Friday 16 December 2016

Week Beginning 12/12/16

The final week of the term has been filled with lots of fun (and of course learning!).

The week started with a special cooking arranged and delivered by members of the Norse Catering team. We learnt how to make stained glass cookies by melting hard boiled sweets to create a coloured transparent window. We also used an upside down gingerbread man shape to ice some Rudolph gingerbread biscuits.















In literacy, we finished off writing our instructions; making sure we included lots language and layout features. We included: titles, sub-headings, numbered steps, commas in lists, an introduction and top tips. We made our sentences detailed by using time adverbs, conjunctions to explain and adjectives and adverbs to describe.


In maths we have been practising the skills we have learnt this term. We have been solving mixed word problems involving different measure such as length and capacity and Christmas themed problems. We have been working in pairs to discuss the most efficient methods and making sure we are choosing the correct operation to solve the problem.


Tuesday and Wednesday brought the performances for the much anticipated key stage 1 Nativity play. Both performances were a roaring success, as the actors, actresses, readers and singers stunned the  crowd with their enthusiastic and confident performances. Well down our year 2 children!

On Wednesday, whilst the year 2 children completed the their final performance, the year 3 children kept themselves busy by learning about Spanish Christmas traditions.









We made these festive little critters, a tradition from the Catalonia region of Spain. They are called Tio de Nadal. It's a very funny tradition, As us to explain!





It was lovely to see so many faces at the church on Thursday for the childrens' Christmas service. Finally thank-you for all your support  this year and see you in 2017  for a fresh new term.










Friday 9 December 2016

Week Beginning 5.12.16

This weeks blog it brought to you by Meaghan and Miss Palmer...

Literacy

Today we had a big surprise! We had a goblin in our cupboard  and he squirted pink paint all over our floor and left tiny little footprints! We decided to write steps for how to catch a goblin. After we had done all that hard work, we went down  to the carpet and Miss Palmer told us it was a trick all along. Lets hope she gets the paint off the floor! We have been using time adverbs, conjunctions to explain and adverbs to make our sentences really detailed. This was after looking at the layout of lots of different instructions. 


Science

This week in science,  we took a  piece of paper and a torch and we held the torch and moved the paper backwards and the size of the shadow changed. We designed an investigation to to see how much the size of the shadow increased when we moved it closer to the light. 




Maths

In class this week in maths, we have been learning all about measures. We learnt how to use a ruler accurately, measuring and drawing in mm and cm. We also practised calculating increments on scales and how to read scales for capacity.



Spanish

In Spanish this week we have been counting to 30. We played a Spanish board game to help us learn.


Next week is a big week as we prepare for lots of Christmas activities. We will be enjoying some Christmas cooking on Monday with some visitors and will also have a chance to see the Key Stage 1 nativity. Good luck to our year 2 children we cannot wait to see it! On Thursday Morning at 9:30am we will be heading to the church for our Christmas service, see you there! Finally, don't forget to wear your festive jumpers for the last day of term. A £1 donation has been suggested to raise money for Save the Children. 


Friday 2 December 2016

Week Beginning 28.11.16

Music

As usual, Monday started on a musical note, as the year 3 children learnt to hold their bows correctly. It was very tricky getting the finger positions just right. We also learnt lots of exercises to help us strengthen the muscles in our bowing arm.  We also learnt three new words that will help us when we compose: pizzicato, arco and tremolo. Ask us what they mean!


Literacy 

We learnt how to use a dictionary this week to find the definitions of interesting words. We learnt how to find the right section of the dictionary quickly, when looking up a word by using the four quartiles and the information at the top of the page. We looked up words, searching with the first three letters and corrected some that were written incorrectly. 



We also started our new non-fiction literacy topic: instructions. We started by identifying the useful language used when giving successful instructions whilst  we played barrier games. It was such a challenge! We had to make sure to include lots of details and use lots of accurate positional language. 






Maths

What an exciting week we have had this week with maths! During our maths sessions we have had a week of inspirational maths with a strong focus on positive thinking and growth mind-set. Did you know when you make a mistake your brain actually grows? We have been making plenty of mistakes, taking our time, persevering, believing in ourselves and visualising maths as we attempted different investigations everyday. 



In other news...well done to some of our year 2 children as they went out of school for an agility event. They hopped, skipped and jumped their way though twelve different challenges to earn themselves lots of sticker and a certificate. 


Finally, there are a few places left on the year 2/3 evening reading cafe. Come and enjoy a story with Miss Palmer and Mrs Cryan in the year 2 classroom and a hot chocolate with friends before bedtime. 


Friday 25 November 2016

Week beginning 21.11.16

The year 2 members of the class have been very excited this week as the preparations for the Christmas play have well and truly started. The roles have been given out, with many children in the class having learnt their lines already. Keep practising key stage 1, we can't wait to see it! 

Literacy 

We have had a grammar week this week as we fine tune our editing skills. We have been self-checking work for spelling mistakes, missing letters and words and ensuring everything is the the correct tense. We have also been learning how to use apostrophes for omission and possession. This work has all been based around the animated short 'Taking Flight'. 

Maths

In maths, we have been continuing with our shape unit. We have used mirrors to identify lines of symmetry in shapes and we have also been identifying different types of lines such as perpendicular and parallel. 


Geography 

In geography, we have continued our trip around the world as we used both globes and the iPads to learn about the northern hemisphere, the southern hemisphere and the equator. We researched different facts such as the average temperature, rainfall and the population of different countries. We just could not believe how many people lived in China!



Art 

In art this week, we have been looking at the work of Piet Mondrian and Kandinsky as we learn about colour theory. We have been using primary colours to mix and create secondary colours and we have also been looking at changing tones by adding white or black to a colour. 


In other news...we had a visitor this week, who came to teach us all about car safety. We did some experiments with catapults and observed how using seat belts in a moving vehicle can seriously increase our safety. 



Finally, don't forget to order your tickets for the Christmas play as seats are going fast!  

Friday 18 November 2016

Week beginning 14.11.16

Literacy 

In literacy this week, we have written a whole five part, adventure story of our very own. We focused closely on the story structure, using a paragraph for the introduction, build-up, climax, resolution and ending. As we wrote we tried our hardest to include both our targets for writing and our newly learnt sentence structure skills such as: using adverbs; adventurous verbs and adjectives; conjunctions to add detail; adverbs and conjunctions for time; fronted adverbials and even some onomatopoeias. 

Maths

We have been enjoying our new unit on shape as we name and identify and describe 3-D shapes using their properties. Ask us about the descriptive vocabulary we have been using. It's all very impressive! 





Art 

In Art, have been learning how to build up layers of acrylic paint and paint upon different surfaces such as canvas. We have been agitating the paint to create texture as we produce our pieces of work influenced by the natural contours of the land, whilst working in response to the artist Patrick Heron. Be sure to check next weeks blog for some examples of our work. 

Science 

Year 3 have been continuing our experiments with light as we looked at how light behaves when hitting smooth shiny surfaces such as mirrors. We completed some challenging task as we learnt all about reflections. 




Don't forget to check the Mrs Cryan's page for all the latest year 2 science news.

In other news...well done Oliver for achieving Wonderful Work this week for adopting a fantastic 'can-do' attitude towards his learning and producing a high standard of work all week. Finally, thank-you to all of those who donated money to children in need this Friday. We all looked fantastic in our spots. 

Friday 11 November 2016

Week beginning 7.11.16

Maths

In maths this week, we have been continuing with our multiplication and division. We have been learning to choose the most efficient method when solving a multiplication problem; arrays, repeated addition or using our knowledge of the tables. If you would like to learn more about the methods used in school, you can find the school calculations policy on the website. We have also been sharing and counting in for division on a number line; preparing for calculating with two and three digit numbers. 

Literacy 

We have been describing settings using our senses and trying to make our descriptions fuller by using expanded noun phrases ( the blue butterfly) and modifying adjectives (the blue butterfly with the spotty wings). This is all ready for our big write next week, when we write our adventure stories. 

Art 


In art this week, we have started to look at the abstract work of  modern artist Patrick Heron. We have been combining our geography and ICT skills, to help us create pieces in response to his work. We have studied they way he observes the lines and contours of aerial images and maps as inspiration, then fills with primary and secondary colours. We have been learning to use short, controlled brush strokes in preparation for using acrylic pain next week.  















ICT and Geography 

In ICT this week we enjoyed the start of our new topic: All Around the World. We learnt how to use digital map programmes like google maps and used street view to get an insight into living in different climates and environments. 



In other news..

it was lovely to see so many faces at parents evening this week. It is so enjoyable spending time sharing the children's many achievements with you all. Thank-you for your time. If you still have not managed to secure an appointment with me and would like to, just pop in or call to arrange a time for Monday 14th November. 

Also, we had a lot of merit badges go out this week. This is not small achievement, as the children require 75 merit points to fill their card and earn their next badge. Well done and keep up the hard work!