Spring 1, Week 2

Spring 1 is our Fire and Ice theme. Over the past 2 weeks, nature has provided us  with so many opportunities to explore freezing and melting! Take a look at our snow-filled tray, with snow collected from our garden:

“the snow has turned to ice- it’s rock hard!”- J.A

““the snow feels so freezing when I pour it on my hands!… now it’s melting”

Lost and Found

We’ve continued to focus on the book Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers.

We’ve been linking the story to topic work. We looked at a world map to see how the boy and penguin would travel from where we live (The United Kingdom) to The South Pole in Antarctica. We recalled what we know about the world map from our previous learning.

We’ve also been comparing our weather to that in the continent of Antarctica. Our word of the week is: climate. 

We’ve been writing ‘Missing’ posters, describing the penguin from our story.

Penguin observations

We’ve been zoologists this week- observing the livestream of the penguins at Edinburgh Zoo

We’ve been making notes on how the penguins move and interact with each other.

We noticed that the penguins were busier on the colder days of the week and discussed why this might be.

Ice painting

We made ice paintings by freezing paint mixed with water and creating art tools with them.

We noticed the difference in how well the tools painted, as the ice began to melt.

Charanga Music; Lullabies

“Mummy sings ‘You Are My Sunshine’ – Miley

“My Mummy sings ‘Twinkle Twinkle” – Mila

“When I was a baby my Mummy cuddled me and sang to me”- Harlow

“My Mummy lets my baby go to sleep with a light that changes colour”- Olivia

“It’s where you rock someone to sleep” (a lullaby)- Mila

“We tell stories with Daddy at bedtime”- Grace

“He needs a drink” (what does the baby need at bedtime)- Charlie

Phonics Phase 3 Stay and Learn 

Thank you to the parents and carers who were able to join us for another Stay and Learn session this week.

We hope you enjoyed watching a lesson, getting to spend time in the classroom and hopefully getting some more ideas and information for the next steps in our phonics journey.

As always, we would love to hear your feedback. Scan the QR code to leave your views!

Maths; the staircase pattern

In Maths, we’ve been looking at counting and ordinality- specifically, the ‘one more’ relationship that creates ‘the staircase pattern’.

We were introduced to the concept by the Numberblocks, before moving on to create our own staircase patterns in small groups.

In provision, we’ve been using Frayer models to explore numbers- counting the corresponding amount of cubes/teddies, finding the Numicon and  representing it on a tens frame.

Phonics

Spring 1 week 2  has focused on the digraphs oo, oo, ar, or

We’ve learnt the tricky words; was, you, they

Tricky words are words that should be read by sight.

In provision, we’ve been playing roll and read.

Help at home; Tricky words

Each week, we’d like to give you an idea of a game you could play at home to make reading even more exciting.

This week’s game is: Tricky Word Bingo

1. Enter the list of tricky words you want to focus on into an online ‘picker’ (pickerwheel.com is an easy to use option) or write them down onto strips of paper, to be picked at random.
2. Ask your child to choose 4-6 tricky words and write them down (they can copy these from a list), you should do the same and you could even ask a sibling to play along too!
3. Pick the tricky words at random or by clicking the wheel- who will be the first to cross off all of their words and shout BINGO?!!

Poetry Picnic

Each week we will be learning a new poem. We will recite this poem each day. By saying the poem out loud, we can focus on the sounds and rhythm of each word or line. We talk to the children about how this can help us become better readers. This week’s poem is called I can build a snowman

We talk about how a poem sometimes has rhyming words and sometimes doesn’t. We also talk about how a poem can have a fast rhythm or a slow rhythm.

Reminders/ Dates for your diary

Living and Learning – Year 3,4

Our Living and Learning statements over the last couple of weeks have been:

I know what a drug is.

I know that some drugs can be harmful.

We have discussed:

• definition of a drug: a substance that changes the way the mind or body works
• how to use medicines safely
• how household chemicals and products can be used and stored safely
• that adults, over the age of 18, may decide to smoke, vape or drink alcohol
• some of the risks associated with smoking, vaping and drinking alcohol
• who to talk to if children were ever concerned about any of the above points – children know they can talk to trusted adults in school or contact other means of help such as Childline.

1,2B Lotherton Hall Trip

We’ve had a fabulous day at Lotherton Hall today. We visited the Wildlife World and learnt all about different animals and their habitats. We saw penguins, wart pigs, so many birds, bats, rats and wallabies.

We also had fun on the adventure playground and of course, eating our snacks and lunch!

Science: light

Children in 5/6 have been investigating shadows. They found out what happens to a shadow when an object is moved closer to the light source. We also looked at what happened to shadows throughout the day. Thank goodness for sunny days in January!

Help at home: create your own shadow puppet show. How can you change the shape of a shadow?

1A Geography Topic

Our new topic is well and truly underway and this half term we are practising being Geographers. To begin our topic we discussed the difference between the land and the water on our planet. We used atlases to find land and water on different maps.

We have also been learning about the United Kingdom and we now know which four countries make up the UK. We have also learnt the four capital cities and the seas that surround the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom Song has been a great tool to help us remember all the new information we have learnt.

Help at home: You could listen to the United Kingdom Song with your child. You might want to learn some of the words and the sign language featured in the video. Look at Google Maps, other maps or atlases to find the UK and the seas that surround it.

Reading- Inference Skills!

This week in reading we’ve been using our inference skills to answer questions about our new class novel, The Firework-Maker’s Daughter.

Inference is a reading skill that is all about looking for hints! The text might not tell us the exact answer but we can read around the words.

We started to explore the first chapter and discuss what we know and what we think about the characters so far.

We played a classroom classic called hot seating! This is where we step into the characters shoes and we ask them questions. We paused at a part in our class novel and inferred what each character was thinking and feeling.

Our success criteria for inference is:

• What do we know?

• What does it make you think?

• What can you infer?

Help at home: read with your child regulary at home. Pause to ask inference questions (What do we know? What does it make you think? What can you infer?) You could even play a game of hot seating!

Topic: What are the causes of climate change?

The children have been really enjoying their geography topic this week, focusing on the causes of climate change.

They have read articles and done some great learning about how factors such as increased food waste, deforestation, and the burning of fossil fuels contribute to the rise in global temperatures. The primary gases responsible for damaging the ozone layer are methane and carbon dioxide.

Help at home: Ask your child about the causes of climate change. Do they know the key vocabulary for this topic?

Physical Education-dance

This half term, in PE, we are looking at dance! Last week, the whole of KS1 watched a dance pro video to help us understand the different levels in dance. We then went into the hall to recreate the levels and begin our own dance motif. The freedom of space and the connection with our bodies was enjoyed by everyone! We even put our moves to music: ‘Running up that hill’ by Kate Bush was our selected track.

Help at home:

Here’s a link to the levels video. Why not have a go at home? Make up a dance that includes all 3 different levels. You could dance to your favourite track.

Living and learning: I know what a drug is

Our living and learning statement this week allowed us to explore our understanding of what a drug is. A drug is something that can alter the way you feel and think. The children were able to identify harmful drugs including alcohol and tobacco but also recognise that some drugs can help us, such as medicines. They also knew that medicines needed to be  prescribed by a doctor and taken appropriately. We then discussed how we might experience peer pressure into taking drugs. The children discussed strategies to cope in such situations. They were able to confidently talk about how they would resist peer pressure, remove themselves from difficult situations and be assertive in their choices and actions. The children always know they can talk to trusted adults in school about any of these issues and are able to also contact other means of help such as Childline.

Welcome back!

After a very snowy start, it was lovely to see everyone back this week and we enjoyed hearing all about your Christmas holidays.

Our main topic focus will be geography this half term. As geographers we will be exploring the environment and natural disasters. In this topic, we’ll look at the effects of global warming and discuss the use of fossil fuels and renewable energy. We’ll be using digital resources to look at how erosion has taken place over the last 100 years and how sea defences, such as groynes, help to minimise the effects.

In science, we’ll be brightening things up (not literally) as we explore the properties of light.

Our Living and Learning theme this half term is being safe. In the next two weeks, we’ll be discussing some influences associated with drugs and alcohol.

PE days:

56A Monday
56B Monday
56C Wednesday
All year 5 and 6 Thursday
Please read the uniform policy carefully. Children should come to school wearing their PE kit on their PE days

Reading records:

Just a reminder, children in 5/6 are expected to read on a daily basis. They have a reading record to record their responses to each text and a space for parents to sign and add a comment. It is still vital that children read aloud at home. Please continue to make this part of your daily routine.