The Collins Hub
Hi everyone!
All children in Year 3 have now been sent home with their new and updated Big Cat Collins E-Book logins. They’ve been stuck into the front cover of their reading records. Please let me know if there is any problems with the logins.
I’ve uploaded the books the children are reading from now (15.09) until next Friday (26.09). The children will be reading one chapter a day, 3 chapters per week (6 chapters in total). These books will stay on your child’s login should they want to come back to it later in the year.
These books are online for you to read with your child after school or on an evening. You could read the same chapter they have read that day or begin the next chapter. This time reading with an adult will really help your child with their word reading and comprehension!
You could…
- discuss new or tricky vocabulary
- echo read (I read, you repeat)
- complete your reading record activity on what you’ve read
- draw a scene in the story
- draw a character’s family tree
- link the information you’ve read to something you seen or read elsewhere
- hot seating (pretend to be one of the characters)
- write a factfile
Let me know if you have any questions!
Miss Birch
Science: I can group skeletons.
Our Science topic is skeletons.
So far, we’ve learnt about 5 parts of the human skeleton;
- skull
- pelvis
- ribcage
- femur
- spine
Our skeleton’s function is to protect and support movement. Without a skeleton, we might look a bit like a jellyfish!
Help at home by playing ‘Simon Says’ using these 5 parts of the human skeleton… “Simon says point to your skull.”
In our second lesson, we looked at a variety of animal’s skeletons. We classified these animals based on whether they were mammals, reptiles, fish, amphibians or birds.
How else could you group these skeletons? Could you group them based on which ones have a spine or ribcage?
Science: We are biologists!
This half-term in Science, Year 4 are biologists and will be learning all about living things and their habitats.
Biology is the study of living things.
We’ve been grouping and classifying animals and have used classification keys to help us do so.
All animals can be classified as either vertebrates (animals with a spine) or invertebrates (animals without a spine).
There are five types of vertebrates that we’ve explored:
- mammals
- birds
- fish
- reptiles
- amphibians
A classification key helps scientists identify things using closed questions (‘yes’ or ‘no’). We’ve been using classification keys to classify a variety of vertebrates and invertebrates.
We’ve discussed what makes a good classification key question. For example, ‘Is it scary?’ isn’t useful because people find different things scary which could lead to misclassified animals. Instead, our questions should be simple, observable and objective. Your children had a chance to write their own…
Help at home: complete this classification key with your children:
Science: We are biologists.
In our first science unit, we are biologists. Biology is the study of living things. Year 6 will be learning about living things and their habitats. The children learnt that both animals and plants are organisms but they have a different criteria to fulfil to be classified as either.
Animals have 6 criteria for life.
- breathe
- move
- eat
- grow
- excrete (poo)
- reproduce
Plants have 4 criteria for life.
- move (towards sunlight)
- make its own food
- grow
- reproduce
Year 6 looked at the enquiry question ‘How can we identify, group and classify plants, animals and microorganisms?’. To help us with this learning, we played ‘Guess Who?’. The children could classify these people according to their common observable characteristics. We can also identify them due to their common observable characteristics.
They then used this knowledge to identify the common observable characteristics of each species of animal.
Help at home: Discuss the key vocabulary for this science unit. Can you use these words in sentences?
Welcome to Reception meeting
It was great to see so many of you at the ‘Welcome to Reception’ meeting this week. For those of you who were unable to attend, please find attached the PowerPoint shared at the meeting.
Autumn term after-school clubs – places available
As we start week two of our new after-school club schedule, there are some clubs with spaces available and it is not too late for your child to join a club.
Monday
- Y3/4 Table tennis 1 space
- Y3-6 Chess spaces
- Y4-6 Dodgeball 1 space
Tuesday
- Y1-3 Foot-tech football 1 space
- Y1-3 City of Leeds Basketball spaces
- Y5-6 now open to Year 4 Table tennis spaces
Wednesday
- Y1-3 Fun and games spaces
- Y4-6 City of Leeds Basketball spaces
Thursday
- Y5/6 Coding 2 spaces
- Y5-6 now open to Year 4 Netball spaces
Wow reading records!
The children really impressed me with their reading records this first week. The activity was ‘predict the future‘ which asks them to predict what may happen; in the next chapter, at the end of the book or in the sequel. These records are to help me keep track of the children’s reading progress so it’s fantastic to see the children’s evidence of this.
I choose an activity for the whole class to complete on their book each Friday. More information on these activities are inside the record. If you are ever unsure which activity it is, please ask or choose a random one!
This week’s activity is ‘fact file’.
Class Novel: The Legend of Podkin One-Ear
In Year 4, our current class novel is The Legend of Podkin One-Ear by Kieran Larwood.
“Podkin is the son of a warrior chieftain. He knows that one day it will be up to him to lead his warren and guard it in times of danger. But for now, he’s quite happy to laze around annoying his older sister Paz, and playing with his baby brother Pook. Then Podkin’s home is brutally attacked, and the young rabbits are forced to flee. The terrifying Gorm are on the rampage, and no one and nowhere is safe. With danger all around them, Podkin must protect his family, uncover his destiny, and attempt to defeat the most horrifying enemy rabbitkind has ever known.”
We’re not very far in but we’re all really enjoying it so far! We can’t wait to find out what happened to Podkin.
Your children have been sharing their opinions and making some predictions…
I predict that Podkin lost his ear in a battle.
I think that Podkin is a hero and he will save his warren from the evil enemies.
I predict that the bard knows Podkin and they used to fight together.
I’m excited to keep reading it because I want to know how Podkin lost his ear.
Help at home: ask your child to summarise what they’ve read so far. You can also explore some of the other books from Kieran Larwood.
Living and Learning: 8Rs
In Living and Learning this week we have been focussing on the 8Rs for learning and thinking about ways we can show the 8Rs in all our lessons.
I’ve seen the whole class using their 8Rs in different lessons this week. In PE, we’ve been working on our teamwork by playing different games. We had to have strong communication and listening skills. Everybody showed resilience and were very responsive.
Today, we started reading with the Reception children. This is a Year 5 tradition. The children were very excited and showed great kindness and maturity when they were reading. The children showed great responsibility.
Throughout all the lessons this week Year 5 have shown they are ready and that they can take safe risks by answering questions even if they are not sure.
Help at home by discussing when the children can use the 8Rs at home.
Reading with Year 5
This afternoon, our Reception children enjoyed a special reading session with Year 5 pupils. The older children took the lead, sharing stories and reading aloud, while the younger ones listened with excitement. It was a lovely opportunity for both year groups to connect – building confidence, friendship, and a shared love of reading.
