Friday 26th November

 

Dear Squirrels,

Happy Friday 26th November to you all...

Here is a snapshot of some of the learning that has taken place in the Squirrel class this week:

Writing

We have been learning about instruction writing using 'How to Wash an Elephant.'

The children have been learning about:

Imperative verbs ('bossy' verbs such as: scrub, wash, make, tie, spread)

Adverbs of time (such as: firstly, finally)

Subordinate conjunctions (such as: which, so, if, although)

Adverbs of manner  (such as: slowly, quickly, quietly, cautiously etc...)

Squirrels all made jam sandwiches this week. This helped the children think about importance of adverbs of time and to apply interesting vocabulary for each step in their writing. 

Science

Working scientifically - comparative investigations

Squirrels are in the process of comparing how water is transported in plants under different conditions. Having previously identified the job of each part of the plant they are now exploring how the environment affects the transportation of water. 

Maths

Multiplication and division have been the focus in maths this half term. This week Squirrels have been looking at the inverse relationship between multiplication and division and the fact families

e.g.

5 X 3 = 15 (which is commutative)

3 X 5 = 15

therefore we know that 

15 ÷ 3 = 5

15 ÷ 5 = 3

Squirrels have requested that we have a class Christmas tree this year which is a lovely idea. If, while you are sorting any decorations you happen to come across any that are surplus to requirements and you would be happy to donate them the the Squirrel class we would very much like to make our classroom Christmassy.

Thank you adult Squirrels for your continued support

With warmest wishes,  

Miss Swain and Daphne  

 

Friday 19th November

 

Dear Squirrels,

I hope you've all had a great week. I saw my first Christmas tree this week! Rumour has it, it's only 5 weeks until Christmas...

Learning in Squirrel class this week

At the beginning of the week, following on from the research the Squirrels have been doing on plants, an investigation took place. The Squirrels were challenged to find out what plants need to grow well. Research told the children that plants need air, water, soil, nutrients and light to grow well. However, to be sure of this the children needed to prove it by investigating. 

Plants were observed under the following conditions:

No water

No roots

No soil

No warmth (placed in the freezer)

No light 

No additional plant food.

The children predicted that no plants would survive except for the plant that did not receive additional food. Much to the children's delight, their predictions were right! I think it is fair to say that the children know what is needed for a plant to grow well. 

Possessive apostrophes - Squirrels have been working away on their possessive apostrophes. They are very good with them, I must say!

Maths - As we started our new chapter on division, Squirrels have been looking at sharing an amount into equal groups and looking at how many equal groups they have made. The children have been looking at the link between division and multiplications - the commutative law. 

Bossy verbs and instruction writing has also been a theme in class this week. Squirrels used their knowledge of imperative verbs to design instructions for 'how to care for a chicken.'

Year 3 children completed their first aid training this week which they found useful. 

Finally, after a very busy week in Squirrel class, the children enjoyed a baking afternoon in the hall on Thursday afternoon with Mrs Wright. 

Have a super weekend Super Squirrels,

From Miss Swain and Daphne

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Friday 12th November

Dear Squirrel families, 

I hope you have all had a super week. 

What have we been learning in Squirrel class this week?

Maths 

We are coming to the end of our unit on multiplication. 

The Year 2 children have been working incredibly hard on their 2, 5 and 10 times tables. We have been using arrays to learn the commutative relationship between a multiplication sentence. For example:

2 x 4 = 8 therefore  4 x 2 (must) = 8 because multiplication is commutative.

The Year 3 children have been busy on their 3, 4, and 8 times tables. They have also been looking at arrays and the commutative relationship. They have also been recognising patterns between the 4 x table and the 8 x tables. For example:

 4 x 4 = 16 and therefore 2 x 8 = 16.

Mantle has been exciting with the poor old Ancient Oak Tree! The Mayor is still insisting it is cut down. The arboriculturists (Squirrels) and the Mayor are now in discussions, via letter, to come to a compromise.

As it stands the Mayor is investigating whether a new oak tree could be planted.  She has asked the arboriculturists to investigate what would be involved in planting, caring for and maintaining a new oak tree. The children are currently researching and learning about plants so that they will be able to report back to the Mayor. 

On Thursday the 11th November the children from Whaddon went to St Mary's Church to pay their respects with a minute's silence. They also placed some  poppies they had crafted, with thought-provoking prayers written on them.  The children also completed a piece of poppy art work for the classroom 

Squirrels, I have noticed how well some of you are doing with your Doodle maths so I have added some extras on there for you. 

We have just completed our class reading book which was 'The Proudest Blue.' A very beautiful story written by fencing Olympic medallist Ibtihaj Muhammad. 

From Miss Swain and Daphne 

Friday 5th November

 

Dear Squirrels,

It was lovely to see you all again after half term. I'm sure you have all grown in your week off!

As always, it's been a busy week settling back into our learning in the Squirrels' class. 

In Mantle of the Expert

The Mayor's mere suggestion that the 'ancient old oak tree' is no longer safe and requires cutting down has outraged the children. As a result, they decided to write a letter to the Mayor to persuade him NOT TO CUT DOWN THE TREE! The children had many valid reasons to support their argument... 

• The reduction in oxygen and the increase in carbon dioxide was of concern to some children.  
• Concerns for the inhabitants of the tree. 
• How the local villagers would feel about cutting down a tree that has been a part of their families heritage

With these concerns in mind the children took 'posh' pens to paper and wrote a persuasive letter to the Mayor.

In Maths

Having completed our chapter on place value, column addition and column subtraction we are now moving on to a new chapter which is multiplication:

• Making equal groups.
• Identifying how many are in each group.
• Drawing equal groups (can be simple dots).
• Writing repeated addition number sentences and multiplication number sentences. 

As this is a new chapter, much the work the children have been doing has been using concrete apparatus and pictorial representations.

Please continue to work on your times tables, spellings and reading at home. 

Year 2: 2, 5 and 10 times tables

Year 3: 3, 4 and 8 times tables

Please remember that doodle maths is available for you to practise the maths we have been learning in class. DoodleLearning | Personalised Online Maths & English  

Children are welcome to change their reading books in class at the end of the day. 

Each child in class is heard by a teacher every week. This term we are working on comprehension, retrieval and inference of text which you will find pointers to on your parent teacher meeting email. 

Those children that received a KS1 (Year 2) work booklet before half term please continue to work through it and feel free to bring it in to show me when you have finished. 

Guy Fawkes: I thought some of you may like to listen to the gunpowder plot story and learn about the history of bonfire night as it is Friday 5th November.

Why did The Gunpowder Plot happen? | History KS1| BBC Teach - YouTube

On Thursday this week the children celebrated Diwali, the festival of light. The children made Rangoli patterns and learnt about the story of Rama and Sita.

You can share the story together here.

Finally, I will leave you with a glowing fire to keep you warm now that the temperature has dropped. 

See you all on Monday.

Have a super weekend!

From Miss Swain and Daphne