We have had a very busy start to the half term! We have been busy in Science, English and History as we’ve discussed the concept of creativity.
We started the week by reading a non-fiction text ‘Flying Machines By Ian Graham’. We discussed the characteristics of this text and followed this by learning about key vocabulary of early planes.
In Science we received a mysterious letter addressed to the class! It was Mr Ravioli asking us if we could help him with a project he is working on. He told us that he was building some model cars and needed a material which when attached to the axel would move it. We instantly brainstormed our ideas which led us to reflect on our learning last half term. We decided that a rubber band would be the best material to use as this is stretchy. We then realised that there are lots of different types of rubber bands! So to find the best one for the job we planned an investigation for us to carry out next week. We will test 5 different elastic bands and find out which one is the stretchiest and best one for Mr Ravioli to use.
Thursday was a fantastic History day! We started the day by each writing an inquiry. We referred back to this throughout the day to check we were answering everyone’s questions and extending our knowledge. We then shared with the class who we came dressed as, mentioning what we had invented and when. We took lots of photos! After hearing from everyone we discussed the changes in transport in living memory. We thought that the best way to find out about this was to start by looking at some cars. I wonder if your child can remember which cars we looked at and what they noticed. After break we continued our enquiries by researching transport. We found out some key dates and people who were important in the progression of the car. We needed time to gather our research and organise our thoughts. For this we recorded information, made a timeline to order events and watched some YouTube videos to extend our understanding. We finished the day by comparing different cars and dreaming of where transport could go in the future.
In Phonics this week we have been looking at the ‘ce, ci, cy’ spelling. When the ‘c’ is next to an ‘e’, ‘i’, ‘y’ it tells us that the ‘c’ makes a /s/ sound.
As we are looking at celebrating diwali this week we are exploring diwali dance in PE. We have started exploring some key traditions of this celebration and symbolising them through yoga poses. We will continue to use these symbolic poses in our dances as we progress.
Our RE focus is on light. We looked at using birthday candles to celebrate with. This also led to a discussion on sparklers and fireworks and how they are used to celebrate. We talked about other types of candles and why we might light them. We then discussed lighting a candle as a way of remembering someone or something special to us as a way of celebrating them. Everyone responded by decorating a candle and taking a moment to pause and think about them.
In Jigsaw we have started the piece ‘Celebrating Difference’. We started this piece by talking about what we have in common with the other children in our class.