We are focusing on 3 elements: using the Writer's Toolkit on our boards, working as a team and presenting our work clearly and neatly.
This week in English we are currently working really hard to produce our own display boards, with each group focusing on a different aspect of Nelson Mandela's life. We are focusing on 3 elements: using the Writer's Toolkit on our boards, working as a team and presenting our work clearly and neatly. Here we are hard at work: Mrs Matthews has given us some feedback so when we work on our boards again next week we can make some improvements. Here's what they look like so far:
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This week we finished our unit on place value by looking at word problems to do with negative numbers. Before solving their problems independently, the children had to work in pairs to sort word problems with no numbers into those they would need to add and those they needed to subtract. Without the numbers, the children were able to focus on the key words in the problems and identify what those words meant i.e. writing a cheque, spend and bought all meant numbers needed to be subtracted. The following day, we moved on to our new unit - Four operations. We started working on the written methods for addition and subtraction. The class worked really well on recording these methods neatly in their books. A great start to this unit! Good use of these learning gems:This week in science we planned and then carried out an investigation into how the brightness of a bulb can be changed in a circuit. Each group decided on their own question before working together to carry out the investigation. They made use of data loggers to get an accurate measurement of the brightness of the bulbs and then learnt about how to write a 3 part conclusion, in order to show what they had discovered. Before carrying out the investigation, we compared different batteries. The children were asked to group them in any way they wanted; they looked at size, shapes and makes. Following this, I asked them to look at the voltage of each of the batteries and group them accordingly. Many children were surprised to discover that some of the larger batteries had the same voltage as the smaller batteries! good use of these learning gems:This week's quick challenge was based on dissolving. One group investigated whether a biscuit would dissolve in water - a question asked by a member of the group. We tested it out in different temperatures of water and found out that it didn't matter what temperature the water was, unless the biscuit was bashed into very small pieces it wouldn't dissolve! The other group investigated whether different types of sugar would dissolve in water. Again, this group tested it out with different temperatures. They found the icing sugar dissolved quickest in the hot water but also quickly dissolved in freezing cold water but the demerara sugar took a lot longer to dissolve even in the hot water. They also watched a polystyrene cup dissolve! good use of these learning gems:In our SPAG lessons we have been leaning about complex sentences, making sure that we can identify the main clause and subordinate clause and use commas and subordinating conjunctions correctly. We reviewed our work using the Complex Sentence Checklist. Then as a group we selected our favourite 5 star complex sentences. Good use of these Learning Gems:The children worked really hard in maths this week to be able to round numbers. They looked at a range of fluency tasks and then started to look at some reasoning and problem solving tasks too. We were really pleased to see the number of children who took on the 3 chilli challenge, showing confidence in their own ability to round. Well done Mandela Class! Good use of these Learning gems:We had two STEM tasks this week. The first was whilst half the class were learning guitars. We checked the meaning of a solid and a liquid and then went about making sure we knew that sometimes solids (small ones) could also take the shape of a container like we knew liquids did. We did this by breaking up a biscuit (solid) into smaller parts and then pouring those pieces into different shaped containers. The following day, we spent some time engineering. We were very lucky to have received some Meccano sets, so we had some time working with a partner or individually trying to put a set together. Some of them were quite fiddly but I was pleased to see how well most of the children worked with each other to make a good start on their set. Good use of these learning gems:This week we only had a short time for science, we continued to work on how to draw circuit diagrams accurately, using the correct symbols and looked at how to fix broken circuits. Below are 2 examples of super work produced by the children. Good use of these learning gems:We completed our first lot of homework this week and Mrs Matthews and Mrs Hayter are so proud of the class for completing their homework correctly using the Seesaw Class App. Here are some of the best examples for each of the 3 tasks. It’s reassuring to know that everyone can use the functions confidently, so that if we have to go back to home learning at any point, we have everything in place to make it a success 😊 Well done everyone! This week's homework is not online and we have already made a head start on learning our spellings in class this week! We have spelling tests are every Wednesday and use Spelling Shed to help us practise.
We are enjoying our Book Club time in class. It is great to just read for pleasure and chat about our group's current book using high quality 'book talk'. Good use of these Learning Gems: |
AuthorsWritten by Mrs Matthews & Mrs Hayter (proud class teachers) and their brilliant pupils (Mandela class). Archives
March 2024
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