Week 3

In writing lessons this week, the children started a new learning journey driven by a poetry book. They have read the poems, talked about the poems they like the most and why and then today, they picked out the words and phrases that they thought were effective. They did this in small groups and then fed back their thoughts to the rest of the class. 

This week, the children learnt about what a coast is. We used Google maps to explore coasts from around world and thought about what the human and physical features of them could be. We then looked at the south coast and more specifically Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight and learnt about cliffs, beaches, sand dunes, the sea, fun fairs, monuments and shops and which of these were physical and which were human features of these locations. The children then sorted photographs into a chart to show their understanding. 

Today the children put together a programme for their Sprite using algorithms. They then learnt how to shorten a programme by changing the numbers on each tile to allow the Sprite to move the same distance but with less tiles.

Week 2

This week, the children were learning the names of the 5 oceans of the world. They learnt a new song to help them and labelled each ocean on a world map. We used Google Earth and a globe to take a look at the oceans and to see more clearly, the impressive size of the Pacific Ocean which is the largest of them all.

In English we started writing our final postcards! The children really enjoyed writing them and did amazing work. We now have a book of all their postcards in our reading corner! 

This week we added to our dance about fog. We included a happy dance for when the fog lifts and the sun comes out. The children were tasked with creating movement that was happy. They used skipping, jumping and hopping as well as swinging arms and smiles! They then did some partner work to develop their happy dance and each half of the class performed their dance to the other. They then evaluated each other's work with positive comments about what they had done well.

Week 1

This week, we started a new learning journey in our English lessons linked around a book called, ‘At the beach’.  Today the children acted out different beach activities using the book for inspiration.  The children worked in small groups and created a freeze frame to help them imagine what it would be like at the beach and how it would feel to take part in activities such as snorkelling, building sand castles, eating ice-cream and paddling.

In geography this week, Turtle class learnt about the 7 continents of the world.  They learnt a song to help them remember the names of them and then put a puzzle together of these 7 huge pieces of land. They then practised using compass directions to navigate their partner around the world from continent to continent on a map from their atlases. 

In dance this week, we started a new learning journey about fog! The children used their bodies to create fog-like movements. They thought about different levels, the pathway pattern of their feet and also used twists and turns to create the effect of fog on an autumn morning moving low to the ground. 

Our music this half term is all about toys and what they get up to when we are not there with them. This week, the children were creating loud and quiet sounds on percussion instruments as part of a song they learnt.

This week in computing, we started to learnt about Scratch Jr. Today they compared this app with the Beebots from last half term thinking about how they are similar and different. They learnt about Sprites, background and how to start and finish a programme.