Class 4

Welcome to Class 4 - 2019 - 2020

Teacher - Miss French

Teaching Assistant - Miss Jackson 

Children - fabulous!

Spring Term 2 project

Beachcombers

Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside! Do you? That's good, because you're about to become an expert beachcomber!

Head to your nearest beach to look for interesting and unusual objects, using your senses to spot, sniff and seek them out.

Have you seen the rock pools yet? We can take a peek into the cool water to learn about the weird and wodnerful animals and plants in their micro-habitats. 

Maybe we can kick back in a deckchair and do a little reading...What's your favourite book about the seashore?

Then invent your own amazing rock pool resident! What features will it need to survive happily in its watery habitat? Make a 3D model of your plant or creature!

Got your shorts and sunglasses on? Bucket and spade at the ready? Splish, splash! Let's get beachcombing...

This week's spellings for 14Feb20

Test on 27Feb20

The children have practised these words already in class, but the more they practise the better score they will get.

Spring Term 1 project

Land Ahoy

How vast is the ocean?

Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum! Arrr....me hearties - it's a sailor's life for me!

Get your sea legs on, it's time to sail the salty sea. Navigate, investigate and explore the world - just like Captain Cook.

Make a boat, sink a ship, fly a pirate flag! Speak like a pirate, write like  a poet, then weigh and measure a pirate's booty!

How do rescues happen at sea? Find out about brave volunteers and young Grace Darling, rowing her boat across stormy seas.

Our new project has lots of exciting activities planned in and lots of questions for us to answer that the children have come up with. The children are sure to love it!

This week's spellings for 7Feb20

Test on 13Feb20

The children have practised these words already in class, but the more they practise the better score they will get.

7Feb20

STARS OF THE WEEK

This week our stars of the week are...

Olivia for listening well and working hard in P.E.

and

Kacie-Leigh for making sensible choices in P.E.

Well done to our super stars.

7Feb20

This term's book delivery

Miss French is subscribed to a teacher resource library and, every term, they send a new book.  We were all very excited when we found out this term's book had arrived and we saved opening it until the end of the day so that we could read it before we went home.  We were really excited to open it and get the first look at the colourful pages.  We passed the book around and decided it smelled amazing.  We love books in Class 4!

7Feb18

Spellings practise

Each week, we try to make sure that we do something different to help us practise our spellings.  This week, we decided to use big sheets of paper and write our words as large as we could.  We managed to fill both sides of the paper with our words.

4Feb20

Categorising words.

The children worked in groups and were each given a selection of pages from the book, 'The Snail and the Whale'.  They used their highlighter pens to identify the nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs.  When they did that, they then wrote their words on the correctly coloured cards (blue = nouns, yellow = verbs, red = adverbs and green = adjectives).  What a lot of words!

3Feb20

Timeline of sea explorers

The children have sorted sea explorers into time order, finding out as much as they can about lots of explorers, such as:-

• Captain James Cook
• Sir Walter Raleigh
• Dame Ellen MacArthur
• Marco Polo

31Jan20

STARS OF THE WEEK

This week our stars of the week are...

Loula-Jo for working hard to form her letters correctly which has resulted in much neater handwriting

and

Jaydon-Lea for working hard to improve his handwriting.

Well done to our super stars.

This week's spellings for 31Jan20

Test on 6Feb20

The children have practised these words already in class, but the more they practise the better score they will get.

29Jan20

How does a lighthouse light work?

The children found out that a lighthouse doesn't actually have a flashing light but, instead, has a lamp that turns so it just appears to be flashing.  Using our electrical circuit kits, the children had a go at creating their own lighthouse light.  First they connected the battery by clipping metal wires onto the points.  They then 'plugged' in the light bulb and we discussed how the wires were connected from the battery, through the bulb and back to the battery again, creating a circuit.  The children then added an 'on/off' switch so they were able to switch the light on and off.  Finally, the children added a motor so they could have a way to make the lamp turn within the lighthouse tower.  The children worked this out for themselves with only a little bit of adult guidance.  We definitely have some budding electricians in Class 4.

Every day

Circle time

Just after lunchtime, the children sit in a circle and take turns to share their lunchtime experiences.  Children are demonstrating a good understanding that we should listen carefully to each other and that we should not speak until it is our turn to speak.  They have developed the skills of using verbal cues from the person before them to know when it it there turn.  The children let the other children know if they had a good lunch or not, giving reasons why.  We have been working hard on understanding that when bad things happen, it does not always mean we have had a bad lunchtime, especially if any problems were sorted out by the supervising adults.

29Jan20

Picture graphs

The children were given a box with lots of coloured cubes and asked how many there were of each colour.  The only problem was, they were not allowed to touch the cubes once they had been tipped out of the box.  It was really tricky to count the different colours without getting confused.  The children were then allowed to touch the cubes and decided that by sticking them altogether and lining the coloured towers up next to each other was a much easier way of counting the cubes.  When we saw a picture graph we realised that this was just the same idea.

We then carried out a quick survey to find out how children made their way to school.  The children then recorded these results as a picture graph using a scale of 1:1 (where 1 picture represents 1 child).

27Jan20

Noun, verb, adjective or adverb

The children worked together to categorise some of the words that were in our recent guided reading book 'Around the World in Eight Days'.  Can your child explain to you the difference between a noun, verb, adjective and adverb?  Perhaps they can show you how we remember.

22Jan20

Float or sink?

The children became scientists today as they tested different objects to find out which materials sink and which float.  The children decided that wood would be the best material to make a ship with because, although plastic floats, as does wood, plastic isn't as strong as wood.  The children decided against metal as it sinks, however, we learned that, if it is shaped correctly and is the right size, it can become more buoyant and be suitable material for ships.

21Jan20

Sail Away!

The children had so much fun joining in with the Sail Away songs when the Grimsby Jazz Projects came to visit us to launch the KS1 singing festival which is taking place on 3Mar20.  The performance given was very entertaining and the children had lots of questions about plastic pollution afterwards.

21Jan20

Conscience corridor

In English, we have been reading the story, 'The Storm Whale'.  The main character, Noi has found a little whale washed up on the beach after a storm.  This all happens while his dad is out at sea, working as a fisherman.  When his dad returns from work, Noi has to decide if to tell his dad about the whale or keep it a secret.  The children voted on what Noi should do.  Three children from each side of the argument were then chosen to create a conscience corridor.  Ava-Grace hadn't quite made her mind up so she had to walk through the conscience corridor and listen to the argument from either side before making her mind up

20Jan20

Story maps

The children thought about what life might be like living on an island, just like the one Noi from our story, 'The Storm Whale' did.  We worked in our teams to create a story map for a story about life on an island, just like the stories Noi might have told the whale while he was laying in his bath tub.

Sail Away

KS1 Singing Festival 

3Mar20

Find below the recent letter sent out about the upcoming singing festival and the link to Youtube with the songs that children are practising.

17Jan20

STARS OF THE WEEK

This week our stars of the week are...

Ava-Grace for her enthusiasm in science club

and

Keita for asking lots of questions about the properties of materials.

Well done to our super stars.

This week's spellings for 17Jan20

Test on 23Jan20

The children have practised these words already in class, but the more they practise the better score they will get.

10Jan20

STARS OF THE WEEK

This week our stars of the week are...

K for settling back to school well after the Christmas break.

and

Rowan, also for settling back to school well after the Christmas break.

Well done to our super stars.

13Jan20

Storm at Sea poems

The children worked in groups to write words, phrases and sentences about a storm at sea using a video clip of a storm on the west coast of the UK as a stimulus.  They then put their words, phrases and sentences together to create a group poem.

9Jan20

Beebots

The children have been learning how to program a Beebot using an algorithm (set of instructions) so that it turns in a full circle.  When it did not go as planned, the children had to work out where their algorithm had gone wrong (identify a bug) and reprogram it correctly (debug).

Autumn 2 Project

Muck, Mess and Mixtures

Let's get Messy!  Muck and mess is good!  In fact, it's mega-marvellous!

Dive in and get your hands and feet all sticky and covered in paint.  Play with liquid, squish some dough and check out the slushiest and mushiest foods.

Pour, mix, stir, splat!  How does it feel to get your hands covered in goo?  Make a wobbly jelly and draw with wibbly clay.

Write recipes, instructions, riddles and poems - there are loads of scrummy words to describe messy mixtures!

Work with paint and other squelchy stuff to create a new gallery space.  What will you make?  How will you arrange it?  How will the gallery make you and your visitors feel?

Don;t worry about the mess... it'll always wash!  

13Dec19

STARS OF THE WEEK

This week our stars of the week are...

G for being hard working, never giving up and being a good friend - an all-round super star

and

Vanesa for being an all-round superstar and working hard in all lessons.

Well done to our super stars.

5Dec19

Bedtime stories

The children (and adults) are all feeling rather tired and under the weather at the moment.  Because Miss French's voice is fast disappearing we decided that instead of listening to our class reader it would be a nice treat to huddle together and listen to some CBeebies Bedtime Stories.  It made a relaxing change.

Mon2Dec19

O Christmas Tree

The children enjoyed decorating our Class 4 Christmas tree.

29Nov19

STARS OF THE WEEK

This week our stars of the week are...

Louie for making good progress in English, particularly with phonics.

and

Keita for demonstrating a good understanding of what is expected of her in English lessons.

Well done to our super stars.

29Nov19

7 reads

Well done to Olivia, Kyle and Rhea who have all read 7 times in one week at least once this half-term.  Keep up the good work – your commitment to reading every day has helped you all make good progress in reading.

This week's spellings for 21.11.19

Test on 28.11.19

The children have practised these words already in class, but the more they practise the better score they will get.

Home Learning Ideas - Muck, Mess and Mixtures

Children should complete at least 2 pieces of homework by 13th December 2019.

25Nov19

A winter warming, healthy Scotch Broth

The children looked at recipes last week and used the traffic light symbols found on packages to choose the recipe that was the healthiest.  They decided that Scotch Broth was the healthiest and decided they would like to make that.  The children all had a go at peeling vegetables and chopping them with actual kitchen knives (closely supervised, of course).  The broth was cooked in a slow cooker and it tasted amazing.  All of the children had a try and nearly all of them loved it.  

22Nov19

STARS OF THE WEEK

This week our stars of the week are...

Jaydon-Lea for being a good friend by helping others to make the right choices

and

Scarlett for being a good friend to all Class 4 children.

Well done to our super stars.

This week's spellings for 21.11.19

Test on 28.11.19

The children have practised these words already in class, but the more they practise the better score they will get.

19Nov19

Food tasting

The children enjoyed trying lots of different foods today - 17 of them, including rye bread, persimmon (fruit), quinoa, smoked salmon, courgette, Emmental cheese and garlic olive oil. 

The children started by washing their hands and were able to tell me that this was to stop the spread of germs.

The children tried each item of food and then recorded in their books if they liked the food or disliked it, given a reason why. They then decided which of the six food groups from the eat-well plate the foods belonged to.

I was really impressed that all of the children tried all of the foods and were able to correctly identify the correct food group. 

It was funny watching the children's reactions - some of the food they loved (especially the sweets, chocolate and cola) and some they really disliked. 

Can your child tell you what they liked and disliked most and explain their reasons why?

18Nov19

Healthy eating

The children have been learning about healthy eating to support their forthcoming cooking sessions where they must be able to explain what they are cooking and why.  The children have been tasked with choosing a healthy meal.  We discussed which foods were healthy and which were unhealthy and learned that foods with lots of nutrients are good for us whereas foods high in fat, salt and sugar should only be eaten in small amounts.  The children learned about traffic light labelling on food packaging and know that green means foods are low in salt, sugar and fat, amber means moderate and red means high.  The children used their new found knowledge to lay out recipes in order from least healthy to the most healthy.  The children have decided they would like to make Scotch Broth because it is low in salt, sugar and fat and has lots of nutritious vegetables.

15Nov19

STARS OF THE WEEK

This week our stars of the week are...

Louie for being a helpful friend

and

Tilly-Mai for being helpful around the classroom.

Well done to our super stars.

This week's spellings for 14.11.19

Test on 21.11.19

The children have practised these words already in class, but the more they practise the better score they will get.

It is becoming extremely clear which children are practising and which are not.

Please make sure children are practising these spellings regularly.

14Nov19

Parent Shared Learning afternoon

It was wonderful to see so many adults join us for our parent shared learning afternoon.  The children loved showing off their classroom and having a relaxed afternoon of painting with their favourite people.

14Nov19

Preparing for advent.

The children have been thinking about how light is important to Christians at Christmas time.  They have learnt about advent and that Christians light a candle each week in the lead up to Christmas representing peace, love, joy, hope and the birth of Jesus.  The children have made their own advent crowns in readiness for advent starting this year on 1Dec19.

12Nov19

Friendship week

The children discussed different behaviours and decided if the behaviours suggested the children in the pictures were being, 'a good friend' or, 'not a good friend'. The children discussed the importance of being a good friend and how difference should be valued. The children then listened to the story, 'Paper Dolls' by Julia Donaldson which is all about sticking together. The children then made their own paper dolls showing themselves holding hands with two friends.

11Nov19

Aboriginal dot art.

The children used poster paint and cotton buds to create their own artwork in the style of Aboriginal dot art.

8Nov19

Van Gogh's Sunflowers

The children have been exploring tone in art and used a basic palette of brown, orange, yellow and white to mix colours to create the desired effect for painting their Van Gogh 'Sunflowers' masterpieces.

8Nov19

Shared reading

Class 4 enjoyed sharing a book with children from Class 2.

8Nov19

STARS OF THE WEEK

This week our stars of the week are...

Ava-Grace for working hard to improve her reading

and

Sofija for working hard in all lessons.

Well done to our super stars.

This week's spellings for 7.11.19

Test on 14.11.19

The children have practised these words already in class, but the more they practise the better score they will get.

6Nov19

Inference - how might people be feeling?

The children are beginning to develop their skills of inference in guided reading.  We discussed how inference works - we use clues, such as vocabulary, images or behaviours, and link them to what we already know about the world to make our own conclusions.  We discussed how we can tell how someone is feeling without them even telling us by looking at clues in how they behave.  The children used their prior knowledge to show me how people might behave when they feel happy and sad.  We then discussed colour and decided that dark colours suggested sadness and bright colours suggested happiness.  The children were then able to use a picture painted by Van Gogh and some clues in a text to tell us that Van Gogh felt very sad towards the end of his life.

5Nov19

Bend it, stretch it, twist it, squeeze it.

The children worked methodically in science to test objects made from different materials.  The children needed to test them to see if they could change their shape by bending, stretching, twisting and squeezing the objects.  They then recorded their results carefully.

4Nov19

Diva Lamps

The children have been finishing their diva lamps as part of their learning about Diwali by painting them a lovely silver colour.  The children discovered that Hindus represent light (good) overcoming darkness (evil) by lighting diva lamps and setting off fireworks.  The children used this information to create posters showing light and dark.

1Nov19

Rama and Sita

The children are currently learning about the Hindu celebration, Diwali.  The children listened to the story of Rama and Sita, sequencing the main events of the story and discussing the key theme.  They then made diva lamps from air-drying clay.

Can your child explain the main theme of the story of Rama and Sita and can they explain why light is important at Diwali?

1Nov19

STARS OF THE WEEK

This week our stars of the week are...

Frankielee for working hard and having a great attitude to learn

and

Keita for her fantastic attitude to learning and always trying her best.

Well done to our super stars.

This week's spellings for 31.10.19

Test on 7.11.19

The children have practised these words already in class, but the more they practise the better score they will get.

28Oct19

Messy Play Afternoon

What a great way to launch our project,  'Muck, Mess and Mixtures'.  The children were all able to try finger and hand printing with paint to produce some fabulously colourful creations that will be used to back an upcoming display of our project.  Each child got to experiment with frozen paint to see what swirly patterns they could make as the ice melted.  Just like Betty in our story this morning (Potion Commotion), the children made their very own potions with sparkly water, oil, glitter and sequins.  Every child in Year 2 was able to take home some stretchy slime that they made themselves.

There was lots of cleaning up to be done after the children left school but it was absolutely worth the effort to see the children enjoy themselves so much 

We all had a wonderful afternoon!

This week's spellings for 17.10.19

Test on 31.10.19

The children have practised these words already in class, but the more they practise the better score they will get.

Maths - Number Skills

How you can help at home.

Topmarks is a website which has a collection of fun, free and very helpful games that can help your child with their maths in school.

The children absolutely love playing these games and they can really help with developing your child's ability to answer questions quickly and automatically - a hugely important skill needed in maths. 

Having a rapid recall of number facts frees up brain space for working out problems - without rapid recall of number facts, too much thinking time is spent on the basics.  We do lots of work in school to support the children with this but extra help at home would really help your child make even greater progress in maths.

Here are the links to some of our favourite games...

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/learning-to-count/gingerbread-man-game

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/learning-to-count/helicopter-rescue

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/learning-to-count/chopper-squad

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/learning-to-count/place-value-basketball

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/ordering-and-sequencing/caterpillar-ordering

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/mental-maths-train

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/number-facts/number-fact-families

Towers, Tunnels and Turrets

See the castle ahead? Get ready to invade its mighty walls! Shoot a projectile with an archer's aim! Head across the drawbridge, over the moat and up to the top of the tower...

Meet Rapunzel who lives in a tall, tall tower. Let's build a brand new one... Whose is the tallest? Can you measure it?

Then dig deep, deep down, making burrows and tunnels, just like the animals that live underground. 

What's that sound? I hear little hooves going trip, trap, trip, trap over the rickety bridge. Watch out for the angry troll underneath. He likes to gobble up little girls and boys! Make sure your bridge is sturdy enough to take our weight and get us safely to the other side. 

Home Learning Ideas - Tower, Tunnels and Turrets.

Children should complete at least 2 pieces of homework by 18th October 2019.

18Oct19

End of Autumn Term 1

Wow!  How quickly has the first term of Year 2 gone?  It has been such a busy, fun packed term.  The children have thrown themselves into the school year and have embraced the hard work and extra challenges that have been presented to them.  

We took some time to reflect on our project, 'Towers, Tunnels and Turrets' and could not believe all of the interesting learning that has happened in such a short space of time.

We cannot wait for our new project.

18Oct19

STARS OF THE WEEK

This week our stars of the week are...

Kacie-Leigh for working hard to present her work neatly

and

Rhea for working hard to improve the presentation of her work.

Well done to our super stars.

18Oct19

Dharma

In RE, we have been thinking about how people 'belong' to a religion.  We have thought about all of the different groups we belong to, including school and family groups.  We have then looked at how different groups of people have different rules that they follow.  Following these rules is a way of showing belonging.  In school, we have our 'Golden Rules' and we all follow these because we belong to the school community.  Last week we learned how Christians follow a set of rules called, 'The Ten Commandments'.  Hindus don't have a clear set of rules though and instead follow Dharma, (the concept of knowing right from wrong and always choosing the right thing).  The children were given some pictures and had to work out what the right and wrong things were.  They then used these to create a set of rules.

15Oct19

The Three Billy Goats Gruff

The children are very familiar now with the story of The Three Billy Goats Gruff.  So they were all able to sequence 27 pictures from the story in the correct order, retelling the main parts of the story.

14Oct19

"Gobbled"

We are enjoying exploring the vocabulary that we come across every day in Year 2.  The children were asked to explain what the word "gobbled" meant and try to use it in a sentence.    

Can your child explain to you what vocabulary means and which vocabulary they have learned this term?

11Oct19

Lincoln Castle

The children behaved really well and had a great day at Lincoln Castle.  It really helped the children to understand what we have been learning all about this term.  It was a very busy day and we managed to enjoy lots of exciting activities, including:-

• Castle Wall Walk
• Trying on armour
• Dressing a knight
• Firing arrows from bows
• Making shields
• Eating at a banquet, dressed as noblemen and women

8Oct19

Natural materials sculptures

The children were tasked with creating tall structures using only natural materials.

This week's spellings for 3.10.19

Test on 10.10.19

Year 2 spellings

Spelling pattern; [j]

jungle

jingle

jewel

jacket

join

Previously learned spellings to be retested 

Spelling pattern; alternative [j] - [ge] and [g] before [e] or pi]

cage

huge

change

large

charge

gem

giraffe

magic

engine

angel

The children have practised these words already in class, but the more they practise the better score they will get.

4Oct19

STARS OF THE WEEK

This week our stars of the week are...

Charlie for respecting the opinions of others

and

Loula-Jo for always showing respect to others and their property.

Well done to our super stars.

4Oct19

Marvellous Mathematicians

The children have been working hard to improve their maths skills this week.  The children are really beginning to understand the importance of working methodically and not rushing to find the answers.

3Oct19

Spaghetti and Marshmallow Bridge Building - Parent Shared Learning Afternoon

It was so lovely to see so many parents at our shared learning afternoon.  The children and adults worked wonderfully in their teams and everyone did a great job of building their bridges.  As the structures became bigger, it became clear that the bridges needed to be made stronger, stiffer and more stable.  The children in Year 2 remembered that triangles and extra layers were a good way to do this and we saw lots of budding engineers work out how to achieve this.  Well done everyone!

3Oct19

Namaste

The children have been learning different ways that Christians and Hindus show they belong to their chosen faith.  The children discovered that Hindu's greet each other with the word 'namaste' which means 'I bow to you'.

1Oct19

The Princess, the Pea, the Prince and the Queen.

The children have been showing off their fantastic drama skills again today.  This time, they have been telling the story of The Princess and the Pea through drama.  The children showed a wonderful understanding of the main points of the story.

1Oct19

Testing bridges.

The children were shown lots of pictures of bridges and were tasked with sorting them.  The children decided they could sort them into large bridges and small bridges.  They then decided they would group them into bridges with curves and bridges without.

The children were then asked to test the strength of card bridges by adding multi-link cubes to the centre of the bridge to find the maximum weight they could support.  The children added extra layers and then retested them and found that the more layers they added, the more cubes could be supported.  We then watched a video about bridges around the world and discovered that triangles and arch shapes could spread the load of the weight so the bridges could support more cubes. 

The children added a curved piece of card below the flat surface and concluded that an arched bridge was far stronger than the straight bridges. 

30Sep19

Where are the castles?

Today, the children have discovered that we live in the UK which is short for 'The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland'.  They used the mnemonic 'NEWS' to help remember the four countries that make up the UK (Northern Ireland, England, Wales and Scotland).  They then worked in their groups to read about some of the castles that can be found in the UK.  Using the information, they were able to identify which of the four countries of the UK the castle belonged to and labelled a map accordingly.

I wonder if your child can tell you what the correct name for the UK is and what the four countries of the UK are.  They may be able to tell you what the capital city of each of the four countries are too.

30Sep19

Rapunzel

Today the children worked in small groups to recreate the story of Rapunzel by acting out the key parts. 

We have a very dramatic bunch in Class 4.

27Sep19

STARS OF THE WEEK

This week our stars of the week are...

Rowan for working hard to follow the golden rules.

and

G for always following the golden rules.

Well done to our super stars.

23Sep19

Significant historical figures.

The children read some facts about Isambard Kingdom Brunel and then ordered them on a timeline.

20Sep19

STARS OF THE WEEK

This week our stars of the week are...

Matthew for always being ready to listen and ready to learn

and

Scarlett for always listening to and following instructions.

Well done to our super stars.

18Sep19

"Hello, my name is..."

The children are beginning to learn some words and phrases in French.  Here they are replying to my, 'Bonjour', with, 'Bonjour, j'amapelle [name]' (Hello, my name is [name].)  Not bad for a first attempt. 

18Sep19

Coordinating conjunctions.

The children were back out in the atrium to work with Class 3 to practise using coordinating conjunctions.

Can your child give you some examples of coordinating conjunctions?  We are going to be learning all about these throughout Year 2 and practising using them - LOTS.

13Sep19

Roald Dahl Day

To celebrate Roald Dahl day the children learned about the gentleman who illustrated all of Roald Dahl's books, Quentin Blake.  The children really liked his illustrations and worked really carefully at recreating some of his fantastic characters. 

13Sep19

STARS OF THE WEEK

This week our stars of the week are...

Olivia and Kyle for settling into the new school year so well.

Well done to our super stars.

10Sep19

Habitats and Micro-habitats.

The children explored the habitat of the wooded outdoor classroom to find as many micro-habitats as they could. 

Can your child explain what this means?

10Sep19

The Tunnel by Anthony Browne

The children are enjoying learning the story of 'The Tunnel' by Anthony Browne.  The children recalled the main parts of the story and then wrote and drew the key points of the beginning, middle and end of the story.

9Sep19

Spectacular Vocabulary

Class 4 and Class 3 love working together and heading out of the classroom.  As we have been focusing on the author Julia Donaldson we spent the morning in the atrium browsing through lots of lovely Julia Donaldson books trying to find the most exciting words. 

9Sep19

Maths

The children worked with their learning partner to try and count a basket containing 50 objects.  They realised it was quite tricky as every group miscounted.  The children were then tasked with grouping the objects by colour.  They discovered there were 5 groups, each with 10 objects.  The children decided it was easier to count the objects now because they could count 5 lots of 10 and they knew that 5 tens are 50.

6Sep19

Our first two days.

The children seem to have enjoyed their first two days in Class 4 - there have been lots of big smiles and the children are enjoying each other's company.  We have started the year as we mean to go on and have already been incredibly busy.  In English, we have been writing character descriptions about the costumes that we wore on our project launch day.  In maths, we have been working systematically to show all number bonds to ten.  We have also been carefully showing 2-digit numbers using dienes (ten sticks and ones cubes).  The children also enjoyed ordering gingerbread men by the number of buttons on its tummy.  The children had fun with Mr Weeks, our PE coach, on Friday morning - Mr Weeks will be working with the children every Friday morning throughout the school year.

Towers, Tunnels and Turrets - Project launch.

To introduce our new project, 'Towers, Tunnels and Turrets', the children and staff in Key Stage 1 all dressed up as knights, princes, kings, queens and princesses. The children looked fantastic in their costumes and got into their roles beautifully as they strolled majestically around the school.  What a great start to what will, no doubt, be a fascinating and exciting project.

Welcome to Class 4 - 2018 - 2019

13Jul19

What an amazing year!

I cannot believe there is only one week and two days left of this school year and I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of the children in Class 4 for making it a wonderful and unforgettable year.

I am so proud of each-and-every child in Class 4 for their hard work and determination to succeed.  They really have matured into kind, caring, friendly and confident young people who have all developed a marvellous attitude to their learning. 

Thank you too to all of the parents who have supported their children through Year 2 which is definitely one of the more challenging and demanding school years for children.  I am looking forward to spending the last few days watching the children use all of their new found skills and knowledge as they approach a well deserved summer break.

Miss French. 

12Jul19

Attendance

Challenge Time - prizes to win!

Class 4 are currently in the lead for whole-year attendance and there is going to be a whole class prize for the winning class.  However, the race is very close and there are a couple of classes hot on our heels - every half-day attendance can make all the difference at the moment.  Class 4 are aiming for 100% attendance over the next week and two days to ensure we remain in the lead so we are asking for your help to ensure your child is in school, on time, every day until the end of term.

Mrs Curtiss has been keeping a record of attendance as we are working hard to achieve a whole-school attendance of 96%+ for the whole year.  As a school, we are very close to achieving this target and we are doing all we can to encourage children, and their families, to ensure their maximum attendance.  Rewards are available for individual children with 100% attendance for the year and class prizes for those with the highest attendance and attendance over 97%.  There will also be incentives for children attending on the last two days of school.  We really do appreciate parental support throughout the year to help us achieve our attendance goal.   

19Jul19

Reflecting on a very busy year.

Wow!  We had not realised just how much we had done in year 2 until we sat down as a class and remembered everything we have done.  We cannot believe we have done all of this - and we managed to squeeze SATs in between all of this too.

The children have told me they have really enjoyed this year and I must agree with them.  It has been jam packed full of exciting learning experiences and we hope this has really helped the children to be ready for the next step in their education.

16Jul19

Joyeux Quatorze Juillet - Happy Bastille Day

What a fantastic day we have all had.  The children looked fabulous in their stripes and French colours.

We started the day with a whole-school assembly to learn all about Bastille Day.  We returned to our classes and we practised saying the numbers 1 to 10 in French.

We then got to try lots of delicious French food, including baguettes, duck a l'orange pâté, garlic and herb roule, French brie, croissants and crème caramel. 

The children enjoyed the baguettes and the croissants but most of them thoroughly disliked the pâté, suggesting it tasted like dog food.  The class was very much divided on the subject of crème caramel; half of the children described it as 'being in heaven' while the other half ran to the bin so they could spit it out.  All of the children tried all of the foods on offer which was really impressive.  and they all wrote about their likes and dislikes.

In the afternoon we watched a video tour of the Eiffel Tower and learned some facts about this magnificent tower in Paris, France.  we then imagined we were there and wrote postcards home.

Finally, we read all about the Tour de France and answered some questions to test our VIPERS reading skills.

Today has been a lot of fun!

This week's spellings for 12.7.19

Test on 19.7.19

Year 2 spellings

Spelling pattern; contractions, homophones, near-homophones + common exception word

can't

didn't

here

hear

hair

hare

mightn't

Christmas

The children have practised these words already in class, but the more they practise the better score they will get.

12Jul19

STARS OF THE WEEK

Everyone - for being sensible, supporting each other and trying their hardest during sports day.

All of the children have received a certificate.  Well done to our super stars.

12Jul19

Sports Day

Well done to all of the children on sports day.  Thank you to all the parents who were able to attend, there was a lovely atmosphere and it was nice to hear so many encouraging comments from the adults towards all of the children, not just their own.  

This week's spellings for 5.7.19

Test on 12.7.19

Year 2 spellings

Spelling pattern; contractions + common exception word

isn't

aren't

haven't

hasn't

won't

don't

might've

parents

The children have practised these words already in class, but the more they practise the better score they will get.

5Jul19

STARS OF THE WEEK

Darcy for taking pride in the presentation of her work by writing neatly and crossing out mistakes carefully.

Evie-Mae for taking care to present her work neatly.

Well done to our super stars.

3Jul19

Sports Day Practise

The children had great fun practising for sports day.  They are looking forward to competing on the morning of Friday 12Jun19. 

We hope you can all be there!

2Jul19

COME ON ENGLAND!!!

The children looked fantastic in their England colours today.

Good luck to England ladies team in tonight's semi-final football match against the United States.

2Jul19

The Great Escape.

The children have been learning about the story of 'The Great Escape' today.  We watched a video and heard about what happened.  We then put all of the details into a story plan because we are going to rewrite the story, imagining that we are one of the British soldiers captured and taken prisoner by the German guards.

This week's spellings for 28.6.19

Test on 5.7.19

Year 2 spellings

Spelling pattern; contractions, homophones, near-homophones + common exception word

they've

doesn't

write

right

pear

pair

mustn't

Mrs

The children have practised these words already in class, but the more they practise the better score they will get.

28Jun19

STARS OF THE WEEK

This week we have been looking for children who have been supportive in class.

Philip for listening to instructions so that he always knows what he needs to be doing.

Lexi-May for always being ready to listen and ready to learn.

Well done to our super stars.

This week's spellings for 21.6.19

Test on 28.6.19

Year 2 spellings

Spelling pattern; contractions, homophones, near-homophones + common exception word

they'll

weren't

be

bee

blue

blew

wouldn't

money

The children have practised these words already in class, but the more they practise the better score they will get.

21Jun19

STARS OF THE WEEK

This week we have been looking for children who have been supportive in class.

Archie for showing mastery by always being a supportive learning partner.

Kassidi for being supportive in class by helping children stay on task.

Well done to our super stars.

21Jun19

Marshmallow bridges.

What a fantastic parent shared learning afternoon we have had this afternoon.  The parents and children definitely felt challenged when given a pack of dried spaghetti and marshmallows and told they needed to create a bridge that could span the length of two sticks of spaghetti.  Things went off to a tricky (and sticky) start as the teams began building their bridges.  It soon became clear though that the marshmallows were too heavy and the spaghetti too fragile so some creative thinking was required.  Everyone did an amazing job and we were very impressed with the ways in which teams made their constructions stiffer, stronger and more stable.  Well done everyone and thank you so much to all of you who were able to make it.

18Jun16

Alive, no longer alive or never alive.

The children worked hard to tidy up our allotment ready for planting potatoes.  The things that children removed from the garden were sorted into groups of things that are alive, things that are no longer alive and things that were never alive.  The children found snails and worms for the 'alive' group (and returned them straight after to the garden).  All of the plants that had been growing that we pulled out of the ground were put in the 'no longer alive' group along with an animal bone that was found and a bag of pre-prepared vegetables that we think a fox may have brought over.  Lots of rubbish went into the 'never alive' group, including a plastic bottle and a tin container.

This week's spellings for 14.6.19

Test on 21.6.19

Year 2 spellings

Spelling pattern; contractions, homophones, near-homophones + common exception word

they're

wasn't

bare

bear

see

sea

shouldn't

again

The children have practised these words already in class, but the more they practise the better score they will get.

14Jun19

STARS OF THE WEEK

This week we have been looking for children who have been following the golden rules.

Ruby for always following the golden rules in school.

Yasmin-Rose for always following the golden rules in school.

Well done to our super stars.

13Jun19

Homophones and near homophones.

Homophones are words that sound the same but look different and mean different things, for example 'bear' and 'bare'.  The children worked together to pair up homophones and, as a class, we found 33 groups of homophones.

10Jun19

The Tunnel

The children have been enjoying the story 'The Tunnel' by Antohony Browne.  They used picture cards to help sequence the story so that they could then retell it with lots of extra information.

11Jun19

Testing bridges for strength.

The children were given a set of picture cards of different types of bridges.  They worked together to decide how to sort them.  They chose to sort them by size, then by if they liked them or not.  Next they decided to sort them into curved and straight and finally they decided to sort them by material, deciding if the bridges were made of brick, concrete, metal or wood and rope.  We then looked at two model bridges made of cardboard of the same size with one being a curved bridge and the other straight.  The children predicted that the straight bridge would be the stronger.  We tested our prediction by adding weights to both until they collapsed.  The straight bridge took 400g and the curved bridge took 1,600g before collapsing.  The children concluded that curved bridges are stronger than straight bridges. 

This week's spellings for 7.6.19

Test on 14.6.19

Year 2 spellings

Spelling pattern; contractions + common exception word

I'm

you're

he's

she's

it's

we're

could've

water

The children have practised these words already in class, but the more they practise the better score they will get.

7Jun19

STARS OF THE WEEK

This week we have been looking for children who have been working independently.

Ashton for developing a range of strategies so he can be a more independent learner.

Millie for approaching independent tasks enthusiastically.

Well done to our super stars.

7Jun19

TTRockstars - Battle of the Bands.

Congratulations to Class 3 who won the Year 2 Battle of the Bands in TTRockstars.  Even though we were runners-up, there were still certificates available to the three children who contributed the most amount of coins to the competition.  Well done boys.

3rd - Philip

2nd - Archie

1st - Harry

7Jun19

French fruits.

The children have been learning different fruits in French.  They are really enjoying the fun games that we play to help with their learning.  They are very challenging but the children are keen to accept the challenge.

7Jun19

Forming 3D structures using 3D shapes.

The children had great fun creating 3D structures using 3D shapes.  Their friends were invited to guess what they had built and the children had done such a good job that everyone guessed correctly.

5Jun19

Sorting 3D Shapes

Sitting in a circle, the class worked as a team to decide upon how they could group a large selection of 3D shapes.  They agreed that they could sort them by colour.  Once they had done that, they decided they could also sort them by size.  Finally they agreed they could sort them according to whether they had only flat faces, only curved surfaces or flat faces and curved surfaces.  Miss French sorted the shapes into three groups which the children correctly decided were group according to the 2D shapes of the faces - one group had square faces, one group had triangular faces and the 3rd group contained shapes with all other shaped faces.

4Jun19

3D Shapes

The children have been exploring 3D shapes this week.  They started by going on a 3D shape hunt around the classroom and found lots of everyday objects that they could describe by their 3D names.  The children then looked at some 3D shapes that had been made using polydron.  They were able to name their 3D shape and discuss the number of faces, vertices and edges and naming the 2D shapes of the faces.  The children opened up the polydrons to complete 'nets'.  Finally, the children had a look at some nets, discussed the 2D shapes that they could see and then formed and named the 3D shape.

4Jun19

The Three Little Pigs

The children have been looking at the traditional tale, The Three Little Pigs.  They have been thinking about the six story elements that can be found in a traditional tale (setting / characters (good and bad) / problem / solution / theme / moral).  The children worked with their table team to decide which information from the story belonged to which story element.

4Jun19

Stonger, stiffer and more stable.

The children were in the outdoor classroom on Tuesday, working with Class 3 to build their own towers, tunnels or turrets.  The rules of the challenge were to only use things found in the outdoor classroom (children were not to pick anything that was still growing) and they had to make sure it was strong, stiff and stable.  The children did a great job!a

This week's spellings for 24.5.19

Test on 7.6.19

Year 2 spellings

Spelling pattern; adding -ily, -less, -ness  to words ending in -y + common exception word

angry

angrily

clumsy

clumsily

penniless

loneliness

pitiless

people

The children have practised these words already in class, but the more they practise the better score they will get.

STARS OF THE WEEK

This week we have been looking for children who have been working hard.

Archie for working hard all term.

Darcy for working hard all term.

Well done to our super stars.

24May19

More fabulous homework.

This term's topic is really inspiring children to create some fabulous homework.  We are enjoying our hard work around the classroom.  Here are Archie and Ashton's fantastic creations.

24May19

French pets.

The children have been learning the french words for some pets.  The children challenged their knowledge of these by listening to the french word to the pet showing on the screen and deciding if it was correct or not.

24May19

Clockwise or anti-clockwise?

The children have been learning positional language this week.

The children should now know their left and right.  They should know clockwise and anti-clockwise.  They should also be able to rotate objects by a one quarter turn, half turn, three quarter turn or a full turn.

The children showed off their new found knowledge by turning a trapezium a one quarter turn clockwise.

22May19

Repeating patterns.

The children have been learning all about repeating patterns that create a sequence.  They have been identifying the patterns within a sequence to help them predict what the next shape in a sequence should be.  The children have also been testing each other by laying down a pattern for their partners to repeat to complete a repeating pattern sequence.

Love it or hate it?

20May19 - Today, some of the children in Class 4 made rhubarb and apple crumble using the rhubarb from our very own school allotment.  It would seem children have very strong feelings about rhubarb - most loved it but those who did not really, really did not like it.  I am very impressed that all of the children at least tried it though.  Well done Class 4.

This week's spellings for 10.5.19

Test on 24.5.19

Year 2 spellings

Spelling pattern; -ment, -ness, -ful, -less and -ly + common exception word

payment

illness

careful

careless

sadly

nearly

awful

who

The children have practised these words already in class, but the more they practise the better score they will get.

STARS OF THE WEEK

This week we have been looking for children who have been focused on their learning.

Our stars for this week are:

Evie-Mae for showing great focus in her work in the run up to and during SATs.

Harry for his focus during SATs.

Well done to our super stars.

Relaxing after a busy morning of SATs

The children have worked so hard on their Year 2 SATs already, we are all really proud of their relaxed and dedicated attitude.

Which material would you use to build a fortress?

The children worked alongside Class 3 today to identify and describe different materials and their properties.  As part of our project, 'Towers, Tunnels and Turrets' the children were asked to find a material whose properties would make it ideal for building a fortress.  The children decided that brick, concrete or metal would work best as they were the strongest and that wood and glass would not be a suitable material.  

STARS OF THE WEEK

This week we have been looking for children who have shown good progress in their learning.

Our stars for this week are:

Elsie-Mai for making good progress in phonics which is helping with reading.

Rylan for making fantastic progress in all areas of learning, especially with writing.

Well done to our super stars.

More fabulous homework. 

Lots of children have completed their homework already and this can be displayed around our classroom.  Philip and Yasmin-Rose brought in their model castles this week and they look fantastic.  Well done to everyone who has completed homework and we look forward to seeing the homework from those who have not yet completed theirs.

Tallest tower competition.

The children were set a challenge to create the tallest, strongest, stiffest and most stable structure they could using just art straws and sticky tape.  The children found this a real challenge but, after a lot of trial and error, the children began to find their feet and work out how to best make a tall, strong tower.

This week's spellings for 3.5.19

Test on 10.5.19

Year 2 spellings

Spelling pattern; -ment, -ness, -ful, -less and -ly + common exception word

merry

merrily

lucky

luckily

merriment

ugliness

argument

clothes

The children have practised these words already in class, but the more they practise the better score they will get.

STARS OF THE WEEK

This week we have been looking for children who have shown pride in their achievements

Our stars for this week are:

Peyton for being proud of her achievements.

Millie for showing pride when trying again gets results.

Well done to our super stars.

Ordering Castles

The children worked in small groups to match pictures of different types of castles to their description.  They then had to order the castles by date order.  The children needed to know that 'B.C' next to a date meant that the date was 'Before Christ' and that 'A.D' next to a date means 'Anno Domini' (The year of our lord).  It was very challenging as we have not encountered numbers beyond 100 very often but the children did a great job.

WOW!  This is the best day ever!

This is just one of the many fabulous comments the children made about our exciting trip to Lincoln Castle to launch our project, Towers, Tunnels and Turrets. 

The excitement started on the journey to the castle when we spotted the Red Arrows practising their flying display right over our coach. 

We had a bit of a walk from the coach to the castle but it was worth it as the children were amazed when they saw the magnificent Lincoln Castle; they were immediately able to name lots of the parts of the castle, including the battlements, a tower, arrow loops and the gatehouse. 

Once settled children enjoyed lots of activities including a walk around the castle walls, medieval knight's training, looking at different types of armour, making shields and enjoying a banquet with the Lord and Lady at the head of the table.

What a fantastic day out.  The children made us all feel very proud with their sensible behaviour, enthusiasm and politeness.  The coach driver told the adults that our children were the best coach of children he'd ever had the pleasure of taking anywhere and that they were the politest in Grimsby.  Well done everyone!!!   

This week's spellings for 26.4.19

Test on 3.5.19

Year 2 spellings

Spelling pattern; -ment, -ness, -ful, -less and -ly + common exception word

enjoyment

sadness

helpful

hopeless

slowly

lovely

agreement

would

The children have practised these words already in class, but the more they practise the better score they will get.

Parts of a castle

The children have learned all of the names for different parts of a castle.  They have used their newfound knowledge to create their own 'digital' artwork to display in our classroom.

Reading challenge winners.

Well done to the children who read 40 times or more between Christmas and Easter.  Those children thoroughly enjoyed their reward of an Easter egg hunt, organised by our Reading lead, Miss Spacey.

Shared learning afternoon.

It was such a shame that the wet weather stopped us from being able to get out to our fabulous allotment.  However, that did not stop us from having a fantastic afternoon sharing all of our wonderful learning we have done over the last half-term during our project 'Scented Garden'.  The adults also got to help the children to plant their own sunflowers to take home to watch how they grow.  It was brilliant to see so many visitors - thank you to all of you who were able to attend.

Sports Festival

The children had great fun competing alongside children from another local school.  The children were so supportive of one another and enjoyed making new friends.  It was a very exhausting day - the coach journey back to school was much quieter than it was on the way there!

This week's spellings for 29.3.19

Test on 5.4.19

Year 2 spellings

Spelling pattern; [a] before [ll], [a] before [l], [o] as [a], common exception word.

ball

wall

talk

always

come

done

covered

pass

The children have practised these words already in class, but the more they practise the better score they will get.

STARS OF THE WEEK

This week we have been looking for children who have impressed us by explaining their understanding.

Our stars for this week are:

Harry for logically explaining how he reached his answers.

Evie for clearly explaining her reasoning, demonstrating her progress towards mastery.

Well done to our super stars.

Fantastic homework!

Well done to the children that have brought in their homework for this term, we have really enjoyed looking at everything everyone has produced.  Well done, in particular, to Harry and Peyton who had a really 'hands-on' approach to their learning.  Harry has been busy planting sunflower seeds and Peyton has grown her very own fairy garden.

Days of the week.

The children are beginning to learn the days of the week in French.  It is a big challenge but, with practise, I'm sure the children will soon get the hang of it.

Year 2 - working together to get the job done.

The children in Class 4 love having the opportunity to work with children in Class 3.  The children showed us their fantastic teamwork skills as they sequenced the story of Jack and the Beanstalk.  Great work everyone!

This week's spellings for 22.3.19

Test on 29.3.19

Year 2 spellings

Spelling pattern; -ed and -ing + common exception word

drop

dropped

dropping

grin

grinned

grinning

planning

grass

The children have practised these words already in class, but the more they practise the better score they will get.

STARS OF THE WEEK

This week we have been looking for children who have impressed us by following instructions.

Our stars for this week are:

Kassidi for continued commitment and hard work towards her learning.

Rylan for his commitment to learning and improvement resulting in fantastic progress.

Well done to our super stars.

Sweet scented playdough.

We have been applying what we have learned about how to release the scent in herbs to create our very own beautifully smelling playdough.

We bashed up our herbs (basil, mint and thyme) to release the scented oils within so that when we added it to our playdough it smelled much nicer.  

We learned that food flavourings are made using the same technique.  We were able to choose from orange, lemon, peppermint and almond essences.

Our playdough smells amazing. 

We are all athletes.

The children have been practising their athletics again this week and have been impressing us with their enthusiasm and energy.  Can you spot your child among the blurs?

The Scented Herb Garden

Today the children have been examining herbs and exploring the scent that they produce.  The children found out that if you tear, crush or rub herbs it releases a stronger scent.  Today the children looked at thyme, tarragon, dill, rosemary, bay leaves, lemon grass (which isn't a herb but smells wonderful) and basil.  The children categorised the scents by those they liked and those they disliked and wrote about what they thought of each scent.  The class thought that lemongrass was the best scent as it smelled just like sherbet lemons.