Creative Character Descriptions
Year 4 have been writing some character descriptions. After reading some examples, the class thought about the type of vocabulary that creates a good descriptions.
Here are a few ideas we experimented with:
Use adjectives to describe the physical details of a character.
His scaly, wrinkled nose sniffed the air.
Nouns to fit the personality of the character.
Clothes, particularly need to match the personality of the character.
scruffy, torn trousers
The way a character moves gives much away about their personality or feelings.
Shoulders hunched, feet dragging he shuffled towards the darkened windows of home.
Then, the children thought about including prepositions. These can be used for the following:
To show the position of something.
Her bag was under the chair.
The dog crawled between us and lay down at our feet.
His flat was over the shop.
To note the time when something happens.
They arrived on Sunday.
The class starts at 9 a.m.
To the way in which something is done.
We went by train.
They stared at each other without speaking.
Some prepositions are made up of more than one word, for example:
They moved here because of the baby.
We sat next to each other.
The hotel is perched on top of a cliff.
With all this in mine, the children wrote some impressive sentences. We based our descriptions on a legendary hero, Beowulf. Using this famous warrior as our focus, proved to be a great link to our current topic.
Lots of the children searched for ambitious and appropriate words to use in their writing. There are some superb examples below.
A brown, leather belt was draped around his strong waist. Phoebe
The fierce, Anglo Saxon warrior came upon the hideous creature.
The gem encrusted, silver sword lay in his hand.
Noah
A mighty, fearless warrior sailed across the choppy seas. Liam
The revolting, three headed beast flew over the seven seas.
He held his powerful, dangerous dagger in the palm of his hand.
The fearsome warrior hides his silver sword behind his back.
Sakina
The brave hearted warrior trawled through the seas as if he was immortal.
Felix
The ugly, hunched backed monster lurked in the shadows.
Daisy
His bright, yellow, blood shot eyes gleam wickedly in the light of the moon.
Jemima
Topic Algorithms
In Year 3 we have been learning about compasses: what they are and what they were used for before we had satellite navigation. We then practised turning and facing the directions on a compass, in the hall. We then went on to write algorithms using north/south/east/west and stop, to accomplish a goal. We needed to collect passengers of the Titanic from the water whilst avoiding the iceberg. 
Y3 then went on to write their own game with a specific aim. They had to choose their own mode of transport and decide what they needed to collect or avoid on the way from start to finish. Check out the work, below: Sam: ‘Drive the jet pack from start to finish, avoiding trees.’ 
Ashton: ‘Swim from start to finish, collecting the goggles.’ 
Leah: ‘Fly the hot air balloon from start to finish, avoiding the houses.’ 
Hashim: ‘Drive the jet pack and collect all of the legendary dragons.’ 
The class then played each other’s games and came up with algorithms to achieve the specific aim. We discussed that a successful algorithm is the most straightforward and direct series of instructions that accomplishes the task. Well done, Year 3!
Living and Learning – Apologising
This week’s Living and Learning statement is:
I apologise when I need to.
We discussed what good manners mean to us – showing respect for everyone. We said that being respectful is not only one of our school rules but so important to life outside school, too. Here are some of our examples of when we’ve apologised and how it made the people involved feel.
Sometimes, mistakes and accidents happen. You can’t change the past to alter what happened but you can make the right choices after the event. Apologising to the person or people involved could be the first step to making things better.
We moved our focus to our class novel. Holes is about kids sent to a juvenile detention and correctional facility. Do they need to apologise for anything in their past? The characters often treat each other pretty badly. Should they say sorry for their actions? Would it make a difference?
Here are our thoughts on who should apologise to who:
Our thoughtful and very varied suggestions showed our understanding of when someone should apologise and how much detail we had remembered from the class novel.
Inventions Taboo
As part of our topic learning, we played a great game of Taboo today. In Taboo, you have to try to get your team to guess what’s on your card without saying a selection of related words.
For example, can you get someone to guess ‘playground’ without saying the words play, ground, children, swings or slides?
In pairs, the children had a card with Leeds inventions on that they had to try and describe to the rest of their table without saying a selection of related words. Some were easier than others but we learnt lots about Leeds inventions while playing.
At home, ask us about what was invented in Leeds and see whether you can create your own game of Taboo.
Anti-bullying week – odd socks day
Next week is Anti-bullying Week. This year’s theme is ‘Choose Respect’ and we will be joining in with Odd Socks Day on Monday 12 November.
This day is to raise awareness of our differences, individuality and personal choice. There is no need for any payment – your child should simply wear odd socks and join in the fun!
Thank you for your support.
Inventions – Taboo!
“Today, we played Taboo where you had to describe an invention without saying four main words.” – Kismat
“All the inventions were from or connected to Leeds.” – Eliza
“My favourite invention was the Jelly Tots because I like recent stuff.” – Henry
“My favourite invention was Cluedo because I really like the game.” – Zak
“Mine was the mouse trap so you don’t have any mice stealing your cheese!” – Omar
“The oldest invention was the locomotive. It’s connected to Leeds because it was the first ever steam locomotive and the person who designed it came from Leeds.” – Ben
“The most recent invention was Jelly Tots in 1965.” – William
“The most challenging part was guessing the other person’s invention when they were describing it.” – Evie
“The most challenging part was trying to describe the invention because there were four words and you couldn’t say them but describe it without saying them!” – Zidaan
Living and learning – Identity
Our Living and Learning theme this half-term is Identity. Pupils will learn about what makes themselves and others special, valuing the similarities and differences between themselves and others and what is meant by community. This will be taught through our Living and Learning sessions and also a focused week – Anti-bullying week (12 November).
Also this half term, our new school charity will be chosen. Every year, we nominate a new charity to support. This year, we have been supporting MakeAWish. We decide this on the basis of a Talk Time homework, and then school councillors make the final decision.
Our Living and Learning long term plan details the learning for each year group across the year and you can keep up to date with our weekly Living and Learning statements on the parent noticeboard in the playground and also on the school calendar. We will begin and end this half term with a focus on manners.
I apologise when I need to.
I say please and thank you.
Phonics mornings
Don’t forget to attend one of our phonics lessons this week.
Please join us on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday morning to see your children learn and find out how you can support them at home.
Don’t worry if you haven’t signed up yet – just come along!
See you there!
Archemedes and the Vicious Vikings
The next stop on our travels through time has been the Viking Ages. Year 4 have looked closely at the boats used by these fearsome warriors.
“The boats needed to be strong to carry so many men,” stated Sami.
“Why did they come across the seas?” enquired Jessica.
Following some research the children found out some very interesting facts about the boats.
Though Viking boats came in many shapes and sizes, the most iconic and effective Viking vessel was undoubtedly the long ship. Long, narrow and flat, long ships were fast, durable and capable of navigating both choppy seas and shallow rivers. They were also light enough to be carried over land.
Then, came the question, “How do boats float?”
We discussed that boats, canoes, ships, kayaks, and rafts all have one thing in common- they are used for transport on seas and rivers, because they float.
It’s easy to figure out that if they are made out of wood they will float, because wood floats in water. However, when you see a huge cargo ship or a cruise-liner that looks like a floating building on the water, you can’t help but wonder why this massive chunk of metal doesn’t sink.
Due to the curiosity of the children wanting to find out more about floating, our lesson took a slight scientific diversion.
Using just a bowl of water, some weighing scales and Blu Tac, I gave the children a question.
“If two objects have the same mass, will they both float?”
The class used some prior knowledge and were able to make great scientific predictions.
“No, they will both sink because the objects are the same weight.”
“It depends on the shape of the object”.
“I think the air in the object will make a difference.”
“I predict that one will float. If the objects are different shapes then it depends how much water will be pushed away.” An excellent prediction from Harris!
“The heavier it is the more it will sink.”
“I remember learning about a man called Archimedes who sat in a bath and shouted Eureka! I think that was something about floating.”
This interesting fact then left the children inquisitive to know more about the man taking a bath.! Together, we found out about this great mathematician and why he became famous just for sitting in the bath!
The Archimedes’ Principle
A long time ago in ancient Greece, a mathematician named Archimedes was taking a bath. When he got in, a certain amount of water got displaced and overflowed over the rim of the tub. Why?
Archimedes figured out that if the weight of the object being placed in the water is less that the weight of the water displaced, the object will float. This is known as buoyancy or the Archimedes’ Principle.
Following this new piece of scientific information it was time to get back to our experiment.
“If two objects have the same mass, will they both float?”
The solid ball of Blu Tac sank straight to the bottom. The Blu Tac shaped like a boat floated.
“Why?” I questioned the children.
“It is because the weight of the Blu Tac has been spread out across a bigger area.” stated Felix.
“The boat isn’t heavy enough to push the water out of the way.” said Albie.
I was so impressed with the questions asked by the children and by how inquisitive they were. Despite not starting off as a Science lesson, it was important to follow the children’s curiosities and this led them to further investigations, improved understanding and deepening scientific enquiry skills.
Well done Year 4!
Bonfire night themed menu
When we return to school, on Monday 05 November, there will be a bonfire night themed menu.
