Poetry Basket: Spring Wind
This week’s poem is called Spring Wind.
We’ve been focussing on the words gruff (harsh, rough) and growly (a low, rough sound).
Enjoy the Comic Relief pyjama performance!
Topic: Drop down morning
Today, we had a topic Drop Down Morning. We revisited knowledge about UK geography, the West Indies carnival and Martha McDonald Napaltjarri’s artwork.
In Geography, Year 5 used the iPads to plot some of the major cities and rivers of the UK on to a blank map.
Help at home can you find some places that are significant to you on a map?
In History, we recapped our knowledge of the historical concepts and linked these to the Atlantic Slave Trade and the West Indies carnival.
In Art, we revisited all the visual and tactile elements and thought about how they link to Martha McDonald Napaltjarri’s artwork ‘Warlukuritji’.
Red Nose Day and Comic Relief.
Well done on another amazing week Year 1!
This week has been full of fun, learning and… red noses? This Friday has been Red Nose Day. Here at Moortown we have had a nice day in our Pyjamas, to show our support to the Red Nose day and Comic Relief cause. The children have taken part in a few Red Nose activities, designing their own masks and red noses! They have also been working really hard on their computing skills, working with BeeBots and designing their own games with them.
For those who were not in today, celebrating Eid, we hope you have had a lovely day and that you have enjoyed the celebrations. Eid Mubarak!
Living and Learning: health and prevention
The children then discussed cross contamination and how quickly germs can spread. We talked about the need to wash our hands to help prevent this spread. We could use soap or hand sanitiser.
Help at home: Discuss other ways we can stop germs from spreading.
Topic: Drop Down Morning
Today, we had a topic Drop Down Morning. We revisited knowledge about climate change, the West Indies carnival and William Morris’ artwork.
In Geography, Year 6 matched some of our key vocabulary to its definition and an example. They also thought about the 3 main causes and the effects of climate change.
Help at home: What are the 3 main causes of climate change?
In History, we recapped our knowledge of the historical concepts and linked these to the Atlantic Slave Trade and the West Indies carnival.
In Art, we revisited all the visual and tactile elements and thought about how they link to William Morris’ artwork called ‘The Strawberry Thief’.
Help at home: What are the visual and tactile elements? Can your child describe a piece of art made by Orla Kiely using them.
Happy new year!
One of our classmates is celebrating Iranian New Year today and brought in a healthy treat for the class to eat together. Thank you and happy new year!
Spring 2: Week 4
It’s been another busy and exciting week in Reception, and we’ve made the most of the lovely sunny spring weather.
We’ve been reading the traditional tale Jack and the Beanstalk. The children have really enjoyed getting to know the story, learning new vocabulary, and exploring prosody—especially when performing the Giant’s famous line:
“Fee fi fo fum!”
To help us become confident storytellers, we’ve been using a story map to support us in retelling the story in our own words.
On Tuesday, we planted our very own (magic!) beans. We discussed what plants need in order to grow, including water, sunlight, and care. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be observing our beans closely and recording any changes in our bean diaries.
We’re excited to watch them grow!
Art
We’ve been learning about this half-term’s featured artist, Michael Craig-Martin. He’s an artist who likes to draw everyday objects such as cups, chairs and shoes. The children explored how he uses bright colours and clear, bold lines to make his artwork stand out and look fun. We looked at lots of examples of his work and talked about what we could see and what we liked.
Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be creating our own artwork inspired by Michael Craig-Martin, using tissue paper, tracing paper and black pens.
Learning journey drop ins
Thank you to everyone who has signed up for one of the learning journey drop-in sessions next week. We’re looking forward to welcoming you into the classroom to look through your child’s books and share the fantastic progress they’ve made during their second term at school.
Help at home:
Food Technology: pitta pizzas
This morning, Year 4 have been making quick pitta pizzas. We were so impressed with their knowledge and skills at each stage of the recipe.
The main skill we practised was cutting with a knife. Your children used the bridge method to cut the tomatoes and mushrooms. We used a serrated edged knife to cut the tomatoes and a smooth edged knife for mushrooms.
We tore the mozzarella into pieces and placed all of the toppings on top of our wholemeal pittas. I was impressed to see lots of the children who were unsure about mushrooms giving them a go (and enjoying them!).
After we cooked them for 10 minutes, all was left to do was to eat them! They smelt delicious and tasted even better! Your children all loved them.
Help at home: Your children have been sent home with the recipe today. Can you remake the pitta pizzas? Can you add other toppings?
Celebrating your child’s reading: eBooks
We hope that you’re enjoying listening to your child read their eBook at home and that your child is enjoying celebrating their super reading skills!
At school, your child reads a physical book four times a week – with a focus on teaching phonics skills. This is then sent home as an eBook. The purpose of the eBook at home is to celebrate your child’s success (in phonics skills). Your child should be able to read most of this book confidently and really feel like a reader.
We’ve chosen to use eBooks at home for many benefits. Allocating eBooks frees up about two hours of teacher or TA time changing books – now spent teaching reading!
Here’s some information on how to access eBooks but if you’re having any problems please speak to your child’s class teacher.
Happy reading!
Computing: branching database
During our Computing topic, we’ve learnt about a branching database.
A branching database helps a computer sort and find information by splitting a group of items into smaller and smaller groups by using “yes” or “no” questions.
We had a go at playing with one of these databases before creating our own.
Have a go here: https://www.j2e.com/jit5?fileId=FDrqUQoSY1jKiBHN#branch
We then worked in pairs to create our own. There were lots of different categories of things to choose from. Some of us went with a beach theme, a space theme or an animal theme.
Have a look at some of our branching databases!
Help at home and choose some objects that have some similarities. What “yes” or “no” questions could you ask to split the objects into groups.