MrJennings

In maths this week we have been practising and developing mental arithmetic skills. We have thought about different methods of mental addition and subtraction and tried to improve our fluency when using an efficient method. We have also thought about place value, including the value of decimal numbers (tenths - and briefly hundredths and thousandths).

We have done some comprehension work in English, developed some more expanded noun phrases and done a little handwriting practice and spelling. Our main English work has been to think about ways in which authors develop characters in stories. We studied the way Philip Ridley made the reader think that “Grandpa” is an unpleasant character through his actions and speech and then wrote that opening of the “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” story making Baby Bear seem a very naughty child.  We also finished reading The Hooligan's Shampoo and analysed how Grandpa’s character changed at the end of the tale.

We have spent a little more time on our Desert Island topic. We have discussed in our groups how we could make used of our meagre possessions and a few found objects to help us survive and created rules for group to help ensure that we stay safe and healthy until we are rescued. We also thought about rules as we talked together to make our Class Agreement.

We had another lesson with the ukulele, two PE sessions (one indoors, one outside), did some science (our Earth and Space topic) and finished to week with art. We looked at a range of ceramic products created across a range of historical periods before focussing on the work of some modern ceramicists including the Dane, Bodil Manz. After looking at and discussing images of this work, we made some drawings of our favourite examples.