Will it sink or will it float?
As part of learning about solutions during our ‘What’s the Matter?’ topic, we explored floating and sinking.
In fresh water, a fresh egg will sink.
However, if you add salt to create a salt solution…
…the egg will float.
At home, see whether your child can explain why this is. They should use our key word: dense.
We then predicted that the same would happen if we used sugar to create the solution.
The fresh egg sunk, like before.
We stirred in the sugar to make sure it created a solution…
…and eventually the egg floated.
We needed to add more sugar to make it float than we did for the salt. See whether your child can say why we thought we needed to use more sugar. They’ll need to use the key word: particles.
A great team effort!
In our Living and Learning lesson this week, we were discussing how to work well as a team and Year 2 have definitely shown that in our assembly today.
Well done to all the children for learning their lines, reminding each other when to speak and listening to others when they were reading.
Thank you to Clare Luther, author and Evie’s auntie, who inspired the children with her visit to class last week.
Finally, thank you for coming to watch the children and supporting them with learning their lines.
Hope you’ve been reading this evening!
Class assembly
The children have been busy rehearsing and look forward to welcoming you to watch our class assembly this afternoon.
It starts at 2:40pm. We hope to see you then.
Using commas
In Year 2, one of our writing objectives is to use commas correctly in a list.
Ask your child to check the following sentences and spot the correct one. Can they tell you why the others are not correct?
Can your child finish this sentence using the spellings for this week as a list.
This week, our spellings are …
Phonics
We have begun phase 3 of the ‘Letters and Sounds’ phonics programme.
The purpose of this phase is to:
- teach more graphemes, most of which are made of two letters, for example, ‘oa’ as in boat
- practise blending and segmenting a wider set of CVC words, for example, fizz, chip, sheep, light
- learn all letter names and begin to form them correctly
- read more tricky words and begin to spell some of them
- read and write words in phrases and sentences
Here are some examples of words your children will be reading: tail, week, right, soap, food, park, burn, cord, town, soil
Tricky words
During phase 3 the children will learn more ‘tricky words’: he, she, we, me, be, was, my, you, her, they, all, said.
In addition, during this phase children will be expected to begin to write sentences independently.
Our next phonics mornings will be held in February.
Wolf Boiled Alive!
This week, at Moortown Primary School, Y5 children became detectives as they attempted to solve a mysterious crime involving three pigs and a wolf.
Children, many of whom were working on their first case, were given evidence bags containing a range of items: quotes from witnesses, newspaper headlines, CCTV footage, a range of public reaction and an expert interview.
The young detectives were then set the challenge of solving the case! They quickly got to work and within an hour had come up with a solid theory which they hoped would stand up in court. (Ask your child what their theory was.)
After spending some time reviewing each suspect, victim and witness, the detectives were ready for the next step: a trial. With a make-shift court set up in the Y5 classroom, the children held their own court session. With the public’s imagination captured, the children took on a role for the session: juror, judge, media, lawyer, witness or ‘The Accused’.
Mr Catherall, a teacher at the school, said: “The court case was absolutely gripping. From start to finish, the quality of the questioning was exceptional and the responses from those in the dock were just as good! All involved in the case seemed to find the whole thing fascinating and hopefully much of the information will be retained for a long time!”
After much deliberation, the jury were eventually able to come to a unanimous decision on each of the three main suspects. To find out about the jury’s verdict, contact your own child. If you require more information on this fascinating case, there is a very informative video.
Here is a sketch (produced by a Y5 child) of the witnesses in the dock…
We’ll use this awesome learning next week as we write our own news reports.
What would happen if…?
- “What would happen if we used Coke instead of water?”
- “What would happen if we used card instead of kitchen roll?”
- “What would happen if we used cold hot chocolate instead of water?”
- “What would happen if we used lemonade?”
- “What would happen if we used melted chocolate?”
- “What would happen if we put our cups in a line?”
LO: To make predictions and perform a test.
Firstly, we predicted what would happen giving reasons to justify our opinion. For example:
- “I think the kitchen roll will disappear and dissolve because Coke is fizzy.” – Phoebe
- “I think the kitchen roll will go brown because the cold hot chocolate is brown.” – Emma
- “I think the water won’t go into the other cup because card is heavier than kitchen roll.” – Noah
We took safe risks as we had no idea what would happen.
Next, we set up our experiments according to our plans and by remembering whose role was whose.
It was important to be responsible and work well within our teams.
We had to be ready to record observations at certain points in the day.
There was progress in some…
… but less so in others!
Either way, we reflected on our experiments at the end of the day by describing what went well and what we would change for next time.
One More and One Less
This morning in Year One, we worked hard to find one more and one less of a number using a variety of resources. 
Author visit!
This morning, we had a visit from an author, Clare Luther, who talked to us about her books and answered some of our questions. It was great fun!
Welcome back
Happy New Year and welcome back to what is set to be another very busy term!
Our first mini-topic is ‘What’s the matter?’ and is science-based. Children will learn about materials and their properties. We will explore what objects are made from and why. You can help your child learn more about this topic when choosing which clothes to wear and talking about which materials everyday objects are made from and why. Children will also ask ‘What’s the matter?’ from a social and emotional point of view, thinking about how they can solve problems.
The next big topic is Life.
Life is all around us, in plants and animals, and comes in all shapes and sizes – it’s amazing! In this biology-based topic, we find out how our body works, what all living things have in common and the differences we might notice. Amongst other things, we’ll think about why animals choose particular habitats and why a healthy diet is important. Help your child at home by naming body parts, including the parts inside that you can’t see, discussing why you breathe hard after exercise and what plants you can see when you’re out and about.
This term, Year 4 will be diving into two class novels.
The first will be a Fighting Fantasy novel, which is the title given to a series of interactive books, also known as game books, that were developed by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone. This book will certainly be intriguing and memorable because the children’s participation and the choices they make directly affects the outcome of the story! Good luck!
The second will be ‘Akimbo and the Elephants’, written by Alexander McCall Smith. Here’s the blurb:
‘Ten-year-old Akimbo lives on a game preserve in Africa. His father is the head ranger, and Akimbo is eager to help him whenever he can—even if it means getting into some pretty dangerous situations.’
How can you help?
Question your child about the book. What do they know about the characters? Perhaps, look at other books in ‘The Fighting Fantasy series.’
During the next term, we will be giving some children additional or alternative homework. This is because, in lessons, there are areas in Maths and English where extra practice (at home) would be very beneficial to consolidate the learning in school.
Please support your child with this at home and if you’re not sure of how best to do this then please pop in and ask us. We’re always happy to help.