A postcard to Miss Needham!
As you may or may not know, I am going to see Miss Needham over the Easter break. The children were so excited and wanted to tell Miss Needham everything that has been going on recently. So, we decided to each create a postcard. These are now packed in my suitcase ready to pass on to her! The children are looking forward to hearing her response.
Leeds Rhinos Easter activities
On Friday 18 April, Leeds Rhinos are hosting their annual family day, where all child tickets (seating and standing) are just £5. As well as the Rhinos match against Huddersfield Giants, there are a host of activities that the whole family can enjoy – all included in the price of entry.
There is also a free open training session and meet the players event at AMT Headingley Stadium, during the Easter Holidays, on Tuesday 15 April. Children and families will have the opportunity to watch the Rhinos train, meet Ronnie the Rhino and get autographs/pictures with the players at the end of the session.
Performance Poetry
This week, we’ve been reading the poem ‘Walking with my Iguana’ by Brian Moses.
We began the week by exploring the poem and discussing vocabulary we were unsure of. We then watched the poet performing his poem (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoqCyDyc5Rc). While watching, your children noted down what made Brian’s performance so good.
He had a good rhythm.
He got the audience involved.
He had good voice projection and was really clear.
He used some actions.
He had good prosody.
Alongside our oracy (speaking) targets, we used these to come up with our own R2s (Remember Tos) for our performances.
In groups, your children rehearsed the poem before performing it in front of the class. It was great to see how confident and creative your children were and there were some fantastic performances – well done Year 4!
Help at home: read the poem (or choose a different one) and ask your children to perform it to you while thinking about their oracy (speaking) skills.
Performance poetry
This week, we’re reading a poem – My Iguana by Brian Moses.
We watched Brian Moses perform it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoqCyDyc5Rc
We had a think about what made his performance so good! These are the R2s (remember to) that we took from him:
- read with prosody
- add actions
- change tone of voice
- change volume of voice
- involve the audience
- well-rehearsed
We then used these R2s to do our performances! We worked in small groups to add actions, rehearse and practise reading with prosody. The performances were fantastic with some even memorising the words after 20 minutes!
Help at home by reading this poem at home and performing to each other! Can you use all the R2s?
Science: Which soil is the most absorbent?
Enquiry question:
Which soil is the most absorbent?
Science strand: We are chemists!
How we were scientists: We planned and set up a comparative test.
What we changed: the soil types; loam, chalky, sandy and clay
What we measured: how much water drained through the soil and was collected
What we kept the same: the amount of water and the amount of soil
What we found:
Our conclusion: Clay soil was the most absorbent.
English School Swimming Association North East Heat
Congratulations to our Year 5 and 6 swimmers who took part in the English School Swimming Association North East Heat at The Grammar School at Leeds. For most of the team, this was the first competitive swimming event they had taken part in so well done to all the children for their determination and also for taking responsibility by practising prior to the event. The team were then inspired by watching our City of Leeds swimmer take part in his individual races.
I’m going to practise more swimming to get faster to compete again in Year 6.
This was a great opportunity for us! Not everyone gets the chance to do this.
Living and Learning: Feeling good and being me!
In Living and Learning, the children discussed and defined ‘a compliment’ as “giving someone praise in a respectful way”. We then went on to give ourselves a compliment, others a compliment and also talked about how it makes us feel when we are given a compliment. Some of our emotions included: being happy; feeling embarrassed; being proud; feeling appreciated and validated.
Year 5 also gave out anonymous compliments to their peers in class. The children really thought about why each person is special to them. It was lovely to read these out in class!
Here are some of the things the children complimented themselves on:
Help at home: Why not go around the dinner table tonight and give each other compliments?
Living and learning: changes
This week’s living and learning lesson was about changes.
How might someone feel going to high school?
And what is our advice to them?
Reading Record Stars
Every Friday, your children bring their reading records with a completed activity to our Book Club sessions. This week, the children were asked to do a fact file all about a character from their book or the author.
I love getting the chance to see and hear about all the brilliant reading your children have done over the week.
A reminder of the reading record key info:
- Each week, the activity your child must complete is given on the homework sheet. More information on these activities are inside the record. If you are ever unsure which activity it is, please ask or choose a random one!
- The children need to bring their reading record in every Friday for Book Club where we discuss their books and develop their love of reading.
- The children’s grown-ups also need to sign and write a short comment about the lovely reading their child has been doing at home!
Any questions, please ask!
Help at home: continue to read daily with your child and sign their reading record to share this.
Spring 2: Week 5
Thank you so much for all of your kindness and generosity. Not only have you given such beautiful/thoughtful gifts but throughout the year you have been so supportive and engaged-thank you.
It has been such an honour and a privilege to support your child through their journey in reception. I wish them and you all the best in the future.
The children have had fun creating their own flowers this week after being inspired from seeing their own plants grow.
The children have had fun in the areas this week creating repeating patterns.
Math
The children have been worked hard on their doubles this week. They have been using counters on a butterfly to represent their doubles.
Help at home: by asking them to doubles numbers within 5 using objects.
Music
This week, the children have been exploring with sound using the glockenspiels.
