usborne Flap Book) | Rob Lloyd Jones | 9781474943048 | ||
Groovy Greeks (Horrible Histories) | Terry Deary and Martin Brown | 9781407163833 | ||
Alexander the Great and the Ancient Greeks (History Starting Points) | David Gill | 9781445162065 | ||
The Ancient Greeks: Clever Ideas and Inventions from Past Civilisations (The Genius of) | Izzi Howell | 9781445161228 | ||
Great Leaders and Thinkers of Ancient Greece | Megan C Peterson | 9781474717519 | ||
The Ancient Olympic Games | Jhonny Núñez | 9781526310101 | ||
Greek Gods & Heroes: 40 Inspiring Icons | Sylvie Baussier | 9781786031471 | ||
Fiction | Waterstones | Amazon | Author | ISBN |
�� �� Who Let the Gods Out? | Maz Evans | 9781910655412 | ||
Greek Myths: Meet the heroes, gods, and monsters of ancient Greece (DK) | Jean Menzies | 9780241397459 | ||
The Odyssey | David Walser | 9780241298794 | ||
Tales of the Greek Heroes (Puffin Classics) | Roger Lancelyn Green | 9780141325286 | ||
Mark of the Cyclops: An Ancient Greek Mystery (Flashbacks) | Saviour Pirotta | 9781472934147 | ||
Athena: The Story of a Goddess | Imogen Greenberg | 9781408892497 |