Week Beginning 16.01.17

Well it's the weekend and I think all of Seahorse class deserve a rest after another full week of learning. 

This week in numeracy, we have been tackling fractions. We have been using the computers as we identified and showed fractions of a shape. Comparing fractions is tricky but we decided it really helps if you chop up and share out Curly Wurlys between groups of children helping us visualise how to  to help order and compare fractions. Would you rather have two eighths of a Curly Wurly or a half? We continue our work on fractions next week by finding fractions of an amount, investigating tenths and starting to add fractions. 

In literacy we have been doing sentence and word work in preparation for our next writing unit: diary entries and writing in role. We have been looking at conjunctions and adverbials, making our sentences really precise. 

The highlight of the week was definitely our trip to Norwich castle for our ancient Egyptian themed activity day. We learnt all about: the daily life of an ancient Egyptian through drama and role play; Egyptian jewelry making; mummification and handled artefacts that were over 3000 years old. Here are some of the highlights of the day...

Week Beginning 9.01.16

This week your blog come from the newly named Seahorse class! 

We started our new science topics this week. The year 2 children are learning all about plants and the Year 3 children are discovering the world of rocks and soils. In Year 3 we started by looking at different types of rocks, deciding whether they are man-made or natural and what they could be used for. Don't forget to check Mrs Cryan's page for all the year 2 science updates. 

In Literacy, we have learnt all about the ancient Egyptian creation story. We have taken on the role of storytellers; retelling the tale to each other. Some groups even  acted out the myth. We have written some fantastic introductions as the start to writing our own books and scrolls based on the creation myth. 

In maths, we have had a challenging but successful week. We have learnt how to the tell the time on an analogue clock. All of us can now tell the time to the nearest five minutes and the majority; to the nearest minute. can also calculate how many minutes until an event and how many minutes left in the hour. Super work Seahorses!

We have started looking at our new topic 'Ancient Times' by thinking about how we order time. We have looked at major historical events and ordered them on a time line. We also thought about why those eras were named as they were and what the people of the future might think about our time. We then zoomed in on the ancient Egyptian empire and looked at some of the major events in their impressively long reign and created an ancient Egyptian timeline.

We finished off our work in art on changing hue from one colour to another to create these atmospheric Egyptian silhouettes at sunrise pictures. 

We are looking forward to our Egyptian themed trip to Norwich castle next Friday, so if you haven't already, make sure the permission slips are in by Monday. 

Week Beginning 2.01.17

Happy New Year! We may have only been back a couple of days but we have definitely hit the ground running in 2017! 

Already this week in numeracy, we have started our new unit on time by:  calculating time problems; using a calendar; ordering periods of time and even converting units of time. Next week, we will move on to reading the time to the nearest minute using an analogue  clock. 

We have been refreshing our writing skills by reflecting on last years learning in literacy and deciding on targets and resolutions for the coming year. We also showcased our skills during our first write-on the the year. 

We put the skills that we learnt in art last term on tone and hue and colour mixing to create some beautiful pictures of sunsets and silhouettes based around this terms topic: Ancient Egypt (photos coming soon!). We have a school trip to Norwich Castle Museum on Friday 20th January to get some hands on experience with actual ancient artefacts and take part in four different Egyptian themed activities. Make sure we get those slips back as soon as possible to reserve your places!

Well done to all of those who have kept on reading throughout the holidays. Many pupils have returned with enough stamps to achieve their t-shirts, the first in the class with 120 stamps. Congratulations. 

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.

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. 

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.