Newsletter- week ending 27th March
Dear parents/carers,
In English this week we have begun our work on sentence structure, using Myst as inspiration. The children have been looking at starting with a basic sentence (e.g. The cat sat on the mat.) and have extended the sentences through noun phrases to make them more interesting and exciting (The fat, ginger, lazy cat sat on the comfortable blue mat.) The results so far have been very impressive, with the children really thinking about their use of vocabulary and the effect is has on a reader. Next week we will be continuing with this work, but this time concentrating on adjectives.
In maths we’ve been using our mental and written maths skills to practise multiplying 2 digit (and sometimes 3 digit) numbers by 2, 3 and 4. I suggest that you ask the children to teach you how to play the game that we’ve been using for this- it’s very simple to learn and has endless possibilities for mental maths fun. Next week we’ll be doing a similar sort of week, but this time looking at division instead. We’ll be looking at halving to “undo” doubling, as well as division as repeated subtraction, and other ways of sharing and grouping.
Our topic work is coming along very well, and will shortly be ready to share with you all on our blog. The children have proved to be absolute whizzes with PowerPoint, and are putting together some presentations about what we have been doing since January about our mission to Mars. Next week we will also be pulling together our “Earth and Beyond” science work ready for the end of term.
I’d like to say a big “Thank you!” to everyone who gave their time to either e-mail or talk to the Teaching Awards judges. It was a really lovely opportunity to share some of the work that we have been doing, and I think it went well. I’ll find out the results at a posh dinner in June, so fingers crossed!
Mrs B
Three things to ask your child this week:
1 How can you make a sentence with extra sprinkles?
2 What’s you favourite method for written multiplication, and why?
3 What has been your favourite part of the class 3 space project?
Space Display
To finish off our work on our Space topic (including our “Earth and Beyond” science work) we have created a display, showcasing what we have learnt. The children have drawn representations of the planets, as well as written short factual pieces about them. They have also decided where they would like to go if they were an astronaut. Surprisingly, no-one wanted to visit a black hole! The children have also done the most beautiful pastel art work on the planets, which we have put up as a border around the room. Here are a couple of photos to show you what we’ve done.
Coming soon: We’ll be sharing our brilliant Mars space projects with you.
Classroom | Comment (0)Newsletter- week ending 20th March
Dear parents/carers,
In our English lessons this week we have finished off our work on instructions. The children came up with their own list of important features for instructional texts, such as a title, bossy language and clear diagrams. The children have then made sure that their work has all of these required features. Some children haven’t quite finished their instructions, so I have sent them home as a little bit of extra homework, as I didn’t want them to rush to finish in the lesson today. Next week we will be starting our work on Myst and storywriting, which will be very exciting. We’ll be continuing with this project until the end of term.
In maths this week the children have been looking at direction, including looking at ordanance survey maps and Google Maps. The children have also created their own pirate treasure maps, and challenge other people to find the place where X marks the spot! Next week we’re going to be looking at multiplication, particularly doubling and multiplying by 4 (doubling twice). We’ll be playing some maths based games which will challenge your child’s mental multiplication skills. We’ll also be looking at jotted and other methods (100 squares, number lines) which can support our mental multiplication.
In science this week we had great fun out on the back field recreating our very own solar system. The children all thought that we had summer when the Earth was nearest to the Sun- I’ll let them tell you why that’s not the case (hint- it’s to do with tilt). Next week we’re going to be looking at the how the position of the sun changes during the day. I’m hoping that this sunny weather holds out as it will be perfect for our experiment!
We have a slight issue at the moment with our guitar lessons. They were taking place on a Wednesday morning, but my class are now swimming at that time. The teacher has been unable to find a school willing to swap with us so that he can come at a different time. I will be jumping up and down rather loudly about this next week in an effort to get the problem resolved.
It has been wonderful to talk to you all at the parent/teacher meetings over the past couple of weeks. I’ve been delighted to hear how much your children enjoy being in my class- it really makes my job worthwhile. As I mentioned during the interviews, please do feel free to pop in and talk to me if any problems arise.
Mrs B
Three things to ask your child this week:
1 Why do we have seasons? What causes them?
2 What makes a good set of written instructions?
3 Which way is north on a map? How can you tell?
Newsletter- week ending 13th March
Dear parents/carers,
Firstly I’d like to thank you all for your patience and understanding over the past week or so. After our small outbreak of slap cheek (a disease similar to rubella/german measles) I had a blood test to see if I’d had it before and was therefore immune. If I wasn’t immune and I caught slap cheek, there would be a 15% chance that I’d lose my baby. The test results took an age to get back but the good news is that I’ve definitely had it before, so it’s safe for me and baby to be back in class. I’m very lucky to have such a supportive set of parents and co-workers, so thank you all for looking out for me.
Mrs Woodford and Miss Gill have been doing a wonderful job teaching the children this week, with input and advice from me on the planning. In English the children have produced their own video instructions for making a simple piece of origami, based on some of the ideas that they saw in the “How to Fold a T-Shirt in 2 Seconds” video. Next week the children will be expanding this work into written instructions, including diagrams and other features of good instructional writing.
In maths this week the children have looked at problems involving money and measures. Next week they will be looking at angles and direction with Miss Gill. This will include looking at real maps of the local and wider area, as well as creating their own pirate treasure maps.
In science the children are continuing with our Earth and Beyond topic. Next week we’ll be looking at how long it takes the Earth to go round the Sun, and we’ll be thinking about what might cause the seasons. In our ICT lessons we’re going to continue with the space theme by programming a Mars rover to cover some Martian terrain (probably some chairs on the astroturf!). Later we’ll be expanding that by looking at some introductory LOGO programming skills.
The children unfortunately weren’t able to go swimming this week due to the pool being used for something else. Their swimming lessons will start up again next Wednesday. If children need swimming hats they can be bought at the office for 50p.
It’s been really lovely to see so many happy parents at the parent/teacher interviews this week. It’s been wonderful for me to share their success with you in this way. I’m looking forward to seeing the rest of you all next week for a chat.
Mrs B
Three things to ask your child this week:
1 How do you make a frog or a banger out of paper?
2 What did you have to think about when recording your instructions?
3 What causes day and night?
