Birch Class Term 3

This term our topic has been ‘The Circus is Coming To Town’. We are excited to share with you all the amazing and exciting things we have learnt about!

Living it up in Literacy!

In literacy, we read the story of ‘The Man who walked between the Towers’. We discussed what happened in the story and how Phillipe took the risk to walk between the towers. What did he overcome? How did he feel? What could he see? Why did he do this?

Using all of these questions, we decided to create our own stories where the main characters need to overcome a problem to succeed.

Firstly, we drew a setting (where our story is to take place). Once we had drawn the settings with some detail, we then generated vocabulary that we could use to describe our pictures. The next challenge was to add this vocabulary to our pictures.

Our next steps were to write a setting description using the pictures we had drawn.

Fascinating Information Texts!

For part of this term, we became investigators. We researched all of the different features of a Circus. We learnt how to take notes and carefully chose information that we would later group together creating our own information texts.

We then learned how to organise information under sub-headings to ensure that it is easy for the reader to follow and find the information they are looking for.

Expanding our understanding of writing

We looked at what makes a sentence as well as the different sentences we say and hear every day. As a class, we explored a range of adjectives, verbs and adverbs. We then looked closely at the punctuation used in sentences and how that changes what is said or how it can be understood by others.

We completed the challenge of working out if sentences were commands, questions, exclamations or statements. Since completing this activity we have been able to use these types of punctuations in our writing.

We have also continued to develop our phonics, spelling knowledge and understanding, through completing a range of different tasks. One in particular that we really enjoyed was using our skills to show Maple class how to segment and blend words as well as form letters.

We love reading!

As part of our assembly time, we have had the opportunity to go and read with Maple class. Each week we read to a different member of the class and talk about what is happening in the story.

As part of our class timetable we have weekly visits to the library and have the opportunity to listen to many different stories. The librarian helps to bring our reading to life and helps us to pick books that we are able to read at home.

We have been working on building our comprehension skills by reading and discussing stories in pairs. This has helped us to demonstrate our understanding of what we have read as well as form full and comprehensive answers to questions that are posed to us.

Mathematical monsters!

This term we focused on Number (Multiplications) and to collect and represent data (Statistics).

When working on multiplication, we started with concrete and tangle materials to understand and represent multiplication facts. This way, we understood the meaning of the operation as well as the concept of multiplication. From that point, we were able to rely on known facts to solve unknown problems. We have learnt the skills to solve multiplication problems by using arrays, groups, repeated additions, toy construction sets etc.

We have also used doubling, in this way we connected the 2, 4 and 8 multiplication tables.

Birch class continued their amazing learning journey by applying their skills to statistics. We looked at block diagrams, pictograms and tally charts to collect and represent data.

Finally, we focused on geometry. We used games, as well as tangible materials such as shapes of the plastic bottles that Elm and Oak made. The principal aim was to identify and recognise 2-D and 3-D shapes.

The principal aim was to identify, recognize and make 2-D and 3-D shapes.

Super Science!

This term we have focused on << Everyday materials>>. Birch Class have been able to identify and discuss the uses of different everyday materials. For this reason, we have explored the school with the purpose of recognising these different materials.

Once we had learned to recognise and identify different materials, we went deeper and learned about their properties, as well as recognising that some are used for more than one thing.

We realised that these properties make the materials suitable or unsuitable for particular purposes and this encouraged us to think about unusual and creative uses for everyday materials. For example, we were posed with the following challenge:

Several supermarkets in Paris have requested you to invent a new bag for shopping. But remember, we are going to avoid using plastic! Do you accept the challenge?

We explored, investigated and experimented with those properties by bending, twisting, stretching and squashing and became conscious we were able to change the shape of some materials.

Is it waterproof?

We investigated the absorbency and impermeability of materials by observing them closely, using simple equipment and performing a simple test.

Asking simple questions and recognising that they can be answered in different ways, has encouraged pupils to use their own observations and ideas to suggest answers after gathering and recording data.

Waterproof scenario: being ready for the circus arrival.

We discussed waterproof materials and their uses. Then, we linked this to our IPC topic << The circus is coming to town>>, by answering the following question: How can we make the fabric waterproof?

Amazing Art!

As it is known, FISP uses a cross curricular approach, which offers a creative way to develop children’s knowledge, skills and understanding while motivating them to learn through interconnected topics.

We applied their scientific knowledge to create authentic pieces of art. We then used our learning of waterproof material to create a wax drawing and their knowledge of magnets to make art.

Also, related to our circus topic, we made juggler balls, which we’re using in the forest to improve our gross motor control skills

To end our IPC theme, we created our own circus tents using recycled materials (shoe boxes) – we did this based on everything we had learnt during the term.

Roll Up Roll!

As part of our topic work, we worked in teams to create advertisements for a circus that was coming to town. The challenge we had been set was to make them as exciting and colourful as possible.

Global Explorers!

During our Geography sessions we have been learning about the different continents, oceans as well as the countries of main land Europe.

Forest Fun!

Fortunately, our school is located in a forest area, so we take advantage of this whenever we can! This helps us to develop our cognitive abilities, while having fun. We have also been able to improve our artistic skills by using natural resources.