Magnificent Maths!

Since the start of this term, Y3 and Y4 have been learning Maths together with their usual class teacher.

So far, this has gone really well and the Y4s have been great at furthering their learning and the Y3s have really benefitted from having supportive peers whilst learning to help push them further.

This half term, we’ve been learning about:
– measure (mm, cm, m and km)
– perimeter (of squares, rectangles and polygons)
– multiplication and scaling facts (I know that 5×4=20. So, I also know that 5×40=200)

Help at home: test your child’s knowledge of the areas of Maths we’ve covered so far. Can they tell you what perimeter is? Can they answer some scaled multiplication questions?

Help at home (part 2): Ensure your child goes on TTRS for at least 5 minutes per day in order to help improve their rapid recall of their multiplication facts. This will massively help with all areas of maths in Y3 and 4 and beyond! Plus, it’s awesome to win the inflatable guitar in assembly each week!

Mr Wain, Mrs Wadsworth and Miss Gilliland

Living and Learning – Year 3,4

Our Living and Learning statements over the last couple of weeks have been:

I know what a drug is.

I know that some drugs can be harmful.

We have discussed:

• definition of a drug: a substance that changes the way the mind or body works
• how to use medicines safely
• how household chemicals and products can be used and stored safely
• that adults, over the age of 18, may decide to smoke, vape or drink alcohol
• some of the risks associated with smoking, vaping and drinking alcohol
• who to talk to if children were ever concerned about any of the above points – children know they can talk to trusted adults in school or contact other means of help such as Childline.

Reading- Inference Skills!

This week in reading we’ve been using our inference skills to answer questions about our new class novel, The Firework-Maker’s Daughter.

Inference is a reading skill that is all about looking for hints! The text might not tell us the exact answer but we can read around the words.

We started to explore the first chapter and discuss what we know and what we think about the characters so far.

We played a classroom classic called hot seating! This is where we step into the characters shoes and we ask them questions. We paused at a part in our class novel and inferred what each character was thinking and feeling.

Our success criteria for inference is:

• What do we know?

• What does it make you think?

• What can you infer?

Help at home: read with your child regulary at home. Pause to ask inference questions (What do we know? What does it make you think? What can you infer?) You could even play a game of hot seating!

Mathematics

In maths, we’ve been exploring units of measure and learning how to convert between them. We know how to change millimetres (mm) into centimetres (cm), centimetres (cm) into metres (m), and even metres (m) into kilometres (km). This helps us understand how different measurements connect and makes it easier to solve problems involving length and distance.

Help at home: can you come up with your own true or false questions? You could even measure things around your home and convert them into different units!

Class News – Science and reading

What a snowy start! The children have coped really well this week despite the weather conditions.

In Science, we’ve looked at how sounds are made by exploring different musical instruments. We know that sounds can travel through solids and liquids as well as the air (gases).

In Reading, we’ve read a poem called ‘The Sound Collector’ by Roger McGough. We’ve discussed which sounds we like and dislike and how it could feel if there were no sounds. We have practised our retrieval skills to find accurate answers and have discussed the poet’s choice of vocabularly.

Well done to everyone who has brought in their reading record today. Help at home by listening to your child read regularly.

Class News Year 3,4

Well done, everyone – a great term of learning!

Merry Christmas!

Class News – We’re artists!

This week, we have closely observed building designs and drawn pictures of them freehand using sketching pencils and white charcoal. We’ve worked with care and precision.

Living and Learning – mental wellbeing

Over the last three weeks, our Living and Learning lessons have focused on mental wellbeing. We have discussed:

• the different feelings and emotions we may experience
• how we can deal with these feelings and emotions
• who we can ask for help (including trusted adults, the safeguarding team at Scholes and Childline)
• self-care techniques that we can use
• the importance of looking after our mental health as well as our physical health

Help at home by discussing the importance of looking after our mental health and how we can do this.

Living and Learning – Online Safety & Money

This week in Living and Learning, we discussed online adverts: what they are, where we might see them and what their purpose is.

We thought about ways to stay safe online including not giving out our personal information, not clicking through on pop-ups (knowing when something sounds too good to be true!) and speaking to our adult(s) about anything that worries us.

Help at home by talking to your child about adverts or pop-ups that they see.

Year 3,4 Skipping School

This week, we all enjoyed a skipping workshop where we practised our skipping skills, including the single bounce and double bounce. We all got the chance to skip using the large skipping rope.

We will continue to practise our skills over the next few months and some of the year 4 children will have the opportunity to take part in a skipping festival in the Spring.

Help at home by challenging your child to practise their skipping skills. It’s a great way to keep fit!