Another full on busy week of learning!
In English we explored the power of poetry and really looked at the importance of selecting the appropriate vocabulary for the desired effect on the audience. We practised reading Caged Bird by Maya Angelou and talked about how the caged bird represents a slave. The children were mature and considered as we talked discussed the importance of acknowledging parts of our history of which we should reflect on and ensure that we learn from.
In Maths we entered the sometime problematic world of decimals! If I I had a pound for every time I said place value this week, I would be pretty wealthy right now! It is so important for the children to understand WHAT a tenth is and WHAT a hundredth is. We used Dienes to explore compliments to 1 and moved on to pictorial representations to add 2 decimals together.
In History, the children have started preparing scripts for a radio show based on the truth behind certain myths. They are examining various sources, both primary and secondary, and questioning their reliability and validity and seeing how Greek myths began.
In Science, we spent time investigating the planets and sorted them in size order, temperature order, in groups according to who they are named by, who discovered them and in distance from the sun. We then built a scale model of the solar system using a variety of fruits and measuring the distance between them in toilet rolls. This helps us to visualize something in a way that would be impossible in our heads. I know have a huge watermelon to eat!
In Guided Reading, our linked texts were all songs with a variety of different and important messages.
In Art with Miss Hurt, the children did some brilliant pastel drawings of the planets and I have posted that display on Twitter. I was so impressed with the level of detail on many of them.
In PSHE we learnt about refugees and the rights that all children around the world have and the children discussed what rights they thought all children should have. I shared the beautifully written The Journey by Francesca Sanna all about a family who had to flee their home and find refuge. I was again impressed by the classes maturity and sensitivity to such an important topic.
In among all of that we still had time to play, laugh, run, jump and for me to collapse on the classroom floor on Friday afternoon when demonstrating the importance of clear, specific instructions in coding! This will make sense to the children! More of the same next week!