Hi everyone,
The temperature is starting to feel a lot colder now! I think I’ve become so used to the warmer weather we’ve had over the last few months that I’m noticing the change even more. I can’t believe we’ve only got two weeks left until the half-term break! I’m also looking forward to seeing you all at our parent consultations soon.
This week in English, we’ve been imagining what it would be like to fly around New York City, just like Cassie Lightfoot in our story Tar Beach. The children have been developing their descriptive writing by creating expanded noun phrases to describe what they might see and experience as they soar above the city. We’ll be using these ideas next week to write diary entries, capturing the excitement and wonder of flying over New York!
In maths, the children have been learning how to add numbers with up to four digits. We’ve been focusing on lining up the place value columns correctly and adding the ones, tens, hundreds and thousands. Next week, we’ll be building on this by introducing exchanging. This is when the total in a column reaches 10 or more, meaning we need to exchange ten ones for one ten, ten tens for one hundred or ten hundreds for one thousand. We’ll be using practical resources and written methods to help the children understand this process and apply it accurately when solving calculations.
As part of our science topic on the human digestive system, we’ve been focusing on our teeth this week. The children have been learning about the different types of teeth, including incisors, canines and molars, and exploring how each type has a specific function in helping us eat and digest food. We’ve also discussed the importance of looking after our teeth through regular brushing and making healthy choices. To investigate this further, the children conducted an experiment to explore the effects of different sugary drinks on our teeth, helping us understand why good dental hygiene is so important.
In RE, we began by revisiting what we remembered from our previous lesson about Christian pilgrimage. We then travelled to Lourdes in France, where Saint Bernadette reported having visions of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The children explored the significance of holy water and discussed what Christians mean when they talk about a miracle. We also looked at how Saint Bernadette’s experiences led to the development of important religious sites, including churches, a statue and a chapel. It was great to hear the children sharing their ideas and thinking carefully about why these places are so meaningful to Christians today.
In art, we’ve been experimenting with a new technique to create tone in our compositional drawings. The children started by using soft pencils to create a grey background, which they then smudged to achieve different shades and textures. They used rubbers to mark out the outlines of their objects before working back into their drawings with art pencils to add finer details, depth and further shading. The children have been developing their understanding of how light and dark can be used to make objects appear more realistic.
A quick reminder about our half-term project: the BBC 500 Words Challenge! The children should be working towards writing their own original story of no more than 500 words (the title doesn’t count towards the total). Stories need to be typed electronically so that they can be uploaded online. Please could children also bring in a copy of their story to share with the class? The deadline for our school submissions is the week commencing Monday 19th October, so please make sure your child’s story is ready by then. I’m really looking forward to reading all their imaginative ideas!
Have a lovely weekend, everyone! I look forward to another great week of learning next week.
