In this half of the summer term we have been getting on with lots of fun learning. 

In Maths we have been measuring by investigated capacity and volume and learned that capacity is how much a container can hold in total and volume is how much is in a container.  E.g full, empty, nearly full and nearly empty.  In multiplication and division, we counted in 2s, 5s and 10s.  We used arrays to find equal groups and used sharing circles to make equal groups from a whole.  This will help us with our fractions work next half term.

In English we have been composing poetry based on a poem by Elouise Greenfield, ‘When I’m by Myself’.  We have used lots of our own ideas to create our own poems about what we are like.  But we ultimately want to be ourselves.  We have begun writing stories based on ‘The Queen’s Hat’ by Steve Antony.  We used a hair dryer to simulate the wind blowing a hat off our head just like it did to the Queen in the story.  We have discussed all sorts of sound effect words that the wind makes for our onomatopoeia writing, such as ‘whoosh’, ‘swish’ and ‘swoosh’. 

In P.E we have been looking at how to create dance movements based on superheroes.   We used our bodies and facial expressions to create sequences and movements as superheroes and villains.  We also learned about team building and what it takes to work together effectively.  We took part in activities to optimise communication, co-operation and trust.

In Computing we have been learning how to programme a moving robot.  We have used Bee Bots to predict which commands are needed to move a robot from a starting place to a chosen finishing point.  We then programmed the robots to see if they did indeed run effectively using those commands.  We learned that a set of instructions are called an ‘algorithm’ and that if there is a mistake in the algorithm we need to correct this by ‘de-bugging’ the commands.

In RE we have been learning about how Muslims worship and how they belong to their community by learning about Islamic weddings and the variety of things that happen there, by respecting the Qur’an by not leaving it on the floor and by making Wudu (a special washing ritual) performed by Muslims as they enter the Mosque (we also took our shoes off as Muslims do before entering a mosque).

In science we have been learning about plants.  We have named the parts of the plants and have learn how each part of the plant helps it to function and grow.  We learned about garden and wild plants, finding out that garden plants are planted by humans and wild plants grow without needing human assistance.  We named different types of each and identified some in our school field.  We identified buttercup, daisy, dandelion and nettles.  We made a tally of what we found using a chart.  We learned what deciduous and evergreen trees are and identified some types of each, including oak, sycamore and birch being deciduous and holly, fir and pine being evergreen. 

In geography we have been learning about the weather and what to expect in the four different UK seasons.  We learned different weather symbols and what a weather forecast can tell us.  We then went on to make our own weather forecasts using green screen technology.  We learned how to prepare for the weather using a forecast and we made our own wind/weather vanes to see which direction the wind was blowing.  We tested them (scientifically) outside using chalk to draw a 4 point compass.

In Art and Design we have been learning about sculpting.  We used The Yorkshire Sculpture park as inspiration and made our own using junk modelling, playdough and pipe-cleaners, and clay.

In Music we have been learning about ‘Pitch and Tempo’.  We learned that ‘pitch’ is how high or low sounds are and ‘tempo’ refers to the speed of the music.  We identified the pitch and tempo in pieces of music and created our own musical rhythms with changing pitch and tempo.

In PSHE we have been learning about relationships.  We looked at who we have a relationship with including family, friends, school and the community.  We thought about how we greet each other, how different people help us and how we make new friends.  We discussed what it is like to be a good friend and how we like others to treat us fairly and with respect.  We talked about people who help us and grouped them into people at home and people in school.

As you can see, this half term has been very busy but it has also been fantastic!  We even managed to fit in a class assembly to showcase all of our great learning.  And our class cup winner was Lily!!