Writing: escaping a volcanic eruption!
This week, Year 4 have been writing their recounts about escaping a volcanic eruption. This links nicely to our volcanoes topic in geography this half-term.
A recount re-tells events and describes what happened.
Our R2s (remember to) were:
- conjunctions (subordinating and coordinating)
- impressive vocabulary
- past tense
Your children used these R2s when planning, writing and editing their recounts. I was wowed by the final pieces! Your children really put themselves in the shoes of an escapee and were able to write exciting and gripping recounts.
Help at home: ask your children to write a short recount of their day at school using conjunctions and past tense.
Coordinating conjunctions:
Subordinating conjunctions:
Geography: exploring our locality
This morning Year 1 braved the wind and went out to explore our local area. Armed with a clipboard and a pencil, we completed a survey of what we liked and disliked about places in Moortown. We chose 5 different areas near to school and rated them for noise, litter, recycling bins, safety and plants. We recorded what we thought by drawing either a sad, happy or straight face.
Help at home by talking to your child about what they like or dislike about the local area. Is there anything they would want to improve? How?
Spring 1: Week 3 Living and Learning
This week’s living and learning statement is I can assess my own risk.
The children came up with some great ideas during our class discussion.
“If you are in the snow you need to make sure you stay warm.”
“You need to protect your skin when it is hot.”
“Don’t build towers too tall.”
This week, we have been exploring art by Yayoi Kusama. We have been inspired by her work and created similar pieces. The children were encouraged to say what they liked/disliked about her art using the word because.
“I like it because I like the rainbow colours.”
“I like it because there are clothes in it.”
Help at home: by encouraging your child to speak in full sentences.
Maths
During this week’s lessons we have been doing lots of singing. We have used different songs to explore the different ways you can make 5. For example, using the speckle frog song we were able to discuss how many frogs were in the pond, how many were on the log and how many frogs there were altogether.
Living and Learning: Being Safe
We took part in the NSPCC Speak out Stay Safe online assembly.
During the assembly, it highlighted children’s rights and gave the clear message of ‘Speak out, Stay safe’. The children were confident at identifying who their own trusted adults are and felt comfortable that they could ask for help.
We also heard about Childline – ask your child to show you the way to remember the number.
To follow up this learning, we welcomed staff from NSPCC to deliver a ‘Speak Out Stay Safe’ workshop. They were very impressed with the children’s learning and understanding.
Help at home: Discuss who your child would speak to if they needed help and/or visit the Childline website, which has age-appropriate advice for primary school children on topics such as bullying. It also has games and other interactive tools.
Maths: Fractions, fractions and more fractions…
For quite a long time now, Year 5 have been learning about fractions. We have identified, added, subtracted, converted and even multiplied! Our fractions learning is coming to an end soon but before it does, this is what we have been looking at this week.
Subtracting fractions with different denominators:
Subtracting fractions from a mixed number:
Subtracting fractions from a mixed number when we break the whole:
Help at home: Can your child talk through the worked examples above? Try to use the words numerator, denominator, mixed number, proper fraction and improper fraction.
Living and Learning: Being Safe
We took part in the NSPCC Speak out Stay Safe online assembly.
During the assembly, it highlighted children’s rights and gave the clear message of ‘Speak out, Stay safe’. The children were confident at identifying who their own trusted adults are and felt comfortable that they could ask for help.
We also heard about Childline – ask your child to show you the way to remember the number.
To follow up this learning, we welcomed staff from NSPCC to deliver a ‘Speak Out Stay Safe’ workshop. They were very impressed with the children’s learning and understanding.
Help at home: Discuss who your child would speak to if they needed help and/or visit the Childline website, which has age-appropriate advice for primary school children on topics such as bullying. It also has games and other interactive tools.
Our class novel: The Land of Roar
In Year 4, our current class novel is The Land of Roar by Jenny McLachlan.
“Everyone remembers their secret imaginary world…but what if you discovered that yours was real? When Arthur and Rose were little, they were the heroes of Roar, a magical world they invented where the wildest creations of their imaginations roamed. Now that they’re eleven, Roar is just a distant memory. But it hasn’t forgotten them.”
We’re all really enjoying it so far! It’s funny and full of action.
Your children have been sharing their opinions and making some predictions…
Wininja’s my favourite character so far because he’s so funny and his magic tricks are ridiculous.
I think Rose will end up joining Arthur in Roar, even though she thinks she’s too cool, because she misses him and her grandad.
I’m not sure what’s going to happen next but I think Arthur will defeat Crowky and be able to save his grandad.
I’m excited to keep reading it because I don’t know how its going to end.
Help at home: ask your child to summarise what they’ve read so far. You can also explore some of the other books in the series.
Living and Learning: Being safe
Being safe is a key part of our Living and Learning curriculum.
We took part in the NSPCC Speak out Stay Safe online assembly.
During the assembly, we heard about Sam and some things that were upsetting Sam.
Thankfully, Sam told a teacher about her worries. We thought about which grown-ups would be good to talk to in school and out of school (start telling other people). Brothers, sisters and friends would also be good to talk to and discuss feelings but telling a grown-up (over 18) would be the best thing to do to get help.
Our Living and Learning box, in the classroom, is another way the children can speak out and write down any worries.
We also heard about Childline – ask your child to show you the way to remember the number.
To follow up this learning, we welcomed staff from NSPCC to deliver a Speak out stay safe workshop. They were very impressed with the children’s learning and understanding.
Help at home: Buddy Zone, on the Childline website, has some games and activities for the children to do.
Maths: TTRS
This week, we have talked through how the children can access and use Times Tables Rock Stars. Login details are the same as for Numbots.
In Year 2, the children learn the two, five and ten times tables and these are the tables that have been assigned to the children. There will be division questions related to those times tables too.
Soundcheck is used in Key Stage 2 to check all the times table facts up to x12 so this isn’t recommended in Year 2 as the children haven’t learned these other times tables yet.
We encourage the children to continue to use Numbots too to help to secure their addition and subtraction number facts.
Another resource to support times tables and other number facts is Hit the Button. This is a great, fast-paced game and children can choose which times tables or number facts to work on during each game. This game is free to play online.
If you have any further questions regarding the resources mentioned, do not hesitate to contact us.
Geography: rising sea levels
In our topic lessons, we’ve been looking at climate change and how it’s contributing to ice caps melting.
We’ve looked at low lying countries and coastal regions such as the Solomon Islands.
We watched quite an impactful video where an island called Kale has completely disappeared over the last ten years due to rising sea levels.
We thought about the impacts that the rising sea levels has on a place like the Solomon Islands.
Help at home by researching ways we can slow down climate change at home.