It's the end of another week and, despite being cold, what a lovely one it's been!
This week, a number of the children found themselves in the 'learning pit' during Maths. We were learning how to use short multiplication and two different methods for division. Although it was tricky, everyone was able to climb out of the pit and make progress in their understanding! Some children used manipulatives to help them, others worked with each other and some were supported in a guided working group with an adult. Well done, Ash Class, for your hard work. In English, the children enjoyed researching their chosen inventor and writing their 'Inventor's Portfolio'. They used some of the features we have learning about (such as fronted adverbials and expanded noun phrases) to enable them to include lots of information in a relatively short piece of writing. Do you know the difference between an asteroid, comet, meteor and meteorite? Ash Class can explain it to you. What was everyday life like for the Anglo-Saxons? What did they eat? What jobs did they do? What were their houses like? More things that we have learnt this week! On top of this, we've made sure we've kept active in our Real PE session with myself and gymnastics with SAINTS. Does your child take part in a club? We have a great variety of clubs happening this term so please do book spaces onto these. Next week, we will have both indoor PE and Forest School on Tuesday. Please could children wear PE kits to school but bring their Forest School clothes to change into. Have a great weekend! Miss Radbourne Hello everyone and happy Friday!
We've reached the end of our first full week back in school of the new year and it's been great. A particular highlight this week was our first Forest School session. Miss Prince visited us before we went outside to explain the rules of Forest School and what our first session would entail. Following this, suitably armed against the mud with our waterproof gear, we went outside for a full afternoon of fun, teamwork and outdoor learning. Alongside the key personal skills which children will develop during Forest School, we are also linking it with our Anglo-Saxon topic in History to provide enrichment activities. As such, this week was based around what it would feel like to be a settler and invader. The children began by working in teams to build dens, considering where a good defensive site might be located. They then played several rounds of 'Capture the Flag' where they had to invade other groups' territories and steal their treasure. We were lucky that the weather stayed dry and I think a great afternoon was had by all. Our next session will be in 2 weeks' time. For this, could I ask a favour? Please could you keep any onion skins you might use over the next week or so? We are hoping to use these to make our own dyes. Thanks! We have been busy in our other curriculum areas too. In English, we've started our new text 'How to Invent' and had a focus on recapping key grammar knowledge this week, including what makes a sentence, different types of clauses and different types of sentences. In Maths, we've carried on with Multiplication and Division and learnt how to multiply three numbers together as well as practising different methods of mental multiplication. History was our first lesson in our unit 'Anglo-Saxons and Scots', where we discovered why that era is known as the 'Dark Ages' and how we actually know about life in Britain at that time. In Science, we explored the difference between Solar and Lunar eclipses. The children are enjoying our new Computing unit, 'Repetition in Shapes' where they are learning different commands for programming. Finally, we have now started our Gymnastics unit for our SAINTS PE lessons. On Tuesday next week, we will have our extra PE lesson (lead by me) so please can children wear PE kit to school as normal. No Forest School next week. Spellings this week are homophones: cereal, serial, check, cheque, through, threw, draft, draught, stares, stairs Please keep reading every day at home and recording this in reading diaries, as well as learning times tables. I'm pleased to hear that lots of children are now regularly practising at home for the Year 4 Multiplication Check at home. That's it from me for this week so have a lovely weekend. Miss Radbourne Happy New Year!
I hope you all had a relaxing and peaceful Christmas break. It was lovely to welcome to children back to the classroom on Wednesday and they all settled back into our normal routines really quickly. We've had a few timetable changes for this term which I'd like to make you aware of. On a Tuesday, we will be alternating weekly between Forest School and another PE session (indoors). As such, the children will either need to come to school wearing uniform but bring their Forest School clothes to change into, or they will need to wear PE kit to school (as they do on a Thursday). I will make sure you are aware which week we are doing what! We've kicked off our new units of learning and are in full swing now. We are looking at a book called 'How to Invent' in English and will be writing an Inventor Portfolio over the next couple of weeks. We are continuing with Multiplication and Division in Maths, learning how to use the formal written method short multiplication. On this note, the Year 4 Times Table Check creeps closer every day so please do spend some time practising for this at home. Children need to be secure with their times tables up to 12 x 12. In History, our topic for this half of term is the Anglo-Saxons. This leads on nicely from our previous unit on the Romans as the Anglo-Saxons settled in Britain directly afterwards. We are spending more time in Science learning about Space, diving deeper into space if you like! Today, I have sent home weekly spellings to be learnt along with the homework grid. Please hand homework in every 2 weeks (the dates are on the sheet). Children only need to choose 1 activity to do every fortnight. As always, please also keep reading at home and filling in the reading diary alongside. I hope the weather isn't quite so rainy this weekend! Have a lovely one. There's not a huge amount to say this week apart from Merry Christmas! We have had a busy and very festive week here in Ash Class. On Monday, the children worked really hard all day writing a big piece of writing to sum up their Geography learning all about Water, Weather and Climate. Tuesday was our DT day and I think everyone involved had a great time baking Christmas biscuits. Wednesday and Thursday involved writing some Christmas riddles in English and finishing off some last bits of Maths multiplication and division. On Wednesday, we also enjoyed singing some Christmas carols and songs on the playground and eating the delicious Christmas dinner. Finally, today, we've had great fun with all of our different Christmas activities. Well done to the winning quiz team!
Thank you for all of your hard work supporting your children with their learning this term. Have a wonderful, safe and happy Christmas and best wishes for the new year. See you in 2022! I'd like to start this week's blog with a big well done to all of the children in Ash Class for their excellent effort in their assessments this week. They completed 2 Maths papers and 1 reading paper and everybody tried their hardest which was all I asked for. Be proud!
Aside from the assessments, we've had a really busy week. We started off on Monday with an exciting afternoon filled with singing and a Santa Fun Run! Throughout the week in English, the children finished writing the story of 'Mog's Christmas Calamity'. In Science, we learnt about careers related to Space and the children all thought about which job they might like to do (some have aspirations to travel into space but others would prefer to stay on Earth!) Maths has been full of multiplication and division this week. We are continuing our weekly Times Table Check so please do keep practising at home and learning all times tables up to 12x12. Those children who are regularly doing this are making great progress. It's hard to believe that next week is the last week of term! I have a small favour to ask. On Tuesday, we will be having a DT day... baking Christmas biscuits! If you are able to send your child with a little bundle of equipment for use between a small group, that would be incredibly helpful. They will need: - Plastic mixing bowl - Wooden spoon - Rolling pin - Cutters (perhaps Christmas shapes) If you can, please send this in on Monday in a labelled bag so I can make sure we have enough for Tuesday. I'm anticipating needing around 9 sets of equipment. The equipment will be thoroughly washed and returned after use. Have a lovely weekend! sHappy December! We are already getting into the festive spirit in Ash Class and spent this afternoon creating Christmas decorations. We also have a virtual Advent calendar with a riddle to solve each day. Here are the highlights from this week...
In English, we have constructed a plan for writing the story of 'Mog's Christmas Calamity'. We will be writing this next week, focusing on including features such as correctly punctuated speech. In Maths, we have been learning the 6 times table and how to use known facts to solve other calculations (e.g. 600 x 7). In Science this week, we looked at the history of space exploration and next week we'll be thinking to the future and considering possible careers in space science that the children could aspire to! We revised continents and oceans in Geography using some great floor jigsaws to do this. There were some excellent linguists in French and many of the children are now more confident when saying their opinion about animals. We also had some great teamwork in tag rugby in P.E. this week. On Monday, we are taking part in a Santa fun run in the afternoon (weather permitting) so please wear trainers, and a Christmas jumper! Have a lovely weekend. I'll start this week's blog with a 'well done' to my times table stars! These children have all improved their score on the practice Year 4 Multiplication Check we have been doing in class: Ivy, Dexter, Heath, Tam, Jessica, Isabel, Sonny, Ben S-S, Izzy, Amelia, Matilda. Please keep practising this at home. It's great to see scores going up each week and hopefully soon we'll have lots of children scoring nearly full marks!
In English this week, we started our new unit of work based on the story 'Mog's Christmas Calamity'. The children have really enjoyed getting stuck into this story and watching the video. They know it really well now! In Maths, we have completed our first week of Multiplication and Division, learning how to multiply and divide by 10 and 100, and 1 and 0. We had a really fun lesson in Science learning about star constellations and recreating them using glow in the dark stars and glow sticks (although unfortunately, these didn't glow so well!) Geography this week was all about climate change - the causes, effects and what we can do about it. We will continue these units of work next week, along with tag rugby in PE and creating 'willow patterns' in Art. Spellings this week: - though - although - dough - through - breakthrough - thought - bought - brought - fought - ought Have a lovely weekend. Keep warm! Another Friday already! This week seems to have flown by. Before we know it, it will be December.
A round up of the week: In English, the children wrote their own versions of 'Perils of Everest' and once again, I'm pleased with their writing. They worked hard to include our list of success criteria. In Maths, we have just finished our unit 'Length and Perimeter' and begin a unit on 'Multiplication and Division' next week. I can't stress enough how important it is that children are learning their times tables off by heart. They need to speedily recall them. The expectation is that they know all tables up to 12 x 12 by the end of Year 4. Wider curriculum subjects have been interesting this week, learning about the Earth's orbit in Science and air masses which influence UK weather in Geography. We practised our still life drawing skills in Art this afternoon and have been enjoying Tag Rugby in PE. It was lovely to see everybody dressing up and getting into the spirit of Children in Need today, raising plenty of money. We enjoyed our 'Run for Fun' and singing the Children in Need song! We also had a special assembly today delivered by a police officer all about road safety. Please make sure children are wearing bright clothes now the nights are getting darker, are walking on pavements and are not playing in roads. Have a great weekend. Hello everyone,
Another busy week here! I'm really pleased with the children's writing this week. They have been writing a report called 'Perils of Space', outlining some of the dangers people might face when they travel in space. They will use the same skills next week to write their own report, choosing their location. Watch this space for 'Perils of ____'! In Maths, we are halfway through our Length and Measurement unit. We've spent lots of time converting between mm, cm, m and km. Science involved learning the order of the planets in the solar system and we had some very creative mnemonics to help us remember! This afternoon, we had a lovely Art lesson making Space optical illusions. Have a great weekend! Now that half term is done, it's hard to believe we are on the build up to Christmas! I look forward to the songs, decorations and festivities that lie ahead later this term.
For now though, a quick look back at this week. In English, we have started our new text called 'Everest'. We will be using this to write a non-chronological report giving information about the hazards of a particular place. We have just finished our Maths unit on Addition and Subtraction and next week we will begin 2 weeks learning about Length and Perimeter. In Science, we have started a unit all about Space which seems to have captured everybody's interest! We are moving our Humanities focus from History to Geography this term and will be learning all about Water, Weather and Climate. This week, we learnt about the water cycle and found that there were lots of new words to understand such as 'evaporation', 'evotranspiration' and 'precipitation'. In PE, we continue with our outdoors lessons and will be playing some Tag Rugby. Please do send in extra layers on Thursday PE day as the weather gets colder. We've had a couple of lovely Art activities to do this week. First, the children designed and created their own Christmas cards which went home yesterday. If you would like to order some, please send in your order form and money on Monday. Then this afternoon, we created some lovely remembrance Art featuring silhouettes on a blended watercolour wash background. Just a reminder from me that children should be reading every day for at least 10 minutes and recording this in their reading folders. They also need to practising their times tables daily. Next week, I will give out more information about the times table check which will happen next year, and how you can help your child prepare for this. That's just about all from me this week so have a great weekend! |
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