Sharing of Learning Afternoon

Thank you to those of you who were able to come to our 'Sharing of Learning' afternoon. The children really enjoyed showing you what they have been learning during concept study this term and especially loved seeing you participate in the science activities with them. It was great fun for the children to show you what they know and to help you when you got stuck :-)

Doubling Fun

In Maths this week we have been learning the doubles (and halves) of numbers to 10 and then 20, such as 5+5, 7+7 etc.

The aim is for the recall of the double facts to become automatic, without the need to count each time they see them (eventually this will carry over into kids' being able to add larger numbers like 22+22). 

Some children have instant recall of the double facts to 20 and are learning "near double" facts, such as 3+4, 7+6, 11+ 12 etc. 

If you'd  like to support continue learning the double facts at home, you can access some of the games we've played in class through the Maths Links on this blog.

Science is Fun!

As part of our concept study 'Exploration', we have been exploring water. We have learnt that we can change the state of water from a liquid to a solid (ice) by freezing it. We have also learnt that we can change water from a liquid to a vapour (steam) by boiling it. 

On Monday we had great fun using salt to melt ice. We sprinkled table salt (and then sea salt) over some large mounds of ice. The children waited patiently to see what happened. They were excited when they first noticed the little ravines where the salt was melting the side of the ice!  We then added drops of food colouring to highlight the ravines, crevasses, and tunnels that formed in the ice as the salt melted it. The children noticed that wherever the salt touched the ice, the ice melted more quickly.  This led us into a discussion of how in places where it snows, salt is used as a 'grit' on the road to help make snow & ice melt quickly so that is safer for traffic to drive on the road.

Writing - using adjectives

In Writing this week we have been focusing developing our descriptive writing skills.  In particular, using adjectives to create pictures in the reader's mind. We looked carefully at this beautiful picture of a woodland setting and tried to use as much descriptive language as possible to describe the scene that we could see.  

Here are a few examples of what the children wrote ...

 I can see the sparkling water dripping off a hill.  It looks like the shiny sky.  I see lots of beautiful lime green plants.  The water feels warm like a bath.  I wonder what's in the cave?  I hope that I don't see ooey gooey slime! I think I will run away from the cave!  I can hear the colourful birds singing through the trees.  I feel relaxed.  

Written by Maia

I can see a really shiny blue pool.  The waterfall is shimmering and falling down like a warm shower.  The moss is soft like a fluffy blanket.  I can hear a splashing golden shiny fish jumping out of the medium sized spring.  I can see a gooey slimy cave.  I hope there isn't any tigers or any mean animals in the cave!

Written by Reuben

I can see a beautiful sparkling turquoise pool of spring water.  I can see a hard rock with grass green moss on it. I can hear graceful birds singing and whistling.  When I touch the slime in the cave, it feels yuck!  I hear a cicada in the trees.  I hear the wind blowing so hard.  It blows so hard that my hair blows back and it is cold!

Written by Millie

I was walking in the scary big deep jungle when I came to a beautiful place.  I saw a big dark blue spring and waterfall.  The waterfall was rushing down like a cheetah running down from the sky.  There was a big dark cave.  If there was a bear in that cave I would scream very loudly and run away!

Written by Arthur

Maths - Counting in 2s, 5s and 10s

This week in Mathematics we have been practicing skip counting in 2s, 5s and 10s. 

Skip counting is being able to count forwards and backwards in multiples, such as twos, fours, fives, tens etc. Practice in skip counting helps children with the development of fluency in calculation and is the basis for multiplication and division.

Lots of repetition and making it fun are the best ways to reinforce these skills. 

Below are some links to activities and games that we have been using in class to consolidate these concepts.

SONG

Skip counting Rap

GAMES

Splat Square

Fishy 2s

Balloon Pop

INTRODUCTION TO MULTIPLICATION

Problem Solving