Reading with prosody
Throughout the day, the children have many opportunities to read and be read to. As part of our daily sessions, we focus on using prosody. The children are quite accustomed to this skill now and can confidently add expression, where appropriate, to really bring their reading to life. The class have listened to lots of prosody being modeled by the adults so why not try this at home?
This week’s poem was yet another chance to showcase this important reading skill.
Help at home by listening to the poem being read by Mrs Freeman. Ask your child if they can hear some prosody being used and can they read the poem to you using their own expressive voices?
Prosody is the rhythmic and intonational aspect of speech that manifests as expressive reading. It comprises timing, phrasing and intonation, and helps to convey meaning and add ‘life’ to reading.
Living and Learning: I know that being physically active is physically and mentally healthy.
In our living and learning session this week, years 5 and 6 were learning about the five ways to wellbeing, with a deeper dive into the ‘being active‘ section:
Regular exercise can lift your mood and increase your energy levels. It doesn’t have to be strenuous or sporty to be effective. Pick something you enjoy so you’re more likely to stick with it.
For example:
- going for a walk during your day
- following a workout video
- doing some ‘easy exercise’, like stretching, in the morning
and before you go to bed - walking to school once or twice a week (if you live close enough)
Help at home:
What does your child already do to stay active on a daily basis? Is there anything you can add/change to these routines to stay healthy? Perhaps set some achievable goals with your child to be active – this could be daily or just a few times a week!
Living and Learning
I know that being physically active is mentally and physically healthy.
This week in Living and Learning we have been thinking about being physically active and how that is important for our mental and physical health.
Writing
In Year 3 and 4, we have been building up to writing a narrative about the picture book, Flood:
https://justimagine.co.uk/childrens-books-review/flood/
We have been working hard to include speech in our writing. It is difficult to do and there are lots of key things to remember. We have focussed on the spoken word, adverbial clauses and adding extra detail.
Here’s some snippets from the children…
“We need to make a plan,” announced mum.
– Leo S
Mum considered, as she sat down, “We should put sandbags around our house.”
– Valerie
“What are we going to do? This is so serious!” cried Donna with her head in her hands.
– Elara
“We will come back as soon as the storm is over,” cried mum as she fastened her seatbelt.
– Alba
Dan reassured his family, “We could come back when the storm is done.”
– Beau
Preston asked whilst trying not to look, “Can you be less dramatic?”
– Christian
Alex sighed as he held a box, “I don’t want to leave.”
– Kiara
Frankie shouted, banging his hands on the table, “I don’t want to leave!”
– Lily
Human and Physical Geography at Forest School
Human and Physical Geography
In geography this week we have been learning about the difference between human and physical. The children have been identifying both physical and human features within our landscape.
Human Geography
Human features include buildings, roads, street lamps, canals, train tracks etc. Parts of the environment that have created by humans.
Physical Geography
Physical features include hillsides, mountains, coastlines, rivers etc. Parts of the environment that have occurred naturally.
Geography and Forest School
This week the children collected different items from the woods which they then used to create their own environments. This included digging rivers, planting trees and building hills!
The children then identified physical and human features of their own creations.
Some of the children also got stuck in with litter picking and clearing the area to keep it safe.
Forest School
The children have thoroughly enjoyed the return of forest school! We’ve spent time exploring the woodland habitat, identifying plants and observing seasonal changes.
This has linked well to our current science unit – we’ve been learning about sustainability and the ways in which we can care for local wildlife.
sustainable – causing no harm to the environment
In our recent forest school session, the children made miniature ‘landscapes’, considering the features of the local area and how they could be represented.
Help at home by discussing sustainability with your child. Why is it important to care for local wildlife? What can we do to help?
Science – Plants
Enquiry questions:
How do plants transport water?
Does the number of seeds within one plant pot affect the growth of the plants?
Working scientifically:
I can set up a simple practical enquiry.
Ask relevant questions and use different scientific enquiry types to answer them.
This afternoon, we carried out various science experiments that encourage us to observe over time whilst ensuring our tests are fair.
We placed a white flower into a pot of red water. We made predictions based on our prior knowledge and understanding. Tomorrow morning, we will be able to view the results and see if our predictions were correct.
The fun didn’t stop there. We then began an experiment to see what would happen if we planted one sunflower seed in a pot compared to two, four and eight. Again, we made predictions; we will take measurements over the coming weeks.
Finally, we planted our own sunflowers. We really enjoyed getting our hands dirty and it was so lovely to see the excitement in children.
Let’s hope for lots of sun and the children will be able to bring some tall sunflowers home.
Help at home – try planting some seeds of your own at home. Can you grow something you can eat? What does a plant need to grow? What is the function of the roots/stem/soil? What happens in the leaves?
Send pictures in and we can display in the classroom.
Walking Through The Jungle
We have been so busy with our focus books Walking Through The Jungle by Julie Lacome and Rumble in the Jungle by Giles Andreae and David Wojtowycz.
The children have really enjoyed learning about jungle animals. We have talked about the difference between jungle and desert animals. We have travelled like animals in the outside area and even had a go at making our own jungle animal in the waste innovation area.
Our word of the week this week was Rainforest the children have really enjoyed using this during their learning.
“These trees are the rainforest, my train is going through the jungle.”
“Tigers live in the rainforest and gorillas.”
Hep at Home: Tell your grown up about some of the other animals that live in the rainforest? Find some facts about one of your animals to share with everyone.
Next week our story is Farmyard Hullabaloo by Giles Andreae and David Wojtowycz.
Reminders and Notices
Forest School- The children have enjoyed Forest School so much we have decided to continue to take them, our new Forest School slot will be on a Thursday so please can you send your child to school in their PE kits with waterproofs and wellies in a labelled plastic bag.
Waste Innovation- Please don’t forget to send in any donations for us to be creative.
Have a happy and healthy weekend and please don’t forget to email any pictures from home to stjames@spherefederation.org thank you as always for your support.
Mrs. Kendrew, Mrs. Rippon and Miss. Feldman.
Minibeasts are everywhere!
We’ve been on a minibeast hunt this week and they are everywhere!
We have been reading a non-fiction book this week – ‘ Minibeast Food’ by Charlotte Guillian
What better place to search for minibeasts, than in our own forest!
We found lots of different minibeasts including, worms, earwigs and centipedes!
It’s got so many legs! -Charlie
Miss ward it’s tickling my hand -Immy
I’ve found a big fat slug, it gets smaller when you touch it – Ella D
It needs a leaf to eat, I think it’s hungry -Evie
Help at home: Can you find any minibeasts in your garden or out on a walk? here’s a little checklist to help you ..
With all the rain we had on Monday it created a monster puddle! which we all thoroughly enjoyed. MUD SLIDE!
We also looked at the symmetrical patterns on butterflies wings and created our own versions. we looked in detail at the different colours and patterns and used these to explore colour mixing.
This weeks sound is: ‘Z’ Zebra
Rhyme of the week: Ring a Ring of roses
Have a happy and healthy weekend everybody!
Miss Ward, Miss Harvey and Miss Feldman
Living and Learning: I know the importance of ‘five a day’
This week, our living and learning statement is based on healthy eating and ensuring we keep a healthy, balanced diet. A key part of this is in the contents of our packed lunches in school. For our fluency sessions, we have been reading into our school policy around packed lunches (below). We discussed elements of our packed lunches that are vital (protein, carbohydrates, fruit and veg), and some elements that are fine in small portions (oils and spreads). We used some great examples of what pupils have bought in their lunches and compared this to our recommended guidance – the packed lunches were successful against our healthy, balanced dietary advice.
Help at home: Encourage your child to make up their packed lunch with you at home. This way, your child can learn the contents of a packed lunch and why a variety is so important. You could ask questions whilst packing a lunch such as ‘Why are we adding this to the box?’ further develop understand of a healthy, balanced diet.