Reception children discovered frost and ice outside today. They practiced writing in the frost with either their fingers or a stick. Children developed the skill of estimating, that we have been learning in maths by dropping the ice and estimating how many pieces it had broken into. They checked their answers by counting the smaller pieces of ice!
In their maths learning yesterday, Year 4 were been looking at the properties of shapes and lines. They looked at parallel and perpendicular lines and had to identify them within the Union Jack flag.
Using this knowledge of lines, they then had to create their own flag which contained a certain amount of parallel and perpendicular lines. We then began to look at similarities and differences between shapes. The discussions the children were having together were amazing! There was lots of mathematical vocabulary used such as lines of symmetry, number of vertices and right angles.
Well done year 4!
Year 1 had an exciting afternoon. We were joined by Mrs Bone who led a session following on from our maths learning. Year 1 learned some history around famous bridges. We got a chance to be challenge chasers and build our own lego bridges. We were set the challenge of having a toy plastic car travel over the bridge we had made. We all succeeded! Thank you to all the grown ups who came in to join us!
Continuing with our theme this week of The Gingerbread Man, Nursery made their own gingerbread men today. We followed a recipe but found it tricky to measure the ingredients correctly. We took turns to measure and mix and then roll and cut the gingerbread shapes. Once cooked and cooled we wrapped them up to take home. The children told us that they’d be eating them as soon as they could to make sure these ones don’t run away!
Children were developing their writing skills today. In the mud kitchen, pancakes were being made with a delicious topping of maple syrup. A list of ingredients was added to the menu board. Inside, children were labelling their pictures and models and making books.
This week, year 4 have been looking at different types of data in maths. We have looked at discrete data and how that can be represented, and then did the same for continuous data. We then collected our own data, decided which type of data it is and represented it in a graph/chart.
Some children were asked to roll a dice 50 times and record what number was rolled each time, others were asked to jump for 2 and a half minutes, and record how many jumps they had done at 30 second intervals. I was so impressed with how Year 4 did this, and although they might have been slightly out of breath, they were able to collect their own data and represent this in a line graph or a bar chart.
Can you tell which activity produces discrete data and which produces continuous?
This week, Year 4 have been learning all about their new science topic – electricity. They have been discussing renewable and non-renewable energy sources and which ones are better for us.
After learning about these sources, Year 4 then began planning and recording their own tv show which informed children about different ways we can get electricity.
They worked so hard on this and are very excited to learn more about electricity!
Year 5 have begun writing about aliens! We started by learning about each planet before designing an alien that we thought would be well suited to the environment on a particular planet. Each alien had to have three adaptations to ensure it could survive on its planet. Some aliens inhaled hydrogen and used it to power their hoverboard legs to remain above the surface on a gas planet with a hydrogen based atmosphere. Some aliens were furry to keep them warm. Some aliens used their tentacles to propel them above the surface. Some had huge eyes to help them see through the storms. I was amazed by the thought that went into them. We have now begun using language creatively to describe the aliens. The children are choosing and placing words and phrases to ensure their reader is either disgusted, scared or intrigued by their alien.
Year 5 were presented with a joke and a code. To work out the answer to the joke, they had to crack the code. This involved some complex ordering of numbers with up to three decimal places and the careful positioning of them on number lines. We tried different methods for ordering numbers and the children then used which one they found the most useful. They were extremely resilient with some returning again and again to questions to get the positioning on the number line as accurate as possible.
This afternoon, the new class reader for Year 5 was revealed. The children were allowed to explore the front and back cover and the blurb. From this, they were asked to observe closely and comment on the things they noticed. We then tried to work out which fiction genre it could be. I was blown away by the depth of discussion that occurred and how closely and carefully they observed.
“The boy is hanging on the branch while the girl is hanging on a snake-like branch. This could mean that the girl creates the boy from her imagination as she is hanging onto something that can’t be there.”
“The girl on the back is see through. You can just about see the man through her. She must need him to exist. The cloud of smoke above them could be the energy she requires to be imagined.”
“The images on his shirt and shorts are reversed. Perhaps he isn’t what he seems.”
“The boy is running. I wonder if he is running from something or to something.”
