Drop-down morning: history, geography and computing
Today we had drop-down morning! This is an entire morning dedicated to recapping our topic learning from previous years. In Year 4, we recapped:
- history – heroes
- geography – explorers
- computing – algorithms
We began the day with history. We discussed two influential figures in history: Nelson Mandela and Leonora Cohen. I was so impressed with your children’s knowledge about these two individuals and they demonstrated this in ‘Walkabout Bingo’. Our bingo cards had 15 questions about either Nelson Mandela or Leonora Cohen and, to fill these, the children needed to ask each other for the answers. It was a really fun way for your children to test each other’s knowledge!
For our geography topic, we compared York and Venice. We recapped what we knew about the human and physical geography of both cities before revisiting the idea of overtourism. The children’s job was to read a selection of issues that’ve arisen due to overtourism in York and Venice and, in groups, come up with some solutions. It was great to hear your children’s discussions and they came up with some excellent solutions!
Finally, we recapped our Year 3 computing on algorithms.
An algorithm is a set of instructions or rules to complete a task.
Our focus was on creating effective algorithms in the simplest form (to make it easier for our computers to follow). We practised creating and writing a variety of different algorithms and even debugging some!
Help at home:
- Ask your child to tell you about Nelson Mandela and Leonora Cohen and why they’re such influential figures in history.
- Create a list of physical and human geographical features with your child.
- Download ScratchJr and ask your child to show you how to create algorithms.
- Alternatively, ask your child to write an algorithm for this grid:
Autumn 1: Week5
We have been having lots of fun developing our finger strength this week. We have been cutting up things that we have found on the green and making teddy bears like the one in our story for this week-The Everywhere Bear.
The children have enjoyed acting out this story and using our word of the week (journey) when talking about it.
On Thursday, we were very excited to find out that our class bear (Fredrego) had been on an adventure around our school. The children were able to identify where he had been and go find the landmarks. When we got there, we were listening out for the different sounds that we could hear around school. We heard a range of sounds from different adult voices to lawn mowers.
Maths
During maths this week, we have been working on counting accurately. Throughout the week, the children have been counting objects in the classroom and counting each other’s claps.
Help at home: by asking your child to count different objects around the home within 10.
The children have enjoyed performing our poem of the week- Breezy Weather. Please encourage them to share this with you at home.
Please remember: if you have any problems with logging on to your child’s reading book online let me know and I will help you. It is crucial that they are reading frequently both at school and at home.
Please remember: to send in photos of the fun activities that you get up to at home. This could be conker collecting, baking, reading-the list is endless.
Here is our phonics home learning sheet and poem for this week.
History – Great Fire of London
We are really enjoying our history topic all about the Great Fire of London. We have learnt all about how it started, how it spread and how they tried to stop it. This week, we focussed on what people would have done and how they would have felt at the time. We were given different scenarios and then the children had to act out what they would have done. Would they stay? Would they leave? Take their things or leave them behind? Would they stay and help others or flee?
The children did a great job and thought very deeply about how people would be feeling and what they would do. Well done everyone!
Help at home by talking about the Great Fire of London. I’m sure the children will be very keen to show off their knowledge.
Living and Learning: protected characteristics
In Living and Learning, we looked at how we respect others. We discussed discrimination, protected characteristics and the Equality Act 2010.
Discrimination is defined as “the unfair treatment of people because of who they are or because they have a certain characteristic.”
We remember the protected characteristics by using:
DR S GRAMPS
Disability
Race
Sex
Gender reassignment
Religion or beliefs
Age
Marriage or civil partnership
Pregnancy and/or maternity leave
Sexual orientation
We looked at different scenarios (both made up and real-life cases), where people were treated unfairly and tried to find a solution to the problem. Everyone is the class believes everyone should be treated fairly.
We now have a greater understanding that individual characteristics make everyone in the world unique and we can respect people in several different ways.
Help at home: Name the protected characteristics without looking.
Reminder: stay and learn
Stay and learn will take place next week.
It would be great to see you all there. It is a fantastic opportunity for you to learn how we deliver our lessons and the content that is covered. We are offering a coffee afterwards and a chance for you to ask questions about the lesson you saw.
Phonics Phase 2 and coffee morning –10.10.24 9-10am
Topic – The Golden Age of Ancient Greece!
Year 3 are well into their Topic for this half term – Ancient Greece.
Ancient Greece’s Golden Age (the time where it was at its best) lasted from around 800BC to 300BC. During this time, they were a very innovative civilisation. They’ve influenced our lives in so many ways and we made some posters to display this!
Sport
They founded the Olympics with many of the sports we still play today e.g. javelin, discus and horse racing.
The story of Marathon who ran the distance (42 km) which we still run now.
Language
Some of our language originates from Ancient Greek.
Art
The Ancient Greeks loved art and performance. From amphitheaters and amazing architecture to spending time making and decorating pottery, the Greeks did it all.
Philosophy and Writing
We have learnt a great deal from philosophers like Socrates and Plato. So much so, that we still think deeply about the world around us every Friday morning in Year 3.
But every good thing must come to an end! The Golden Age of Greece ended around 300BC due to a few reasons:
- City states like Athens and Sparta were warring over land, resources and power.
- The Romans were attacking and trying to invade to expand their empire.
- Greek oligarchies were being over thrown by the poorer communities as they felt they weren’t being listened to!
We created some freeze frames to match these scenarios in our lesson this week.
Help at home by exploring other ways that Ancient Greece has influenced our lives today! What else can you find?
Maths: multiples
Today, we investigated multiples and common multiples.
By working logically and systematically, we found the multiples of one number, eg 4, the multiples of another number, eg 3, and found the numbers in both lists, eg 12, 24 and 36.
Some of our learning involved adding numbers to Venn or Carroll diagrams and explaining our reasoning.
We had to work well as a team!
Help at home by recapping key terminology such as factor, multiple, prime and composite.
Connect Challenge
Today, the whole school completed our Connect Challenge, in memory of Rob Burrow, by running walking or skipping seven laps of the back playground and the green. All the children gave 100% and were even asking to do extra laps. It was a great active morning!
Thank you for your donations so far. You can still donate on Gateway until the end of the week with money raised to be split between the Rob Burrow Centre for Motor Neurone Disease Appeal and our school charity, The Children’s Heart Surgery Fund.
Living and Learning: I respect others.
In Living and Learning, we looked at how we respect others. We discussed discrimination, protected characteristics and the Equality Act 2010.
Discrimination is defined as “the unfair treatment of people because of who they are or because they have a certain characteristic.”
We remember the protected characteristics by using:
DR S GRAMPS
Disability
Race
Sex
Gender reassignment
Religion or beliefs
Age
Marriage or civil partnership
Pregnancy and/or maternity leave
Sexual orientation
We looked at different scenarios (both made up and real-life cases), where people were treated unfairly and tried to find a solution to the problem. Everyone is the class believes everyone should be treated fairly.
We now have a greater understanding that individual characteristics make everyone in the world unique and we can respect people in several different ways.
Help at home: Name the protected characteristics without looking.
Watch us while we work
Thank you to those parents who were able to join us for our watch us while we work session this week. It was lovely to see so many.
Here’s a summary of what we covered and how we are encouraging the children to become more responsible for their learning at home.
Spellings – use the spelling guide for ideas to help with learning weekly spellings.
Sentence practice – use a picture as a stimulus for writing sentences including asking questions about what they can see.
Daily reading – we thought about some of the reading skills the children are learning in Year 2 (fluency, prosody (using expression in their voices), retrieval, interpret and learning new vocabulary). Reading needs to happen daily to build up these skills. A brief note in their reading record books is needed after reading at home. We will continue to monitor the use of e-books at home. Please alert us to any access issues.
Maths – our number tennis games included counting in 2s, 5s and 10s and number bonds to 10 and 20. Play these when you’re in the car, walking to school or making breakfast. Hit the Button is a great online game to build up the recall of these facts.
Numbots certificates are awarded every Tuesday and it’s great to see children already achieving their next levels in Year 2.
Finally, here’s the help at home section of the website.
Please get in touch if you need any further support with your child’s learning at home.